wave energy

Two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports provide back-to-back confirmation that the potential for electricity from coastal wave and tidal stream energy could reach as high as 15 percent of the total of current U.S. electrical demand.

Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have introduced legislation aimed at extending the Production Tax Credit, or PTC. 

The newest report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), in cooperation with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a clean tech analytics firm, shows that the combined impetus of stimulus funding, feed-in tariffs (FiTs) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) generated a record $211 billion globally in 2010 in renewable energy investment.

Here are the Top 10 Renewable Energy News Stories You May Have Missed this Week:

1.  Air Force Scientists Collect 99 Percent of Wave Energy - A growing industry, wave power technology is increasingly becoming more efficient. Scientists at the U.S. Air Force Academy base in Colorado Springs have demonstrated that submerged wave energy converters can harness up to 99 percent of the kinetic energy inherent in an ocean wave.

As a source of energy, the ocean is even better than the sun.  It is capable of delivering energy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But the difficulty of capturing wave energy in significant amounts – faced with the sea’s pitiless environment – has plagued scientists for a long time.

Based in the Netherlands, Tocardo BV International has been working towards making tidal power a reality for nearly 11 years.

Three years ago, the company installed and commissioned a uni-directional turbine which has since been feeding clean, renewable energy to the power grid.

Capturing the power of tides has been slowly gaining momentum in the renewable power conversation but recent technological advancements and interest suggest that commercial production of hydrokinetic power is not too far off.

Energy consulting firm IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) issued a report this week saying 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of ocean wave and tidal energy projects are in “the pipeline”. For investors wanting to participate, there is only one publicly traded pure-play company in this business: Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTT).

An atlas report from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) outlines the monstrous wave energy potential of the country's southern coastline

In its largest foray into Marine and Hydrokinetic technology, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced investments totaling over US$37 million to accelerate development for commercial readiness.