Simply put, my idea is to ‘solve’ the world energy crisis with a man-made ocean current contained within a gigantic tube, 10 300km long, powered by a gravity differential.
What do I mean by that? First, take a look at this:
My idea is to harness this difference to produce electricity.
Here’s a very rough sketch of the… whatever the heck it is. Gravity Loop? I dunno…
Allow me to explain. The Gravity Loop (for lack of effort to come up with a better name) is a giant rectangular tube (ABDC), filled with water. The vertical parts, AC and BD, are built directly over Mt. Nevado Huascarán and the Arctic Ocean, respectively. Ordinarily a tube filled with water will do absolutely nothing, because gravity is pulling on every part of it the same way, but here the water in AC is being pulled down by gravity at a rate of 9,7639m/s2, while at the same time the water in BD is being pulled down at a rate of 9,8337m/s2. This creates a difference of about 7cm/s2.
Is this enough to create a current? I have no freakin’ clue, but let’s assume it does. We now have a gigantic rectangle of water slowly going around and around. I doubt it’s enough to get a really big turbine going, like the ones they have at hydroelectric power plants, but maybe it would be enough to get the turbine equivalent of a hamster wheel to spin? If you imagine the Gravity Loop like a big cable made up of multiple, thin tubes, all held together in a single shell, that creates a massive amount of distance to fill with mini turbines. A single loop is already 20 600km long (top and bottom), so if you made a ‘cable’ of Gravity Loops, you could multiply that number many times over (assuming someone can pay for it) and end up with a frick-ton of ‘hamster wheels’, all constantly turning in a slow current, constantly generating electricity, which can then be fed into a world-wide grid.
I know this idea is silly on multiple levels. How much would it cost? How would it be maintained? Would the water actually move? Would the turbines even spin? Even if everything worked perfectly, would it generate enough power to justify the cost?
Even so, I thought it was a neat idea, and I’d very much like to hear some second opinions. Could a crazy idea like this actually work? If not, can anyone think of any what-if scenarios where it would be feasible? Like, for example, if this was built on a planet with greater gravity differences between locations?
Or maybe this is the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard and I should be ashamed for bringing it into the light of day?
Looking forward to hearing back from you guys.
