A bright yellow turbine resembling a 15-foot roll of Scotch tape was dropped into the gushing waterway near Yakima, Wash., in March to generate cheap, renewable electricity while emitting no emissions.
The experimental hydrokinetic turbine is an archetype of an emerging technology that could quickly become commonplace in the canals that crisscross great swaths of continents.
“There are huge regions of the world that are irrigated, where they have built these highways of water,” said Burt Hamner, founder and CEO of Seattle-based startup company Hydrovolts, which invented and manufactured the prototype turbine. He expects the devices, capable of powering several homes, to sell for $20,000 apiece once they hit the market within the next couple of years. “We’ve found a way to make a little power off it without any environmental impact.”
