Converting Ocean Motion To Energy. Off Oregon’s coast, researchers hope to pump electricity from from the ocean.

Along Oregon’s postcard coast, generations have tapped the ocean for its rich fisheries. Now, a new generation wants to tap it for electricity.

The goal is to wrest kilowatts from the Pacific Ocean waves by using small floating generators that ride the rolling swells and convert the up-and-down motion into usable volts.

In late July, New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies, Inc., filed for a preliminary permit with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to anchor one of its generating buoys off Gardiner, Ore. Meanwhile, researchers at Oregon State University are working to establish a national wave-energy research and demonstration facility here off Newport.

The efforts highlight a renewed interest in the US for enlisting waves and tides in the quest for renewable energy sources and greater energy independence, specialists say.

By Peter N. Spotts | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Full Story: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0915/p02s02-usgn.html