Why Norway's Osmosis Power Plant Failed

Video Description

Check out Weathered and the PBS Earth Month Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkJuKLrxQ4c&list=PLnNZYWyBGJ1F8ofFm4H9UTrHxqU8zngK4&index=1 When seawater and freshwater mix, a surprising amount of energy is released. Norway tried to capture this energy using an osmotic power plant, but the plant mysteriously and abruptly shut down. Join George as he tries to figure out why using dialysis tubing, toilet parts, and a baby turbine. Producers: Andrew Sobey Elaine Seward Darren Weaver Writer: George Zaidan Hosts: George Zaidan Executive Producer: Matthew Radcliff Scientific Consultants: Brianne Raccor, Ph.D. Anthony Straub, Ph.D. Michelle Boucher, PhD Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Original Production Funding Provided by Anne Ray Foundation Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society. © 2025 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved. Sources: The physical basis of osmosis https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10457415/ Production of Electric Power by mixing Fresh and Salt Water in the Hydroelectric Pile | Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/174660a0 Salinity-gradient power: Evaluation of pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376738806007575 Pressure-retarded osmosis for power generation from salinity gradients: is it viable? https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/ee/c5ee02985f Norway's Osmotic Power A Salty Solution to the World's Energy Needs? https://www.waterworld.com/home/article/16201793/norways-osmotic-power-a-salty-solution-to-the-worlds-energy-needs Five popular misconceptions about osmosis https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/article-abstract/80/8/694/1057545/Five-popular-misconceptions-about-osmosis Biological-Physics-Energy--Information--Life.pdf https://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/conteudo_thumb/Biological-Physics-Energy--Information--Life.pdf Proper NPT Threads Installation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlSrX7rbCH4 24393943-MIT.pdf https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/29859/24393943-MIT.pdf What drives osmosis? https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00701005 Energy generation from mixing salt water and fresh water: smart flow strategies for reverse electrodialysis https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/energy-generation-from-mixing-salt-water-and-fresh-water-smart-fl Derivation of the Theoretical Minimum Energy of Separation of Desalination Processes https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c01194 Simple Candy Osmosis Experiment https://www.thoughtco.com/simple-candy-osmosis-experiment-609190 Nature of Solvent Transfer in Osmosis https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.126.3267.252 Experimental Study of the Independence of Diffusion and Hydrodynamic Permeability Coefficients in Collodion Membranes | Journal of General Physiology https://rupress.org/jgp/article-abstract/43/3/523/31599/Experimental-Study-of-the-Independence-of Biological-Physics-Energy--Information--Life.pdf https://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/conteudo_thumb/Biological-Physics-Energy--Information--Life.pdf Recent development in salinity gradient power https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1282847 Thermodynamic and Energy Efficiency Analysis of Power Generation from Natural Salinity Gradients by Pressure Retarded Osmosis https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es300060m THE ENTRANCE OF WATER INTO BEEF AND DOG RED CELLS https://rupress.org/jgp/article-abstract/42/2/355/12665/THE-ENTRANCE-OF-WATER-INTO-BEEF-AND-DOG-RED-CELLS Polymeric Membranes for Medical Applications https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cite.200306149 The world's first osmotic power plant from Statkraft https://web.archive.org/web/20110812024125/http://www.gizmag.com/statkraft-osmotic-power/13451/ Is PRO economically feasible? Not according to Statkraft https://www.forwardosmosistech.com/statkraft-discontinues-investments-in-pressure-retarded-osmosis-2/ Commercial Pressure Retarded Osmosis Systems for Seawater Desalination Plants https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7835981/ Statkraft halts osmotic power investments https://www.statkraft.com/newsroom/news-and-stories/2013/Statkraft-halts-osmotic-power-investments/ Theoretical and Experimental Investigations of the Potential of Osmotic Energy for Power Production https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/4/3/447 River-to-sea pressure retarded osmosis: Resource utilization in a full-scale facility https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0011916416300091 Osmotic power - Statkraft https://www.youtu.be/watch?v=u5VBIYNBaDk Producing Emission-Free Energy https://www.youtu.be/watch?v=IePkoGQGCQw Levelized Cost of Energy: https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/levelized-cost-of-energyplus/