Theoretical potential of blue energy in US - enormous
largest project in history

WORLD  07 May 2024 - 01:03

Eco News carries an article about blue energy in the US, Caliber.Az reprints the article.

Renewables have just marked a historic milestone with the launch of a new source that is not only clean, but also sustainable and powerful. We know it as blue energy, and it is present in the United States. In fact, we have so much potential to extract it that scientists are already talking about an accumulated 2.64 trillion kW that we are going to access with the largest project in history.

What is blue energy? Better than both photovoltaics and wind

Blue energy refers to the renewable energy harnessed from oceans and seas. This includes wave energy, tidal energy, ocean thermal energy, and salinity gradient energy. The theoretical potential of blue energy is enormous, estimated at up to 2.64 trillion kilowatt hours (kWh) per year in the United States alone.

That’s over half of the country’s annual electricity generation. With climate change and rising energy demands, there is growing interest in tapping this vast renewable resource. While only a fraction of the potential is currently utilized, blue energy offers immense possibilities to generate clean, reliable electricity to power our future.

Challenges around technology, infrastructure, and costs exist, but surmountable with sufficient investment and innovation. If harnessed responsibly, blue energy could play a major role in the global transition to sustainable energy systems.

United States´ blue energy could be a future option: attention to this

The United States has immense untapped energy potential from its oceans and waterways. According to studies by the US Energy Information Administration, the total theoretical energy potential from waves, tides, ocean currents, and salinity gradients in US waters is estimated to be over 2.64 trillion kilowatt-hours per year.

That’s enough to power the entire United States over 200 times over based on current electricity usage. The largest portion comes from waves, with over 2.5 trillion kWh available per year along US continental coasts, Hawaii, and Alaska.

Tidal energy accounts for around 60 billion kWh, while ocean currents like the Gulf Stream provide about 50 billion kWh. Extracting energy from salinity gradients between fresh and ocean water has 25 trillion kWh potential per year.

While only a tiny fraction of this total blue energy resource is currently utilized, experts believe ocean-based renewables could play a major role in a clean energy future if technology continues advancing. The theoretically extractable portion is still massive compared to US energy demand.

Oceans energy, the most powerful source of blue energy ever seen

The ocean waves along the coasts of the United States represent a vast potential source of renewable energy. The theoretical power available from waves off US coastlines has been estimated at around 2,640 TWh per year, which is equivalent to about 64 per cent of US electricity generation in 2019.

The western coasts of the US, particularly Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, offer the greatest theoretical potential for wave energy, owing to the stronger waves in the Pacific Ocean. Studies estimate a theoretical wave energy potential of 220-380 TWh/year along the West Coast.

Wave energy converters utilize the up-and-down or back-and-forth motion of waves near the ocean surface to generate electricity. Different technologies are in development, including oscillating water columns, point absorbers, and overtopping devices. These can be located onshore, nearshore, or offshore.

While the gross theoretical resource is massive, the technically recoverable amount with current technologies is likely much lower, perhaps 10-15 per cent of the total theoretical potential. Nonetheless, wave energy could still contribute significantly to US renewable electricity goals if key engineering challenges can be overcome.

It is clear, given the advances in this new blue energy, that decarbonization and our path towards net zero will not only depend on photovoltaic or wind power. Other alternative sources are going to come to the forefront, and a country with as many maritime and ocean resources as the United States could not miss this opportunity. This is, therefore, the largest project in history.

Caliber.Az