Ocean Power as a form of Alternative Green Energy

Ocean Power as a form of Green Energy falls into two essential forms. One is commercially exploitable, the other a long way off.

The First, and commercially exploitable form of Ocean Power is Kinetic power, that is, harnessing the motion of the waves as a source of energy. This is achieved via a barrage or series of buoys anchored to the sea bed. The resulting swell of the ocean creates "mechanical stroking" inside the buoy, which is convertible into electrical energy via appropriate (and currently highly proprietary!) power take-off mechanisms. Wave farms are a reality - a 10 megawatt farm requiring approximately 30 acres of space. Power output is scalable by adding more buoys.

The other form of ocean power is "Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion" (OTEC) or making use of the thermal energy in water. OTEC was conceived by the French engineer Jacques D'Arsonval as far back as 1881 but at present there is only a single experimental OTEC plant (the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii) in the world. The issues facing OTEC are chicken and egg: there is no easily identifiable means of making OTEC commercially viable, and there is little research into the technologies required to make it viable.

Whilst Ocean thermal energy is theoretically a very clean and green source of energy it would presently be very costly to set up commercially - and paradoxically OTEC plants themselves would almost certainly not be very green or environmentally friendly in themselves .

There are additional benefits to OTEC, however, due to the processes required to extract thermal energy. One spin-off is the inevitable chemical output of the processes as the latent heat of sea-water is extracted by reaction; the other spin-off is the availability of very cold deep sea water which can be used for refrigeration and air conditioning. A further spin-off of OTEC is the possibility of introducing mariculture and aquaculture projects such as fish farming around the enclosures where the energy extraction process is occurring (due to the availability of heat). So which commercially not exploitable presently, OTEC potentially offers other spin-off benefits than just production of energy.

About the Author: Mike Howard, Director of Green Energy (Eu) is a rapidly-emerging expert in the field of Green Energy and power-saving electrical products for the home and office. With more than twenty years experience in top-end building Mike is sole UK distributor of the renowned Redwell Infrared Heating systems.

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