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Ocean energy
 
 
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The ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s have a tremendous amount of energy and are close to many if not most concentrated populations. Many researches show that ocean energy has the potentiality of providing for a substantial amount of new renewable energy
Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
 around the world.

oceans represent a vast and largely untapped source of energy in the form of fluid flow (currents, waves, and tides--also termed hydrokinetics) and thermal and salinity gradients.






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The ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s have a tremendous amount of energy and are close to many if not most concentrated populations. Many researches show that ocean energy has the potentiality of providing for a substantial amount of new renewable energy
Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
 around the world.

Renewable ocean energy

The oceans represent a vast and largely untapped source of energy in the form of fluid flow (currents, waves, and tides--also termed hydrokinetics) and thermal and salinity gradients. There are a number of approaches to extracting energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
 from the ocean, though most remain in the investigation or demonstration phase.

  • Marine current power
    Marine current power

    Marine current power, is a form of power based on the harnessing of the kinetic energy of marine currents. It includes both tidal power and energy derived from ocean currents such as the Gulf stream....
  • Ocean thermal energy conversion
    Ocean thermal energy conversion

    Ocean thermal energy conversion is a method for generating electricity which uses the temperature difference that exists between deep and shallow waters to run a heat engine....
     (OTEC)
  • Salinity gradient power
  • Tidal power
    Tidal power

    Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
  • Wave power
    Wave power

    Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful mechanical work ? for example for electricity generation, desalination, or the pumping of water ....


Sometimes Wind power
Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 120.8 gigawatts....
 (offshore) is also included in the list of renewable ocean energies.

Theoretical potential of renewable ocean energy
The theoretical global ocean energy resource is estimated to be on the order of:

  • 2000 TWh/year for osmotic energy
  • 10000 TWh/year for ocean thermal energy (OTEC)
  • 800 TWh/year for tidal current energy
  • 8000 – 80000 TWh/year for wave energy


This theoretical potential is several times greater than the actual global electricity demand, and equivalent to 4000 – 18000 MToE MToE (million tons of oil equivalent).

Non-renewable ocean energy

Petroleum
Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
 and natural gas
Natural gas

Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills....
 beneath the ocean floor are increasingly important sources of energy. An ocean engineer
Ocean engineering

Ocean engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the design, analysis and operation planning of systems that operate in an oceanic environment....
 directs all phases of discovering, extracting
Extraction of petroleum

The extraction of petroleum is the process by which usable petroleum is extracted and removed from the earth....
, and delivering offshore petroleum (via oil tanker
Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker....
s and pipelines
Pipeline transport

Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a Pipe . Most commonly, liquid and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air have also been used....
), a complex and demanding task. Also centrally important is the development of new methods to protect marine wildlife and coastal regions against the undesirable side effects
Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
 of offshore oil extraction.

See also

  • Energy harvesting
    Energy harvesting

    Energy harvesting is the process by which energy is captured and stored. Frequently this term is applied when speaking about small autonomous devices, like those used in sensor networks....
  • International Electrotechnical Commission
    International Electrotechnical Commission

    The International Electrotechnical Commission is a Non-profit organization, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies ? collectively known as "electrotechnology"....
  • Ocean Engineering
    Ocean engineering

    Ocean engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the design, analysis and operation planning of systems that operate in an oceanic environment....
  • Renewable energy commercialization
    Renewable energy commercialization

    Renewable energy commercialization involves the Diffusion of innovations of three generations of technologies dating back more than 100 years....
  • European Ocean Energy Association
    European Ocean Energy Association

    The European Ocean Energy Association represents the ocean energy sector and actively promotes the utilisation of ocean energy, uniting the broad interests of the European ocean energy industry into a single, focused and independent voice....

External links