Tidal Energy Pros and Cons List

In our modern society we desperately require energy to fuel our lives every single day. Producing energy is not a simple task and new energy producing methods keep coming up. The goal is to produce renewable energy without harming the environment and to sustain our needs with the supply. Tidal energy is an option since tides are certainly renewable, that is obvious. But the problem with it is that it is yet at a developing stage and is not yet able to supply us with the amount of energy we require and we acquire from, for example, fossil fuels. So it is at a great stage to analyze its pros and cons.

List of Pros of Tidal Energy

1. Vastness of Resources Available
The advantages of tidal energy are clear. First off, it is renewable so it will basically never end. This type of energy results from gravitational fields from the sun and the moon combined with earth’s rotation. The same reason why we have high and low tides. So basically, we’d have to lose the sun or the moon to lose tidal energy. But if something took down the sun or the moon, it would be a bigger problem than the loss of tidal energy, wouldn’t it?

2. Ecofriendly
Another advantage is that it is green. This type of energy doesn’t really hurt the environment, in fact, it doesn’t even emit harmful gases to the atmosphere. Although it is still being studied, it looks like it won’t take up a lot of space either.

3. Easily Measured
Plus, tidal energy is as predictable, as, well, tides. So we can build plants according to them, and we can know when to expect large amounts of energy and when to expect downtimes. If that was not enough, tidal energy has a long lifespan, greatly reducing costs in the long term.

List of Cons of Tidal Energy

1. Must Be Near Land
But tidal energy does have some problems with it too. One of these problems is that it needs to be planned near the land, an area where most of our technological solutions are being worked on. This is, however, a problem that just might be solved with technological improvement – as soon as we get to it.

2. Lack of Technology and Proven Benefit
Right now, producing tidal energy does not fit in any way the economic plans of any company, because due to our lack of technology on it, it would cost way more money to gather this energy, than the amount that could possibly be gained from it.

3. Costs of Initiating Projects
All in all, the biggest problem we currently have with tidal is energy is that we lack the technology to fully take advantage of it. This is, however, a problem that just might be solved within the near future. It just might be a financially viable renewable energy as soon as we have enough technology to gather it at lower prices than what it would cost to initiate projects on it.