A new kind of renewable energy technology in use off Australia’s coast converts the relentless movement of the ocean’s waves into what is potentially a virtually endless supply of electricity.

“Wave energy [has] been estimated to be able to supply more than the whole world’s current power consumption,” says Michael Ottaviano, CEO of the company developing the new technology.

In addition to supplying electricity, water drawn through the system can be turned into potable drinking water. The whole system is submerged: “When you’re standing at the beach and you’re looking at the ocean, you see nothing,” he says.

And according to Ottaviano, rather than disrupt marine life, the system’s structures attract and support it by acting as an artificial reef.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.