Along with the wind and the sun, you can add the ocean to the list of potential renewable energy sources.
Last month, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. filed for permits to study sea power, a non-polluting but expensive and largely untested way to produce energy from the ocean. In doing so, PG&E joined many organizations around the world experimenting with ocean power, a possible source of energy that has sparked (no pun intended) enough interest to create a surge (ditto) in permit filings with U.S. energy regulators.
Although wave power doesn’t cause pollution, environmentalists have some concerns about its potential to harm marine life, the coastline, the fishing and boating industries and those lovely ocean views. But right now, all this is very new and expensive–wave power costs about seven times more than natural gas and about six times more than wind. So it may be a while before the surges we get from the surf are electric ones.
