OPTIDAL: A New Software for Simulation of Climatic Impacts on Tidal Power

Abstract

Uncontrolled growth in population has increased the demand for energy, which is reflected in the ever-growing cost of crude oil and electricity. The rise in prices has increased the average cost of basic amenities around the world. That is why alternative, renewable sources of energy are now being explored so that the latter can share the responsibility of mitigating the power demand and reduce the stress on finite energy sources. But problems with renewable energy sources include the frequency of availability and absence of inexpensive methods/devices to store the energy. Available renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro are available in infinite quantities, but to produce energy from these sources requires their availability for a specific amount of time. For example, solar energy can be converted into usable forms only during a specific period of time. Thus, to recover the cost of conversion, the amount of energy that can be produced from renewable sources in a day must either be stored or utilized optimally to mitigate energy requirements. But the availability of inexpensive methods/devices is scarce, and thus solar energy is still a luxury, not a necessity. The second option then becomes more attainable. The time and quantity of hydro energy turns out to be more predictable than other forms of renewable energy sources. The inexpensive conversion mechanism also increases the attractiveness of hydro energy as a possible energy source. But as is common, hydro power is unreliable with respect to duration and intensity of energy delivered compared to fossil fuels, and thus in the case of utilization, proper levels of intensity must be ensured to maximize energy use. Of the two forms of hydro energy, tidal energy is relatively new but its ease of use and availability favor it over hydro energy. The only requirement to convert such energy into usable form so that it can be used to share some of the responsibility for meeting energy demand lies in maximizing the usability of the available resources. The present study introduces a software that aims to optimize the use of tidal energy resources by maximizing profit. The software is tentatively called OPTIDAL (OPtimization of TIDAL sources).