If you’ve ever been on a boat in the ocean during a storm, you know about wave energy. With so much power, is it possible to harness wave energy as a power source?

Wave Energy

In the 1970’s, countries throughout the world suffered through an oil crisis brought on by turmoil in the Mid-East. Voters waiting for hours in gas station lines were not happy and politicians new it. To keep their jobs, they started a bevy of alternative energy programs of which wave energy was one.

Wave energy is an indirect form of solar energy. As sunlight heats certain surfaces faster than others, pressure variations give rise to wind. These pressure variation winds are powerful with the classic example being hurricane winds. Such winds are also the cause of waves in the ocean. With tens of thousands of miles of open space, winds can provide a lot of power to waves. This means waves are potentially a huge power source if they can be tapped. Unfortunately, tapping wave energy has proved harder than originally thought.

The primary problem with tapping wave energy is size. Waves are extremely full of energy, but the energy is spread over the length of the wave. Theoretically, one could build a system running along a few hundred miles of shore to harness the wave power, but doing so is hardly economically or environmentally possible. Recognizing as much, the powers that be have looked for more compact alternatives.


Solutions for harnessing wave energy have come in a variety of forms, but most simply aren’t viable. They either don’t produce enough energy or are not cost effective. You can read more about them here. The problem at this time appears to be unsolvable. Indeed, many countries have put research and development for harnessing wave energy on the back burner. The United States federal government has abandoned the idea completely, preferring to focus on other alternative energy platforms.

Despite our failure to harness wave energy, all is not bleak. The problem appears to primarily be that we simply do not have the technology to deal with the problem. If nothing else, mankind has a knack for coming up with stunning new technology at a rapid pace. Eventually, we will develop a method to harness wave energy. With so much free energy available, we can’t afford not to.