Macro-Imagineering: Carpet Tidal Power-Plant Around the Peninsula Valdes in NE Chubut Province, Argentina

Charles W. Finkl; Richard Brook Cathcart

Macro-Imagineering: Carpet Tidal Power-Plant Around the Peninsula Valdes in NE Chubut Province, Argentina

Charles W. Finkl, Richard Brook Cathcart

Resumo

Tidal power is a renewable energy source that is environmentally friendly and has many advantages over traditional power supply that produces waste products. This macro-imagineering proposal is based on mesochronic tidal inequalities between Golfo San José and Golfo Nuevo, separated by the Florentino Ameghino Isthmus that connects the Area Natural Protegida Península Valdés with the mainland on the Argentine southeast coast in Chubut Province. Hypothetical construction of a canal or tunnel across the 6-8 km wide isthmus would allow a hydropower channeling turbine to take advantage of the M2 tidal amplitude differential between the two bays to produce electrical energy for the immediately adjacent region. Additional beneficiation of the site would accrue from eco-tourism associated with the commercial tidal-range electricity-generation macro-project that envisages terrestrial as well as submarine bio-site visitations by tourists. Properly conducted macro-imagineering projects such as this proposal offer multiple advantages to coastal sites such as this one near the famed Peninsula Valdés in Argentina. During 2021, the United Nations is embarking on a Decade of the Ocean.

Key-words: Tidal energy, hydropower, renewable energy, tidal turbine, hydro-electricity supply, tidal barrage energy, eco-tourism, submarine sea tents, marine park.

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As marés são fontes de energia renovável que não agridem o meio ambiente e apresentam muitas vantagens sobre as fontes tradicionais que geram resíduos. Esta proposta de macroimagenharia é baseada nas desigualdades mesocrônicas das marés entre o Golfo San José e o Golfo Nuevo, separadas pelo Istmo Florentino Ameghino que liga a Área Natural Protegida Península Valdés ao continente na costa sudeste da Argentina, província de Chubut. A construção hipotética de um canal ou túnel através do istmo de 6 a 8 km de largura permitiria que uma turbina de canalização hidrelétrica aproveitasse o diferencial de amplitude de maré M2 entre os dois golfos no intuito de produzir energia elétrica para a região imediatamente adjacente. Benefícios adicionais para o local seriam advindos do ecoturismo associado ao macroprojeto comercial de geração de eletricidade por faixa de maré, o qual prevê visitas a bio-sites terrestres e submarinos. Projetos de macroimagenharia adequadamente conduzidos, como a presente proposta, oferecem múltiplas vantagens para locais costeiros. Durante 2021, as Nações Unidas estão embarcando em uma Década do Oceano.

Palavras-chave: Energia das marés, energia hidrelétrica, energia renovável, turbina de maré, fornecimento de hidroeletricidade, energia das barragens de marés, ecoturismo, tendas submarinas, parque marinho.

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