Ocean Waves Could Power the Entire Planet

The ocean occupies 70% of the earth’s surface and the waves that occur in them have the highest energy density. That means in a relative small area substantial energy can be generated making it the most viable and virtually inexhaustible energy source.

One wave-energy-harnessing device was developed by ORECon. They refer to it as a Multi-Chambered Wave Energy Converter. Anchored offshore at a minimum water depth of 50m, ORECon says, “it will tune itself to the varying wave strengths or frequencies to maximize the energy transmitted from the rise and fall of the waves.”

I didn’t quite understand that either until I saw the illustration below.

Let me explain How It Works in the most simple way I can. This wave energy generator, anchored to firmly float on water, has a water chamber where water moves up and down as the waves rise and fall. Above that is an air cushion. As the water rises air is being forced out through the air turbine and as the water falls air is sucked back through the same air turbine.

The mechanics is very similar to how we breathe. The water chamber is like a diaphragm that expands and contracts to force air in and out of the lungs.

The device has no moving parts (except for the air turbines) so it has a robust structure able to withstand the roughness of the sea.

So how much electricity can the “breathing-action” of this wave generator produce? A single unit has a generation capacity of 1 MW (MegaWatt) enough to power a thousand homes.

Although the technology is in the development stage, prototypes have been field tested that garnered encouraging results. Once ready for full scale deployment, it can be used anywhere in the world where there’s wave-action turning up on the beach or a cliff face.

This wave energy converter is just but one of the numerous ways to harness renewable energy from our massive oceans. It’s free, constant and clean. Compare that to fossil fuels that are increasingly expensive, finite and dirty contributing to Global Warming.