Oct 6, 2008 6:55 pm US/Eastern
The Benefits Of Ocean Power Technology
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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Imagine harnessing the power of the ocean. The force of waves can now be converted to energy.
CBS
Imagine harnessing the power of the ocean.
The force of waves can now be converted to
energy.
The accomplishment has been made
by a company based in Pennington,
New Jersey called Ocean Powered
Technology.
George Taylor is the CEO of the company.
He first saw the potential of wave energy as
a young Australian Surfer.
As a young
engineer in New Jersey
he faced the energy crisis of the 70s and became determined to find a way to
convert wave energy into electricity.
At
74 years old, his dream is finally realized.
"It's a great thing when you've spent a great part of your career doing
something good for the world, good for your children, good for your
grandchildren," said Taylor.
Ocean Powered Technologies is the first company to
commercialize wave energy.
They have
designed massive buoys that bob in the ocean with the waves.
A piston sliding up and down in the buoy
generates the energy and a complex computer system inside converts it into an
endless source of electricity.
The
source is endless because unlike other sources like oil or fossil fuels, waves
are there continuously.
One buoy can power about 150 homes, and that's why they
are developing wave parks with hundreds of buoys.
Cables dropped from the bottom run to shore
where they plug into a power grid.
The
first wave park to power a city was just deployed off the coast of Spain.
A wave station is also under development to
help power the state of Oregon
in 2009.
There's also a buoy getting
tested right now in the factory in Pennington NJ, that'll be moved into the ocean 70 miles east of Atlantic City.
It will power naval surveillance
equipment.
The buoys have to be within 3 miles of the shore to work,
but since they are mostly submerged, they are hardly noticeable from the
beach.
What's the environmental
impact?
Studies have shown it's safe to
underwater life, has no harmful emissions, and is noiseless.
George Taylor points out that the technology isn't only
better for our environment but it will also benefit us economically.
He predicts that within three years wave
energy will be half the cost of the energy generated in regular fossil fuel
plants.
Taylor said, "We hope that as the years go by we will
build larger and larger power stations providing more and more of the power
that the United States Uses."
He adds,
the buoys have the potential to power at least ten percent of the country.
Add solar and wind energy to the mix, and the wave of the
future might just wash away our dependence on fossil fuels, and certainly
alleviate the oil burden.
For more specific information on Ocean Power Technologies,
which is also now publicly traded as OPTT, you can go to their website:
http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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