#Into the waves 2 series#

#Into the waves 2 series#

Technologies that efficiently harvest this energy resource are actively being researched and developed by scientists.īy watching a buoy anchored in a wave zone one can see how water moves in a series of waves. Ocean waves offer a very large source of renewable energy. This means that the energy in one 2 m by 14 m by 2 km wave is equivalent to the amount of energy needed to feed a person for two weeks, power their home for one day, or power their electrical and transportation needs for 5 hours (Fig. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the World Bank, and the US Energy Information Administration, the average American eats 3.14 kWh per day in food, uses about 37 kWh in electricity, and uses a combined 250 kWh per day in electricity and petroleum. This is roughly equivalent to one gallon of gasoline, which contains about 160 million (1.6 x 10 8) joules (J) of energy. In other words, if wave A is two times the height of wave B, then wave A has four times the energy per square meter of water surface as wave B.Ī wave with a height of 2 m and a wavelength of 14 m breaking along 2 km of coastline (surface area = 32,000 m 2) has approximately 45 kWh of energy. Energy (E) per square meter is proportional to the square of the height (H): E∝H 2. Given equal wavelengths, a wave with greater amplitude will release more energy when it falls back to sea level than a wave of lesser amplitude. The amount of energy in a wave depends on its height and wavelength as well as the distance over which it breaks. It is equivalent to the work of a kilowatt for one hour (about the power used by a toaster for one hour 1 calorie = 1000 kilocalories (also recorded as Calorie with a capital C)Ī kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard measurement of energy in the United States. Measurements of energy and conversions between measurementsĪ joule (J) is the energy needed to lift 1 kilogram of matter 1 meter at sea levelĪ calorie (c) is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree centigrade.

The standard measurement of energy in science is the joule. The amount of energy can be measured in joules (J) of work, calories (c) of heat, or kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity (Table 4.8).

Ocean waves carry huge amounts of energy.