# Red Sea Dam



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

Africa & Middle East - The Red Sea is a long, relatively narrow body of water, running between the Mediterranian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It passes by several countries, like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti. It pumps a huge volume of water out into the Gulf of Aden, near Somalia and Yemen, through a fairly narrow outlet. And scientists looking at this natural form of renewable energy would very much like to put a dam up and capture its massive potential.


Scientists believe that 50 Gigawatts of electrical power could be extracted, helping to quell tensions related to regional oil supplies. Detractors suggest that it could cause untold devastation and displace countless [millions] of people from their homes. The idea is gaining momentum though, as scientists have published information about the costs and benefits in the International Journal of Global Environmental Issues of what is quite probably the most ambitious, attainable engineering project ever conceived of by man.

According to the researcher proponents, "[such a project] will also provide enormous reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as well as offering a viable, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for future generations. The ethical and environmental dilemmas are on an international scale, while the impact on ecology, tourism, fisheries, transport and other areas could have effects globally."


Big divide
The narrowest part of the Red Sea's opening into the Gulf of Aden, and eventually the Indian Ocean, is approximately 18 miles across. There is an island block which would make the largest span about 10 miles. If the engineering issues were resolved, and the dam could be constructed, then all of the water currently passing through the nearly 20 mile opening would be funneled through huge hydroelectric generators, producing the continuous 50 Gigawatts of electrical energy.


How much power?
To put the 50 Gigawatt number into scale, the Palo Verde nuclear power plant, the largest in the United States, generates 3.2 Gigawatts. The largest hydroelectric dam in the world is the Itaipu Dam in Paraguay/Brazil. It generates 12.6 Gigwatts, with a theoretical max of 14 Gigawatts. The Three Gorges Dam in China will be completed in 2009, and displaced 1.2 million people. Today it generates 13.4 Gigawatts, and will generate 22.5 Gigawatts when completed and fully operational in 2011. The Guri Dam in Venezuela was completed in 1986. It generates 10.2 Gigawatts. In the United States, the Ground Coulee dam, completed in 1942, refit in 1980, is the largest, generating 6.8 Gigawatts. Niagara Falls generates a relatively small 2.5 Gigwatts, consuming 90% of the water which used to flow over the falls.


Warnings
From the press release: The researchers point out that the precautionary principle cannot be applied in making a decision regarding the damming of the Red Sea. "If the countries around the Red Sea decide in favor of the macro-project, it is their responsibility to limit the negative consequences as much as possible," they conclude.


Author's opinion
I've always been a big fan of dams. When I was a boy there was a woods near the house I grew up in. Me and my mates would spend countless hours out there trying to outdo the local beavers, building small dams in the four-foot wide creek that ran through. Sticks, logs, mud. It was so much fun, though we were never to get the water level up more than a few inches. In truth, such projects taught me a lot about science, and without me even knowing it.

Hydroelectric projects like these have a long history of success, proving that the effort is worth the return. They are also of such a massive scope that how anyone can wrap their minds around it is beyond me. We're talking more than 15 years to build the Three Gorges Dam in China, and likely more than 25 years for this one. And those are really amazing timescales if you consider the fact we're using wholly modern equipment.

Such a project would be a significant, ongoing effort for the governments in that region. The end result will be a totally clean, inexpensive, renewable energy resource. And, in my opinion, it will allow for benefits that can't even be envisioned today. Who can speak about the possible medical cure which might come from the mind of someone in that region who had proper schooling, proper access to online materials, or whatever, just by having affordable, abundant electricty. There is so much possible when we look at these kinds of energy sources.


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

anybody know anything else about this project?


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)




----------



## Gil (Mar 11, 2005)

How would the dam affect shipping lanes through the Red Sea? Sealing off the one end would make the Suez Canal next to useless. Plus, the area is prone to seismic instability. On the plus side, the talk of a bridge at the same location could be piggybacked on top of the same project.

I don't know, given it's geographic position, how much rainfall/water there is to continually replenish the dam. On the matter of the Suez canal, how would the subsequent flooding (if any at all) affect it? Also, as the Suez Canal has no locks, water would be free to flow out from that end of the Red Sea. How high would the dam need to be in order to generate electricity, as both the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean are both at sea level? The Red Sea is more of an arm of the Indian Ocean, as such, electricity generated from tidal forces may be more appropriate at this location.


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

The Dam would lower the Red Sea and water would be let into the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean creating the electricity. Also, you can look at the Three Gorges Dam for details. One, the Three Gorges is a seismic area and a canal was part of the project. You could build another canal into the Indian Ocean by the dam.


----------



## Gil (Mar 11, 2005)

First, how do you lower the level of the Red Sea? Letting it drain out of the Suez Canal will not help as it is at sea level, along with the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Locks would need to be installed on the Suez to prevent water from freely rushing in. Water would still get in from ships in transit through the canal.

Second, you want to build a canal that will hold back an ocean? This isn't the Netherlands where it is a necessity. There have been other concepts like this that are still waiting to get off the ground. There was a proposal to dam James Bay in Canada's North. The water would flow into Hudson's Bay and in the process James Bay would become a freshwater body.


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

Blocking the Red Sea will stop water coming in and the water there would evaporate.


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

any more opinions?


----------



## TooFar (Apr 6, 2004)

No, don't do it.

Great scuba diving in the Red Sea.


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

I like the idea because the Middle East and Africa needs more power, and this would be clean energy.


----------



## Epi (Jul 21, 2006)

Why don't middle eastern countries use solar? They are in the desert and there's lots of empty land. Do the sandstorms make it impractical?


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

I would like to see the cities like Dubai and Tel Aviv put panels on all of there buildings. They have so much oil supply, the main problem is that the poorer countries can't afford to create facilities, I guess


----------



## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Would this be built on the Bab-el-Mandeb?

Anyway, this would be a really, really expensive project. But, this project, with the bridge proposal can do wonders for this very poor region.


----------



## Mr. Met (Jan 9, 2008)

That is why I want it to be built.


----------



## Frank IBC (Jan 14, 2008)

I don't see how the Red Sea is capable of "pumping a huge volume of water out into the Gulf of Aden". Not only is it at sea level, like the Gulf of Aden (as well as the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean beyond) but it has no significant rivers emptying into it, as it has the Sahara on the west side and the Arabian Desert on the east side. Perhaps you are referring to the tides that wash back and forth through the Strait of Aden?

Mr. Met - Dubai has plenty of oil. However Israel has little or no oil.

While hydropower creates no air pollution, it is quite destructive ecologically. And a collapsed dam can cause catastrophic destruction. Another weakness of hydropower is that is at times difficult to maintain a consistent speed for the turbines turning the generators, and this results in variance from the standard AC frequencies of 50 or 60 Hz.


----------

