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Wave Energy
Wave energy is a renewable energy that produces the generation of electricity through conversion of ocean current, swell, tidal, or wave action. Even the thermal gradient of the oceans surface is being converted to a usable form of energy. Wave power generation is not a widely employed technology, the world's first commercial wave farm, the Aguçadora Wave Park in Portugal, was established in 2006. In the United States, the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative is funding the building of a commercial wave-power park at Reedsport, Oregon. There are multiple devices in various stages of development that convert the power of the waves into electricity.
Wave energy may be one of the lowest cost renewable energy sources due to its high power density. Processes in the ocean concentrate solar and wind energy into ocean waves, making it easier and cheaper to harvest. Solar and wind energy sources are much more diffuse, by comparison. Because oceans cover about 70% of the Earth's surface and the oceans contain roughly 97% of the Earth's water supply so there is an abundance of resource available for this upcoming technology.
One of the challenges of this technology is constructing something that can withstand rough sea conditions, yet can generate a reasonable amount of power from small waves. Wave energy depends on wave activity; sometimes you will get a great deal of energy and sometimes you will get very little. Therefore; finding a suitable site where the waves are consistently strong is an obstacle. The most promising applications are offshore use of the consistent rise and fall of swells along deep-water shorelines where there is significant year-round wave action. Countries with large coastlines and strong prevailing winds could produce five percent or more of their electricity from wave power. Once you have constructed a wave power station, the energy is free, needs no fuel, and produces no waste or pollution. It is very inexpensive to operate and maintain and can produce a great deal of energy.
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