INTELLIGENCE FOR OCEAN ENERGY

Ocean energy plus cybernetics can supply a quarter of the US's power

Shalinee Kishore, 14 April 2015 (Ecologist)

“…Almost one third of the US's electricity needs can be met by a predictable, renewable and yet largely untapped resource: ocean waves…[T]hey are a renewable resource that is more consistent and predictable than wind or solar generation…Our research team at Lehigh University is examining how to design, operate and maintain future wave energy farms by using digital technologies to integrate them smoothly to the electric grid…Wave farms contain arrays of 'wave energy converters' (WECs), devices that convert the energy in rolling ocean waves to electricity. Smart wave farms also include energy storage such as batteries, sensors, communications capabilities, computational resources, and electronics to deliver electricity to an on-shore grid connection point…We are exploiting the predictability of ocean waves to aid people who operate wave farms and to optimize farm production…Estimates of economically recoverable wave energy along the US coasts range up to 1,170 terawatt-hours (Twh) per year using existing technology…Total electricity consumption in the US is approximately 4,000 TWh/year and coastal states use nearly 80% of the nation's electricity. This means that the potential for clean, renewable wave power production in the US is very high…Besides powering the electricity grid, wave farms could also be used…in developing smaller scale wave farms that address the energy requirements for off-shore water desalination…” click here for more

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