Air Force Getting Into Wave Energy

The news that the Air Force is investigating wave energy is big news for the energy niche. The primary reason is major research money always comes with military interest.

You have to admit that it is an odd coupling – renewable energy and the military. It is always dangerous to generalize, but one can probably make a supportable argument that the renewable energy crowd [me!] isn’t particularly attuned to the interests of the military. This is one of those humorous things in life because renewable energy requires massive research dollars and the only party that really has it is the military.

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The mix in this case looks particularly odd at first glance. What would the Air Force possibly be interested in when it comes to wave energy? It seems to make no sense until you look at the technology in question. It is known as cycloidal wave energy conversion. It involves the placement of propellers in the area of waves. As waves move over the propellers, lift is created and converted into energy. Lift is, of course, the key to getting a plane up off the ground, a particular specialty of the Air Force as you might imagine.

The “Cycloidal Propellers” devices are going to be tested this summer in a “make or break” test by the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University. The University has a huge wave generator tank that makes it one of the leading research facilities in the world. The fact the tests are to scale makes findings much more accurate as well as the evaluations based upon them.

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The Cycloidal Propellers are viewed as a unique advancement in wave energy technology because of a rather practical issue. Most wave energy platforms have to be anchored to the sea floor. This causes problems when the waves get to big or a storm hits. One recent platform test off Australia actually sank to the bottom of the ocean! The Cycloidal Propellers do not require an anchor and thus are not subjected to these problems.

Will the Cycloidal Propellers make a big difference in wave technology? They definitely have major potential. How do we know this? The Air Force is involved.

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