Wave power. An endless supply of energy surging across our oceans. If only we could harness it …
A company called Aquamarine Power has done just that with a device they call Oyster. Oyster 1 is already in place, generating power on the coast of Scotland, and Oyster 2 is being built this year.
This is cool stuff. Oyster is not small, but its tubular yellow upper part rides low on the water’s surface. It moves up and down with the waves, often out of sight behind them. None of the noise or unsightliness of a giant wind generator or drilling rig. What’s not to love about this technology?
Yes, I’ve been watching this technology. I agree, it does seem cool. The only drawback I can see is placement. You don’t want boats getting tangled in them, and you don’t want them to interfere with marine life. But other than that, it looks good to me. Just need proper places to put them where they won’t interfere with anything.
I would think they’d be too close to shore to bother ships, easy for smaller boats to go around, and not incompatible with swimming beaches and other populated coastal areas. In any case, it’s exciting technology. A perpetual energy source.
Lots of competition in the energy field:
Tidal Power
Geothermal Terrain Energy
Ocean thermal Electric Conversion
If only we could stipulate a target for our tax dollars…
Those all sound very promising. I particularly like the tidal power. Now if only they could get those to work well enough to put some of our ill-considered dams out of business.
Interesting. Not many city folks have any idea how destructive of lives and property dams have been. You must have spent some of your time in rural places that never flooded until men took control of the drainage.
I was opposed to the Glen Canyon Dam before it was built because I resented the flooding of a beautiful, one-of-a-kind place. Not to mention all the problems with siltation and other changes caused by interrupting the river’s natural flow, and shortcomings in the design of the dam itself.
My favorite vacation town was flooded when an earthen dam failed, with tremendous cost in lives and property lost. Not to mention the damage to the national park that never would have occurred had the dam never been built.
It’s hard to argue against dams when they create water supply and power in dry western states. On the other hand, when the Colorado River is so heavily tapped that it no longer reaches the ocean, and much of the water is used to maintain golf courses, lawns, and swimming pools in desert areas, I have to question someone’s sanity.
Just in case we become complacent because the GREEN MOVEMENT promises alternatives to escape dependence on non-replaceable fossil fuels, let’s not forget that all these new technologies increase the rate of ENTROPY. A cold, lifeless death from which there is no political, physical or even theoretical alternative. Life without fear of something would be boring… no?
Given the alternative, I’d welcome a little entropy.