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Iain Grigsby
Professor Semih Eser
EGEE 101H
4/10/2014
Ocean Energy
Abstract
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, global carbon dioxide emissions will
increase by at least 40 percent (from 2010 levels) by 2035 if major nations remained tied to existing
fossil fuel based energy policies [1]. If such a bleak prediction becomes a reality, leading climate
scientists agree that the earths biosphere will be irreparably compromised. Thankfully, if the right steps
regarding renewable energy policies are taken, catastrophe may still be averted. One major source of
power generation that has only begun to be taken advantage of is that associated with the inborn
energy of the planets oceans and large bodies of water. Should their potential be fully realized,
harnessing the dynamism of tides and waves through a variety of novel devices is sure to play a
significant role in the road to a more sustainable future.
Introduction
With each passing year, the carbon dioxide released in the combustion of fossil fuels is
poisoning the earths atmosphere at an increasingly alarming rate. Faced with pressure to halt climate
change, the ocean energy field is experiencing a renaissance bolstered by strong research funding and
clever ideas. In this way, while wind, solar, bio-energy, and other well-known renewables provide
promising means of curbing the global warming trend, tidal and wave power generation will soon add
additional merit to the renewable energy consortium.
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Tidal energy is the energy dissipated by tidal movements, which derive themselves directly from
the gravitational and centrifugal forces between the earth, moon and sun [2]. As the moon orbits
around the earth, a bulge of water is formed on the side of the planet which faces it due to the
attraction of the spherical masses. On the side of the planet directly opposite this, the rotation of the
earth-moon system generates a centrifugal force which causes a similar bulge of water to form [3]. As
the two bodies revolve and landmasses come into contact with the peak of one of the moving bulges,
they are said to be at high-tide. In the same way, when at points perpendicular to the line formed by
the gravitational and centrifugal maxes, the water around the landmass is at low-tide. Harnessing the
potential energy from this difference in water height is the basic principle that drives all tidal energy
recovery devices.
Wave energy instead arises from water surface height variances most often resulting from wind
blowing over a stretch of fluid surface. As the air moves over the liquids surface, pressure and friction
forces perturb the equilibrium of the water surface [4]. Taking the form of a raised water column, the
wave is then pulled downward towards its original level by the forces of gravity. On the macro scale,
waves can form over large areas of ocean and, once generated, travel immense distances with only
small energy losses [5]. Large scale wave fronts such as these often are out of phase with localized wind
and wave conditions, meaning that with proper prediction methods they can be used to minimize
variability over a body of water which might not otherwise be experiencing waves from local air
movement. In simplest terms, wave power generators capture the energy from the upward and
downward motion of the water surface.
This research seeks to provide baseline knowledge into the pros, cons and overall viability of
ocean energy recovery. The tidal and wave capture fields represent exciting new in-roads into a
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renewable energy economy for the planets population, and to fully understand the way they might fit
into an environmentally sustainable future, all attributes need to be explored in detail.
Literature Review
The harnessing of tides has long been recognized as a means of generating useable work for an
adjacent population, evidenced by tide mills dating back to as early as 1000 A.D.. About 750 such mills
are known to have been in operation at one time or another along the shores of the Atlantic
(approximately 300 in North America, 200 on British Isles, and 100 in France) [7]. In its most common
form, a tide mill resembled a water mill with an undershot waterwheel which was driven by the tidal
movement of water ebbing in and out of a collection pool. Though these mills required the constant
adjustment of labor times to account for the continuously lagging hours of the lunar calendar, they
provided substantial amounts of useful power to their owners and surrounding communities.
In contrast, most modern day tidal energy capture devices fall into a family known as tidal
barrages, which bare several resemblances to contemporary dams that span across rivers. Like dams,
the barrages are built across a body of water that undergoes a significant height differential due to the
intentional obstruction of flow. Electricity generation from tidal barrages employs many of the same
principles and processes as hydroelectric turbines. The key difference is that tidal currents flow in both
directions. Because of this, the turbines in tidal barrages are almost always bi-directional, meaning they
can generate power from water flow in more than one direction, most often through the use of bulb,
straflo, rim and tubular turbines [8]. During high-tide, a column of water builds up on one side of the
damn, creating large amounts of potential energy due to its raised height when compared to the other
side of the barrage. This energy potential is converted to power when the water flows downward
through the barrage spinning a turbine which generates electricity through its rotation. In the same
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way, during low tide, a water column forms on the opposite side of the barrage and the same process
occurs to generate a second quantity of power.
The history of wave power spans a somewhat shorter time. The first known patent to use
energy from ocean waves dates back to 1799, with the first oscillating water column designs dating to
just 1910 [9]. However, after facing the energy crisis in the latter half of the 20
th
century, many of the
concepts employed current designs were instantiated in the 1970s.
One category of such devices is known as point absorbers. These devices capture energy
through the upward and downward motion of the waves. While different strategies of doing so exist,
most involve the vertical motion of a buoy driving the compression of a gas or liquid, which is in turn
expanded to drive the rotation of a generator which creates electricity.
A second promising wave energy capture method is the surface attenuator. Instead of
operating vertically, these devices float horizontally at the surface of the water, and are made up of
several large tube sections connected by universal joints. As the waves move past the tube floats, the
joints allow the tubes to move in two directions independently of one another, a motion which is
resisted by hydraulic rams at each of the connections. The hydraulic fluid in the rams drives hydraulic
motors which then spin electrical generators.
Ending paragraph?
Discussion
It is important to note that a key difference between the principles of wave and tide energy
capture is the timescale and physical area over which their cycles operate. Unsurprisingly, these
fundamental differences drive the overall design, challenges faced, and ultimate benefits to both
methods of ocean power generation.
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Depending on location, a volume of water may experience two high tides and two low tides
each day (semi-diurnal), or only one high tide and one low tide per day (diurnal) [6]. This means that the
rise and fall of the water column captured by tidal energy devices undergoes one cycle every many
hours. The upward and downward motion of the water bodies surface moves at a very slow rate, and
thus tidal devices are designed specifically to take advantage of this. In addition, high and low tides
occur over vast expanses of water that the moon or sun is directly over or perpendicular to. In order to
best take advantage of this large area of rise and fall, tidal capture devices are often immense in size.
Wave energy capture devices, on the other hand, operate on a much shorter time cycle. An
expanse of water can have an enormous quantity of perturbations of varying sizes moving across it at
any given point in time. As these high points and low points move laterally across the surface, they raise
and lower the wave powered generator in a time on the order of seconds. Additionally, in most cases
waves can be considered to be a fairly localized phenomenon. Unlike high or low tide, a single wave is
present over a relatively small area of the body of water at any given time. For this reason, wave energy
capture devices tend to be smaller than their tidal cousins.
In terms of power generation, because of their comparatively large size, tidal barrages are
capable of producing much more power per assembly then wave capture devices. For instance, the La
Rance Tidal Power Station operating in France generates 240MW, and a larger 254MW plant on Sihwa
Lake, Korea was recently constructed. Wave energy generates far less power per device. For instance,
the industry leader in point absorber technology OPTs Mark 3 Power Buoy generates just 866 kilowatts
[10]. With regards to horizontally oriented surface attenuators, the leading company Pelamiss P2 can
see bursts of power only up to two mega-watts [11]. It should be noted however, that while a tidal
barrage performs its power generating duties in isolation, wave energy point absorbers and surface
attenuators are designed to work in tandem with many other devices of the same design in the
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surrounding area. In this way, though each individual wave devices output may be small, when
summed together the net output of the wave farm can theoretically be scaled to that of tidal power
generation methods.
With regard to economics, it is somewhat difficult to compare tidal energy versus wave energy
capture due to their different sizes of implementation. The La Rance tidal power plant described above
cost approximately 131 million dollars in 1967, or 768 million dollars in todays dollars, to construct [12].
Once initial investments were recouped, the power plant now experiences healthy profits each year
selling 540,000,000 kWh/year of electricity. Further, the plant generates electricity at a cost 28 percent
lower than nuclear energy [13]. Additionally, since the barrage also serves as a bridge across the Rance
River, it generates over 3 million dollars in toll tax revenue each year.
For wave energy capture, the numbers are somewhat hazier given that devices are designed to
operate in a farm setup. For a field of ten OPT Point Absorbers currently being installed off the New
Jersey coast with a capacity of 1.5MW, the cost is estimated at 64 million dollars [14]. For a farm of
three Pelamis surface attenuators set to be built in Scottish waters with a capacity of 3MW, the cost is
6.7 million dollars [15]. However, since this is still a pilot project, the costs may not be representative of
full scale roll out. Overall, the surface attenuator seems much more capable of achieving tidal barrage
level of cost effectiveness, though future iterations of point absorbers could certainly level the playing
field.
All ocean energy systems main goal is to reduce the ecological impact of generating useful work
for a given population. It is important therefore to get a sense of the positive and negative impacts each
system has on the environment in which it resides. Fortunately, over the construction and operation of
the La Rance tidal power plant, extensive records of the environmental impact of the project were kept.
During its three year construction ending in 1967, in closing the estuary, many marine flora and fauna
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disappeared due to salinity fluxuations, heavy sedimentation, and accumulation of organic matter in the
basin. Ten years later, the estuary was once again classified as richly diversified, and by 1980 it provided
a habitat for some 70 different fish species, and the same number of bird species as before construction.
With the recent appearance of scallops and Belon oysters, the basin is now considered by some to be a
small sea [12]. The La Rance tidal power plant was clearly designed in such a way so as not to impede
the progress of fish moving down the River and minimize silt buildup. Though this barrage is an
ecological success, it should be noted that this was not without very careful planning.
Again, since wave capture devices are still primarily in their infancy, it is somewhat difficult to
predict their environmental impacts. Thus far their deployment has been small enough that the full
effects of their power generation have not fully been realized, save them becoming a new perch for
water faring birds. Because they occupy such a small area, and check the waves very little, it is likely
that their impact would be far less remarkable than a tidal power system. Unlike a tidal barrage which
risks obstructing a vast volume of water and the creatures that inhabit it, the fluid and fauna can simply
pass around both a point absorber and a surface attenuator. Finally, the low noise and visual impact of
wave energy is another advantage the method enjoys over tidal energy.
In terms of resource limits, both wave and tidal energy capture have the advantage of enormous
expanses of water to work with. In varying capacities, tides exist on the shorelines of major bodies of
water all over the world. By studying the patterns of these water movements and taking advantage of
geographic features such as narrows which force the tide to come in faster or slower, there is great
potential to produce large amounts of power through tidal energy capture around the world. In terms
of wave energy capture, it is estimated that on the shores of the Atlantic there is 40 kW per meter of
coastline [15]. Should even a fraction of this power be harnessed through the effective use of the wave
devices described herein, it could provide electricity to a significant portion of coastal populations.
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Fortunately, with proper upkeep, both tidal and wave energy have the ability to be sustainable
for years to come. Storms and the corrosiveness of sea-water prevent the biggest challenge, but if risks
are managed appropriately and parts replaced at necessary intervals, neither of these should pose an
enormous threat to continued power generation. Over the next few decades as both technologies
become more fully understood, the current high maintenance costs and low efficiencies will almost
certainly take a turn for the better.

Conclusion
Ocean energy is posed to be a staple of the earths inhabits move toward a fossil fuel free
future. The planets bodies of water provide a steady, predictable, and constantly renewed store of
energy. At present, only a fraction of the possibilities have been taken advantage of. Power generation
from both tidal and wave capture provides a viable means of realizing the ultimate potential of Ocean
Energy.
Tidal energy capture, dating back to ancient times, utilizes the rise and fall of a large expanse of
water due to the rotation of the sun-earth-moon system. Tidal barrages, which resemble river dams,
are the most common form of such a device. They work by slowing the progress of a tidal movement,
and forcing the water to pass through a series of turbines to generate useful electricity. Once the water
has passed through the barrage, it is held on the opposite side until the tide recedes, at which point it is
passed back through the turbines in the opposite direction to produce more power. After a high initial
cost, tidal barrages can generate huge amounts of power similar to that of a hydroelectric dam, and if
proper maintenance and management is performed, they can remain in use for many decades. Without
appropriate planning, barrages can potentially impede native fish populations and cause significant silt
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buildup in the waterway. Properly executed tidal barrages can add significant value to the ocean energy
proposition.
Wave energy capture is still in its beginning stages of development. The concept is based upon
harnessing the vertical motion of water usually originating for air movement over the liquids surface.
Waves can propagate across enormous distances, but most of the current developments in technology
are centered along shorelines. One method of capture is the point absorber, which essentially is a
floating buoy that expands and contracts to drive an electricity generating turbine. Another method is
referred to as a surface attenuator, which consists of a series of jointed horizontal floats that in moving
with the waves drive a hydraulic motor to create electricity. Since the wave capture devices are small in
size, they have less negative environmental impacts than those associated with tidal barrages. With
further development, both methods used in a farm configuration could prove to be sustainable,
efficient, and powerful energy option.
Working in tandem, tidal and wave energy devices have the capability to handle a significant
percentage of coastal populations energy needs. Currently, their relatively high level of funding is
promising for their implementation on a larger scale in the near future. It must be remembered that
despite the challenges and hurdles faced in their present development, both technologies once fully
realized could aide tremendously in fending off a global warming disaster.



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