When it comes to renewables, most people are familiar with the site of a bank of solar panels or a giant, white windmill on a hillside. Few outside the industry would recognize a wave energy converter (WEC) that resembles a giant fishing bobber, quietly turning the dense power of waves into electricity. But ocean energy technology is about to become part of the family of commercial renewables, and that’s a very good thing for the planet. Here are 10 reasons why:
1. Ocean energy could be the largest source of clean energy:
Wave energy is a staggering global resource. As noted by Ocean Energy Europe, wave energy has the potential to be the largest source of clean energy on the planet. Estimates of the power that could be produced range from 4,000 terawatt hours per year (TWh/yr) to 29,500 TWh/yr. Europe consumes around 3,000TWh/year.
2. Ocean energy does not harm the land or water:
Extracting energy often involves ripping apart mountains, drilling deep in the ground or seabed, injecting substances into the earth, and creating toxic byproducts like tailings, fracking water, and nuclear waste. Ocean energy, though, doesn’t extract energy from its environment in a brutal way. It simply harnesses the energy that is already pulsing through the ocean. Nothing in Seabased’s technology, for example, is a permanent installation. Generators rest on the ocean floor---they’re not drilled in. They’re connected by cable to buoys that sit on top of the water, generally below the sightline from the shore. And like other ocean energy technologies, wave energy emits no CO2, it requires no fuel, and produces no waste.
3. Ocean energy eases integration of renewables into the grid:
One big reason the world doesn’t already run on renewables is that renewables are variable—the sun goes down; the wind dies down. In fact, globally today only 9% of the power on the grid comes from variable renewables. Waves are variable, but much less so. Grid operators can better predict much better how much power they will be able to channel from wave-to-grid than with some other renewables. So, wave energy is more grid-friendly.
4. Ocean energy helps the earth’s carbon problem:
Replacing fossil fuels with ocean energy would reduce CO2, because ocean energy doesn’t produce CO2. Most of us understand that CO2 causes a dangerous warming of the planet. What we may not realize is that it’s the ocean’s job to absorb a lot of that carbon so the planet doesn’t get too hot. And we’re making that job harder. People sometimes talk about the Amazon Rainforest as the “lungs” of the Earth. Plants take in CO2, and breathe out oxygen, so anyplace there’s an abundance of plants, that place creates oxygen for us. But much more oxygen—up to 80%--is produced in the oceans, largely by plants like phytoplankton. The danger is when the oceans take on too much CO2—which is happening now. Too much CO2 causes the oceans to acidify; recent research shows that the oceans have actually absorbed twice as much CO2 as scientists previously calculated. Even before this research was published, scientists knew that sea life is struggling from low oxygen levels. While COVID-19 temporarily reduced the amount of CO2 we’re producing, the amount of carbon in our atmosphere is still at record levels. To regain health, oceans need to stop absorbing so much carbon. Adding ocean energy—a very powerful CO2-free source of energy— to the renewables mix, would help that a lot. The work oceans are already doing—via waves and tides—when harnessed would spare them from being overtaxed with coping with our carbon output.
5. Ocean energy is available where the carbon footprint is worst:
Some of the world’s most populous cities have the world’s highest per capita carbon footprint. They are also coastal. They have access to the power of the ocean in the form of waves and tides. If these communities embrace the opportunity of ocean energy, the resultant drop in CO2 would make a huge difference, not only for the clean air of those cities, but for the world.
6. Ocean energy is a great solution for islands:
Thousands of inhabited islands around the world depend on expensive, polluting, imported fossil fuels. Not having a local power source leaves these islands very energy insecure. Plus, the price they pay for electricity is usually much higher than mainland prices. If there’s one thing islands have in abundance—it’s ocean.
7. Ocean energy requires only a small footprint:
Many non-renewable and even renewable power generation stations take up a lot of land area, and can be considered as eyesores. NIMBY – “Not In My Back Yard” is a known challenge that extends also to renewables. This makes siting and building them complicated, both politically and in terms of finding the space. Wave energy produces a lot of power per square meter and takes up almost no land area— Seabased buoys float offshore, mostly out of sight. It only needs a small space for the electrical power to connect to the grid.
8. Ocean energy is gentle on its environment:
One of the key goals Seabased had in mind in the original design of wave energy parks was that they would be good for the ecosystem they operated in. They would do no harm to the seabed, to the water the parks operate in, or to the sea life around and within the parks. Consequently, there is nothing in the parks that can hurt sea creatures. There are no nets, blades, or moving parts that endanger sea animals. There are no toxins. There is minimal noise, which research suggests does not disturb sea life. And there is little need for humans to maintain the parks once they’re established, so the environment is left at peace during operation.
9. Ocean energy can help the ecosystem:
Several researchers have found that the wave energy parks actually encourage biodiversity at certain sites. Seabased generally installs wave energy converters (WEC) on an area of barren sea floor; a desert in the ocean, if you will. Few species can dwell in this environment. By adding the WECs--some of which have been designed with various-sized holes in their concrete bases to serve as habitats—the wave energy generators became artificial reefs where certain species can find comfortable living. This more diverse habitat increased biodiversity in some parks. Because fishing isn’t possible among the WECs, some species were able to reproduce and increase their numbers, even spilling outside the parks where fishing was possible, according to one study. One of these was the Norway Lobster, also known as scampi, langoustine, or the Dublin Bay Prawn, which is Europe’s most valuable crustacean.
10. Ocean energy can serve many functions:
Wave energy is a technology intended for utility-scale power production, but it’s also very versatile. It can be used for smaller projects—like aquaculture. It can be used to desalinate water for coastal communities, for hydrogen production, or even to power charging stations for electric cars.
Seventy percent of the globe is covered by ocean. Ocean energy is the most ubiquitous, potentially most powerful form of renewable that exists. And we can harness it without hurting the ocean and while helping the planet and the humans. That’s a goal worth attaining.