Can we use the Oceans to power our City’s? Or power a floating Data Center?
Lets begin with a floating Data Center. Is this a picture of Google’s latest floating Data Center.
Originally from : http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57609509-93/san-franciscos-bay-barge-mystery-floating-data-center-or-google-glass-store/
San Francisco’s bay barge mystery: Floating data center or Google Glass store?
After CNET reported Google may be building a floating data center in San Francisco Bay, a report suggested it’s actually a floating Google Glass store. Either way, it’s almost certainly Google.
The structure that is almost certainly being built by Google, on a barge in San Francisco Bay.
http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/10/25/Structure_11_610x407.jpg
The mystery surrounding a large structure built on a barge docked in San Francisco bay is deepening. Is it a floating Google data center? A floating Google Glass store? Or something else altogether?On Friday,Daniel Terdiman, reported exclusively that a company, very likely Google, has set up shop on Treasure Island, located between San Francisco and Oakland, and has been building a large structure made from shipping, or cargo, containers on a barge. Some evidence suggests it might be a floating data center, including the fact that Google itself has a patent for such a concept.
Originally from : http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10034753-54.html
http://www.cnet.com/profile/mlamonica/
Google files patent for wave-powered floating data center
By Martin LaMonica September 8, 2008
A recently unearthed Google patent applications sketches a comprehensive system for a floating data center powered by wave motions and cooled by the sea’s water.
http://asset3.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20080908/Google_Floating_DC.bmp_540x393.jpg
Google sees the future of computing at sea.
The search giant has filed a patent for a “floating data center” that uses wave motion to power on-board computers and the ocean’s water to cool them.
The patent was submitted in February last year but was spotted in the U.S. Patent & Trademark office’s electronic filings and posted at Slashdot on Saturday.
The system Google engineers sketch out is a self-powered data center placed three to seven miles offshore, potentially operating off the grid. Standard shipping containers would house racks of computers that could be transported by truck and placed onto a boat by crane.
So it is very possible that we could be witnessing the beginning of a new and alternative way of powering The Cloud.
And if that doesn’t get your attention what about this recent announcement.
Originally from: http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/oceanlinx-launches-worlds-first-1mw-wave-energy-machine-s-88176
Oceanlinx launches world’s first 1MW wave energy machine in S.A.
Australian wave energy company Oceanlinx on Friday formally launched what it claims to be the first 1MW wave-energy-to-electricity unit in Port MacDonnell, South Australia.
The machine – the first commercial scale unit launched by the company – will go through a 12-month testing period and consider scaling the unit up to 10MW in size. It has struck a power purchase agreement with renewable energy retailer Diamond Energy to generate revenue for the project.
Oceanlinx’s “greenwave” technology works by using waves to produce high pressure air, which in turn is converted into electricity by a turbine. The company says it is made of simple flat packed prefabricated reinforced concrete. It sits under its own weight on the seafloor without the need for seabed preparation, in approximately 10-15m of water.
The $8 million project received $4.4 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency under the Emerging Renewables Program.
“Our investment aims to demonstrate the technology and share lessons learnt to catalyse future projects,” CEO Ivor Frischknecht said in a statement.
Frischknecht said there is great potential for wave energy technology in Australia, given that it has among the best wave energy resources in the world. Carnegie Wave Energy is currently installing the world’s first multi-unit facility off Garden Island near Perth.