What is Osmotic Power? Osmotic power (also called salinity gradient power or blue energy) is a renewable energy technology that generates electricity from the difference in salt concentration between two bodies of water – typically seawater (salty) and freshwater (river water). When these two waters meet, a natural osmotic process wants to equalize the salt concentrations, and we can harvest the energy released during that mixing. There are two main technologies: Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) – the most developed and commercially tested method Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) – uses ion-exchange membranes to produce electricity directly Principle of Osmotic Power How Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) Works Freshwater is pumped into a chamber separated from seawater by a semi-permeable membrane. The membrane lets water molecules pass but blocks salt ions. Because seawater has higher salinity, water naturally flows from the fresh side to the salty side (osmosis), increasing pressure...
Energy Technology publishes articles covering all technical aspects of the energy process, e.g. new concepts of energy generation and conversion.