Ocean Wave Energy Machines Have More Potential Than Some Would Like To Admit

Here’s a thinly guised attempt to ridicule the idea of government subsidies for renewable energy generally, clothed in a report on a failed company with a huge device to extract energy from ocean waves.  Obviously, the burden of proof of the cost-effectiveness of any technology lies on the shoulders of the developers, but I support the concept of government’s helping with the R&D costs of many different clean energy concepts, as long as they make some level of sense.

In particular, this basic technology, i.e., a multi-segmented tube that articulates based on the moving waters on the ocean’s surface, is not altogether doomed to failure.  In fact, we have one on our list of clean energy investment opportunities; it’s this one right here.  At scale, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) can be very competitive.  And keep in mind that these devices are especially useful for bringing electrical power to operations at sea, where the practice of bringing in diesel to run generators is both expensive and environmentally hazardous.