IIT Madras working on tech to produce power from estuaries

NEW DELHI: Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras are working on 'osmotic power' which is the energy available from the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water. Professor Vishal Nandigana and his team of researchers at the IIT Madras Laboratory are working on this alternate source of energy, also known as ‘blue energy.’

“Osmotic power generation is, as name suggests, based on the osmotic pressure that is generated when a semipermeable membrane separates salt water from fresh water. This pressure can be converted into electricity,” Nandigana said. “The benefit of osmotic power generation is that estuaries in which sea water and the fresh water rivers meet can be used to generate power.”

The IIT Madras team is trying to first produce membranes in the scale of square centimetres rather than square micrometres that are currently possible, with future plans to increase size further. This is based on the calculation that a single membrane, roughly 1 square meter wide would generate enough power to light up 50,000 energy-saving light bulbs, the institute shared in a release.