Challenges in Ocean Energy Utilization

Abstract

Ocean is a reservoir of energy. It is not only pollution free but also renewable, sustainable and long-lasting than any other known source of energy. Development of suitable cost effective technologies for power generation from different forms of ocean energy (like wave energy, tidal energy, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, Marine wind power, Power from marine currents, Marine biomass, Salinity gradient, etc.) is challenging. Three to four decades of R & D works around the World improved the hope for technical feasibility of ocean energy conversion. Increase in the cost of fossil fuel is indirectly supporting more focused research on ocean power plants. It is hoped that more pilot plants will be installed at various oceanic locations in order to understand and solve the challenging technical problems, which may lead to commercial exploitation of ocean energy. Construction of structures and systems for ocean energy conversion is prohibitively expensive. Different methods are developed to reduce the cost of construction like, impact force reduction techniques, new materials for longer life, etc. This chapter discusses the different forms of ocean energy, physics of energy conversion, and the technical challenges involved in the technology development.