GC: n

CT: Underwater turbines work in much the same way as their above-ground cousins. Three bladed rotors are placed on a vertical stack and are moved by the motion of the water. The rotor turns a magnetic coil generator in the shaft housing which creates an electrical current. The higher the flow rate of the water, the more electricity is generated. The major difference is that underwater turbines are designed to work with water flow from either the front or the back. This allows them to take advantage of the back and forth motion of tidal wave systems. Unlike wind turbines, underwater turbines have the ability to be predictable. Water flow rates are relatively stable from one day to the next, making it easy to predict the amount of electricity that will be generated based on already available flow charts.

S: ECO – http://www.ecopedia.com/energy/how-do-underwater-turbines-work (last access: 2 December 2014)

N: 1. underwater (adj): 1620s, from under + water. Of mortgages from 2008.
turbine (n): 1838, from French turbine (19c.), from Latin turbinem (nominative turbo) “spinning top, eddy, whirlwind, that which whirls,” related to turba “turmoil, crowd”. Originally applied to a wheel spinning on a vertical axis driven by falling water. Turbo in reference to gas turbine engines is attested from 1904.
2. Ocean currents are one source of natural energy that no one has tapped before, either because they were not aware of it or did not have the technology to capture it, said Todd Janca, founder of Crowd Energy, and the man behind the idea to develop ocean turbines.
Of course, the notion of using underwater turbines to harness energy from deep-ocean currents raises concerns over the potential environmental impacts. While the system is designed to minimize the threat to marine life, in-ocean studies must be done to investigate the potential effects.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=underwater&searchmode=none (last access: 11 December 2014). 2. http://www.livescience.com/47188-ocean-turbines-renewable-energy.html (last access: 11 December 2014).

SYN: marine turbine, water current turbine.

S: FT – https://lc.cx/JpHm (lasta access: 27 January 2017); GDT – https://lc.cx/JpHh (last access: 27 January 2017).

CR: tidal turbine, wave turbine.