In a significant development for renewable energy, the Department of Energy announced it is awarding $112.5 million in funding to advance wave energy technologies, which harness ocean waves to generate power.
According to the DOE, wave energy technology is both abundant and complementary to other renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The new funding is designed to reduce risks for deployments of this technology and increase the potential for commercial adoption through longer-duration demonstrations, with the goal of quickly advancing these technologies.
Tapping into the nation's renewable energy sources can help the U.S. diversify its energy supply, thereby reducing dependence on imported fuels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency adds that as renewable energy technologies expand, so will economic development and job opportunities in those sectors.
Plus, it helps lower our dependence on planet-warming fuel sources like coal, natural gas, and oil. This will protect communities and save lives, as scientists predict more frequent and intense storms as a result of an overheating planet.
Across the world, research and deployment of clean energy technologies is expanding. For instance, CleanTechnica reported that researchers have discovered new cost-effective ways to purchase what it calls "strange, alien legs dropping down to the seafloor" for a new wave energy test facility being constructed off the coast of Oregon.
Perhaps most famous in the wave world is the company Eco Wave Power, which recently broke ground in Portugal on the first megawatt-scale wave power project. Eco Wave trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the name WAVE and is up 155% so far in 2024.
And in Portugal, a renewable energy company recently flipped the switch on a solar farm with the capacity to power 100,000 homes. Plus, villagers in Java are saying goodbye to the diesel-fueled pumps they have traditionally used to divert irrigation water to their fields, opting instead for electric ones. You, too, can benefit from renewable energy by signing up for community solar.
As for the potential for wave technology, the DOE stated, "While wave energy is not yet widely deployed across the country, the total available wave energy resource in the United States is equivalent to approximately 34% of all U.S. power generation. … It could provide local, affordable, clean energy to rural and remote island communities, which often rely on expensive shipments of fossil fuels."
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