Wave power to be used on Oregon Coast

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-12-18 03:28pm

Link

Its a long article, but the upshot is this guy designed a buouy that translates wave motion into electricity, and then delivers it to shore. I've said it many timesl; People will start saving the earth when it is economically profitable.

Natorgator · Post by **Natorgator** » 2006-12-18 03:41pm

Holy hell that looks promising.

Singular Intellect · Post by **Singular Intellect** » 2006-12-18 03:46pm

I saw this on TV quite some time ago, along with several other alternate sources of energy. Some were promising, others not as much.

One thing was made clear, however. There's no shortage of energy the planet can provide us. It has enormous potential we haven't even begun to tap.

The only problem is sufficient human innovation and willingness to utilize it.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2006-12-18 04:11pm

DAMN. This is the first I've heard of this and it sounds pretty spectacular. Here's hoping this kicks into high gear soon.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2006-12-18 05:11pm

Ultra awesome.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2006-12-18 05:31pm

Article wrote:The Navy enlisted an outside firm, Honolulu-based Belt Collins (beltcollins.com), to assess the environmental impact of the buoys. It found that the problems environmentalists had feared - marine mammals getting entangled in the mooring line, or electrical faults disrupting sea life - did not occur. If anything, the undersea cables and anchors provided a place for coral to grow and attracted fish, much like an artificial reef. Similarly, there were no effects upon currents or wave patterns, no electromagnetic disturbances, no heat generation, and no undersea noise to disturb sea creatures.

This is fantastic! There doesn't seem to be any viable objections against this either.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-12-18 06:04pm

Indeed, I've actually been interested in this sort of thing for years. I believe in 1990 I read about his test projects in Hawaii and this stuff stuck in my mind ever since.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-12-18 06:06pm

edit: accidentally hit send.

I'm really looking forward to the development of .5mw bouys in the next few years, as that would be something you could really "drop and use" almost anywhere on earth. Think about it; After the 2004 Tsunamis, they could've airlifted a few of these and cabled them into place in 48 hours, and then you've got a damn sight better electricity than a generator, and no need for gas.

Chiaroscuro · Post by **Chiaroscuro** » 2006-12-18 06:55pm

No two waves are identical, so sensors measure each wave in the first tenth of a second as it passes, and an onboard computer "tunes" the buoy, adjusting the travel and resistance of the piston mechanism to capture as much of the wave's energy as possible. The system can even automatically lock and unlock the piston, protecting the buoy during storms.

I'd be a little worried about damage to the buoy--they might be cheap to implant initially, but what if they need to keep being replaced due to weather or animal damage? It sounds like the equipment is pretty delicate.
On the other hand, these probably wouldn't have as much of a problem:

By the year 2010 he plans to have a 100-ton, 37-foot-wide buoy that could generate 500 kilowatts, a size that he calls the "magic number," because that's the point at which substantial economies of scale kick in. An array of 40 buoys that size, linked together, could generate electricity at prices significantly less than that of a typical coal-burning power station, and far less than the price at plants that burn more expensive fuels such as natural gas.

It would be totally awesome if this worked out. Clean, stronger and more consistent than wind power, and as long as the moon stays in orbit, perpetual--what more could one ask?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2006-12-19 01:36pm

Nice for smaller towns, but they ain't gonna power NYC. Like every other renewable energy scheme other than hydroelectric dams, they don't scale up very well. Promising and yet another way to help with the power crunch, but it ain't replacing traditional coal & nuke plants.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-12-19 01:48pm

aerius wrote:Nice for smaller towns, but they ain't gonna power NYC. Like every other renewable energy scheme other than hydroelectric dams, they don't scale up very well. Promising and yet another way to help with the power crunch, but it ain't replacing traditional coal & nuke plants.

That still helps, if you can make sure only the big cities use the large plants, and if the cities find a way to use solar power when available, and as much efficiency as possible...

It's not going to fix all the problems, but it'll start a differant trend then rapidly spiraling power demands.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2006-12-20 11:25am

I remember that there were trials a few years ago with a wave power plant off the British coast which ended when the plant was destroyed by large waves.

Dark Primus · Post by **Dark Primus** » 2006-12-20 11:47am

We are developing something similar here in Sweden, it was on the news about a year ago.

But reading that article really gives me the joy to see the west is taking one MAJOR step in kicking the OPEC countries in the balls

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2006-12-20 11:53am

Dark Primus wrote:We are developing something similar here in Sweden, it was on the news about a year ago.

We haven't gotten anywhere yet, to my knowledge there isn't even an experimental generator in use.

Master of Cards · Post by **Master of Cards** » 2006-12-20 09:30pm

I think Portugal has one

Master of Cards · Post by **Master of Cards** » 2006-12-21 09:07pm

and Rhode has a giant Foghorn looking thing