Reference no: EM132108171

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this report is to describe wave energy, why it is preferred, its implications and the different devices used to harness the energy. It also focuses on how the country s rural communities can benefit from the energy.

Renewable energy and rural areas are mutually beneficial as renewable energy such as wave energy expands the place where it is going to look for success its rural areas. Wave energy also known as ocean energy is an irregular oscillating low frequency energy source that can be converted to a 60-Hertz frequency and then be added to the electric utility grid

BODY

Wave Energy is the energy generated through the power of the ocean wave .The energy in the waves comes from the sun through the winds as they blow over the oceans due to the differential heating of the earth. The winds transfer their energy to the surface of the sea creating waves.

Advantages of harnessing wave energy

It is a renewable energy (i.e. it cannot be depleted) as long as we have ocean wave. It therefore provides a good alternative to the traditional energy sources - the fossil fuels. Besides being renewable, wave energy is clean. It does not generate pollutions as fossil fuels do. Consequently, it does not generate greenhouse gases (CO2, methane (CH4) etc. responsible for global warming, nor SO2 responsible for acid rain). Adopting wave energy is therefore environmental friendly.

Another benefit to using this energy is its nearness to places that can use it. Lots of big cities and harbours are next to the ocean and can harness the power of the waves for their use. Coastal cities tend to be well populated; so many people can get use from wave energy plants.

In addition, there is a variety of ways to gather it. Current gathering methods range from installed power plant with hydro turbines to seafaring vessels equipped with massive structures that are laid into the sea to gather the wave energy. The biggest advantages of wave power as against most of the other alternative energy sources is that it is easily predictable and can be used to calculate the amount that it can produce. The wave energy is consistent and proves much better than other sources, which are dependent on wind or sun exposure.

Dependence on foreign companies for fossil fuels can be reduced if energy from wave power can be extracted up to its maximum. It not only will help to curb air pollution but can also provide green jobs to millions of people.

A final benefit is that unlike fossil fuels, which cause massive damage to land as they can leave large holes while extracting energy from them, wave power does not cause any damage to earth. It is safe, clean and one of the preferred method to extract energy from ocean.

The disadvantages of harnessing wave energy

Though wave energy has many pros, it has cons as well.

Only power plants and towns near the ocean will benefit directly from it. Because of its source, wave energy is not a viable power source for everyone. Landlocked nations and cities far from the sea have to find alternate sources of power.

It creates hazards for some of the creatures near it. Large machines have to be put near and in the water to gather energy from the waves. These machines disturb the seafloor, change the habitat of near-shore creatures (like crabs and starfish) and create noise that disturbs the sea life around them. There is also a danger of toxic chemicals that are used on wave energy platforms spilling and polluting the water near them.

Another downside is that it disturbs commercial and private vessels. Power plants that gather wave energy have to be placed by the coastline to do their job, and they have to be near cities and other populated areas to be of much use to anybody. However, these places are major thoroughfares for cargo ships, cruise ships, recreational vehicles and beach goers. All of these people and vessels will be disrupted by the installation of a wave energy-gathering source. This means that government officials and private companies that want to invest in wave energy sources have to take into account and consider the needs of those they may be disturbing.

Wind power is highly dependent on wavelength i.e. wave speed, wavelength and water density. They require a consistent flow of powerful waves to generate significant amount of wave power. Some areas experience unreliable wave behaviour and it becomes unpredictable to forecast accurate wave power and therefore cannot be trusted as reliable energy source.

The performance of wave power drops significantly during rough weather. They must withstand rough weather.

Wave energy generators may be unpleasant for some who live close to coastal regions. They look like large machines working in the middle of the ocean and destroy the beauty of the ocean. They also generate noise pollution but the noise is often covered by the noise of waves, which is much more than that of wave generators.

Ways of harnessing wave energy

Float or buoy systems

Float or buoy systems that use the rise and fall of ocean swells to drive hydraulic pumps. The object can be mounted to a floating raft or to a device fixed on the ocean floor. A series of anchored buoys rise and fall with the wave. The movement “strokes” an electrical generator and makes electricity that is then shipped ashore by underwater power cable.

The Oscillating Water Column

(OWC) is a popular shoreline wave energy device normally positioned onto or near to rocks or cliffs, which are next to a deep-sea bottom. They consist of a partly submerged hollow chamber fixed directly at the shoreline, which converts wave energy into air pressure.

The structure used to capture the waves energy could be a natural cave with a blowhole or a man-made chamber or duct with a wind turbine generator located at the top well above the water’s surface. Either way, the structure is built perpendicular to the waves with part of the ocean surface trapped inside the chamber which itself is open to the sea below the water line. The constant ebbing and flowing motion of the waves forces the trapped water inside the chamber to oscillate in the vertical up-down direction.

As the incident waves outside enter and exit the chamber, changes in wave movement on the opening cause the water level within the enclosure to oscillate up and down acting like a giant piston on the air above the surface of the water, pushing it back and forth. This air is compressed and decompressed by this movement every cycle. The air is channelled through a wind turbine generator to produce electricity.

A Wave Capture Device

It is a shoreline to near shore wave energy device that captures the movements of the tides and waves and converts it into potential energy. Wave energy is converted into potential energy by lifting the water up onto a higher level. The wave capture device, or more commonly an overtopping device, elevates ocean waves to a holding reservoir above sea level.

The overtopping wave energy converter works in much the same way as an impoundment type hydroelectric dam works. Seawater is captured and impounded at a height above sea level creating a low head situation, which is then drained out through a reaction turbine, usually a Kaplan Turbine generating electricity as shown.

The different ways in which the country can use wave energy to benefit its rural areas

Wave energy provides villages with electricity and with access to electricity; the local clinics are able to store medicines inside a refrigerator, and therefore greatly expanding its effectiveness. Electricity also information, education and entertainment to the community as some devices such as computers and tablets that need electricity to operate will operate.

In some rural areas, electric water pumps will installed, granting the villagers access to clean water 100 meters below ground level. Villagers will be able to effortlessly extract clean, previously unreachable ground water without any physical effort.

Electric lighting systems will replace oil lamps, which is a safer and brighter form of lighting. Proper lighting in the village enhances community safety, as well as the residents’ productivity during night time.

Write an abstract,conclusion and recommendations for the above report.