By building a power plant deep beneath the ocean, researchers hope to generate energy by harnessing the pressure of the ocean water. The plan would involve placing large tanks in the water at depths between 1300 and 2600 feet. Valves on the tanks would allow them to be opened, exposing the connected turbines to the pressure of the water as it rushes into the tanks. When full, the turbines could pump the water to the surface as saved as a sort of battery, a method known as 'pumped...

The skies will get a bit safer for birds with the wind turbine, which will use no blades at all. The turbine will capture up to 80 percent of the wind's kinetic energy (current turbines only capture about 30 percent). Instead of spinning blades, the wind will be harnessed by a sail that will move in a non-rotational back and forth motion. The motion will then be converted to a hydraulic pressure that can either be stored or instantly converted to electricity via a hydraulic motor...

By building wind turbine towers from concrete instead of steel, the top height of a turbine column could be increased by 20 meters. To determine if concrete would be a viable replacement for steel, hydraulic equipment was used to test the load-bearing capabilities of three column-and-panel segments connected in different ways. All three versions were able to withstand 150,000 pounds of lateral load, with is 20 percent more than the maximum load of current turbine columns of the...