The renewable ‘salinity power’

Originally posted by Andrew Hamilton
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126972.000-salt-solution-cheap-power-from-the-rivers-mouth.html

This link explains how electric energy can be obtained by exploiting the chemical difference between the fresh water of a river as it enters the sea and see water.
Perhaps about 7% of all our would energy can be obtained from this one renewable source.

I think money would be better spent on improving solar energy and battery technology like this liquid battery I mentioned. It seems to me there would have to be a hundred thousand stations to make significant energy that way, the article didn't seem to show the generation of much energy in the lab experiment, milliwatts, I think. Of course that would be scaled up but it seems to be a bit weak on the power end to justify spending billions or tens of billions on such a project. It certainly could be an adjacent generation to add to a grid but 7% of the world? I think the world is generating something like 50 terawatts so that sounds like the possiblities extend to 4 or 5 terawatts at best. That is still a lot of energy for sure. I just think solar energy could beat it. Prices going under a dollar a watt now for production costs and that's not the end of that process, it will undoubtedly get to more like 50 cents a watt for production costs in the near future. That and the Magnesium/antimony liquid battery could really set up a real grid.

Originally posted by sonhouse
the article didn't seem to show the generation of much energy in the lab experiment, milliwatts, I think.

hmm, the article sais something else, i dont know if its alot tho..
"While their first membranes generated about 100 milliwatts per square metre, the latest version generates over 3 watts per square metre, close to their target of 5 watts."