How Wave Power Could Be The Future Of Energy

How Wave Power Could Be The Future Of Energy. The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided. The ocean has an incredible amount of power potential. China’s brand new Wave Energy Converters has been making a lot of news recently. While this ocean power device isn’t the first of its kind, its sheer size represents a breakthrough for this underutilized but potent branch of the renewable energy family tree. What is wave energy generation, and how does it compare to other renewables like solar panels and wind turbines? And if wave energy is so great, then why is it lagging behind solar, wind and others? Let's dive into the ocean of renewable energy, where the waves may hold more untapped potential than the sun. Maybe the surfers were right all along.
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[@UndecidedMF]

What do you think of catching waves for power? The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided. If you liked this, check out Why This NASA Battery May Be The Future of Energy Storage kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKuqXo2oeJl1hZI

[@denverbraughler3948]

What do you think about expressing generation capacity in MW in future videos instead of multiplying MW by 24000 kWh/MWh/day?

[@digiryde]

What are the downsides of depleting wave energy? How does this impact coastal life, erosion, and beach creation? How would this impact life at sea such as whales? All in all, cool stuff, and likely a very important part of the cleaner (I hate the term clean energy) energy mix.

[@denverbraughler3948]

@@digiryde: Dampening waves would decrease erosion. But the energy extracted is an insignificant fraction. By what mechanism would there be consequences?

[@luciusd7964]

Dude, your math skills need improvement. The average US household uses around 29kwH per day. This means you would not feed 1000 homes with the 24k powerplant... Unless you talk about China household, but then this is not mentioned and is quite misleading to your main audience...

[@digiryde]

@@denverbraughler3948 "By what mechanism would there be consequences?" I do not know, but the one thing I have learned is there are always trade offs. Sometimes they are worth it and sometimes not. I suspect in this case, they will be worth it if it is not overdone (whatever that is). I do know there is research that has already been done on other devices and/or structures that impeded tidal processes that show detrimental effects. I do not think these devices would impede tidal action as much as a wall though. :)

[@jopo7996]

Wave energy has great potential, but like many new technologies, it has it's ups and downs.

[@boby115]

😂

[@casimirojulianangelo4804]

Here take my like.

[@johnburn8031]

I saw what you did there! 🤓

[@francisboyle1739]

Lets hope it's not a wipeout.

[@66BranDo]

I sea what you did there.

[@Lorgs1]

Just finished my degree in naval engineer, where we actually did som research and testing of wave generators. The elephant in the room of any energy harvesting is the efficiency, and we struggled to get even 1% efficiency. Meaning that when a wave passes, we extract 1% of it's energy. If you were to have 100% efficiency, then there wouldn't be any waves behind the device at all, which is speculated to be impossible (just like the wind turbine problem of 100% efficiency being physically impossible). But the energy density of waves is huge, so we should be happy to see even 5% efficiency. The best option we saw for minimizing cost was to keep all facilities adjacent to land, so only the kinetic parts was in water, and generators on land. Means that pretty much all maintenance is reduced and can be done from land, also reducing the cost by insane amounts

[@imamalox]

I'd guess that another benefit of building them close to the shore is that the environmental impact of reducing the intensity of the waves is brought to a minimum. (Implying that the efficiency is high enough to have an impact at all)

[@coffeeshangarworkshop8051]

Something along the lines of this is what I came to comment. Wave generation might work best in site specific locations where all the hardware except the float would be based on land. Channel locations where a long- arm can dangle over and drop a float into the waves leaving just a fiberglass float in the water would be a very durable solution. I could even see small-scale devices mounted on piers to capture shipping traffic waves in harbors.

[@richardmetzler7909]

On the other hand, that approach limits the technology to coastal sites where waves reach the shore in sufficient strength, and the facilities don't bother anyone...

[@Skumm93]

@@richardmetzler7909 Second part matters less, people can suck it up, but the first bit is a bit of a limiter

[@drizzylmg752]

The best form of WECs has to be the Oscillating Water Column. Zero moving parts in the water and the "spring like effect" of air trapped inside in the OWC minimizes the energy losses between energy conversions. Only problem however is the bidirectional airflow. Current turbines have ~14% efficiency in the most optimal conditions.

[@_starfiend]

There's been wave power research in the Shetlands and Orkneys, north of Scotland, for over twenty years now. I vaguely remember something from the early/mid 90's where someone showed off technology at the time. What was interesting about it was that the technology actually dissipated some of the wave power so that the waves reaching the shore were less powerful and damaging than they had been before.

[@derekp2674]

The oil price crisis of 1976 triggered UK interest in renewable energy for several years from then. Wind, wave and geothermal were studied but work on wave energy was mostly cancelled after about 1983. Wave was seen as too difficult and too expensive relative to the other two, except for work to support small island communities.

[@the_lost_navigator7266]

They have just announced that a HVDC cable will be built to connect the Orkneys to the mainland to transmit wind and tidal power to the mainland. I've seen underwater turbines be tested lately.

[@Flange-lw9sp]

I think you have hit the nail on the head there. A massive added benefit could be the potential to protect delicate shoreline by tamping down the waves. Parts of the UK coastline are being washed away, especially around Norfolk, with the authorities under pressure to spend billions in protecting houses and coastline. An option of putting wave power mats along those coasts which both generate power and reduce the waves and surge would be a tempting way of spending money to protect the coast rather than having to put massive concrete defences in place.

[@jamesfx2]

Pelamis Wave Power. They built 2 devices, one of which remains. They sadly went out of business in 2014. I remember the initial publicity, it was sometimes called the "sea snakes".

[@jacksmith4460]

was about to say something similar then saw your post, I think it was "Tomorrow's World" that showcased it

[@gregmontalvo2737]

In 1980, when I started a vo-tech program to be an electrician, my instructor challenged us to figure out how to harness waves to generate electricity. He said there are a lot of things to overcome but the possibilities were limitless.

[@Deontjie]

There is nothing the sea will not break.

[@IloveJellow]

Steam is still a highly used power producer from burning fuels as well as using starling generators.. Geothermal can be used to skip those steps as long there is enough water present in those areas however its not very controllable and can be just as dangerous as nuclear fission and also produces toxic water from the vapors just as nuclear power does. There are plenty of outlets to create, but many of them are either bad for everything or just not able to be tamed enough to be worth while.

[@tilapiadave3234]

The possible failures are endless :)

[@jehiahmaduro6827]

I think its really cool that they made the device smart enough to dive when seas and waves are too powerful to generate power with out damaging the device. THATS GENIOUS! In places where hurricanes are frequent that is a massive protection of your investment.

[@oronjoffe]

There was some testing done in Orkney in the north of Scotland. After about a decade of testing, both systems were retired. One thing that caught my eye was that neither system returned in the course of its lifetime the energy spent in making it… I spoke to an engineer who was involved in the project and he explained that the harsh marine conditions, on the one hand, and the slow speeds but great forces exerted, on the other hand, make it very difficult to make a resilient and reliable system. It’ll be brilliant, of course, if a good way was found to harvest wave energy, but I am less optimistic than I used to be that this is a worthwhile approach to renewable energy.

[@Robisquick]

I have never seen a project with a specific sim that has produced such a wide array of solutions and mechanical styles. I supposed the unpredictability of the waves, and the salt water make this so much more challenging. But wow this is mindblowing.

[@ScottDieken]

Check out tow in surfing to see massive waves

[@thruknobulaxii2020]

In the mid 70’s, I saw a wave-power device that looked remarkably like a single pair of those yellow slats with a single flex-point (?) between them to generate a current. How encouraging that it’s only taken us 50-odd years to string twenty or so of them together. _Go humans!_

[@ColonelSandersLite]

Yeah, if we were revisiting the really bad ideas every 5 years instead of 50, it would be pretty depressing.

[@creativecipher]

@@filip9564 why

[@GroteGlon]

​@@filip9564 Please share your academically backed research that concludes that please.

[@g.4279]

I actually had a renewable energy course where one of our homework assignments was calculating energy output from waves. It depends on the coastline but most coastlines of developed nations are more like 5-10kw/m. The US has an estimated 1170 TWh per year of potential wave energy on the coastlines but 50% of that is in the Alaskan coastline in specific spots and that isn't considering conversion efficiency and transmission. Even including the heavily inflated Alaskan numbers, the US coastline is an estimated 153,646km long from NOAA. So that's 7614.9MWh/km of annual production. Assuming a combined conversion and transmission efficiency of around 80% it would be 6091.92MWh/km. So to power a state like IL which uses 197.6TWh annually you are going to need 32,436.4km of pure wave generation on the coast in high wave areas to power one state, not including spacing between the units and maintained access. You're going to need to consume an absurd amount of the coastline to power just a city. 80% efficiency WITHOUT considering transmission and conversion, just pure kinetic absorption is also insanely high because it would mean you are taking a 10m high wave and turning it into a 2m high wave. Real world efficiencies seem to be in the single digits right now. Realistically, after spending money on marine resistant materials, bearings, and maintenance I have an extremely hard time believing the low cost/kw these start ups are promising. I think this is why all of the actual wave generation facilities deployed have produced far under target or were shutdown or converted to research facilities only. I'd like to be proven very wrong but I just don't think there is that much cheap energy in readily available in waves compared to something like solar and batteries.

[@jimgraham6722]

Spot on, the short wavelength is part of the problem.

[@paulk6947]

We need to be developing these for the Great Lakes Now.

[@boxlessthinker1973]

I love the variety of solutions shown in this video! Reminds me of the “glory days” of automotive and aviation development allowing non-scientists see lots of creative solutions and predict the winners. Kind of like season 1 of Battlebots. Measuring environmental impact looks challenging…. Seems to me there is great potential for coastal areas though I had not considered your point about these systems increasing complexity to the grid. Comparing costs might be tricky using optimized solar and wind designs to the comparatively newer tidal/wave systems. Somehow you need an offset for predicted reductions from development of the newer systems (assuming they prove to be technically and financially feasible). Your videos are consistently interesting to me! Thank you for producing them!

[@SomuaSomua]

I was your seventh like

[@congnguyenvo5117]

i agree with you the comparing cost

[@dwaynemcsloy4213]

Love the the videos and learning about the good things happening. Newer to the podcast with your brother and throughly enjoy it as well as they augment each other very well.

[@laminarscientific4971]

Great video Matt! The resource is diverse and market needs vary, which can lead to more than one winner.

[@debscamera2572]

Love the power of the ocean. Couple corrections: sometimes the sea is calm - not often, but sometimes. And weather bouys are a great example of tech that's handled the harsh conditions for decades.

[@homewall744]

But most waves are from the power of wind.

[@PazLeBon]

@@homewall744 im not sure thats correct. tides aree driven by the moon

[@sjsomething4936]

@@PazLeBon tides are driven by the moon, waves by wind. They’re 2 different things.

[@sjsomething4936]

The trouble is that most buoys don’t have complex machinery as a part of them, other than sometimes electronics to measure wave height, temperature etc. which can all be well protected and internal to the buoy thus don’t have to deal with fouling or corrosion. Keeping the moving parts moving and not corroding is tough, any maintenance makes the cost of the technology and by extension the energy that is produced more expensive.

[@Michael1ndonli]

@@sjsomething4936 how are they 2 different things? There are two driving forces producing one event, a wave... whether large or small. Its like you are saying there a 2 different waves?

[@sandyt4343]

Always the most interesting and thought provoking videos to be found on the subjects that you cover. 👍🏽

[@paulballard304]

Excellent analysis Matt. Thanks

[@matthewkramer8578]

What happened to the submersible buoys attached to water pumps anchored to the ocean floor? These buoys are 40 meters or so below the surface - out of the way for most boats and protected from storms. The pumps then pressurize water for turbines on the land. I was very impressed with this strategy - began in Australia in early 2000’s.

[@erazer5685]

If it began in Australia you could safely wager that our government (Australian) intervened and either cut funding or sold it to a foreign government or corporation.

[@grahamgresty8383]

There is room for wave power on sites of coastal errosion. I think the best design for this are air rams where the waves act like pistons in tubes and drive tesla turbines to generate electricity. Taking the power out of the wave thereby reduces errosion. The sites would be good for battery storage as well.

[@victoriasimpson6808]

Possibly could be pared with desalination plants?

[@finddeniro]

Yeah.. Hydraulic and Pneumatic.. Small to medium.. Then scale up..

[@TheoGottwald]

Nuclear Power is already perfect, it can hardly become better. Anything else needs a lot more effort and the result is "random electricity" no one needs.

[@carsgunsandguitars]

I've been fascinated with this for a long time. Great video.

[@ianbd77]

Love your channel, from hydraulic jumps to future tech, such a diverse range of engineering topics and really accessible. You're awesome. It seems like a readily exploitable energy supply; certainly one to keep an eye on.

[@AuxiliaryPanther]

Every video I watch on this channel is engineering fluff. As an engineer, I hate seeing content spreading excitement for a technology that all signs point to being a terrible, unprofitable method of power generation.

[@phutureproof]

@@AuxiliaryPanther well at least you brought another suggestion along instead of just whinging, oh wait

[@AuxiliaryPanther]

@@phutureproof lol, touché. Real Engineering and Practical Engineering do a fantastic job of covering engineering topics. They focus less on the newsflashy engineering topics because most of those are newsflashy. For example, many channels posted videos about how K-99 was probably not a room temperature semiconductor, but many other baity channels announced how great this could be without any dive into the issues surrounding the paper or its research.

[@mnhtnman]

Thank you and good morning!

[@MarcosFerreira-nz5ei]

Thank you Undecided for another great videos, I always enjoy the quality of your videos, thank you for the great work you do to put all of this together. One topic you might find interesting for another video. I remember a few years ago about a thermoelectric in Finland that burns trash, since of all the collected recycled plastic only 5-9% is actually recycled it might be a better solution. Thanks

[@annabel5200]

Was that the one with a ski slope built into the design? Such an innovative solution. Prof Mark Jacobson in "No Miracles Needed" goes into the pros & cons of all our energy options. There's a few major problems with burning rubbish. First being it produces greenhouse gases which we need to reduce asap to mitigate global heating & there's the issue of toxins & black carbon released into the environment. Not all can be captured. I think that facility has a very high chimney stack which help the pollution to dissipate, but doesn't solve the issue of pollution. Jacobson also talks about the garbage patches in our oceans, which are 3x the size of France. We need to keep plastics out of our oceans. Reducing use of plastics & recycling more of it will help. Burying in landfill is one of the least problematic ways of dealing with plastic waste. Maybe there needs to be a tax on plastic use, as they are ridiculously cheap to buy, considering the cost of environmental impacts. We could develop alternatives which have been around for ages, such as hemp bioplastics...which could even be used for car panels. As a bonus growing the hemp sequesters 50% more CO2 per hectare than forest. Hemp also provides high quality nutrition with a seed that contains complete protein & oil, and the fibres of hemp can also be used for paper (so we could stop logging old growth forests for wood chipping to make paper) & durable carbon negative building products. Many solutions. We could do with policies that would help implement them. A carbon fee & dividend, as advocated by James Hansen for decades as the best way to reduce GHGs, would help towards less use & more recycling of plastic, as plastic making is carbon intensive, and currently it costs less to make new plastic than to recycle existing plastics.

[@iwanttotelltheworld1564]

Super Video. Many Thanks.

[@joet6619]

What's amazing to me is that Humans managed to engineer and build huge offshore oil rigs to drill and extract oil and gas but we struggle to do the same to harvest wave energy. I'd say there is a use case for utilizing old offshore rigs for harvesting stations.

[@OneOfDisease]

I am sure there a bunch of off shore drilling locations that can't be harvested because conditions don't allow it. Oil is still king of energy per barrel of oil the amount of KWatts produced is staggering and blows away renewable energy. But I agree if we put our energy into it the ocean could help us...if we take care of it.

[@nntflow7058]

Because they made billions of profits from a single offshore oil rigs. While these machine that harvest wave energy only generate tiny bit of profit.

[@drizzylmg752]

The waves in these locations are just too powerful they would destroy form of energy extraction device. Besides it would be very difficult to maintain. See the Pico OWC Wave Energy Converter that was destroyed by powerful waves. Funny thing is that it was actually an on-shore installation. Waves are just way too powerful.

[@rocksfire4390]

well when the gov keeps giving gas/oil billions of dollars in handouts.....it's not that surprising at all. the only reason it even works at all is because they are funded by the gov, if that money went to any other energy sector it would produce the same and honestly better results.

[@skierpage]

It took millions of years for solar energy to eventually produce underground hydrocarbons that are very energy dense. After burning through centuries of solar energy fixed in wood, humans switched to extracting and burning through all that stored energy in decades. Fossil fuel producers and consumers don't pay for the massive worsening global harms that arise from making then burning their product.

[@arrowghost]

I've seen many wave-related energy videos, but not all of them are perfect solutions. Waves can be endless, but harnessing them is tough.

[@Tahj88]

I love hearing about new tech like this. Very exciting for the future.

[@beautifulgirl219]

Thanks Matt! Cheers :)

[@MarkBarrack]

Good to hear you discuss environmental impacts. Biggest problem, I think, is the ocean is unrelenting. So yes it has potential but the installation and maintenance cost are going to keep it at the high end of renewable energy.

[@mas13ish1]

I love all of the cool different ways of generating electricity that you cover. I know you or someone else also covered a partly submergible device that was quite large in scale that used turbines in the water. It will be fascinating to see what gets deployed where.

[@mgyaan9000]

Really Excited For Future!! If we find something that will give the whole world unlimited energy, we have to keep on searching and support whoever finds the idea.

[@x-STORMXX-x]

This is really awesome!

[@matttyrer1445]

Hopefully the scientists and engineers have been in contact with the marine seismic exploration companies, such as PGS, TGS and Shearwater, that have been towing huge amounts of technical equipment through the oceans for several decades. I am sure they have a huge amount of experience that could be hugely informative if shared.

[@InnerG84]

Great review of Wave energy generation tech. One company I was hoping to hear you mention or speak about it EcoWave Power which utilizes the coast to collect the energy whilst avoiding most of the harsh conditions of at-sea tech systems. According to them, this saves a ton of cost on deployment and just yesterday they've connected to the grid with the country of Israel. I'd love to hear your take and see your coverage of their technology.

[@sebastianag2966]

Great video Matt

[@BradMcPhee]

I want to extend a warm welcome to Vancouver Matt!! My beautiful city is so happy to receive you and I live only a few blocks from our beautiful convention centre that I am sure you will enjoy with its own Apiculturist on the living roof!

[@ralph7349]

It is always astounding how good you can explain all those interesting topics, it is clear you put a lot of effort in it!❤

[@Joshayyy]

What did the sea say to the sand ? Nothing he just waved 😂

[@richardd9634]

Why did the sand blush? Because the sea weed :)

[@keco185]

12:10 There are a lot more square meters of land than there are meters of coastline. The country isn't 1 meter across

[@user-hh6ex9md4w]

Wow, the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series sounds like an incredible device! It's perfect for outdoor enthusiasts like us who value quality family time and need reliable power on our camping trips. The massive capacity, fast recharging, and waterproof design are definitely impressive features. Thanks for sharing this recommendation!

[@alden1132]

I've been thinking up ways to harness wave/tidal energy for YEARS. I used to do thought experiments, imagining machines and strategies for doing this as a way to fall asleep, the way some might count sheep. It's fascinating to see how it may actually be accomplished.

[@fruityoverlord9937]

Interesting stuff :) Just a minor thing on units, in particular energy and power which are related via P = E / t At 8.20, 100kW is enough power for 100 apartments (1kw is often enough for an apartment) Also 24,000kwh/day = 24,000kwh/24 h = 1000kw = 1MW ..thats probably a better way to representing the energy generation potential of these devices.

[@tilapiadave3234]

better way to describe is ,,,, waste of time AND MONEY

[@gogollama]

Man every time I find myself coming back to your videos because I really like the content! And each time I seem to forget they are riddled with infuriating puns...

[@FredRose2001]

Some time recently read a article about wave power in Australia, from Perth WA to Melbourne there is enough potential wave power to supply all of Australia with power, this article used a concrete tube attached to a cliff as the water goes up the tube the are spins a turbine same in revers, the only part in the salt water is the bottom of the tube, maintenance is at the top so no in water maintenance. The Southern Ocean has more than enough movement all year around, add some solar and wind power, limitless uninterruptible power, day and nigh.

[@Themanincumbent]

Years ago they tried wave energy and found that taking the energy out of the waves created ecological damage further along the coast. All forms of energy come with a cost to the environment one way or another, even if it is not obvious.

[@Wis_Dom]

Not nearly as bad as people drilling into the earth for oil.

[@frederickheard2022]

“They”?

[@danielchin8073]

Isn't it though? What I've seen of the local ecosystem impact at each is that the renewables are harder on local habitats.

[@mckenziekeith7434]

Any links or anything? Every single form of energy we humans use has environmental impact. I am having a hard time believing that taking the energy out of waves is going to be worse that shading from solar panels, bird deaths from wind turbines, various forms of degradation from oil, and nuclear waste from nuclear energy. It's not like we have the option to just stop having energy. Not in the real world we don't.

[@wadexyz]

seems like there's a plethora of different types of wave power devices though.....so what they did "years ago" probably has no relevance to what they're thinking about now

[@DominicNSX]

The biggest problem with wave energy is the maintenance due to marine growth.

[@ellenorbovay5226]

Another excellent video!

[@pokeethan]

This is amazing!

[@TexLogan-du2yi]

I like the idea of harvesting the oceans infinite movement. I guess harvesting wave power is an obvious way to do it, but perhaps there's a better way. What about harvesting ocean currents? They are strong, they're out of the surf zone, and they're out of the way of being seen. Seems to me, that's where we should focus our attention. Venturi technology could be used to boost the efficiency.

[@Bigrignohio]

An old idea. Saw it in Popular science (or mechanics?) magazines from the 60/70s. But maintenance, corrosion, and the massive construction costs are still an issue.

[@baileescott401]

The problem would be the effect on the ocean currents. Disrupting the currents which mix earth's oceans would likely result in catastrophic changes to marine life. Just like how we wouldn't put giant turbines in the sky to harness the jet stream in north america because it would catastrophically change our weather patterns, making it much harder to live.

[@tomr6955]

Do these things have unintended consequences?

[@davew2040x]

@@baileescott401It would require an absolutely insane rollout of this technology to have any kind of ecological impact. And practically anything we do is looking better than the consequences of our current most popular mode of energy production, where we just light stuff on fire and pretend that smoke doesn’t exist.

[@thruknobulaxii2020]

Some climate models are now suggesting that the AMOC may be shutting down very soon. We might be a little late?

[@estraume]

You need to minimize the amount of movable parts and make the few parts needed in the power plant durable enough to stay in or close to the corrosive ocean chemistry and harsh weather. It is just so much easier to put up some static solar panels with no movable parts in a dry desert.

[@KarelGut-rs8mq]

A dry desert is not the ideal place for solar panels. Dust is very detrimental for solar panels and deserts tend to be very dusty and with little water available for cleaning that dust off the panels. Deserts are also usually hot and heat reduces the output of solar panels.

[@September2004]

I always wondered what it would be like to use waves for energy but I never imagined it would look like this.

[@wcsii]

You should of titled it “A New Wave of Energy Could Power the Future!”

[@HemonDey]

Not sure that comparing LCOE of Solar/Wind vs LCOE of WPC are a good measure, although Solar PV/Wind is cheaper they need to be supported with storage infrastructure due to intermittency - when considered together, this will significantly change the LCOE number. Storage is less likely to be required for WPCs because waves are generating most of the time, as you have mentioned. So I would consider that WPCs will reach price parity before it reaches the same level of LCOE as Solar/Wind.

[@tandar]

Great as always. Quick question on costs; you mention the LCOE could be about $0.30 per kWh. Seems relatively high compared to current rates. I’m currently paying ~$0.09 per kWh (Georgia). How does LCOE translate into consumer rates?

[@adr2t]

What you pay mainly comes down to where the power comes from. You still have solar, wind, coal, and other methods that also makes power. This would just add to it so hard to say how much you would actully pay for it, but the benfit is when solar or wind stops - you can continue to produce power over the waves vs having to burn more coal for example.

[@danielchin8073]

Yeah, I was also struck by how expensive that is. I'm paying about $0.07/kWh for supply at retail rates so imagining what that kind of cost (if wholesale is even $0.30/kWh) would do to my monthly bill is scary.

[@adr2t]

@@danielchin8073 Yea most of that would be past along to business than you. Plus they wouldnt charge like that, it would normally either a set fee that the energy company would have to pay at or be set around time frames.

[@mckenziekeith7434]

I wish I was paying that. Here in California it is already .30 per kWh for end consumers. Or thereabouts. And it goes up every year.

[@adr2t]

@@mckenziekeith7434 Cali is a different beast, there are other issues going on there xD

[@steveschritz1823]

I love the wave energy idea but as you said in the video seawater is terrible on stuff. I pictured an idea on big ships fitted with outriggers on pivots and as the waves push them up and down they generate energy to save fuel for the ship. (And since they’re on pivots they can be lifted clear for docking and canals.)

[@deareeMusic]

ducking the waves seems like the best way to get around the thrashing. I had not heard of this at all before, and it is pretty cool. Maybe the tech that rides on the surface, could adjust physically and duck the waves as well somehow. or maybe could be under some bridge type thing that could then be raised up when storms a brewin'

[@unvergebeneid]

1:34 It doesn't really make sense to say that the US coasts could generate any amount of kWh because of course they could if you wait long enough. I'm guessing you mean something like "per year" but then you need to _say_ that and also at that point your multiplying by time and then dividing by time, so why not just give a figure in TW or something.

[@Mulakulu]

Yeah, I was also wondering why on earth they used "tillion kWh" instead of just "TWh". There's some unit tomfoolery going on

[@jcaique]

Aren't waves the energy of wind transfered into the water? Wouldn't we be getting the wind's sloppy seconds?

[@mckenziekeith7434]

Yeah but there is a lag. The waves continue for a while after the wind dies down. Also, the waves travel vast distances. So a storm in the middle of the pacific ocean could power homes in California a couple of days later.

[@flameofthephoenix8395]

I heard the Moon pulling on the water was responsible for it.

[@flameofthephoenix8395]

Turns out the Moon creates tides; the wind creates waves.

[@mckenziekeith7434]

@@flameofthephoenix8395 the moon (and sun also) pulling on water is responsible for the tides. But not the waves. Waves are created by wind blowing over the surface of the water. Earthquakes and/or underwater landslides can also cause waves but that is a different thing (tidal wave, aka tsunami).

[@flameofthephoenix8395]

@@mckenziekeith7434 Yes, but tides and waves are still interconnected, and affect each other. They don't have a huge effect, but it's still there. And it certainly can be picked up by electrical generators.

[@Pileot]

I've seen a lot of different groups try to tackle wave energy but a few common issues always crop up. First, the ocean is unpredictable. You can set up a generator in a pool and get decent results but in the ocean you have multiple different waves with different periods. In short a WEC that works with small waves gets ruined by large waves, if it works with large waves its ineffective with small ones. Storms bring debris which often wrecks cables or jams moving parts. The harshness of the ocean can not be understated, it destroys everything given enough time. Second, as mentioned around 4:30, things break down in the ocean. Paints and coatings always wear away and when combined with moving parts they invariably have a shorter lifespan than anticipated. Maintenance also tends to be a sticking factor, both in cost as well as accessibility. Finally, cost is a major factor. 12:50 you explore the cost per megawatt hour and that it will likely take at least 30 years for wave energy to get close to current solar capabilities. I wonder how far solar will get in that time? If you have limited funds to work with offshore doesn't really make sense. It MIGHT make some sense if you don't have the land area for large solar farms but even then we have many buildings, parking lots, and spaces that can still support solar with a little creativity for far less than wave energy. I hear a lot about what "might" happen in the future, I keep thinking of wave energy like "clean coal". Like, sure, we COULD burn coal and use carbon capture and in a perfect world it wouldn't pollute, OR we could use solar and get more power for less cost with less work. At the end of 20 years I feel the grant money given to the CalWave project will have been used with nothing to show for it where a solar installation would have paid for itself multiple times and still be outputting power. I don't see a reality where wave energy is the future no matter how hard they try to force it.

[@mattjones3217]

I remember reading an article about the US Navy having a hydroelectric testing base in Hawaii. They test the latest tech to power remote naval installations.

[@FreddieVee]

2 problems: 1) As you discussed, they are still looking for the best design. 2) Because the Wave Generators are limited to coastlines, it will require a lot of grid updates and repair costs. Rooftop Solar power actually takes pressure off of the grid. Wave Generation adds pressure.

[@pixelpusher220]

Wave Generation adds grid pressure? how? It's new and requires the infrastructure, but not seeing it beyond that. Rooftop solar is certainly good but has the Duck Curve problem - and it can actually destabilize grids if it's un-managed variability. i.e. partly cloudy will cause rolling waves of changing generation levels; that the operator *has* to handle. If the grid operators can get near realtime reports of rooftop generation it's fabulous, but most people aren't hooking their systems up that way - giving grid operators access to their stats.

[@julialerner3322]

The best way would be to harness power as locally as possible in each area, according to what's most available in each region. Decentralized power is more secure and efficient power. No single point of failure to deny energy to large areas and no huge losses transporting it over large distances. And ownership of power generation should properly reside in each community using it.

[@Alarios711]

​@@pixelpusher220 They don't need "most people" to allow access. Maybe one every few dozens of miles is largely enough. It's not like sunlight is going to vary on a house per house basis. Also utilities providers tend to over exaggerate the impact of roof solar on the grid because they want to justify increasing their rate despite less and less centralized production being needed to service homes.

[@pixelpusher220]

@@Alarios711 partly cloudy days will affect houses differently. Perhaps not individually but definitely in small numbers and that has to be accounted for by the grid operators. As more residential solar comes online it increases the delta sizes that need to be handled.

[@denverbraughler3948]

I hope that you realize that’s a 1 MW generator - which is easier to understand than 24,000 kWh/day.

[@josevazquez1042]

Pretty sure he used kW instead of MW for casual viewers who are less informed. He knows his stuff.

[@denverbraughler3948]

@@josevazquez1042: Apparently you didn’t watch the video: elsewhere, he used MW. You cannot even begin to comprehend 24,000 kWh/day and you are one of he less-informed folks. He just as well should have written 1 MW. Either way, it’s way out of your knowledge base.

[@Rimpala]

I always wanted to either do this or somehow capture ocean currents, both are tremendous transfers of kenetic energy right? Maybe one of the devices can welcome the barnacles, and maybe coral to grow on them. We kind of need more of that right now.

[@fritz1990]

It sounds like a smart move to make. Also tidal generators are in the works as well as wave generators and current generators. Like the one in Norway. Or maybe it was Sweden. A teathered slightly submerged turbine, turned by the flow from a large bay. Enjoying the channel. You have a new subcriber.

[@williamdurham7722]

While I'm encouraged to see that there are other options for capturing sustainable Electricity I believe the real danger is the prevailing storage methods which i believe is mainly "batteries"...Anyone with half a brain should be able to understand that the creation and proper maintenance of batteries is sadly short sighted and is damaging our environment in that they deteriorate and their disposal is so dangerous to the ground water because of decaying polymers and toxic chemicals 😢

[@arshadrehman24]

Whats cool is that most countries have access to oceans of some sort. Its not really like Oil in that way.

[@joaogunza7281]

I really love this one 💪

[@jasonhill9088]

We could definitely use one of those in Milwaukee. I think the milder conditions would allow a wave generator to flourish in the great lakes. As for salt water, an anode can only do so much. I saw the spot of rust on the generator towards the end of the video.

[@malcolmnew8973]

The Salter Duck was trialed successfully on lake Windermere in England in the 70s/80s.

[@bruhder5854]

Tidal energy is not good if there's aquatic life forms around where it is being used. It causes underwater noise, electromagnetic fields, changes in habitats, entanglement, and displacement which can negatively and severely affect the aquatic life. There's an argument for it to be used in hydro electric plants but it is still under scrutiny due to its potential impacts on the performance of hydro generation.

[@Rhythmattica]

Ok.. Lets not consider what fossil fuels are doing to the globe.. Never go Full

[@polka23dot70]

I made several inventions in this field, and I even found a manufacturing company which wanted to make a prototype. Fortunately, we had enough common sense to withdraw from this immature project. There are four problems with wave energy: 1. The contraption must be hidden below ocean surface because it looks ugly and may collide with ships. 2. The contraption must dive to avoid destructive storms. 3. The contraption must be made of material which is cheap, strong, and does not corrode. Such material does not exist, but I invented basalt foam which may be suitable for this purpose. 4. High power density (>60kW/m) is available only in southern Australia, southern New Zealand, southern Africa, Scotland and Ireland. Global electricity production is ~3TW. Global wave energy is ~0.5TW - not much. Thermal gradients at the poles provide ~1TW. Solar energy in deserts is controversial because it will compete with huge hydroponic greenhouses. (The greenhouses must be huge to stabilize their internal temperature.) I like geothermal energy and high altitude (>1km) wind energy because they seem to be inexhaustible.

[@flameofthephoenix8395]

Instead of diving, it could be pulled out of the way, you could have a more secure protective box for it to tuck itself away into in the case of storms.

[@kelvinnance8371]

Excellent episode, and a compelling topic! What a timely subject as well. Keep up the great series! First comment. I have been reading things like Nat Geo, Popular Mechanics, etc. since I was old enough to read. I recall, somewhere back in the 60s to 70s, reading about a project, somewhere in the Scandinavian countries, possibly Holland, that utilized tidal energy by constructing a "collector" across a bay mouth and captured the WPE of tide and wave by lifting buoyant 'floats' which converted to torque, which was eventually converted to electricity. Think of it as the great-great...kin to the "Windmill". Bottom line... the idea has been around for a good long while, and the current renaissance should probably better been enjoyed back in those years. Who knows where we would be today, and how much better off our world and we would be, as a global civilization, had the minds of foresight been heeded then . Second, a question. In calculating the amount of Potential Energy (E sub P) on a planetary scale, it seems that the majority of it is based on geography of coastal areas, and is also necessitated for wave creation/accentuation by loss of depth (or gain in shallowness as waves reach the shores. But let us now consider the "open seas". Could there not be far greater potential energy in the 'open seas'? True, the tethering would be far more complex, due primarily to ocean depths at the anchoring locations, not to mention costly, and setting aside the collection & distribution costs of converted energy as a "common factor". This, of course, relates back to Tesla/Edison problem of long-distance transmission. Perhaps this last might be the topic of another episode?

[@clo8076]

The only thing I hardly ever hear anyone think about is the immense impact that altering the currents would have on the environment. Ocean currents have one of the largest impacts on the global climate. If you’re “absorbing” the kinetic energy from the current, you’re weakening that current beyond the power generation system. Why is this impact never expressed or asked about when most people talk about this? Especially given the push for environmental protections and climate change solutions.

[@panosgeorgopoulos9153]

It's a matter of "how much" not "if". In principle you are correct, it would be catastrophic to alter ocean currents, but I think you are overestimating the effect of this device relative to the strength of the currents. It's like being worried that a breeze could bring down a building because you just saw a leaf fluttering in the wind - it's all about scale :)

[@eliadkatz5129]

Considering that in order for the deployment of wave energy converters to affect currents it would have to be so wide that it would affect shipping lanes and marine life long before that, don't forget that there are many artificial structures in the sea such as ships, drilling sites, buoys and of course breakwaters that all absorb energy from the waves, they Just don't convert them to electricity. This is as ridiculous an argument as saying wind farms will stop the wind

[@not_your_raccoon]

I think currents are deeper and flow like large under surface rivers on very long timescales and are generally driven by differences in temperature and salinity(solar input and icemelt). Waves are more ephemeral surface phenomena more driven by wind(atmosphere). So in that case they should be unrelated enough for it not to be a concern. My guess is that what’s most likely to be of interest is case by case local ecosystem effects.

[@kedrednael]

The waves are not the (ocean) current. Waves are mostly water going up and down, caused by wind. The waves propagates in a cetain direction, but the water is not flowing with it like that.

[@ScottHz]

10:52

[@church323]

This is one of those things that never pops into you mind until someone says it and it just makes so much sense

[@Cz4rM4tt]

Thanks for the cool content. By the way, you have two J-pieces in your modular Tetris-piece lamp. 😬 You should flip the red piece around to make an L-piece.

[@daspisch]

I’m concerned about our hasty transition to ‘clean’ energy. A century ago, coal-powered power stations were seen as groundbreaking. However, we now understand the repercussions of using coal. These consequences can be readily quantified with the data we have today. But what about renewables? How significantly are we impacting the ecosystem by halting wind with our turbines, disrupting waves with floating devices, and preventing sunlight from warming the earth with our solar farms? How will these actions affect our environment in 100 years? Or in 1,000 years?

[@ebubeawachie]

The background music on this video 😍😍😍😩😩😩🏆🏆🏆 Do you do all your editing yourself?

[@GabrielSBarbaraS]

You converted me from undecided to crystal clear on water energy Matt.

[@robertroberts5218]

Attach it to the hulls water line on ships to provide "Hotel" power from the waves rolling along down the hull. Excess power can be stored and offloaded as cargo to a pier side grid connection. The mechanics can be stashed in the voids between inner and outer hulls on tankers. These devices would produce negligible drag with a tweaked design.

[@jasonspeer1964]

That's awesome that you'll be at the Fully Charged event. The company I work for works with BC Hydro and Powertech labs so we will be there too. It would be so cool to get to meet you, I love the channel.

[@4shotpastas]

I think it's fascinating, and so long as the proper measures are taken to avoid more pollution, I think it has great pottential

[@phillipeisenberg8215]

I love this idea! You could attach these to the bottom of floating cities to provide power.

[@MiquelGorbiviUS]

Now that would be a good megaproject to start.

[@ludwigwinter6795]

I was excited about

[@TeslaEVolution]

Matt: Idea for new video: COMPARE ALL WAVE POWER TECH/COMPANIES and provide the BEST/ranked list when it comes to LCOE, efficiency, scalability and durability and practicality and also SPEED of which tech could be scaled and deployed!! I'd love to see that list : ))))))

[@admspk]

I usually give you a thumbs up towards the end of videos but you got me to click it at 7:37 with lubes and oils 🙂. Great video and a very interesting subject

[@joeblow3939]

Matt, funny how my brain works. Well watching I thought, how many trains run in America on any given day? What brought me to this is possibly capturing some of that energy to reproduce energy into a mobile charge station that can later discharge into the grid. Love your channel. 👍👍

[@slateslavens]

new game. Take a shot every time he says "wave" 😆 Excellent vid. Thanks for helping us get our feet wet with this tech!

[@larryl43]

thank you

[@clayprice924]

People have been talking about wave power for years. It has potential but some major downsides are: -pollutants Pieces can break off or degrade quickly in salt water -longevity Salt water is a major enemy of mechanical contraptions. These power stations will need constant maintenance to work properly -plant and sea life Blocking out the sun from a large area of the ocean will have terrible effects for plant and ocean life

[@wornouttire]

Watching sailing vlog channels, you get an idea of how much maintenance is necessary. They need to scrub their hull every 2-4 weeks and repaint every 1-3 years. While it's easy to state that anchorages are a good example of permanent equipment, those are placed in areas usually protected from the waves that are needed.

[@dickthedorkwing6082]

I'd still love to see a study on the long-term effects on ocean life. We have already seen the damaging effects on land based flora and fauna due to habitat loss and other factors associated with large scale solar and wind farming and the massive environmental impact associated with large scale mining for rare earth material to produce solar and wind components as well as the batteries needed to store the energy.

[@rolandalcid7127]

That's a bright idea !!

[@everythingsalright1121]

I cant help but wonder about the wear and tear from the parts moving up and down not only constantly, but in salt water and rough seas.

[@theotherandrew5540]

Sounds good. Here in the U.K, we have plenty of suitable sites including the long sea lochs of Scotland where the storm waves are moderated.

[@nilspaar1999]

This could be a great technology to help reduce beach erosion and potentially replace lost barrier islands, especially in hurricane prone areas. However, as the moon and earth, and by extent oceans are tidally locked, it would be potentially concerning how mass adoption would affect this balance. As the moon is currently moving away, it is slowing down the earths rotation. It is curious how this would play out on massive scale, and I would love someone to extrapolate it or a possible episode of it. We know that the 3 Gorges Dam had a minor effect on the rotation as it created a substantial new mass where it wasn't before. Could systems like this be used to counteract that affect or make it worse, and what would it mean for future massive hydropower if possible? Great episode and I hope my rambling thoughts will lead to interesting debates. Thanks to you Matt for the channel and scientific forum!

[@johndoyle4723]

Thanks, still seems a huge engineering challenge. Here in UK we have at least 2 huge tidal potential sites, Severn estuary and Morecambe bay, but also huge environmental consequences for wildlife, maybe one day. Tidal seems an easier engineering challenge but bigger environmental challenge.

[@_MattyG_]

I’m sure that you have a scheduled video of releases, but I saw that Amazon was approved for a fiber optic cable off the coast of Oregon. It would be interesting to know more about these long stretches of fiber optic cables, running across the pacific ocean,and what they are for

[@billsmith5109]

Click on a website in Australia. Poof! You’ve utilized an undersea fibre optical cable. Another use is running parallel to a coast. Think of the thousands of easements needed to run an on land cable.

[@tigershirew7409]

Ooh, how exciting. Not sure I could make it over to the Fully Charged Live event, but since you'll be there you might get a chance to check out Harbour Air's fully electric seaplane, or if you had enough time to pop over here to Victoria, we have the world's first all electric tugboat. I hope you have a great time at the even in Vancouver. :)

[@daves1646]

Especially like the approach of co-locating wave power and on-water wind farms. Every 2 for 1 will help some with costs, of ownership, and maintenance. Hopefully it helps with the NIMBY folks since multiple energy generation forms are utilizing one space.