Part 1:

Type: Tidal Energy

• Tidal energy power plants are a type of power plant designed to use the rising and falling tides to create energy using propellers and/or turbines
• The first tidal power plant was made in La Rance, France, and the largest is the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea.
• Many Large countries, including Canada have a lot of potential to use this energy to the fullest.
• One way to get tidal energy is barrages which uses a gate to guide water into a turbine. Tidal stream generators work like a wind turbine by using the kinetic energy of the water to push a turbine.
• Tidal energy works much better than wind because it’s much more reliable and pushes the turbine better because of waters higher density.
• There is usually very minimal impact on the environment a tidal system is placed in. The turbines move slowly enough that smaller marine wildlife can usually get through with ease, while igger animal are able to swim around the plant.
• Turbines are much more effective in shallow water
• Tidal lagoons can be placed along a shoreline and work similarly to a barrage system.
• The biggest tidal barrage plant in the world cost 300 million dollars to construct.
• The plants can be placed in more rural areas where there should be little human interaction.
• Tidal plants can only be installed along a coastline
• High tide has to be 5 meters higher than low tide for it to produce any energy

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/tidal-energy/

https://www.britannica.com/science/tidal-power

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Tidal_barrage

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Tidal_stream_generator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkTRcTyDSyk

http://www.energybc.ca/tidal.html

Image: https://creativecommons.org/

Statement to Trudeau:

Out of all the different types of power that we can use to fulfill Canada’ energy needs, I think that harnessing the power of tidal energy might be one of the most worthwhile types of energy for Canada to invest it’s money in. Tidal power uses the current and kinetic energy from the the tides of the ocean to push turbines which is then converted into power. This type of energy is significantly more reliable than wind power and produces a lot more energy. These large plants can be placed out of the way so it doesn’t affect popular beaches and should minimally change the way tourists imagine our nation. There isn’t much environmental impact for these plants, either, the turbines move slow enough that they should be of no danger to any of the marine wildlife in the area. Although tidal power is just in it’s beginning stages of development and hasn’t reached it’s full potential yet, if we start using and relying on it more, out technology around this subject will soon become stronger and we will be able to use tidal power for most, if not all of Canada’s needs. I believe I found a source of energy that can produce a reliable amount of energy while still going towards Canada’s goals of becoming a nation that does not contribute to global warming but rather one going towards putting a stop to it.

 

Part 2:

Q1:

The Questions I was first asking to find good information about tidal energy is as follows:

How much energy does a Tidal Energy Plant Produce?

How much money would it cost to create a Tidal energy plant?

How many of the plants do we need to support Canada’s energy needs?

How much space will it use up to create the plants?

What effects will they have on the Aquatic Ecosystem in the area?

Will they produce waste? If so, how much?

Will the plants effect the food chain/wildlife in the region?

Are the plants going to take up public spaces?

What conditions must be met for the Plants to produce energy?

Can the plants be installed in lakes and rivers?

Are there multiple ways to produce tidal energy?

How long will it take to install these plants?

Q2:

I mainly just used sources I knew I could trust instead of just looking at the first article on the topic I could find every time, and I used the information in the articles to make new questions I wanted to answer. Another thing I did was use Creative Commons to make sure I was getting images not subject to copyright with still a large database of images to chose from. Overall, I was simply trying to find the most credible and reliable sources for information I could to create an accurate final product about the disadvantages and more importantly, advantages about why we as a country should rely more upon the use of tidal energy that not all nations get the opportunity to use.

Q3:

The thing I tried to do most when researching my topic of tidal energy was answer my first few questions that I had made and then using other information I found, ask myself other questions that needed answering and keep doing that until I am satisfied with what I have found.

Q4:

To find my images, I used creative commons to find the images, as I knew all the images on there are not subject to copyright or anything. For the websites I looked for a source that I either already know is reliable or I looked for a bibliography at the bottom to make sure all the information in it was from a reliable source. I also look for the last date it was edited, to make sure the information is recent and not from twenty years ago. I also tried to get ideas form different sources such as YouTube instead of only google.

Q5:

I believe that I could have asked more questions at the start of the project to unlock a better understanding of tidal energy and its upsides as well as downsides. It probably would have led to more information that I would want to tell Justin Trudeau in the hypothetical situation in which I get to talk to him about what power source I think would be the best moving forwards. I also think I could have tried to gather more information about the real-life examples of these tidal plants all around the world. I think I also could have tried to get my information from a larger variety of sources instead of just mainly relying on google.