Renewable Revolution

October 2nd, 2017 by Steve Hanley

SNIPPET:

Professor Tsumoru Shintake of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology University thinks wind and solar power are wonderful things. But research in those areas is a crowded field. He wants to investigate other forms of renewable energy, like turbines driven by ocean currents and waves.

Being a nation of islands, Japan is keenly attuned to the problem of erosion. Nearly 30% of its coastline is protected from the ravages of the sea by tetrapods, man-made pyramids that help reduce the power of waves before they reach the shore. Professor Shintake and his team would like to redesign those wave-breaking devices to incorporate small turbines that generate electricity from the power of the flowing water.

“Using just 1% of the seashore of mainland Japan can [generate] about 10 gigawatts [of energy], which is equivalent to 10 nuclear power plants,” Professor Shintake explains. “That’s huge.” It is especially huge in Japan, where nuclear power has a somewhat mixed track record.

FULL ARTICLE:

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/02/wave-power-renewable-energy-project-underway-japan/

Agelbert COMMENT: Japan has ample ocean current resources to make wave power a renewable energy reality powering most of their infrastructure 24/7 without any intermittency whatsover.