Wave Energy Projects Have Come a Long Way After 10 Years (eurekalert.org) 44
They offer "a self-sustaining power solution for marine regions," according to a newly published 41-page review after "pioneering use in wave energy harvesting in 2014". Ten years later, researchers have developed several structures for these "triboelectric nanogenerators" (TENGs) to "facilitate their commercial deployment." But there's a lack of "comprehensive summaries and performance evaluations".
So the review "distills a decade of blue-energy research into six design pillars" for next-generation technology, writes EurekaAlert, which points the way "to self-powered ocean grids, distributed marine IoT, and even hydrogen harvested from the sea itself..." By "translating chaotic ocean motion into deterministic electron flow," the team "turns every swell, gust and glint of sunlight into dispatchable power — ushering in an era where the sea itself becomes a silent, self-replenishing power plant."
Some insights: - Multilayer stacks, origami folds and magnetic-levitation frames push volumetric power density...three orders of magnitude above first-generation prototypes.
- Frequency-complementary couplings of TENG, EMG and PENG create full-spectrum harvesters that deliver 117 % power-conversion efficiency in real waves.
- Pendulum, gear and magnetic-multiplier mechanisms translate chaotic 0.1-2 Hz swells into stable high-frequency oscillations, multiplying average power 14-fold.
- Resonance-tuned structures now span 0.01-5 Hz, locking onto shifting wave spectra across seasons and sea states.
- Spherical, dodecahedral and tensegrity architectures harvest six-degree-of-freedom motion, eliminating orientational blind spots.
- Single devices co-harvest wave, wind and solar inputs, powering self-charging buoys that cut battery replacement to zero...
Another new wave energy project is moving forward, according to the blog Renewable Energy World: Eco Wave Power, an onshore wave energy technology company, announced that its U.S. pilot project at the Port of Los Angeles has successfully completed operational testing and achieved a new milestone: the lowering of its floaters into the water for the first time. The moment, broadcast live by Good Morning America, follows the finalization of all installation works at the project site, including full installation of all wave energy floaters; connection of hydraulic pipes and supporting infrastructure; and placement of the onshore energy conversion unit.
With installation completed, Eco Wave Power has now officially entered the operational phase of its U.S. excursion... [Inna Braverman, founder and CEO of Eco Wave Power] said "This pilot station is a vital step in demonstrating how wave energy can be harnessed using existing marine infrastructure, while laying the groundwork for full-scale commercialization in the United States...." Eco Wave Power's patented onshore wave energy system attaches floaters to existing marine structures. The up-and-down motion of the waves drives hydraulic cylinders, which send pressurized fluid to a land-based energy conversion unit that generates electricity... The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that wave energy has the potential to generate over 1,400 terawatt-hours per year — enough to power approximately 130 million homes.
Eco Wave Power's 404.7 MW global project pipeline also includes upcoming operational sites in Taiwan, India, and Portugal, alongside its grid-connected station in Israel.
Long-time Slashdot reader PongoX11 also brings word of a company building a "simple" floating rig to turn wave motion into electricity, calling it "a steel can that moves water around" and wondering if "This one might work!"
The news site TechEBlog points out that "Unlike old-school wave energy systems with clunky mechanical parts, Ocean-2 rocks a modular, flexible setup that rolls with the ocean's flow." At about 10 meters wide [30 feet wide. and 260 feet long!], it is made from materials designed to (hopefully) withstand the ocean's abuse, over some maintenance cycle. It's designed for deep ocean, so solving this technically is the first big challenge. Figuring out how to use/monetize all that cheap energy out in the middle of nowhere will be the next.
"Ocean-2 works with the ocean, not against it, so we can generate power without messing up marine life," said Panthalassa's CEO, Dr. Elena Martinez, according to TechEBlog: Tests in Puget Sound, done with Everett Ship Repair, showed it pumping out up to 50 kilowatts in decent conditions — enough juice for a small coastal town. "We're thinking big," Martinez said in a press release. "Ocean-2 is just the start, but we're already planning bigger arrays that could crank out gigawatts..." Looking forward, Panthalassa sees Ocean-2 as part of a massive wave energy network. By 2030, they're aiming to roll out arrays that could power whole coastal cities, cutting down on fossil fuel use.
So the review "distills a decade of blue-energy research into six design pillars" for next-generation technology, writes EurekaAlert, which points the way "to self-powered ocean grids, distributed marine IoT, and even hydrogen harvested from the sea itself..." By "translating chaotic ocean motion into deterministic electron flow," the team "turns every swell, gust and glint of sunlight into dispatchable power — ushering in an era where the sea itself becomes a silent, self-replenishing power plant."
Some insights: - Multilayer stacks, origami folds and magnetic-levitation frames push volumetric power density...three orders of magnitude above first-generation prototypes.
- Frequency-complementary couplings of TENG, EMG and PENG create full-spectrum harvesters that deliver 117 % power-conversion efficiency in real waves.
- Pendulum, gear and magnetic-multiplier mechanisms translate chaotic 0.1-2 Hz swells into stable high-frequency oscillations, multiplying average power 14-fold.
- Resonance-tuned structures now span 0.01-5 Hz, locking onto shifting wave spectra across seasons and sea states.
- Spherical, dodecahedral and tensegrity architectures harvest six-degree-of-freedom motion, eliminating orientational blind spots.
- Single devices co-harvest wave, wind and solar inputs, powering self-charging buoys that cut battery replacement to zero...
Another new wave energy project is moving forward, according to the blog Renewable Energy World: Eco Wave Power, an onshore wave energy technology company, announced that its U.S. pilot project at the Port of Los Angeles has successfully completed operational testing and achieved a new milestone: the lowering of its floaters into the water for the first time. The moment, broadcast live by Good Morning America, follows the finalization of all installation works at the project site, including full installation of all wave energy floaters; connection of hydraulic pipes and supporting infrastructure; and placement of the onshore energy conversion unit.
With installation completed, Eco Wave Power has now officially entered the operational phase of its U.S. excursion... [Inna Braverman, founder and CEO of Eco Wave Power] said "This pilot station is a vital step in demonstrating how wave energy can be harnessed using existing marine infrastructure, while laying the groundwork for full-scale commercialization in the United States...." Eco Wave Power's patented onshore wave energy system attaches floaters to existing marine structures. The up-and-down motion of the waves drives hydraulic cylinders, which send pressurized fluid to a land-based energy conversion unit that generates electricity... The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that wave energy has the potential to generate over 1,400 terawatt-hours per year — enough to power approximately 130 million homes.
Eco Wave Power's 404.7 MW global project pipeline also includes upcoming operational sites in Taiwan, India, and Portugal, alongside its grid-connected station in Israel.
Long-time Slashdot reader PongoX11 also brings word of a company building a "simple" floating rig to turn wave motion into electricity, calling it "a steel can that moves water around" and wondering if "This one might work!"
The news site TechEBlog points out that "Unlike old-school wave energy systems with clunky mechanical parts, Ocean-2 rocks a modular, flexible setup that rolls with the ocean's flow." At about 10 meters wide [30 feet wide. and 260 feet long!], it is made from materials designed to (hopefully) withstand the ocean's abuse, over some maintenance cycle. It's designed for deep ocean, so solving this technically is the first big challenge. Figuring out how to use/monetize all that cheap energy out in the middle of nowhere will be the next.
"Ocean-2 works with the ocean, not against it, so we can generate power without messing up marine life," said Panthalassa's CEO, Dr. Elena Martinez, according to TechEBlog: Tests in Puget Sound, done with Everett Ship Repair, showed it pumping out up to 50 kilowatts in decent conditions — enough juice for a small coastal town. "We're thinking big," Martinez said in a press release. "Ocean-2 is just the start, but we're already planning bigger arrays that could crank out gigawatts..." Looking forward, Panthalassa sees Ocean-2 as part of a massive wave energy network. By 2030, they're aiming to roll out arrays that could power whole coastal cities, cutting down on fossil fuel use.
Oh brother (Score:2)
Don't get me wrong - the tech is quite cool. But I hate stuff like this...
So instead of "clunky" mechanical parts, it now includes apparently non-clunky mechanical parts (plus other materials). Got
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The article is terrible, but the Ocean-2 prototype seems to use hydraulic action to spin a turbine. The turbine is technically "mechanical" but it's not really the same as other wave energy harvesters that use floats attached to levers and gears.
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It's a big eydropper shaped buoy. I couldn't find a diagram unfortunately, just text descriptions, but I surmise that the stick end is designed to poke down below the surface wave action and be filled with water. When the bulb falls into the trough of a wave water is pushed up the stick and the internal plumbing squishes it into a high speed jet. That jet is directed to turn a turbine.
One of the big problems with wave generators is how to efficiently make power with the oscillatory wave motion. You can use
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So many options for power (Score:4, Interesting)
I hope we continue figuring out how to make our vehicles and tools electric power, which would feed off renewable energy, improving our world.
We can further improve it by designing our living areas to be more centric to goods and service delivery for the people around them, and reducing our need to drive.
We saw during covid that the world improved rapidly when driving was down by a large amount (I dont know the actual amount), peoples pocket books increased as well.
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"Free speech" hiding behind temporary anonymity.
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4x more people work in Solar alone than coal. Wind is about double coal.
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Hillary literally had providing them support as part of her plan.
Even now, we're talking about using drillers to build geothermal instead of gas wells. Guess who *isn't* in favor of that?
At some point, these morons need to learn the hard way.
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We have a lot of options for power these days.
Indeed we do. The problem is while there's plenty of politicians promising research into these options they are not wanting to talk about developing options known to work. We need research, it's important we keep looking for new options. In the mean time though we need to develop what we have, as in building solution than just thinking and talking about them.
I'll believe people are taking energy seriously when there's new construction happening on a level seen during the 1970s petroleum embargoes. I gue
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There are plenty of mile markers being broken by these projects, and in many states. Texas was a leader back in 2018, California is doing really well, Arizona is doing very well, but places like West Virginia have repression, because the state government uses it as wedge issue. West Virgina has some great land for wind and
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U.S. solar manufacturing grows fourfold, thanks to Inflation Reduction Act [ratedpower.com]
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Democrats have championed clean energy and have supported research into nuclear.
Bullshit. For years Democrats tried to pretend nuclear power didn't exist. Go ahead, look up old Democrat party platform documents, search for the word "nuclear" in them. The word is there, but in reference to weapons, not to energy. How is that supporting research into nuclear power if they can't even name it as an option prior to being shamed into it by Andrew Yang in 2020?
Apparently, anything other than massive subsidies aren't enough for you.
Democrats are all about subsidies. Remember? Democrats wanted to fund "research" into nuclear power? Nobody was asking for mone
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Democrats have championed clean energy and have supported research into nuclear.
Sorry if reality doesn't line up with your politics. Never mind. I give up. You are hopeless. Keep palling up with denialists like Patrick Moore (although he's now died).
If you want to lower the cost of nuclear power then look at the permit process.
12 sites permitted in the UK. Still expensive. The NRC permits relatively easily. It's not permitting that's the issue. Try again.
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Never mind. I give up.
If you've given up then why post at all?
Keep palling up with denialists like Patrick Moore (although he's now died).
Patrick Moore is not my "pal" and I'm fairly certain is still alive. Are we thinking of the same Patrick Moore?
12 sites permitted in the UK. Still expensive.
And nuclear power will remain expensive until we have an experienced workforce. The same applied to solar PV power, did we let that stop us then?
The NRC permits relatively easily. It's not permitting that's the issue. Try again.
Would that be before or after the NRC got slapped about by POTUS for not doing their job?
https://www.whitehouse.gov/pre... [whitehouse.gov]
I expect the permit issue to be resolved shortly. After that will come the expensive proces
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There is massive building of new energy sources... In China.
It's very upsetting to some people. They were sure that transitioning to renewables would bankrupt the economy and the lights would go out.
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There is massive building of new energy sources... In China.
That includes at least two dozen nuclear power reactors currently under construction, each one rated for about one gigawatt of capacity.
It's very upsetting to some people.
True, especially when it's pointed out that China is investing heavily into nuclear fission for new electric generating capacity.
They were sure that transitioning to renewables would bankrupt the economy and the lights would go out.
Ask Germany how that's worked out for them. Here's a hint: https://europeanrelations.com/... [europeanrelations.com]
Once Germany had their supplies of cheap natural gas from Russia cut off they've had a problem of maintaining any kind of heavy industry. Automakers hav
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We have a lot of options for power these days. There is no excuse to move from coal or gas. We have been doing so in many nations, and its time we complete the project.
They're just waiting for the tax breaks and subsidies they need to be able to make it financially viable, like Mitsubishi's recent withdrawal from the wind projects it had been involved in -- citing an inability to make the projects economically viable, even at strike prices of $140 to $200 per MWh.
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The US is not a stable energy investment (Score:4, Informative)
We have a lot of options for power these days. There is no excuse to move from coal or gas. We have been doing so in many nations, and its time we complete the project.
They're just waiting for the tax breaks and subsidies they need to be able to make it financially viable, like Mitsubishi's recent withdrawal from the wind projects it had been involved in -- citing an inability to make the projects economically viable, even at strike prices of $140 to $200 per MWh.
Last week the Trump administration cancelled a half billion dollar project off the coasts of Rhode Island and Connecticut that's 80% complete and was scheduled to go online next Spring. He's similarly cancelled two other large East Coast wind projects that were well underway.
Trump halts work on New England offshore wind project that’s nearly complete [apnews.com]
Trump administration cancels $679 million in funding for offshore wind projects [pbs.org]
Wind Power in Crisis After Trump’s Move [youtube.com], It’s the Planet, Stupid! -- Belinda Waymouth interview
Nooooo!!! (Score:3)
If word of this.gets around, we'll get another Executive Order declaring that waves kill whales and hence we must ban waves.
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If word of this.gets around, we'll get another Executive Order declaring that waves kill whales and hence we must ban waves.
[Movie Trailer Voice]: In a world where the current U.S. administration cares about whales ...
Re:Nooooo!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
If word of this.gets around, we'll get another Executive Order declaring that waves kill whales and hence we must ban waves.
Could be worse, Xerxes could be President and orders the waves to be whipped ...
Persian King Xerxes Ordered the Sea to be Whipped as Punishment [ancient-origins.net]
The bridges in Herodotus' Histories [wikipedia.org]
In 480 BC, his enormous army journeyed to the Dardanelles (Hellespont) Strait, separating Asia from Europe. To get his army quickly into Greece, Xerxes ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge across the 1.2 kilometer (1300 yards) strait. But before his army were able to cross, a storm blew in and destroyed the bridge.
Infuriated with the sea, Xerxes ordered his soldiers to punish it by whipping it with chains 300 times and poking it with red-hot irons. Handcuffs were also tossed into the water to symbolize the sea’s submission to his authority. Finally, he ordered the decapitation of the engineers behind the bridge’s construction.
[Okay... best not to give Trump any ideas. :-) ]
"Panthalassa" (Score:2)
Next a Gun? (Score:2)
Say what? (Score:3)
- Frequency-complementary couplings of TENG, EMG and PENG create full-spectrum harvesters that deliver 117 % power-conversion efficiency in real waves.
So is nobody going to question the claim that this delivers 117% power-conversion efficiency? Really??
Please explain this to me, because right now my bet is this is innumeracy, ignorance or wild exaggeration.
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It's relative to a reference motor operating in air.
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Re:Say what? (Score:5, Informative)
That 117% is based on this definition: The power conversion percentage indicated by the asterisk is derived from the optimal power (or power density) obtained from motor-driven devices in air, as reported in the corresponding literature, compared to the optimal power achieved under simulated aquatic conditions in the laboratory.
Ie. 100% is a baseline corresponding to a specific known metric and technology, so 117% isn't how much energy is actually extracted and converted but how it performs against the baseline. So don't worry, the technology doesn't break the laws of physics, just the laws of sensibilities due to poor presentation of the scientific paper.
Decades (Score:2)
So what was the cost to build one ? (Score:2)
Here come the MAGAts... (Score:2)