Power of the future

In today's Seattle Times, the power source of the future gets great coverage. It's high time that we're seeing real world application of wave generation concepts. The power of the oceans has impressed surfers for years so why not your local utility company?

There are a few different models of ocean power capture. The article explains how the buoy parks and sea snake principles work. In my book Darwin's Orphans, I focused on the sea snake generators. In the story, huge power generation farms solve the energy and water shortage problems of future California.

According to the Times article, however, the initial forecast is for wave power to supply up to 10% of power needs once fully implemented. But, as we all know, once a technology is embraced it can mushroom cloud into much more. Who would have expected such dramatic and fast changing computer changes as they rapidly occured following the first models of Apple PCs?

It's still very realistic for ocean power to be the wave of the future (pun intended). Compared to the power of a river for example, it is so much larger in scope. On this note, our power generation source has been ebbing and flowing off of our coasts eternally. It's high time we harness it.