New Wave Power Research Rising Off Oregon Coast

necro81 writes "A prototype buoy has been launched off the Oregon coast to try generating electrical power from the ever-present waves. The OSU device works like a giant shake-up flashlight. It is one of several competing designs to take advantage of a potential clean energy goldmine. It will be years before substantial power is contributed to the grid, but several companies have received permits to develop test platforms. The New York Times has an article that surveys the current outlook for wave energy, which it compares to wind energy's prospects back in the 1980s. Concerns about impacts to wildlife and fishing remain to be answered."

Laws of Physics

[charlievarrick]

When wave energy hits a breakwater the energy is dispersed and reflected back into the medium (the ocean). If it hits a a generator it is absorbed and converted into electrical energy. Something like this is taking energy out of a closed system which will have effects. How much? depends on how much energy you take out.

Anticipated in 1932 SF novel!

[StefanJ]

Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" is a mind-boggling future history. Very dated and politically/ideologically goofy in its early parts, then increasingly way-out as humanity nearly dies out, evolves, nearly dies out again, moves to a terraformed Venus . . . and so on, until the 17th and final human species dies out on Neptune 2 billions years from now.

While racing through the history of the cat-like "Third Men," Stapledon notes that one civilization uses tidal power to such an extent that the orbit of the moon is slightly altered!

Re:Wave and Tidal...

[flyingfsck]

The problem is synchronizing the generated energy with the grid. Power electronics have now advanced to the point where it is possible to generate power any which way and then convert it electronically to suit the grid. This was not possible before. Consequently the new designs for wave power generation can be much simpler than they would have needed to be in order to maintain synchronization mechanically. For example, these tethered buoys will generate AC at the same frequency as the waves, which is a very low frequency and also somewhat erratic. The only way to hook that to the grid, is through expensive electronic conversion, but irrespective of the cost, this simply wasn't possible until about 20 years ago.

Re:Wave and Tidal...

[Ex-MislTech]

It has been estimated by scientists that more water flows in and out of the bay of fundy
every 12.4 hrs than all the rivers in the world.

If true, it would be more than enough to power all of North America by itself with
passive underwater Aquanators.( underwater Venturi focused turbines )

230 billion tonnes of water per day.

That is some serious generating capacity.

Re:Laws of Physics

[zenkonami]

Couldn't the same be said about all the wind turbines we're setting up stopping/slowing the wind?

Unfortunately it often is. I wonder if the same people who worry so much about the potential damage of these suggested solutions have considered that we do not exist in a static environment, and that we are a part of that environment. We affect the system and the system affects us because we are a component of the system.

I wonder how we are negatively affecting the system by eating animals / plants?
Irrigation seems to remove water from somewhere else...is agriculture worth it?
Yes, but capturing solar energy is no free lunch! The panels still come from somewhere

Look, it's all true. Any one thing is a trade off for another. In our current circumstance I don't think we're in too poor a shape if we give some of these alternative solutions a try. The alternative to that is to twiddle our thumbs waiting for the "perfect" solution (perpetual motion? zero-point energy?) that may never come.

I think it's time to stop throwing all our eggs in one basket anyway. A decent distribution of solutions is probably safer than seeking the ultimate, one-size-fits-all answer. Nature has understood diversification for millennia. Maybe we should take some notes.

Re:Laws of Physics

[WindBourne]

In fact, few countries have thrown their eggs in one basket, though some have bigger baskets than other. The French currently use 80% nukes. America uses 60% coal. China is currently using something like 90% coal. What I find funny is when ppl say that solar or wind will handle 100% of our needs. The fact that somebody would consider that is incredible. I would like to see America (and any nation) get to the point where the most that they have from one arena is 50%. Why? Because it will force that nation to take a political stance on the item if future concerns come up. For example, USA back in the 60's, was under fire for the pollutants coming from coal. So, we cleaned it up; kind of. We still have large mercury being spread. Now, we have to worry about CO2. If coal accounted for say 10-20% of the matrix, then we would slowly wipe it out.

China now has 5x the plants that America had back in the 60's, far worse coal, and they have not been willing to clean them up, not even simple scrubbers. Why? because it would mean less ability to compete (though that is total crap; a price will be paid one way or another). If nations had no more than 50% dependency on any one type of power, then if a future issue is found, they will typically clean it up. China is looking to go nukes, but they want all the tech. transfered to them for free so that they can manufacture it themselves as well as compete.

Re:Actually not.

[hador_nyc]

It is a closed system. Just a lot more complex than you think. Most tsunami energy is refracted around islands but those that visibly hit beaches are reflected back. The wave is less coherent but is still there. The major cause of loss of energy in large open ocean waves is the friction of water and air molecules.

There's a difference in perspective here. Your perspective is looking at the wave on the macro ocean scale. The people you're arguing with, and the people building this energy plant, are looking at it on a smaller scale. The fact is that they are looking to take some of the energy that is removed from the system by the shoreline, and convert that to electricity. Considering how much energy is in the ocean, and how much is added from solar/tidal forces, I can't believe taking even gigawatts would have any effect on the macro scale at all. Besides, if global warming is going to add energy to the oceans, then this would be a way to take some out that we added, right?