Researchers in China are working on a method to enable boats to capture and store wave energy for their power needs. This innovation, although still in the early stages, could contribute to reducing carbon emissions from maritime transportation.
The team at China’s Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute is focusing on converting wave energy into power for on-board use by implementing an oscillator system within the ship’s structure. This concept involves utilizing the ship as a platform that can convert kinetic energy from its movements into electrical energy.
Once the energy is converted, the ship will be able to store and utilize it for its power needs, as explained by the researchers in a paper published in the journal Renewable Energy and reported by Recharge News.
In recent times, wave energy generated from the fluctuating motion of waves has been utilized as a renewable energy source through wave energy converters (WECs), which can transform the mechanical energy produced by wave oscillation into electrical energy. The scientists at the Shanghai Institute of Ship and Shipping Research Institute have based their design on this approach, using a hydraulic cylinder to create what is referred to as a “heaving oscillator.”
The researchers clarify that this device “capitalizes on the kinetic energy produced by the ship heaving, rolling, and pitch motion to generate electrical energy under multi-directional waves,” and are currently working on a prototype to test its effectiveness.
While this particular research is focused on on-board power usage, there are other projects exploring the use of wave power for propulsion. For instance, in 2020, a Philippine engineer named Jonathan Salvador developed the Bangka, a trimaran designed to transport passengers using the force of waves.
Similarly, in 2013, France’s Geps Techno introduced the MLiner, a 200-meter-long floating platform integrating four renewable energy sources: wind, tidal, wave, and solar. – AFP Relaxnews
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