How Waves Could Power A Clean Energy Future

The ocean’s waves are immensely powerful. Harnessing that energy for grid-scale electricity production would be a major boon to the clean energy industry, but building durable, powerful, and cost-effective wave energy converters has proven difficult. Now though, an influx of federal funding is helping many U.S. companies gear up to test their latest wave energy technologies, giving many in the industry hope that wave power will see massive growth over the next few decades.

Chapters:
1:46 The challenges
4:05 Wave energy in the U.S.
4:49 (Subchapter) CalWave
6:05 (Subchapter) Oscilla Power
7:34 (Subchapter) C-Power
9:00 Wave energy in Europe
11:51 The future

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How Waves Could Power A Clean Energy Future

[alexz]

should partner with offshore oil rigs to generate their power and allow them to be repurposed after they're done extracting oil (due to lack of need or lack of supply) into off shore power stations

[rtarouca]

There is a power plant in Pico island of the Azores, which worked for years connected to the grid. It works on a water column oscillation principle where air passes through a turbine. I have data and I saw it producing energy. It sounded like a living creature, breathing. It was a real privilege to see it running.

[superkmpm]

If you look at most wave energy projects they typically fail because water erosion is almost impossible to build against. the water itself destroys whatever device you're using to capture the energy.

[didalouchui]

I saw a documentary of waves generation of power when I was a little kid, now a few decades later, they are still struggling and needs at least a decade to make it into the grid, you know how that is.

[ignaciomayenthegoldenrule]

I’ve always wondered what are the possibilities of wave power/energy.

[maxxxt]

Tidal Power in these higher latitude locations is a huge energy potential. 2x a day unfathomable amounts of water change course . I hope we continue to explore all the energy options the oceans can offer us. Very nice video and great job!

[iceman]

The Gibraltar pilot plant does not exist any more @11.01 An easterly storm destroyed part of the pier and possibly parts of the Eco wave plant, thus the whole thing has been removed.
The plant was mainly operational with fairly calm weather, the moment waves got bigger the floats would be raised to protect the plant infrastructure. If real energy tapping is going to be done the plant needs to be able to stand up to storms to harvest the energy within. The overall concept is good but needs perfecting. Its a shame we don't have a proper plant to harness the waves, government promised a full-scale plant, but as yet not delivered.

[MusikCassette]

What I don't quite get, is Y do all of those approaches go for that level of Mechanical complexity? Y do they try to do circular motion?

[dodiewallace]

there are appropriate applications for all energy sources, meeting the needs of 7.5 going on 10 B of us in vastly different circumstances will likely take all options. As NP is by far the lowest environmental impact we should be using it as much as possible. Nuclear power is the gold standard of clean energy. It’s as clean and safe as any alternative, requires a fraction of the resources and produces clean, reliable energy 24/7/365. NP really is the premier example of dematerialization in which we actually use less to produce more.

[TomTom-cmoq]

Now if we could only harness the power of the Mexican wave at every baseball game!

[lewisdoherty]

One thing I have been playing with is using hydropower to compress ammonia and dump the heat into the moving water, bypassing electrical production and generating the end product, refrigerant instead. Unlike electricity, cold can be stored in underground bunkers to use as heat sinks for air-conditioning units. I call it Riparian Refrigeration. It would be perfect for Third World areas.

[mattpearson]

Of the companies presented, my opinion are that Wellos penguin concept is the most solid. All the technique and moving parts is in the buoy and easy to maintain.

[jaystarr]

I've always liked waves. Hope this works out.

[idellameyer]

I read about a man in his 50s that started investing in stocks then retired in 2years with over $6million, that right there is my utmost goal and I'd really appreciate clues and tips on how to reach this goal within 5years

[henryjanicky]

Also you need add one more spectacular energy sources- windy back human instrument...

[leechrec]

Crazy how so much is available to help power our needs sustainably and cleanly. Hydrothermal carbonization looks promising too and should be invested in more.

[dickbutt]

Green energy doing really well in Europe right now...

[maxheadrom]

Don't forget there's no such thing as "clean" energy but only forms of energy that are cleaner than others. Waves are important part of the oceanic systems - they move sediments around and create important ecological system. Haing said that, there are place where we already built wave breakers and I think putting the generators on those places would not be problematic.

[bob_frazier]

They cleared all the regulatory issues for this. That's great! Now why haven't they done that for SpaceX Boca Chica launch site? SMH.

[jaker]

10:40 If Eco Wave Power made these look sleeker and put some thought into the aesthetics I think these could actually look kind of cool and attractive bobbing up and down along a coastline or pier. This system might not produce as much power as others, but the fact that most of the expensive equipment is out of the corrosive salt water is probably a big plus for maintenance and longevity.