OCEAN Options-
FINAVERA RENEWABLES - AquaBuOY
This design for this form of wave energy is really ingenious. The design seems to be really simple. A buoy with a motor on the surface and a weight that counters the vertical energy generated by the wave moves water to the surface and rotates the motor as its expelled back into the ocean. Here check out their video.
Here some info that they provide on their website -
"
Offshore power plants consist of patented wave energy converters that are based on proven, survivable buoy technology. Clusters of these small, modular devices called AquaBuOYs are moored several kilometers offshore where the wave resource is the greatest. The power plants are scalable from hundreds of kilowatts to hundreds of megawatts. Finavera power plants are designed to provide clean, renewable energy for large population centers. The offshore plants are suitable as distributed generation and load balancing at coastal transmission points."
This simple yet efficient design is really cool and potentially very cost effective for small to large coastal communities. Here is a explanation that really makes sense on how and why this type of power generation could really be viable.
"Waves are caused by the wind blowing over the surface of the ocean. In many areas of the world, the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide continuous waves. There is tremendous energy in the ocean waves. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of ocean waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface."
For additional info and to read up on some great additional info check out - http://ocsenergy.anl.gov/
OCEAN CURRENT ENERGY -
The relatively constant flow of the ocean currents carries large amounts of energy that can be captured and converted to a usable form.
Ocean waters are constantly on the move.
Ocean currents flow in complex patterns affected by the wind, water salinity and temperature, topography of the ocean floor, and the earth's rotation. The ocean currents are driven by wind and solar heating of the waters near the equator, though some ocean currents result from density and salinity variations of water. These currents are relatively constant and flow in one direction only, in contrast to the tidal currents closer to shore. Some examples of ocean currents are the Gulf Stream, Florida Straits Current, and California Current.
While ocean currents move slowly relative to typical wind speeds, they carry a great deal of energy because of the
density of water. Water is more than 800 times denser than air, so for the same surface area, water moving 12 miles per hour exerts about the same amount of force as a constant 110 mph wind. Ocean currents thus contain an
enormous amount of energy that can be captured and converted to a usable form. It has been estimated that taking just 1/1000th the available energy from the Gulf Stream would supply Florida with 35% of its electrical needs.
