Wave Snake Anaconda Renewable Energy Answer
British scientists have stumbled upon a revolutionary wave energy technology using little more than a long rubber tube.
The Anaconda is an innovative technology which harnesses the power of wave energy through manipulating bulges of water within its rubber tube to turn a turbine which creates energy. The snake like rubber tube lies just beneath the surface of the water, close to the crest of each wave.
“As a long wave passes the bulge tube is lifted with the surrounding water and this causes a bulge wave to be excited which passes down the tube’s walls like a pulse in an artery, gathering energy from the ocean wave as it goes,” explained Checkmate Seaenergy who are responsible for the project.
What makes Anaconda an exciting wave energy platform is the fact that the technology is very simple. This makes it easy to manufacture and reproduce, as well as being relatively simple to scale up to larger models. The Checkmate Seaenergy team are now looking for £7 million ($10.5 million) to create a 200 metre full size version of Anaconda to be tested at sea.
The real beauty of Anaconda though is that it is non-mechanical. Other wave energy platforms have struggled in the past because their mechanical parts deteriorated and failed over time through saline erosion and constant movement in turbulent marine conditions.
Anaconda’s rubber material makes it naturally resilient to erosion and its small number of parts means there is very little in the device that can break and go wrong. Each Anaconda has the potential to power 1,000 homes, and unlike other sources of renewable energy like wind and solar, wave energy is consistent and reliable.
Providing they can find adequate funding, the research team behind Anaconda hope to complete testing in the next three years, which means we could be receiving renewable energy from the sea snake by 2014.
Other news posted by David Finklehorn on Wednesday, May 06, 2009
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David FINKLEHORN (LL)
Your name ROCKSSSS!!!!
Comment posted by Anonymous on 5/8/2009 6:31:17 AM
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Snake in the river?
I'm an architect in Missoula, Montana.
Could this be used in rivers? Could be a huge idea...
Comment posted by Monty Cawker on 6/1/2009 8:57:31 AM
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Re:Snake in the river?
I am certainly not an expert on the technology but I would suspect not. Whilst the product is scalable, it requires a wave to compress the water in order to produce energy. As far as I am aware rivers wouldn't produce the requisite movement in order to produce the energy.
Comment posted by Anonymous on 6/2/2009 12:56:48 PM
