Ocean wave energy overview and research at Oregon State University

Abstract

The solutions to today's energy challenges need to be explored through alternative, renewable and clean energy sources to enable a diverse national energy resource plan. An extremely abundant and promising source of energy exists in the world's oceans. Ocean energy exists in the forms of wave, tidal, marine currents, thermal (temperature gradient) and salinity. Among these forms, significant opportunities and benefits have been identified in the area of ocean wave energy extraction, i.e., harnessing the motion of the ocean waves, and converting that motion into electrical energy. This paper presents the fundamentals of ocean wave energy, and also a summary of the wave energy research being conducted at Oregon State University. This paper is intended to serve as an introduction to wave energy for scientists and engineers, particularly those with a wind energy background.