GULF SHORES, Ala. — As John Bays launched his energy saving contraption into the Intracoastal Waterway, Lulu’s wind turbine spun rapidly in the background.

It seems everyone on Pleasure Island is following the trend to go “green”. But John Bays may be leading the pack with his idea to use the tide to power his house.

“I noticed, from fishing, when the current is really strong it’s hard to hold your boat,” John Bays said. “The current creates a lot of pressure and a lot of power.”

He said from there it was just common sense that led him to build a 15-foot radius hydro-electric paddle wheel.

“Solar and wind aren’t constant,” John Bays said. “Water is 700 times more dense than air and this tidal is a sure thing, twice a day every day.”

Three months ago he started building the paddle wheel. He bought an old pontoon boat and reused its pieces to create the device. He said 95 percent of it is recycled material. It is made of mostly aluminum and fiberglass, which won’t rust. There are only two bearings, he said, that will have to be replaced in the next five to eight years.

He put 1,000 hours of work in to it, spending 10 to 12 hours a day building. Once owner of a international starter and alternator business, John Bays has a knack for mechanics.

Wife Linda Bays said the idea for the paddle wheel was in her husband’s head and he cultivated the plan on his own figuring.

An Internet search of a hydro-eclectic paddle wheel returned no evidence of its utilization. The closest use is dams using water pressure to produce electricity, but John Bays said that isn’t completely eco-friendly and it kills fish.

On April 8, John Bays put his hard work to the test. A crowd of interested bystanders gathered as he and his crew of helpers launched the paddle wheel and towed it up stream to his home on West Canal Drive.

The wheel will be attached to his pier and will spin as the current pushes its paddles. The energy will be transported to a generator, which will in turn create power for the Bays’ 11,000-square-foot residence. The generator is also eco-friendly because, according to Bays, it will create ozone.

“My goal is to never have to pay another light bill,” John Bays said.

About $6,000 has gone into building the paddle wheel, and John Bays said there should be only a two year pay-off in saved electric bills.

“That’s versus the 48 to 150 year pay-off with wind and solar,” he said. “I want to prove this tidal Venturi wave is going to be the wave of the future. There’s enough tide in the Gulf of Mexico to supply the whole U.S. with electricity.”