New
York Times: A New Jersey company,
Ocean Power
Technologies, has designed the first commercially licensed
grid-connected wave-energy device in the US. Scheduled to be
launched in October, the 260-ton computer-equipped buoy will
"test the waters" off the coast of Reedsport, Oregon. "All eyes
are on the buoy," said Jason Busch, executive director of the
Oregon Wave Energy
Trust. Wave technology is still in its infancy, so project
designs vary greatly: "Some are on the seabed on the ocean
floor, some are in the water column, some are sitting on the
surface, some project up from the surface into the atmosphere,"
according to Paul Klarin, of the
Oregon
Department of Land Conservation and Development. To allay
environmental concerns about the current project, the company
has designed the buoys to use no hydraulic fluids, which can
contaminate the water, and Oregon is in the process of mapping
out the best positions for the devices, to avoid conflicts with
fishing, crabbing, and other marine uses.
