Energy From The Rolling Sea

摘要

"Think of waves as concentrated wind power," says Max Carcas, business development director at Pelamis Wave Power in Edinburgh, Scotland. As winds move across the oceans, they create ripples, which grow into swells. Because water is heavier than air, each wave can transfer some 800 times more energy than a similar volume of windrnPelamis is reaping this energy with a device, roughly the size of a subway train, that floats on the sea surface. As swells raise and lower its linked sections, the motion forces the powerful hydraulic pistons they contain to drive fluid through arngenerator. Since last September, three of these giant 750-kilowatt sea snakes have been floating off the coast of Portugal, feeding the grid with enough power to supply some 2,000 homes.