This starting to feel like Christmas:

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/hydrokinetic.html

 Nation’s First ‘Underwater Wind Turbine’ Installed in Old Man River

By Alexis Madrigal December 22, 2008

The nation’s first commercial hydrokinetic turbine, which harnesses the power from moving water without the construction of a dam, has splashed into the waters of the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota. The 35-kilowatt turbine is positioned downstream from an existing hydroelectric-plant dam and — together with another turbine to be installed soon — will increase the capacity of the plant by more than 5 percent. The numbers aren’t big, but the rig’s installation could be the start of an important trend in green energy.And that could mean more of these “wind turbines for the water” will be generating clean energy soon.“We don’t require that massive dam construction, we’re just using the natural flow of the stream,” said Mark Stover, a vice president at Hydro Green Energy, the Houston-based company leading the project. “It’s underwater windpower if you will, but we have 840 or 850 times the energy density of wind.”Hydrokinetic turbines like those produced by Hydro Green and Verdant capture the mechanical energy of the water’s flow and turn it into energy, without need for a dam. The problem for companies like Hydro Green is that their relatively low-impact turbines are forced into the same regulatory bucket as huge hydroelectric dams. The regulatory hurdles have made it difficult to actually get water flowing through projects.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has oversight of all projects that involve making power from water, and the agency has recently shown signs of easing up on this new industry. In the meantime, the first places where hydrokinetic power makes in impact could be at existing dam sites where the regulatory red tape has already been cut.

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 Another approach by Verdant:

http://www.verdantpower.com/

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And yet another approach:

http://www.hydrovolts.com/Main%20Pages/Hydrokinetic%20Turbines.htm

State of River Energy Technology”

Jahangir Khan, Powertech Labs, British Columbia, Canada.  2006.Based on the available formal literature, the very first example of river turbine that was developed and field tested is attributed to Peter Garman. An initiative by the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in 1978 resulted in the so-called Garman Turbine specifically meant for water pumping and irrigation. Within a period of four years, a total of nine prototypes were built and tested in Juba, Sudan on the White Nile totaling 15, 500 running hours. Experience gained during this venture indicated favorable technical and economical outcome. Initial designs had a floating pontoon with completely submerged vertical axis turbine, moored to a post on the bank. Later designs consisted of an inclined horizontal axis turbine with almost similar floatation and mooring system. Detailed investigation on a low cost water pumping unit indicated 7% overall efficiency and concluded with emphasis on societal and cost issues. More recent commercial ventures resulting from this work are being pursued by Thropton Energy Services, Marlec Engineering Co. Ltd. , and CADDET Center for Renewable Energy.

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