Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: wave energy from The Penguin Dictionary of Science

The generation of power from the energy of water waves. Such a source of energy is environmentally clean, but technically very difficult to achieve, and very few economically viable generators of wave power have been produced.


wave power

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Power obtained by harnessing the energy of water waves. Various schemes have been advanced since 1973 when oil prices rose dramatically and an energy shortage threatened. In 1974, the British engineer Stephen Salter developed the ‘duck’ – a floating boom, the segments of which nod up and down with the waves. The nodding motion can be used to drive pumps and spin generators. Another device, developed in Japan, uses an oscillating water column to harness wave power. A major technological breakthrough will be required if wave power is ever to contribute significantly to the world's energy needs, although several ideas have reached prototype stage. A UK government adviser on wave power concluded in a 1998 report that wave power devices have been improved to such a degree as to have become economically viable. The ‘duck’, for example, can generate electricity at 2.6 pence per kilowatt hour, compared with 2.5 pence for a gas-fired power station and 4.5 pence for a nuclear-powered one. The…
1,184 results
Global wave energy flux. Gunn, K. and...
Abstract This article addresses the ocean wave-energy resource and the prospect for harnessing it to do useful work. A brief overview of the history of the field is given. Equations are given for describing ocean waves and the power they deliver. A system for categorizing wave-energy devices is…
| 3,799 words , 8 images
Key concepts:
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is...
Wave-power systems are based on the fact that energy is continuously transferred to the ocean from the atmosphere by wind. Wave-power systems also provide coastal protection. In 2000, the world's first commercial wave power station was built on the island of Islay, in Scotland. Known as Limpet 500…
| 203 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article Waves

From Guide to Global Hazards
Waves are a familiar sight, caused mainly by the wind blowing over a fetch, or open stretch of water, and often persisting in the form of a swell, long after the forces that created them have subsided. All waves, including those that reach the shore, are the product of interactions between the swell…
| 296 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Ocean Energy

From Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
221111 Ocean energy refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and the ocean temperatures. Although relatively new and still under development, ocean energy—dubbed “blue energy” —has been embraced by various governments as a potential major source of energy by mid-century. There…
| 2,322 words

Full text Article waves

From The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea
transmit energy across surfaces, both at the surface and in the ocean's interior. They range from high-frequency ripples and capillary waves, to low-frequency long waves generated by tides , and the planetary effects of the earth's orbiting and spinning that, for example, send the signal of El Niños…
| 507 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article wave

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In the oceans, a ridge or swell formed by wind or other causes. The power of a wave is determined by the strength of the wind and the distance of open water over which the wind blows (the fetch). Waves are the main agents of coastal erosion and deposition: sweeping away or building up beaches, …
| 454 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article WAVE

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
American naturalist and essayist On the beach [at Ocean Grove] the waves at times come wallowing ashore like a great flock of sheep; they break far out, and then comes that rushing line of tossing, leaping, woolly heads and shoulders; they are not steeds, but a wild mob of woolly-headed sheep. The…
| 584 words
Key concepts:
The thermal structure of the upper ocean...
Abstract The tropical thermocline provides a guide for a host of waves propagating along the equator. These waves control ocean response to wind variations and play a central role in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon (ENSO) and tropical ocean–atmosphere interactions. This article reviews…
| 7,741 words , 19 images
Key concepts:

Full text Article OCEAN

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
Greek playwright Ye waves That o'er th’ interminable ocean wreathe Your crisped smiles. Prometheus Bound l. 95 Heritage Press. New York New York USA . 1966. The mighty voice of ocean is like the wallowing of a river and the windroar of a forest, sometimes low and sometimes loud, but ever fitful, …
| 5,112 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article ocean energy

From Dictionary of Energy
Oceans, constituting about 70% of the world’s surface area, receive the majority of solar radiation, generating thermal gradients that drive currents and winds, and ultimately, waves. Evaporation maintains their overall salinity and a chemical energy differential between fresh and saline water. …
| 258 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources