A feasible way to capture wave power

Does the future of American energy independence hinge on a huge rubber snake that swims underwater? Ecogeek is one of many blogs highlighting the very interesting work of a couple of smart scientist who are trying to capture the power of "bulge waves," which are defined as impulses of liquids moving through a tube when pressure is applied at one end.

Now imagine a huge enclosed rubber tube, up to 700 feet long and 23 feet wide, that's filled with water and submerged n the ocean at a depth of about 150 feet. When anchored in the proper orientation, wave action would hit it in such a way that a bulge of water would move through it from back to front, and that movement could spin a turbine and produce electricity.

You can see a video of a small-scale demonstration here. "At the bow, the wave squeezes the tube and starts a bulge running. But as it runs the wave runs after it, squeezing more and more, so the bulge gets bigger and bigger. The bulge runs in front of the wave where the slope of the water (pressure gradient) is highest. In effect the bulge is surfing on the front of the wave."

Fascinating. And with the hope that energy produced this way would cost just 12 cents per kilowatt hour, it could be a viable, easy-to-implement energy source. Let's keep our eyes on it. 

Don Willmott's blog posts are provided by LifeWire, a part of The New York Times Company.