IIT Madras Working on Blue Energy, Aims to Convert Estuaries Into Eco-Friendly Energy Source 

Joining the quest for eco-friendly alternatives to produce energy, a team of researchers from the IIT-Madras are now working on ‘Osmotic Power’ dubbed as ‘blue energy’, reports NDTV.

Osmotic power, salinity gradient power or blue energy is the energy available from the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water.

Assistant Professor Dr Vishal Nandigana, who is leading the team, said, “Osmotic power generation is based on the osmotic pressure that is generated when a semipermeable membrane separates saltwater from freshwater. This pressure can be converted into electricity.”

The team is targeting the estuaries where the freshwater rivers meet the saline seawater to generate osmotic power. The surface charge density due to the pores in the extremely thin layered molybdenum disulphide membrane helps in the power conversion.

The IIT-M is currently working to augment the scalability of the membranes it produces. The current technology can produce membranes in the tune of square micrometres. Dr Nandigana and his team is working to augment this to square centimetres, with plans to increase the size further.

A square metre wide membrane could generate enough power to lit up 50,000 LED bulbs.