Tulane University has just won a $3 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to build RiverSphere, a renewable energy center that will focus on developing new hydrokinetic turbines. The project includes floating barge facilities that will be available to private technology companies for testing prototype hydrokinetic turbines in the slow moving currents of the Mississippi.
Hydrokinetic turbines are emerging as a more sustainable way to draw power from water, compared to conventional hydropower which involves building dams to create intense water pressure. Hydrokinetic turbines can operate on the available current in natural waterways as well as canals and other manmade streams, and they can be tethered in place with minimal disruption of the surrounding environment.