The Oil Drum

62 comments on Pelamis: A Shot in the Dark?

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oilmanbob on June 1, 2006 - 10:13pm

Great Articles! I don't know how well this design will work offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, wave heights are generally less than 2 meters around here. But if it works pretty well this technology could be easily adapted to fit on the legs of offshore production platforms and possibly wind turbine platforms to provide more energy.
I am a firm believer that it will take many different approaches working together to get us off our reliance on fossil fuels. Solar will work well in the deserts, wind in high wind corridors, methane from waste, wave generators in coastal areas, possibly solar cells in space beaming microwaves to earth. Conservation should be our first approach of course.
I have nothing but applause for any group of people working towards real renewable sources.

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ericy on June 1, 2006 - 10:22pm

I saw some charts where they showed the average amount of available wave energy for various spots on the planet:

http://www.oceanpd.com/Resource/default.html

and

http://www.oceanpd.com/Resource/Worldresourcemap.html

GOMEX appears to be a rather poor choice for these things.

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chrisale on June 1, 2006 - 11:55pm

That would make sense as the GOMEX is quite enclosed in relation to the wave/swell generating ocean and, i believe, doesn't have great tides (due to it's proximity to the equator)...

I'd imagine that what these generators use is "sea swell" rather than waves generated by wind. You only get good sea swells in regions of open ocean where there is lots of space for the sun/wind to interact and churn the sea.

Any kind of coastline will quickly knock down sea swell.

The entire Eastern Seaboard of the US/Canada... but especially the North East sections, would be excellent regions as they have strong tides, strong weather (generated by hurricanes in the summer, and winter storms in the winter), and a fairly "open" coastline, where the sea swell washes right up on shore.

The West Coast would be just as good, though the weather isn't as extreme, the Pacific is so vast that waves can be generated on the other side of the Date line and still cause good surf on Long Beach.

I fished in the Queen Charlotte Islands for 4 summers... they are just south of the Alaska panhandle in Canada. The West Coast of the Queen Charlottes would be absolutely ideal... hardly a day without sea swell there.. and when it comes, it's big. On the other side, between the Islands and the BC Mainland, is Hecate Strait... it has some of the strongest tides and strongest winds in the world... which makes for a hellish place if your stuck there in a storm (I've seen 50 foot waves towering over our 51 foot boat... a humbling, and frightening experience... good thing I have a strong stomach).

Long story short... even if these generators are expensive... there is no doubt that there are a ton of regions in the world where this would make sense and could contribute.

I'm sure that's what BC Hydro, the public Electric Utility here in BC... helped to fund some of this research (i think). Hopefully we see some of this stuff of our coast.

The problem is more remoteness.. alot of these "wavey places" are a little "out there" especially in North America... so transmitting that energy into the grid will likely be the biggest stumbling block.

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