Essay --

The world as a whole has been using resources from the earth for thousands of years. We used fire for heat and to cook our foods, rocks metals as tools and weapons, and water as a source for drink and washing. As the population grew in numbers, so did the demand for the earth’s resources. It wasn’t until the industrial age that the United States and receding countries began the sole use of fossil fuels to power homes, buildings, cites and vehicles. This increase in usage intensified the search and extraction of the demanded resources. The population of the world had exceeded four, five, and even six billion people, which put a strain on the earth and its recourses. Pollution increased and the atmosphere, water, land were affected drastically. The result of the burning of fossil fuels at such a high rates, caused a rapid depletion of the used fossil fuels. This lead to the search for alternative green energy, including the use of waves (tidal power) to create electricity to meet our demands. Methods of extracting the energy from waves are being created, and others have been put to use already. Wave energy is an environmentally safe form of hydropower that harnesses the energy from the up-and-down motion of ocean waves and converts it into electricity using the sole power of the tides. Tidal power uses the change in the high and low tides to the harness energy. These two types of energy provides us with another source we can use instead of the limited fossil fuels that we use today. Tidal energy is abundant in some parts of the world that have long periods of intense tides. The wave power varies in all parts of the world, areas with abundant wave power include Australia, Scotland, southern Africa, northern Canada, and the northw... ...n it comes to using the waves, the energy is free because no fuel is needed and no waste by product. It is also relatively inexpensive to operate and maintain. The turbines can produce significant amounts of energy which is amazing considering the inexpensive cost to maintain the sites. However, a suitable site is needed for this to function and work to potential. The waves need to be constantly strong to get the maximum output, and the turbines/generators have to measure up to the rough weather out in the ocean. The development of turbines and generators is very costly and they pose a possible threat to navigation from collisions due to being low profile and above water, making it undetectable by direct sunlight or radar. The sites in which turbines and generators are set up can disrupt marine life, including the type and distribution of marine life near the shore.