Ocean Power Delivery Wave Farming

The thought of using waves as a reliable source of power is enticing, no? Portugal has done it! Now a popular misconception that people often come to is that waves require oil to do their job, but allow me to set the record straight here, its actually wind and tectonic activity that makes waves.. well.. wave..

"But Jake, what if we run out of wind?!"

Aha! Thanks to the sun, we wont have to worry about that anytime soon. Wind is caused by the fluctuation of temperature coupled with the pressure of the atmosphere making it a pretty reliable constant.

In 2005, 3.1 miles off the coast of Portugal, the first Ocean power Delivery Wave Farming device was put into production. Using the motion of the ocean, this idea will supply 2.25 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,500 homes with just three of the modules, that's amazing! Attached to the sea floor, the machines contain four cylinder like segments. Active waves will jostle each machine which in turn pull at joints linking the segments. This pulling will move piston-like hydraulic rams in the machine that pump pressurized oil through motors to drive electrical generators. It's very complicated technology, but if proven useful, some 30 more additional units will be added and more to come! We must keep striving for ideas like this that provide clean renewable energy with no carbon emissions.

Wave energy has the potential to oust 1-2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year and even more as it replaces oil and coal dependent power plants. It will open up new job sources in fields like construction, management, maintenance and many more. When it comes to the potential of ideas like this, one could say the ocean is the limit ^^.

Written by jake