Despite promising tests and enormous potential, wave energy remains an elusive renewable source of energy. According to Green Wave Energy Corp. founders Mark Holmes and David New, strict regulations and the high cost of deployment s will continue to stifle efforts to commercialize wave energy.

In a report by the Los Angeles Times, the Newport Beach entrepreneurs have been testing a wave-powered turbine near a well-known bodysurfing area called The Wedge for several years “and have now approached city officials for permission to set up a more permanent prototype, possibly off one of the city’s two piers. The prototype generator is a roughly 20-foot-long fiberglass cylinder that looks like a large vertical propane tank that would float on the water’s surface. Such cylinders would be tethered to the ocean floor and connected to one another, forming a long line perpendicular to incoming waves. Theoretically, they would ride up and over the passing waves, which would spin the turbines and produce power.”

The resulting wave energy farm would be connected to an onshore transistor via a cable that could be buried beneath the ocean floor.  Holmes and New report that when placed in seven-foot waves, one cylinder is capable of generating up to five kilowatts, which is estimated to be enough to power an average household.

The advantage of wave power is that it is a 24 source as opposed to solar which can only operate during the daylight hours.

Other have invested in developing possible wave solutions, including Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). According to the Los Angeles Times, the utility “suspended its efforts to build a wave-energy pilot project near Eureka in Northern California, citing high costs and hard-to-obtain permits.”

Even those who believe wave power is feasible, acknowledge it is a solution for the future, not the present. Besides regulation and develop costs hurdles, there has been little environmental studies done.

Chad Nelsen, environmental director of the Surfrider Foundation notes: “We are trying to approach all these projects with an open mind. At the same time, they have potential impacts. There’s not a lot really well known about what those effects would be.”

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