Wales tests a generator that uses ocean tides to power 10,000 homes

By Chloe Olewitz February 2, 2016

The first tidal energy generator demo is now installed and ready for operations testing off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The DeltaStream turbine is a great example of the groundbreaking inventions that have come out of the search for natural resources to power eco-friendly, sustainable energy solutions. When it is fully operational, the generator is expected to power as many as 10,000 Welsh homes as part of a new renewable energy system stationed completely offshore.

DeltaStream works thanks to the 49-foot generator turbine mounted on a freestanding, underwater base. The turbine’s flexibility of movement allows it to harness the power of tides as they ebb and flow in their natural patterns, whereas the DetlaStream’s gravity-based foundation helps it stabilize itself and stay upright without having to be anchored into the ocean floor. Overall, the structure weights 200 tons, stands nearly 60 feet high, and stretches over is 52 feet long. The generator is also connected to the power grid, which simplifies resource distribution.

DeltaStream demonstration system tidal generator energy — Tidal Energy Ltd.

Tidal Energy Ltd.

Richard Ayre has been credited with the original invention of the DeltaStream technology, and local Cardiff developers Tidal Energy Ltd. scaled his invention to its current version. Two weeks of testing at an offshore test site in the Ramsey Sound will prepare the tidal turbine for full operational status. In the meantime, Tidal Energy Ltd. has raised about $21.6 million in investments to help make the generator a reality. The Welsh government has also pledged a sum of about $11.5 million to support the homegrown renewable energy project. Once Tidal Energy Ltd. gets the green light from the testing phase, the final generator system will play host to nine individual DeltaStream structures.

One of the most positive benefits of DeltaStream as a renewable energy solution is its minimal impact on its physical surroundings. The natural underwater ecosystem should remain largely undisturbed while DeltaStream converts the ocean’s tides to power. When the full system is complete, nine DeltaStream turbines will work together to generate cheap, sustainable energy for thousands of people living in Wales.

Topics

Chloe is a writer from New York with a passion for technology, travel, and playing devil's advocate. You can find out more…

News

Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards

Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

News

Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards

Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Entertainment

AI turned Breaking Bad into an anime — and it’s terrifying

Split image of Breaking Bad anime characters.

These days, it seems like there's nothing AI programs can't do. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, deepfakes have done digital "face-offs" with Hollywood celebrities in films and TV shows, VFX artists can de-age actors almost instantly, and ChatGPT has learned how to write big-budget screenplays in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon, AI will probably decide who wins at the Oscars.

Within the past year, AI has also been used to generate beautiful works of art in seconds, creating a viral new trend and causing a boon for fan artists everywhere. TikTok user @cyborgism recently broke the internet by posting a clip featuring many AI-generated pictures of Breaking Bad. The theme here is that the characters are depicted as anime characters straight out of the 1980s, and the result is concerning to say the least. Depending on your viewpoint, Breaking Bad AI (my unofficial name for it) shows how technology can either threaten the integrity of original works of art or nurture artistic expression.
What if AI created Breaking Bad as a 1980s anime?
Playing over Metro Boomin's rap remix of the famous "I am the one who knocks" monologue, the video features images of the cast that range from shockingly realistic to full-on exaggerated. The clip currently has over 65,000 likes on TikTok alone, and many other users have shared their thoughts on the art. One user wrote, "Regardless of the repercussions on the entertainment industry, I can't wait for AI to be advanced enough to animate the whole show like this."