With our world’s continuous need for reliable energy, expanding clean, green renewable energy sources is more important than ever to combat our dependency on fossil fuels and the emissions they create.

The insurmountable volume of scientific data published to support the decline of ecosystem health, has seen communities all over the world move to minimise the impacts of climate change on our living environment. It hardly requires reading; the impact confronts us all as we witness the effect of drought, floods and fires across our biodiversity rich landscapes.

With growing difficulty accessing fossil fuels and their relative profitability waning, leading entrepreneurs and businessmen and women alike, have been rapidly developing effective alternatives. Nuclear energy is one fantastic source of limitless power, however, the safe treatment and disposal of waste product, remains a challenge.

This has led to the great ‘rise of the renewables’ a sector promising limitless energy with minimal detriment to the environment.

Mankind’s efforts to date have been admirable as Solar and Wind now account for 100% of some country’s energy production although none of those are large industrial bases. The need to maintain and supplement short falls are still filled by either Coal or Gas fired plants that kick in when the demand upon the grid outstrips what wind and solar can provide.

Another issue is the amount of waste created by the renewable sector.

Wind Turbines have made headlines in the media as their blades which contain resin coated carbon fibre, once damaged or destroyed, are difficult to recycle. The material requires chemical dissolution to salvage any useful material.

The use of solar also has its disadvantages; large ‘solar farms’ are often installed on quality arable land, adversely impacting agricultural productivity.

So, what else is there? Waves and the energy they store have captured significant attention of late. Many attempts at creating a durable, all weather wave generator resistant to storm damage, have largely proved to be unsuccessful. They also stand above the surface in many cases spoiling the aesthetics of the area.

However, under the water and out of the sight of man, lies an even more reliable source of energy than the waves and that is the tide.

Several large tidal energy systems exist today and most rely on one method or another to generate pressurised air to turn a turbine. Puffs of air run up large pipes to an onshore generator which spins creating power. The trouble with these systems is that they tend to be expensive to build and install and usually require years to regain the capital investment. They are also not modular, have low scalability and lack the grit to power a local town let alone generate industry level power.

That was, until now. The Manta Module™ is a system that can be made from potentially 100% recyclable, durable plastics, and metals. Obscured from the eye they maintain the local amenity of a region and the design allows for rapid servicing and maintenance.

Manta Module™ concentrates the tidal flow through its proprietary body to drive its generators. With a 5:1 ratio, it turns 1 knot into 5 and generates the torque required to crank out some serious amperage. The units can be installed in many aquatic environments, in banks 20m apart, on vertical spars in open ocean currents and in rivers that run all year round. Manta Module™ would be an excellent addition to the Fiords of North Western Europe. Another promising adaptation of the device could be fitted to large vessels in the future which often rely on a generator to create power at anchor. Given ships face into the tide, an inlet under the hull, much like the intake of a water-jet engine, could allow water to flow through a Manta Module™ installed midships. Generating all the necessary power required at anchor and could even recharge the batteries of future electric vessels.

Unlike other systems that are large and costly to install; the Manta Module™’s unit size can be tailored to the environment and local conditions. Its moving parts can also be made from flexible materials, lowering any impact on sea life. Biofouling is of little issue as barnacles and other molluscs would find it difficult to adhere to or settle on the surfaces causing blockages.

Its position in the ocean is also critical in deterring physical obstructions. Being a few metres above the sea floor allows for sunken objects like logs to pass harmlessly underneath while floating ones simply pass overhead. But what about plastic, ropes and fishing nets and other man-made junk which frequents the coastlines of some of the world’s largest cities? During testing, many objects simply passed through and out of the unit; however, in the event they get stuck, the units can easily be de-fouled by a scuba diver. In more dire situations where the system is clogged up by a net, large rubbish outflow during a storm or other obstacle like a flotilla of jellyfish, the system can simply be brought to the surface. A service craft brings it to the surface, where it is hauled aboard in minutes. There simple cleaning, rapid replacement of any damaged parts and de-fouling can be conducted and the system quickly re-submerged, clamped down and again making energy in very little time in comparison to other systems.

Power generated by the Manta Module™ is envisaged to not only power coastal towns and cities but to feed large industrial complexes inland. Working equally as well during the night, power can be channelled to large inland battery banks and used during the day when peak loads on power grids normally strain with demand.

Very few systems have the capacity to generate industry level power on every tide, be made clean and green, while also being readily accessible, cheap to repair and maintain. Surely now, you can count the Manta Module™ among them.

The Manta Module™, is a new innovative way of harvesting high volumes of power from incoming and outgoing tides.

Its unique ability to concentrate tidal flows is unrivalled in the current throng of tidal solutions, generating vast quantities of current per cubic metre of ocean flowing through the system.

Power generated is sent ashore to power large battery banks or is fed directly into the grid contributing to our daily energy mix.

However, what has inhibited the deployment of many tidal and sub surface systems to date has been the need to constantly clean and de-foul marine molluscs, algae and detritus from working surfaces, turbines and other components.

The build up of molluscan and algal biota on the surfaces of the modules could slow down the speed of water flowing through the device by causing drag. This drag would, naturally, impact the power output of any sub surface system and is an issue that must be addressed to maximise power generation. It is akin to a photovoltaic cell surface accruing dirt, obscuring the sun and consequently reducing the maximum power conversion.

So, what can be done to minimize or completely remove this accrual of biofouling from certain surfaces?

Bio inhibitive coatings such as bio-fouls are highly effective and used throughout the marine industry to inhibit the growth of algae and molluscs on surfaces and may be a highly effective solution to prevent build up on the static surfaces of Manta Modules. However, using a Teflon like surface treatment could prevent build up for long periods of time. Combined with the increased flow rate of the water running over the surfaces the ability for biofouling to accumulate would be prolonged, decreasing the cost of servicing over time.

But what about the turbines?

Given the rate they spin, settlement of molluscan larva is all but impossible and thus not an issue. Algae on the other hand will build up over time on nearly any surface. Its ability to grow vertically from its fast-moving surfaces is all but impossible as tendrils would tear off under the force of the water.

So, biofouling is less of an issue than one would initially anticipate.

But what of submerged debris like rope, fishing netting, tree branches or logs and all those manmade plastics?

These considerations are of more serious concern when assessing impact on the service life of components and turbines.

Rope and fishing netting tend to float or sink, rarely persisting in the mid water column and are therefore unlikely to impact the intakes of the Manta Module™ in open ocean environments. Although, what if they should? Testing has shown that ropes and netting are able to pass through the system due to the fast-moving water and parts, which ‘jettison’ softer, more malleable debris on the leeward side of the device. So, such debris pose only a minor threat to Manta Module™ in open ocean deployments.

What of River and Coastal deployments?

In such environments, threats such as these occur more often by nature. Plastic waste and organic debris like sticks and logs. Again, sticks and logs tend to float or sink and given the midwater (2-3m suspension) deployment of most banks, the system will experience very low probabilities of fouling from such sources.

Plastic waste is of far greater concern as these materials can drift in the mid-water and potentially foul the moving parts of the Manta Module™. One way to combat this would be to make those parts, in part, flexible, so they can flex to a degree. This would not only allow debris to be shed more effectively, but also allow any marine life that should happen to stray into the device to pass through the system. Research to prove this concept will be undertaken. It is important that Manta Module™ as an energy source, not only reduces mankind’s impact on the production of greenhouse gases but must also mitigate damage to the aquatic environment.

In conclusion, Manta Module™ will not only be a powerful player in the new green economy effectively making power night and day but also, with further research become one of the most environmentally friendly renewables on the planet. Being made from 100% recycled products and having minimum impact on the ocean marine life; Manta Module™ would make a substantial contribution to the renewable energy market and therefore to energy reliability.

Today is the 27^th of May, the day after a spectacular super moon was seen the night before and a lunar eclipse to boot. The moon was so large and bright, one could be forgiven for thinking you could almost reach out and touch it.

Naturally, this meant there were some monstrous tides that accompanied the moon as it traversed our horizon; it is this energy that Manta Module™ hopes to harness.

Many of us know that the tides are dictated by the orbit of the earth and moon, however, less well known is the fact that the moon does not actually orbit the earth. In fact, their gravities are entangled sharing a common centre from which both bodies circle. It is akin to an adult swinging a child during play, the adult leans back to centre, the combined weight of both bodies over the feet, equalising the force.

In the case of the Earth and its Moon, the body that is affected the most by gravity are our oceans. The Seas are pulled upwards towards the moon forming a large ‘bulb’ of water. If one could see it from space on the right angle it would appear as though a massive mountain was slowly moving about the globe following the alignment of the moon and earth. When the moon passes across the ocean the bulb of water relaxes, falling back towards the North and South Poles causing what we know as tides.

Tides we perceive as going in and out, are actually flowing towards and away from the equator plus or minus seasonal variation. This means tides often run north and south or up and down coastlines. In the case of many continents there are eastern and western seaboards. On the eastern seaboard of Australia, the tide in combination with the currents is so strong, that over 2 billion tonnes of sand is moved 2 metres per year from the southern coast to the tip of Cape York. This massive force is shaping the land mass and slowly migrating Australia in a northerly direction at approximately 2 cm per year.

So, to harness a fraction of this energy would outstrip that generated by solar and wind combined. The pure force of the medium of water is thousands of times greater than that of the wind and millions of times greater than the photons flowing through our atmosphere. It is no wonder that over 300 projects have previously tried to tap into the power of waves and tide. Sadly, many fail as they are often reproductions of a previous idea. So much so that they can be easily categorised into the following: Blowers: systems that use waves to turn ocean energy into wind energy to blow through a turbine; Attenuators: systems that are strung together and use the waves force to bend and therefore push energy in the form of hydraulic oils or similar through a generator; Turbines: basically underwater windmills that are inefficient, expensive to manufacture, install and maintain.

Manta Module™ is different. Built using 21^st century technology, it puts a real ‘spin’ on things, harnessing power from a jet stream of water concentrated by its proprietary body. Its ability to generate power is far greater than any of the aforementioned systems. This was only half the battle though: any fully submerged device has to deal with drag that works against it. This problem was not so simple for the inventor of Manta Module™ to overcome, and an ingenious solution was required.

The answer lies in a unique, proprietary design that cuts that drag and significantly increases output. The details are being protected and are shared with investors under NDA.

We can at last solve one of mankind’s most challenging needs, ‘How to get power from the tide’. Finally, there is something that solves one of the greatest issues with modern day green energy production, which is, what happens when the wind stops blowing and the sun stops shining? It is one of the final remaining arguments used by the fossil fuel industry to power their current relevance to industry. There is no doubt we will need a fossil fuel industry for years to come, coal alone is used to make thousands of products from plastics to medicines and paints to motors. So, let us use them sparingly where they are really needed and power our everyday demand for electricity with green energy.

Which child would have stared up at the Moon at night and thought, that one day, this great shining neighbour of ours, beaming in the nights sky, would be powering a good portion of our planet’s energy needs?