This is the first of a two part article series that covers the advantages and disadvantages of ocean wave energy in detail. Wave power seems to have a tremendous potential for electricity generation worldwide, so what is stopping us from harnessing this energy source on larger scale? Before we answer this question, lets first look at the advantages of this energy source.
Green and Clean
Wave energy is like most other renewable energy sources green and clean. The environment is taking a lot of stress from the daily emissions of carbon dioxide among other climate gases, and the need for renewable sources of energy to replace old polluting ones is huge at this point.
A Renewable Energy Source
Green and renewable energy sources goes hand in hand. Since wave power originates from the heat energy that is being transmitted from the Sun to the Earth at all times, it is renewable (in the sense that it will last as long as the sun burns – scientists estimates another 7.8 billion years.)
High Energy Density
What is so unique about harnessing energy from the motion in the water is that the density is so much higher than what it is in air (almost thousand times as dense), resulting in much better electricity generation at low speeds). It has been estimated that an average wave that could be used to harness power is around 15 kW for every feet.
Waves are Reliable
One of the neat things about wave power is that waves in general are reasonable predictable. Not as much as hydroelectricity is, but far more than wind and solar energy. However, there are some variations from year to year as well as through the seasons. The wave power farms needs to be dimensioned to be able to handle the stress from the largest waves, but also need to be efficient enough at lower energy waves (most likely during the summer). Read more comparisons to wind energy in the following article: Wind Energy Pros and Cons.
A lot of Energy in a Small Area
About 120 MW of electricity can be generated through wave power devices that take up a total region of a square mile, about the same as 80.000 average households in England, currently the leaders within wave power. This can of course be scaled to cover more households. The total potential has been estimated to about 6000TWh of electricity yearly.
Offshore Possibilities
The ability to put some of these wave power devices offshore is a great advantage when it comes to solving some of the environmental impacts of wave energy systems. There is also a larger potential when it comes to electricity generation due to the offshore waves usually are larger and carry more energy per meter. However, these offshore plants also come with a series of disadvantages. Read more about them and other disadvantages of wave energy in the next part of this article.
Read more about wave power, as well as other renewable energy sources, at EnergyInformative.org.