The Oil Drum

161 comments on Monday Open Thread...

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

wkwillis on February 6, 2006 - 1:09pm

More importantly, it is out of synch with wind. Wave power is last week's wind power from some place out in the ocean. It is also intermittant, but in a different way.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

step back on February 6, 2006 - 3:40pm

We should try to avoid posting junk science on TOD.
Common scientific opinion is that wind makes waves.
No wind, no waves. There is no 1 week delay. It's fairly immediate. Even for a tsunami which has much longer wavelength, the effect is felt in hours not weeks.

For more info, look here at the bottom picture

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

haggisbasher on February 7, 2006 - 1:47am

The link supplied is over simplified with regard to waves, and more importantly swell propagation, however even this link includes the phrase:-

"But even when you feel no wind at all, you may encounter large swells created by distant storms."

When considering wave power, it is necessary to differentiate between:-
Wind generated waves - can be described as the waves created by wind blowing at that place and time.
Swell waves - waves that are generated elsewhere and have travelled from their place of origin.

The comment with reference to the short time interval before the effects of a tsunami are felt is misleading. Wave speed is directly related to wavelength, waves due to seismic disturbance typically have wavelengths measured in hundreds of kilometers as opposed to tens / hundreds of metres for normal swell. The effects of distance storms can be felt many days after the storm in distance locations.

I am aware of 2 companies with differing approaches to wave power, with systems approaching commercial reality.

http://www.oceanpd.com

http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com

It will be interesting to watch thier progress as they attempt to scale up.

Dave.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

Oil CEO on February 7, 2006 - 4:55am

Thank You, Sir. Please reply more often. We have no wave experts. But I can see you will do just fine until we do. (That was a joke).

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

The contents below are paid advertisements. Their appearance does not imply an endorsement by The Oil Drum.

“Of all races in an advanced stage of civilization, the American is the least accessible to long views… Always and everywhere in a hurry to get rich, he does not give a thought to remote consequences; he sees only present advantages… He does not remember, he does not feel, he lives in a materialist dream.”

—Moiseide Ostrogorski (1902, 302-303)