The United States is in the middle of a transition period
away from nonrenewable sources of energy. In order to secure a strong renewable
energy economy, a wide diversity of energy sources is a must. One source that
has come into recent media attention within the clean energy marketplace is
hydropower – specifically, wave energy.
Wave energy is clean energy. It’s
sustainable and lucrative and provides a way to produce mass amounts of energy
when the technology interacts with ocean waves. The energy that it can yield
depends on wave height, speed, length and density. While solar and wind energy have
become the mainstream clean energy go-to, thus dropping in price, less can be
said about wave energy. However, unlike solar or wind energy, which can
potentially become stagnate at certain times throughout the day, wave energy is
constant. Ocean waves seemingly never come to a halt. This is what makes it a
very interesting sector to increase investments in, and what the recent
bipartisan amendment hopes to illustrate.
Recently, on May 25, 2016, the House approved a bipartisan
amendment run by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici of the First District of
Oregon, to enhance and increase funding for water and wave based energy
generation practices. This amendment is set to take effect in the 2017 fiscal
year, and it will attempt to provide an uplift to the Energy and Water
Appropriations Act.
House amendment 169- 144th is aimed at increasing the
funding to the Department of Energy’s water program. The amendment indicates
that Congress is set to increase funding for energy efficiency and renewable
energy, mainly wave and water based energy, by $9 million while simultaneously
reducing funding for Departmental Administration by $9 million dollars. While
$9 million increase may seem like a small amount for large scale energy
investments, the yield on the return is much greater. The amendment is said to
improve research and development of various hydropower generation methods,
along with marine and hydrokinetic energy technologies.
In her talk on the House floor, Congresswoman Bonamici
stated, “Hydropower is the Nation’s most available, reliable, and affordable,
and sustainable energy source.” She went on to say, “This is one that is clean.
This is one that is in every community This is one that we know. This is one
that doesn’t create too much noise for people, and it doesn’t hurt the fish, so
it’s hard to argue against it.”
United States Energy Information Administration states that hydropower
accounts for 6% of the total U.S. electricity generation and 48% of generation
from renewables. Hydropower, and wave energy are a crucial component to meeting
U.S. clean energy demands. While this one amendment may not instigate large
scale change in the clean energy sector, it does create strong precedent.
Amendments such as this will allow for greater diversity in the U.S. clean
energy market. Hopefully, further advancements in both the political world as
well as the private world offer greater opportunity for this vital and
lucrative source of energy to advance.
Source:
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