Fossil fuels are one day going to dry up, so we must start looking now for alternative and renewable sources of energy so that we can maintain our lifestyles. Fossil fuels may last for years to come, but we must be prepared when the oil stops pumping.
Alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric are thought to be the forerunners in clean energy. Developing their technology so that the price of energy is lower than fossil fuels will be important for weaning us off of fossil fuels.
Other types of renewable energy are also being developed, and many of them seem very promising. One of these energies is wave energy, which is garnering much excitement for powering cities in coastal regions.
Wave energy is the densest form of energy in nature, and it doesn’t go away like the sun or wind might. Wave power generators have the capability to operate all the time.
To the right is a picture of a Pelamis wave power converter, the world’s first commericial scale machine to generate electricity from waves.
Australia, which is famous for its waves and surfing, has many of these wind generators in place powering homes in many of its coastal cities.
A wave power plant exists off the coast of a city just south of Sydney, about 100 yards off the coast. It produces enough energy to power 500 homes and desalinates enough water to supply those homes with fresh drinking water, as well. It weighs about 500 tons.
It is built to survive almost any major storm, though it is fairly small in size. It produces about 500kW of power and it cost $4.7 million to create.
A conceptual wave energy generation park and generator schematic
Although it is still fairly expensive, as technology develops it will become much cheaper. In fact, many renewable energy experts believe that is has the best chance of any renewable energies to become cheaper than fossil fuels.
Comments on this entry are closed.