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TOL Remote in Newport: Wave Energy
OPB Radio's series The Switch has explored everything from wind to geothermal power. Next we go to the sea. Many experts believe that waves and tides and ocean currents may be the next best thing in our sustainable future. Can the sea power us? What role does wave power have in the future economy and environment of the coast?
These are questions we'll explore in a special broadcast of Think Out Loud. If you live near the Central Coast, please join us on Tuesday June 16th at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport for a discussion about wave energy. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 pm and the show begins at 7 pm sharp. This one hour program will air the next day on Think Out Loud at 9 am.
What do you think of wave energy? Could it be our energy source of the future?
Tagged as: fishing · the switch · water
Photo credit: Lepiaf.geo / Flickr / Creative Commons
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I suggest that you contact Des McGinnes of Pelamis Wave Energy to call in, as he is a member of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust (http://www.oregonwave.org/index.php/about-owet/board-of-directors-2009.html).
Des is very knowledgeable about this topic and can explain it well to the general public, technically, economically and from a regulatory perspective. The company he works for (www.pelamiswave.com) is the only company to my knowledge that has a commercial wave energy system installation.
He can be reached on e-mail at d.mcginnes@pelamiswave.com, with the caveat that he is located in Scotland and the show will be in the wee hours of the morning for him.
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When wandering around the web, there was a photo of wave energy generator off the coast of Portugal. Truth or fiction?
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Truth!
More info — and a video — here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/24/renewable.wave.energy.portugal
Dave
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During your Think Out Loud program, I think you should ask the following:
Why was the Oregon Wave Energy Trust (OWET) set up as a supposed "non-profit" instead of a public entity subject to public meeting law, public records law, public contracting law, etc...???
Why was OWET set up as a 501 c6 instead of a 501 c3?
How much public money has already been poured into OWET, a "non-profit?"
How much public money will be poured into OWET in the future?
Who were the principle people behind the formation of OWET? What is their real agenda?
What is the connection between OWET and Oregon InC?
How is public money transferred from the State of Oregon to Oregon InC to OWET?
I think the answers to these questions would be quite enlightning -- both the answers people choose to give and the real answers if you dig a little deeper.
We are dealing with an industry with mega-bucks behind it and engaged in expensive high powered PR campaigns. Policy makers, including those with the best of intentions, could be swayed into making decisions they wouldn't otherwise make. Even OSU stands to gain significantly -- financially and otherwise -- from wave energy....i.e. academic objectivity may be compromised.
The public should be wary.We need a stronger and more meaningful voice in this process and we're not going to achieve this through OWET. More later.
Cindy Ashy
tunicate89 AT yahoo.com
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Quoted word for word directly from the OWET website (with emphasis added by me):
"Four key strategies guide OWET’s work:
Stakeholder Education and Community Engagement – building positive community support for the wave energy industry Market Development – creating an efficient marketplace for the wave energy industry Policy and Regulatory Planning – developing a policy and regulatory framework to advance the wave energy industry Research – implementing environmental and applied research projects to answer key questions leading to a reduction in barriers to wave energy development"
So, I would conclude anything funded by OWET serves the wave energy industry. Further, I do not believe anyone or any organization should accept funding from OWET unless their mission is to serve the wave energy industry.
Cindy Ashy
tunicate89 AT yahoo.com
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CindyAshy, I get the sense you have some personal experience with OWET or the wave energy industry?
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Sarah and others,
I attend quite a few public meetings and have watched this process unfold from the beginning. I've also researched this topic quite extensively but have much more to learn.
I've observed that people, including myself, who express concerns about the potential impact of wave energy farms off the Oregon Coast often get stifled in various ways. There is definitely a concerted effort to control information and spin/hype it no matter the potential impact. We desperately need a forum that is completely unincumbered by the wave energy industry. However, I believe it would be quite a challenge to do so. I have personally communicated with several knowledgeable people who are scared to freely express themselves on this issue because of the money and political power behind it no matter the forum.
Cindy Ashy
tunicate89 AT yahoo.com
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Why is Portugal near to having commercial wave-energy electricity generators while the U.S. is still stuck in research mode?
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I believe we should be very careful before moving forward with wave energy. As I understand it, the generation needs to occur close to the shore where the vast majority of marine life exists. This could potentially be very disruptive to this ecosystem. This shoreline ecosystem is already in trouble due to many human initiated factors. Even further out in the ocean could prove destructive.
Just because this is a renewable resource does not make it green. The renewable resource of hydroelectric dams have proven to be very destructive to our river ecosystem. Much research should be implemented prior to any actual project approval.
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Thanks to OPB and TOL for engaging in a topic as crucial to Oregon as Wave Energy. Oregon is among the top sites in the US in terms of available wave energy. If 0.2% of the world's available ocean energy was harnessed, it would meet the power needs of the entire planet (and over 60% of the population is congregated on the coastlines).
Be sure to consider wave energy technology invented right here in Oregon! In 1991, the DMP Ocean Power Device was created in Corvallis. In late 2008, M3 Wave Energy Systems LLC out of Salem secured the exclusive rights to commercialize the DMP technology using Stimulus grants, SBIRs, and private funding.
It isn't necessary to carpet the surface with thousands of yellow buoys to generate electricity- the DMP sits on the ocean floor and harnesses the pressure waves that accompany ocean waves. Environmental and survival considerations are paramount to the simple, elegant design. More at www.m3wave.com .
I couldn't make it over to Newport tonight, but I'm happy to talk more about alternatives to the same-old same-old buoy devices.
Mike Morrow cell: (541) 602-4160
Chief Technology Officer
M3 Wave Energy Systems LLC
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While an ostrich mentality has consumed the average environmentalist in regards to the adverse implications of advancing malformed concepts, several have embraced the nomenclature and homily of their more practiced relatives, the public interest and civil lawyers. This is no more true than when applied to Wave Energy, and the negative implications of its adoption as a stopgap to stymie the often-touted energy crisis. Little thought has been given to an even greater issue, that of the impact of Godwin's Law.
Detractors would mislead both the state legislatures and interested civil groups under the auspices of the Godwin teachings, but few could refute the basic notion that serious overhaul is an ever-increasing necessity. Recent months have seen ever-worse circumstances for free energy promoters, thanks in large part to the unearthing of damning evidence that wind energy was receiving major funding from the mafia and other illicit sources. If such a "clean" energy source could be riddled with such unscrupulous activity, investor confidence in wave energy may be shaken in the fallout.
Wave energy proponents will inevitably cite two reasons their namesake has failed: the rising sea levels, and the well-demonstrated but poorly-named "Panda Problem." I think there needs to be more focus on Godwin's Law and the errors and omissions of modern legislation and court preoccupation. -
Hello,
Perhaps it would be well to, early on, establish some useful units. Perhaps most folks (I'm a scientist anyhow) don't like "Megawatts" and may prefer "Enough power to supply 20-thousand houses" but the ladder is pretty subjective, I suspect, and doesn't include industrial and comercial power uses. How many "homes" equals an aluminum smelter?
I wonder, at leasst here in the Northwest, if we might consder a large hydropower dam, Bonneville dam for example, as a bench mark. How many, or what fraction of, a "Bonneville Dam Unit" might a wind farm or tidal or wave project, or fossil fuel plant for that matter, might any project supply?
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My husband and I attended the boardcast last night and I was struck by the comments on the unknown reaction of this technology on the movement of the sand. As an property owner on the Siletz Bay, I realize that this could effect my property. Our southern property line is fluid determined by tide line. When you think of the effect that riprafting has on the properties down beach. Any site that controls or changes the sand accumlation is very scary. We could lose ths spit and the bay could silt-in or disappear in to the ocean !
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"Any site that controls or changes the sand accumlation is very scary."
The dams on the Columbia River stopped the supply of sand to the beaches and that is why the jetties were built to preserve what sand is left.
And of course that means that all of that silt and sand is building up behind the dams.
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"Wave Energy"
What if you could harness the energy of all those spectator "waves" at football games?
And all those Rose Festival Princess Parade "waves".
Just trying to inject some levity into a serious subject.
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The best places for wave or wind or solar are often so far from where the energy is consumed that transmission is a limiting factor.
But........, by making and compressing Hydrogen with the electricity generated, while inefficient when measured by an, energy in - energy out metric; this inefficiency is not really an issue if the devises themselves are engineered to be extremely long lived.
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I suspect that a wave energy farm would act like a marine reserve and marine life would thrive there. That would be one possible benefit.
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· Will these "wave farms" limit access to Oregon beaches?
· Who pays for power line infrastructure? And, will it be earthquake/tsunami proof?
· Can the community tax wave-generated energy to support communities like timber money is for schools?
· Will these "wave farms" be located in the path of migratory whales or in areas of upwelling? What is effect?
· Will this affect animals that use sonar/magnetic location since the electricity is generated by using heavy magnets?
· What is the risk of electromagnetic "pollution" to fish species?
· Will revenue generated by sale of wavepower offset loss of fishing zones? How will it benefit the community?
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Just want to thank OPB and Emily Harris. This was one of the rare public radio programs that I have heard in which I truly felt the interviewer represented or inquired equally on all sides of the debate. Thank you for your attempts at producing a balanced perspective.
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I agree that conserving energy use is the best option. For the electricity that is produced, I suggest considering the environmental damage that is being done currently and weigh that against the possible environmental impacts from wave or other renewable energy sources. Some people may think that much of the electricity in the Northwest comes from hydropower, but in the central Willamette Valley around 70% of electricity comes from coal fired power plants, many located in Wyoming and Utah. When you consider the lifecycle impacts of coal, from the mining to the uncapturable mercury released into to the air, I think anything we can be doing to close down coal fired power plants should be a priority. It is important to be skeptical of the profit-making motives of the wave power industry. Also remember the coal barons and those interests who want to keep that coal production going.
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I think the comments here are excellent. Seems like everyone is cautious. I agree with that. The oceans don't need disruptions. Fish stocks are dropping and do they need another danger? I don't think so. The problem with wave energy is the conflict of interest. Special interest groups misleading the public as to the risks. It's very hard to get a straight story.
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William C.
My new toy is an Asus netbook -
Comments are now closed.
Wave energy is a lower-priority alternative energy source. Wave generators need to be relatively close to shore given that transporting electricity long distances is inefficient and expensive.
The ocean environment is hostile to human-created technology. Wave energy generators would require lots of maintenance and be relatively expensive while being relatively inefficient.
That said, the Earth is covered with 75% water and there should be ways to use small parts of the ocean's surface for collecting solar and wave generated energy. I'm curious to hear about the status of wave energy generation.
I'll yell it again until my voice gives way: we should not consume energy we don't need in the first place. Don't use what you don' t need. Recycle, re-use, re-purpose. We could save enough energy such that wave energy isn't needed. Let's get rid of street lights and lit billboards, for example.
Worried about getting mugged, robbed or worse in the dark? Fix society so violence is eliminated.