Just as green energy stocks are beginning to rally, French researchers made an important breakthrough in “blue energy,” according to the Institut Polytechnique de Paris’ Polytechnique insights.
Admittedly, blue energy isn’t as well-known or developed as other forms of clean energy, like solar and wind. But the outcome of a pilot project in France “could be decisive for the energy transition,” the outlet predicted.
“Blue energy” is actually a form of green energy. As its moniker implies, the energy in this equation is derived from water. Also called “osmotic power,” the process harnesses energy naturally generated at the interface between freshwater and saltwater.
The Electrochemical Society explained that the innate “pressure” between high-salinity water and freshwater “can be turned into electricity.”
“The planet naturally makes salt water and fresh water, so we should take advantage of that. It’s free energy,” ECS Vice Chair Andrew Herring explained.Â
Estuaries and deltas are both junctures where freshwater bodies, such as rivers, meet saltwater.
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Bruno Mottet and Lydéric Bocquet have been working on a pilot energy project for a decade. Their work takes place in the Rhône delta, where the Rhône flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
“Electricity from osmotic energy can be generated 24 hours a day, regardless of weather conditions,” Polytechnique insights noted, adding that the infrastructure for osmotic power plants was straightforward compared to similar structures like hydraulic dams.
According to Polytechnique insights, Mottet and Bocquet’s start-up, Sweetch Energy, commissioned an osmotic power plant capable of generating 4 terawatt-hours (or 1 billion kilowatt-hours) of electricity per year in late 2023.Â
In March, Earth.org covered Sweetch Energy’s efforts to make osmotic power more accessible within the renewables landscape. The site stated that the duo’s breakthroughs could make blue energy a “truly energy-efficient and cost-effective solution” at scale.
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Ultimately, experts predict that osmotic energy could provide power sufficient to cover “15% of global electricity needs.” Mottet and Bocquet believe it could significantly alter the energy landscape by 2030.
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