Australia's Alternative Energy Program Rises With the Waves

Not only is Australia a large land mass thatIn addition to electricity generation, drinking water
constitutes an entire country and continent, it is alsocan be provided by wave- power. As buoys rise and
a rather large island with miles and miles of shoreline.fall, driving pistons up and down with their motion,
It is off of Australia's abundant coastline that thewater is forced through lines that power electrical
renewable energy of wave power is harnessed. Sinceturbines. Some of this water is directed to
agreeing to the Kyoto Protocol, Australia has madedesalination plants, producing clean drinking water
great strides in the advancement of wave-power.straight from the largest source of H2O on the
The Oceanlinx is a wave-energy converter deviceplanet; the ocean!
developed in Australia. Founded by Dr. Tom Denniss inBased on this application of wave-power as well as
1997, Oceanlinx technology has grown rapidly sincethe efficient performance of the Oceanlinx device,
that time due to numerous investments from energyCarnegie Corporations seek to develop three of
firms as well as a $1.21 million research andthese wave-power projects in Australia. They wish
development grant from the federal government into tether buoys to pistons submerged 15 to 50
2004. The grant was part of Australia's Wave Energymeters below the water's surface. Carnegie's desire is
Optimisation program, established to help meet theto establish a 50 MW demonstration in Western
guidelines set by the Kyoto Protocol.Australia by the end of 2013. Another 50 MW wave
Oceanlinx is testing a wave-power system at thepower project is set for development near the town
New South Wales suburb of Port Kembla. A notedof Albany in Western Australia, jointly funded by
seaport, its location on a particularly wavy portion ofCarnegie Corporations and the state government.
the ocean makes it an ideal site to utilize theAs numerous countries around the world look to
renewable energy created by water movement. It isalternative energies for electricity and other power
hoped that the Oceanlinx will provide electricity andgeneration, Australia has taken the lead in wave
water to the homes, steel mills, and shippingpower. Renewable energy that powers homes and
companies found in Port Kembla, providing evidenceprovides drinking water only makes sense in a
of the efficient energy production of wave-power tocountry surrounded by ocean.
the rest of Australia.