Energy from waves? Well, it’s quite simple really. The concept is that vertical motion of the waves is used to fill the floating hydraulic power plant with water which then interacts with a hydraulic turbine, which turns a power generator producing electric current. Finavera Renewables Inc., a company based in , has hit a significant milestone with the deployment and commissioning of the AquaBuOY 2.0 wave energy converter off the coast of Newport, Oregon. This represents a significant overall development, one that will allow for the completion of a bigger plan to introduce commercial exploitation of wave generated electricity in Oregon by 2010. Read the full press release here (PDF).

This may be a better alternative than the concept proposed by Marine Current Turbines, although their concept harnesses the energy of the underwater currents in the ocean. Aquabouy is definately environment friendlier, since it operates in the vertical direction, without the large disruption effect on the surrounding space (there are no huge blades turning in deep water without a protecting cover). Finavera plans to design generator arrays on the ocean surface, whereby a single production array could produce as much as 100 MW of power, which is quite impressive. Naturally, there should be close to no pollution at all, as the power units are quite small and simple.

It seems renewable energy has really gained momentum. The forthcoming months and years will almost certainly bring even more innovations in this field and give hope for a cleaner future.

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