Rendering of a proposed seafloor carpet power-generating system. (Illustration by Marcus Lehmann)
What do champion surfers who gathered at last week's Mavericks Invitational have in common with a UC Berkeley engineer? They all are looking to harness the power of big ocean waves. UC Berkeley engineers develop a seafloor carpet system for harnessing ocean energy. (Video produced by Roxanne Makasdjian and Philip Ebiner) But the similarities end there. For assistant professor Reza Alam, an expert in wave mechanics, the seafloor "carpet” he is proposing will convert ocean waves into usable energy. "There is a vast amount of untapped energy in the oceans, and with increasing worldwide demand for power, the need to find cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels is critical,” said Alam. "We are also seeing greater population growth along coastal cities, so the ocean-based system we are developing would produce electricity in a carbon-neutral way right where it is needed. Potential boost to water supply Marcus Lehmann, a Ph.D.
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