Another silly idea? canal power

[Andy Hamilton]

As I have always lived in towns and cities I have always been surrounded by canals, whilst walking past one the other day I got to thinking (bad move already) about the force that the water comes out of lock gates.

could that water movement be put to good use? Now to try and explain my thoughts behind this - Ok to generate power you can have - Water that comes from above and washes down over a waterwheel by the force of gravity. Ok, so on a lock gate water comes from above and simply washes through the gap created by the opening of the gate and thus is wasted. Even though this can be a small amount is it worth thinking about using it? Perhaps by having a smaller water wheel inside the lock gate that is activated when the gates get opened, flaps could open in the side of the gate and the water could turn the momentum of the wheel inside the gate.

Make any sense? Posibly a very daft idea that would either be impossible to make or even if it were possible would not generate enough energy to be worth while. Just a thought anyway.

[Martin]

in theory, it could work! You'd just need to install a relatively simple hydro turbine and a grid-tie inverter!

[Andy Hamilton]

in theory, it could work! You'd just need to install a relatively simple hydro turbine and a grid-tie inverter!

Are you saying that during my idle moments at work I could have thought of something that has more power than a chocolate tea pot.

My worries are that there would be little enough time to generate power and thus would negate any kind of investment as it would just not be worth it. But it could be used to power paid for mourings if it did work. Or even power the pumps that you need to put water back into and out of some canals.

[Martin]

I think you've probably summed it up yourself! - you always have to factor in the cost to the environment as well as the financial outlay - I heard a new phrase to me last night - "dust to dust" - the cost of any manufactured item from it's day of manufacture, right through to it's disposal!
It brings up the old urban myth (with lots of truth in it) of the time the Americans spent over a billion dollars to develop a pen that would write in space (you can actually buy them) - the Russians, faced with the same problem, used pencils!
We need "pencil solutions"