Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
Theoretical model for salinity gradient energy harvesting in island communities
Aishath Ashna Abdul Rasheed Maldives National University E-mail: s068337@student.mnu.edu.mv
Harvesting ocean energy offers a potential solution to the energy challenges for coastal communities, with salinity gradient energy harvesting being investigated as a potential alternative to conventional fossil fuel based power generation. While the salinity gradient energy at the intersection between the sea and rivers is approximately 0.8 kWh m −3 (Wang et al., 2022 ), the values expected to be observed in the context of coastal islands is expected to vary depending on a variety of factors including ecological activity (Li et al., 2020 ), climate (Stainbank et al., 2021 ) and anthropogenic activities, which would have a significant impact on the potential energy harvested. Despite the development of several harvesting technologies such as reversed-electrodialysis (RED) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), issues in the existing principles limit the widescale application of the technology in due to limited cost effectiveness, low energy density and conversion efficiency (Lin et al., 2024 ). This study analyses the salinity gradient energy harvesting in the context of island communities like the Maldives, developing a theoretical model on its application as a renewable energy source in this context. Key words: Salinity Gradient Energy, Renewable Energy, Blue Energy, Osmotic Energy, Energy Harvesting References 1. Lin, S., Wang, Z., Wang, L., & Elimelech, M. (2024). Salinity gradient energy is not a competitive source of renewable energy. Joule , 8(2), 334-343. 2. Li, X., Yang, W., Li, S., Sun, T., Bai, J., Pei, J., ... & Cui, B. (2020). Asymmetric responses of spatial variation of different communities to a salinity gradient in coastal wetlands. Marine Environmental Research , 158, 105008. 3. Stainbank, S., Spezzaferri, S., Rüggeberg, A., Raddatz, J., de Leau, E. S., Yu, S. M., ... & Kroon, D. (2021). Monsoon and tropical climate forcing on the physicochemical and thermocline characteristics of the Maldives Inner Sea: insights from marine isotope stages 1–2 and 10–13. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36(6), e2020PA004105. 4. Wang, J., Zhou, Y., & Jiang, L. (2022). Bioinspired three-dimensional nanoporous membranes for salinity-gradient energy harvesting. Accounts of Materials Research , 4(1), 86-100.
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