Saturday, September 15, 2007

Wave Energy in the Oceans

I was doing a little investigation into oceanic wave energy, and came across this interesting statistic:
The total power of waves breaking on the world's coastlines is estimated at 2 to 3 million megawatts. In favorable locations, wave energy density can average 65 megawatts per mile of coastline.
That works out to an incredible 12,300 Watts of energy per foot of coastline, or enough energy to power nine typical American homes. (The average American household uses about 1370 Watts, or 12,000 KW-hr/yr. In the past 12 months, I have used 5,540 kW-hr. But then, I'm just one person.)


3 comments:

James Annan said...

Wow. Are those usage figures total domestic energy consumption, or just electricity?

My two-person household uses something like 2,000kWh per year and that includes all heating (except for hot water, which admittedly is significant) as well as cooling.

Anonymous said...

Using the oceans waves as a alternitive energy source is a good idea, especially if it produces so much power. The waves are also a renewable source of energy and will always be there as long as the wind keeps blowing.

David Appell said...

James: Just electricity.