Wave power solutions for Australia
New technology harnessing wave energy offers
solutions for providing electricity and drinking water to Australia’s
major cities.
New technology harnessing wave energy offers solutions for providing electricity and drinking water to Australia’s major cities. The technology…works through fields of submerged buoys tethered to seabed pumps.The buoys move in harmony with the motion of the passing waves, pumping pressurised seawater to shore to run turbines and pass through a desalination plant.
“The constancy of the waves even when the surface is dead calm means that you can build a base load renewable energy power station and that is really the holy grail for us, if you can produce renewable energy 24/7,” Macfarlane told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
After successful trials, the CETO system, was on track to begin full scale deployment off southern capital cities in 2009, said Carnegie managing director, Michael Ottaviano.
All of Australia’s southern mainland cities’ current water needs could be satisfied by CETO units covering an area of 155 hectares (about 70 football fields) of sea floor at around 75 percent of the price of current desalination projects, the statement said.
In addition, the “Wave Farms” would generate around 300 megawatts of zero-emission power, enough for about 300,000 households.
The CETO system should be up and running at full capacity by 2012.
Anyone surprised that a nation with a conservative government still works with industry and science and comes up with alternative energy solutions? Do you think that having a parliament that isn’t 99% owned by the Oil Patch Boys has anything to do with it?
Posted: Fri - May 18, 2007 at 05:35 PM