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So hydroelectric. Yes, we have known about that forever.
Sounds cool. Naive question: you need many of them. Thousands or more. Is that not going to further slow down the river's current, which in consequence will provide less for the turbines further down the stream? And so on... There is no comment about that in the article.
Lets think about that.
- The rivers flow rate is the product of its cross section times the flow speed.
- The flow rate is also the sum of all the runoff and streams that end in the river above any given point.
So, if what you assume were true, the flow speed would sink. The ingress flow rate would not reduce though, why should it, so the only way to keep the ratio between flow speed and cross section, aka the flow rate constant would be to increase the cross section area. So, the water level would have to rise, no other way to achive that. So the question is: "Will the river in its entire length raise its level when we put these turbines in at any point?" - that would be a great way to get hundres kilometers of deeper shipping lanes for free, but no, of course it won't.
124 Hydrokinetic units in the Sankt Goar swarm. Three running now, 21 in the next phase.
Three. They switched on three.
I am going to leap to the conclusion that you have never been a part of commissioning a major infrastructure project
The headline says 124. Commissioning aside, that's misleading.
You're correct in that assumption, but no matter how complex an undertaking it is, I don't think that really justifies putting false information in the title. They simply haven't switched on 124 turbines.
Next post just below this one: Rhine river near Cologne at record low.
Will there be enough water for ships on the Rhine once they activate all 124 turbines?
/s
Those poor whales -trump
There's little use for these in summer anyway
There is also the Pelamis Wave Power Technology.
The company which developed it was bought by E.ON and shut down. But seems like China has copied it (there are several articles in The Guardian about that), and continues to develop it because it is a superb principle.
So, like very hydro power plants, just with a lot less power and geographical impact.
Also, a lot cheaper because you don't need literally thousands of tons of steel reinforced concrete.
Which also cuts down on the carbon footprint of the energy generated.
Also probably not useful in a decade because Europe is drying out. We're seeing droughts hitherto unfathomable.
We're gonna get more rain in the winter and less in the summer according to a climate scientist that I follow on bsky. This is a good project even if our summers are getting drier. The sooner we leave fossil fuels behind, the better.
It's not just about the missing summer rain, but about the glaciers vanishing. The Rhine comes from the Swiss alps. We'll get torrential rainfalls and then droughts.
What I mean to say is instead of a nice constant water flow we'll have way too much, then way too little.
Climate change is such a bitch.
Build a dam where the glaciers were? Also doesn't desroy much there, unlike dams further down.
Won't work, not only because what the other dude said. But also because the alps are getting unstable. The permafrost keeping the mountain tops glued together is slowly melting away, making mud slides and other unpleasant sudden destruction events likelier every year.
If you wanna go ski in the alps do it soon, they will change their looks in the next decade(s).
Won't work because the rainfall won't only happen where the glaciers were, so you would need several dams all the way up and down the rivers.
Oh, right.
Also the mountains are thawing, becoming unstable, so no building.
Thou preachest!
They'd still shred some fish, no?
Mostly less impact on important shipping routes.
They invented water wheels.
more efficient waterwheels
....but yeah, theyre basically waterwheels.
Ahh the gap that folks like Trump talk about that isn't significant at all.
The gap is already solved with batteries, chemical and mechanical batteries.
Salt. The condiment basil and thyme never could replace.
Meanwhile: https://lemmy.zip/post/68927654
This reads like a marketing release for the startup that makes them. If they work well long term, aren't overly expensive, and don't cause too much environmental damage, great. But maybe link a source that does more than just reprint a sales pitch.
Has been done before, has failed. But in principle a good idea. If i remember correctly could provide 3% of electricity.
Ah yes, this is how innovation works. Try once and it it fails, stop there.
Pack it up boys.
Thats for sure not what i said, I like the idea and gave some context and additional information. Which is wrong, for some reason...
Okay, sorry.
That looks like a navigation hazard?
Totally. It's Germany and therefore everybody can install stuff in a major waterway without any regulation. The company also installed them in the middle of the river where all ships are going in order to sink them.
They probably ignored navigation when planning and then installing these. It will be a great oopsie
Yeah it's very likely that the first thing that came into some Lemmings' minds was completely overlooked in the extensive planning process that precedes projects like this.
To be fair, completely overlooking obvious faults in the planning process has happened plenty of times.
I mean, yeah, can't argue with that.
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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