Question

A community living on an island off the west coast of Scotland is interested in meeting its electricity needs using marine renewable energy. Critique the standard approach for assessing the resource potential of wave power around the island, as included in the course notes. Include in your answer the main assumptions of the approach, its limitations and suggestions for improving its accuracy. [

Answer 1

It is a very good thinking as marine renewable energy is being used for meeting the electricity demand on the island. This method of obtaining electricity would be termed as wave power approach. It is the capture of the energy of wind waves and sea waves to do productive works like producing electricity or desalination of water. The machine used for this is known as Wave Energy Converter (WEC). Few assumptions are being made for using wave approach such that the water in the oceans or sea would be oscillating and would comprise of air compartments. The air is assumed to flow in and out to help move the turbine. These assumptions need to be okay in case of smooth running of this approach.

This is a good approach and beneficial for the environment but it has some limitations which are discussed below :

• It is limited to certain locations only.
• It would have effect on the marine ecosystem as creatures near it would be affected.
• Wind power is highly dependable on the wavelength.
• Noise and visual pollution is there which would contradict it's effect of sustainability and is not suitable in rough weathers.

There is always a need of improvement in every methodology and here also the accuracy of wave power generation can be improved by using some techniques. Different types of control systems are being used for improving the efficiency of the wave energy converters. Electrical generators are also used which can be operated at variable speeds depending upon the speed of the waves and the type of weather. Doubly fed induction generators are best considered for the wave energy converters as it improves the efficiency and are of advanced technology.