Dec 21, 2024
Green energy solutions or any other term alternatives to fossil fuels are gaining ground.
Whether we call them green energy solutions, sustainable power sources, or any other modern term one can think of, alternatives to fossil fuels are gaining ground. Solar and wind installations continue being deployed across the United States and the world. Geothermal energy sources are being tapped as well. So now it's time to start turning our attention to the world's oceans.
That's exactly what researchers are now doing off the Oregon coast. Oregon's coastal waters have become a hotbed for testing wave energy technologies. Also known as marine energy, the energy generated by ocean waves has been called the world's largest untapped source by multiple organizations.
Washington believes so much in marine energy that the Biden administration dedicated $112.5 million to research, design, fabrication, and testing in early September. Meanwhile, researchers are also testing floating wind turbines off Oregon's coast as well.
Marine Energy and Its Potential
While marine energy is in a much earlier stage of development compared to floating wind, there is enough excitement about it to garner quite a bit of investment. Marine energy is rooted in ocean waves, waves that are generated when wind blows over open water. What we learn from ocean waves could theoretically be applied to large lakes as well.
Waves possess a tremendous amount of kinetic and potential energy. How much energy? Some estimate the world's oceans could produce in the neighborhood of 29,500 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually, which is nearly ten times the amount of electricity Europeans consume.
Waves can be harnessed for their energy potential through:
Point Absorbers – Floating buoys that absorb energy through water movement.
Oscillating Columns – Partially submerged structures that rely on moving water to drive turbines.
Oscillating Converters – Devices mounted on the seabed capable of turning wave energy into power.
Overtopping Converters – Devices that channel waves into some sort of reservoir to generate turbine power.
Wave Channeling – Focusing waves into a narrow channel to increase pressure, thereby spinning turbines.
All of the technology currently in testing involves harnessing the power inherent in waves into producing electricity. Wave power is considered more reliable than wind because the world's oceans are rarely completely calm. The less calm they are, the more energy they can produce – at least in theory.
Advantages and Challenges
As energy solutions, wave technologies offer some decided advantages over other renewable solutions. First and foremost is predictability. Waves are highly predictable thanks to daily and seasonal cycles. Therefore, it's possible to design a very efficient system that gleans the most energy possible from the waves.
Harnessing waves is also a way to provide power to coastal communities. When you include all of the water surrounding the U.S. along with the great lakes and other large bodies of water, marine energy harnessed from them could serve more than half of the U.S. population.
However, there are challenges to both marine energy and floating wind. The bigger concern is building floating wind turbines close to shore. In Oregon, major opposition comes from local tribes and fishing operations who believe their livelihoods would be at stake should too much floating wind be developed.
In terms of marine energy, the biggest hurdle right now is developing wave technology at a reasonable cost. If it cannot be deployed cost effectively, there's no point in deploying it at all.
Green energy solutions are no longer the stuff of futuristic proposals and positive thinking. Solutions like solar and wind are gradually contributing more power to the world’s grids. We expect marine power to be a major contributor in the future as well.
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