Red Sea Dam

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Miecznik
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Red Sea Dam

Post by Miecznik »

I wanted to present ya the alternative for fossil fuels i found on popular science site. Netherlanders proposed building a dam over whole sea. It would have 50 gigavats potential (Daily i guess). It would be a nice thing to have in SR

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Quoting http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 093006.htm
ScienceDaily (Dec. 10, 2007) — Damming the Red Sea could solve the growing energy demands of millions of people in the Middle East and alleviate some of the region's tensions pertaining to oil supplies through hydroelectric power. Equally, such a massive engineering project may cause untold ecological harm and displace countless people from their homes.

In the Inderscience publication International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Roelof Dirk Schuiling of Utrecht University in The Netherlands and his colleagues discuss the costs and benefits of one of the potentially most ambitious engineering projects ever.

Present technology allows us to shift and shape the earth on a relatively large scale and to control lakes and reservoirs for hydroelectric power generation. In the near future, however, it might be possible to build dams large enough to separate a body of water as large as the Red Sea, from the world oceans. A similar macro-scale engineering project is already planned for the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. This seawater barrier will exploit the evaporative cycle and influx of seawater to generate vast quantities of electricity.

Geochemical engineer Schuiling suggests that a dam Bab-al-Mandab could be used to stem the inflow of seawater into the highly evaporative Red Sea with the potential of generating 50 gigawatts of power. By comparison, the Palo Verde nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear station in the US has an output of just 3.2 gigawatts.

"Such a project will dramatically affect the region's economy, political situation and ecology, and their effects may be felt well beyond the physical and political limits of the project," says Schuiling.

Schuiling and his colleagues point out that the cost and timescales involved in creating such a hydroelectric facility are way beyond normal economical considerations. It is inevitable that such a macro-engineering project will cause massive devastation of existing ecologies. However, it will also provide enormous reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as well as offering a viable, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for future generations. The ethical and environmental dilemmas are on an international scale, while the impact on ecology, tourism, fisheries, transport and other areas could have effects globally.

The researchers point out that the precautionary principle cannot be applied in making a decision regarding the damming of the Red Sea. "If the countries around the Red Sea decide in favor of the macro-project, it is their responsibility to limit the negative consequences as much as possible," they conclude.
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ainsworth74
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Post by ainsworth74 »

While certainly an interesting idea, I cant see it happening, for 1 main main reason other than the cost and complexity of such a project. That being that the Red Sea is connected to the Suez Canal, which connects the Med with the Indian Ocean, as a result is a key trade artery. Your not going to dam one of the most important waterways in the world. Would you dam the panama canal, if it helped to aliviate energy problems in central america?

But it sure is an interesting concept :-)
All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

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geminif4ucorsair
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Re: Red Sea v Three Gorges Dam

Post by geminif4ucorsair »

If the Chinese think Three River Gorges dam was costly, imagine this !

Wonder what the Israeli would think of the idea.....bomb it.
krazykraut
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Re: Red Sea Dam

Post by krazykraut »

Weird, I had just the same idea with the Mediterranean a few days ago. Bu it would not work on the long run because the evaporation would cause the salinity to go up to higher and higher levels. So the Red Sea would become a dead sea and a huge salt plain in the end. Removing the excess salt would probably cost more energy/money than the gain from the dam.
But I don't know how long that process would take, maybe one could operate the dam for a few hundred years without noticeable increase in salinity...
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Miecznik
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Re: Red Sea Dam

Post by Miecznik »

@ krazykraut

You'v meant Atlantropa project ? ; )
Zanim padłeś, jeszcze ziemię przeżegnałeś ręką.
Czy to była kula, synku, czy to serce pękło?
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