Brought to you from DVice
As the world looks for more and more ways to generate energy, harnessing the might of the sea is seen as nothing new. However, add the phrase “rubber sea snakes,” and people might just think you’ve been brewing your own Kool-Aid. Researchers in the UK have been working on a project that involves 600-foot-long “anacondas”, each of which could generate one megawatt of power, bringing electricity to tens of thousands of households.
The idea, developed by the Checkmate Group, is in its final stages of testing in a wave test tank in Gosport, Hampshire. Up to 50 of the snakes, aka rubber tubes, will be tethered to the sea floor, facing the waves — which immediately made me think of this, although without the tragic outcome for mankind. (Imagine a world without Clooney, ladies, and I think you know what I am referring to.) The sea’s waves generate a bulge wave in the body of the snake which gathers energy, driving a turbine situated in the tail. The electricity is then gathered and carried to land through cables.