In every word in the Qur’an there is a miracle, in this article we will study the word “exploited “which means offering a service for no return,…
In the Qur’an there are many signs for many discoveries but first we have to think and concentrate in words of Allah, as He almighty had exploited and offered us many services for no return such as: the sun which offers heat, light and recently the generation of electric energy.
Also Allah had exploited the sea with its different blessings as one of these blessings is to get free benefits from the surface waves and the internal waves of the seas.
From where do these waves come?
Because of the difference in temperature on earth, we find differences in pressure and density from point to another as these differences cause the winds. These winds cause the movement of water on the surface of seas to form waves which moves toward the shore, one advantage of these waves is carrying amount of kinetic energy during its movement from middle of the sea to the shore.
Energy of the surface waves
Today, scientists of energy get benefits from sea waves, as they put special tools on the surface of water, when the waves start to raise and drop these tools, a mechanical motion is generated which produce an electric energy, this energy can be transformed through wires to get benefits from it. [1]
In 1799 monsieur Girard, a French man and his son were the first people to use waves to generate energy.
Energy of the internal waves
In Britain, they are getting benefits from under sea currents which are resulted from tide waves. This source of energy is considered to be clean and safe source of power. The used technique is by fixing Propellers or turbines under the sea, and then the movement of tide waves is transformed to a mechanical energy.
A new idea is to fixing Propellers or turbines under the sea to generate electrical energy [2]
Scientists believe that this source is better than winds energy because movement of waves are regular so it can be studied well, also its volume and power can be expected which enable better design for turbines. [3]
The propeller’s diameter is 20 meters and it can be fixed up to 30 meters undersea.
In 2001the consumed amount of electric energy by different methods in Britain are as the following:
- The electrical energy from renewable sources is 2%.
- The electrical energy from coal is 33%.
- The electrical energy from natural gas is 37%.
- The nuclear electrical energy is 22%.
Tide which is executed by the moon on the sea is a free blessing from God be He blessed and exalted, He says: (Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth and sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth fruits as provision for you; and He has made the ships to be of service to you, that they may sail through the sea by His Command; and He has made rivers (also) to be of service to you* And He has made the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses, to be of service to you; and He has made the night and the day, to be of service to you.* And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. Verily, man is indeed an extreme wrong-doer, a disbeliever (an extreme ingrate who denies Allah’s Blessings by disbelief and by worshipping others besides Allah, and by disobeying Allah and His Prophet Muhammad) (Sûrat Ibrâhîm- verse 32-34).
It is great verses which tell us about the blessings of Allah. The ebb and flow is one of these blessings that Allah almighty had exploited to man by His infinite power without any effort by that man, God says: (Allah, it is He Who has subjected to you the sea, that ships may sail through it by His Command, and that you may seek of His Bounty, and that you may be thankful.)(Sûrat Al-Jâthiyah- verse12).
Here we have to understand the meaning of the word “Subjected” as it means doing a work without a reward” free of charge”. [4]
Today, the scientists are trying to benefit from the huge and free energy of sea waves which was exploited by God [5] God be He exalted says: (And He it is who has subjected the sea (to you), that you eat thereof fresh tender meat (i.e. fish), and that you bring forth out of it ornaments to wear. And you see the ships ploughing through it, that you may seek (thus) of His Bounty and that you may be grateful.)(Sûrat An-Nahl-verse 14).
Future of that new source
- This source of energy is safe and without dangers.
- The energy of sea waves is larger than the energy of winds.
- The energy of sea waves is permanent (24 /7 all the year) but the solar energy is only available in day and energy of winds is not constant.
- The resulting electricity by power of wavers is more stable [6].
The question, isn’t a great grace from God who subjected these waves to offer a free of charge services? God says: (Allah, it is He who has subjected to you the sea).
The produced energy by waves depends on its length, height, speed and density of water.
Researchers say that: a wave with a height of 15 meter and its time is 15 second can generates 1700 kilowatt for each square meter [7] . Also they say that the energy of waves is more than the energy of ebb and flow.
The resulted energy from difference in temperature
God be He exalted had created temperature on sea surface to be high because of the sun but it is low in the deep , that difference can be used to generate electric energy.
In 1929, George Claude a French engineer had invented an electric generation unit which produced 22 KW by utilizing the difference in temperature between sea surface and a specific deep. [8]
Researchers tell us that it is an old fashion technique but scientists are working hard to make a touched progress.
The generated energy from the sea is one of the best kinds of natural energy, it is clean, safe and it will not deplete also it is a free grace from Allah almighty, Do we thank Allah for His graces?
The energy from currents in oceans
Oceans cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface, making them the world’s largest solar collectors, so that oceans are considered to be the largest power house on earth. But, what is ocean current energy?
The massive oceanic surface currents of the world are untapped reservoirs of energy. Their total energy flux has been estimated at 2.8 ¥ 1014 (280 trillion) watt-hours. Because of their link to winds and surface heating processes, the ocean currents are considered as indirect sources of solar energy.
These currents exist under the sea surface as there are currents till the deepest point in the sea. [9].
One of the primary advantages of this technology is the energy density. While solar and wind systems are well-suited for remote off grid locations, ocean energy is ideal for large-scale developments in the multiple gigawatt range. Sea water is 832 times as dense as air, providing a 5 knot ocean current with more kinetic energy than a 350 km/h wind.
According to Devon Girard (an expert with Blue Energy and ocean energy developer) the blue energy Power System acts as a series of underwater windmills exposed to daily hurricane forces. The tremendous volume and density of ocean currents allows that technology to satisfy large electricity demands efficiently. Ocean currents are one of the largest untapped renewable energy resources on the planet. Preliminary surveys show a global potential of over 450,000 MW, representing a market of more than US$550 billion.
Here, we have to mention that the Qur’an had preceded scientists to talk about the deep currents in seas which the Qur’an called “waves”, God says: (Or [the state of a disbeliever] is like the darkness in a vast deep sea, overwhelmed with waves topped by waves, topped by dark clouds, (layers of) darkness upon darkness: if a man stretches out his hand, he can hard see it! And he for whom Allah has not appointed light, for him there is no light.)(Sûrat an-Nûr – verse 40).
The blue energy
Blue energy is the retrieved energy from the difference in salt concentration between seawater and river water. This byproduct is the result of natural forces that are being harnessed: the flow of fresh water into seas that are made up of salt water. That energy can be used in electric generating. [10], God says: (He has made rivers (also) to be of service to you) (Sûrat Ibrâhîm- verse 32).
Also, Allah almighty says: (Allah, it is He who has subjected to you the sea, that ships may sail through it by His Command, and that you may seek of His Bounty, and that you may be thankful.)(Sûrat Al-Jâthiyah- verse 12), in this verse there is a nice sign that Allah had subjected the sea for us to get benefits from it.
Hence today, we find the scientists are working to generate electric energy from sea waves, offshore wind and inner currents [11].
After all of the above we have to say: (Glory to Him who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts)* and verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return!) (Sûrat Az-Zukhruf- verse 13-14).
——————–
By: Abduldaem Al-Kaheel
References:
[1] Wave power ,www.wikipedia.org.
[2] Gayle Ehrenman, current from currents, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2003.
[3] Paul Brown, Electricity from under the sea, Guardian Newspapers, 2005.
[4] القاموس المحيط: ص 600 دار المعرفة، بيروت 2005
[5] Tom Heath, Realities of Wave Technology.
[6] Wave Energy, www.oceanenergycouncil.com.
[7] Wave power,www.wikipedia.org.
[8] Ocean Thermocline Technical, www.oceanenergycouncil.com.
[9] David Schneider, Seeking renewable energy sources under the sea, American scientist, January-February 2003 .
[10] Blue energy, http://en.wikipedia.org/
[11] Realities of Wave Technology, Tom Heath BSc,PhD,M.I.Mech.E C.Eng – Wavegen.
