Harnessing the power of waves to create electricity seems to be on the verge of viability. But there's one application of wave power that makes more sense than any others, yet I've never seen even a design, let alone a prototype, of a wave -powered boat.

Well, those days are over! And here it is. The Suntory Mermaid, with captain Kenichi Horie. The boat will go from Hawaii to Japan in two or three months using nothing but the power of the waves to propel it. Those solar panels on the top, if you're wondering, are just for powering the interior electronics.

As waves pass underneath the boat, two fins at the rear rise and fall, converting the wave's energy into "dolphin-like kicks." The waves will propel the boat at a maximum speed of five knots...not something to really be all that proud of, but we are talking about the first of its kind here.

A diesel-powered boat would complete the same journey twice to three times as fast, but, really, being able to harness the power of waves so effectively on a moving object is something I wouldn't have thought possible.

The real question is whether there's any advantage to wave power over wind power. Wind-powered boats, after all, are a pretty well-developed technology, and similarly renewable.

Via Inhabitat

Comments (16)

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Technology and Soul
written by marguerite manteau-rao , February 28, 2008

Beautiful! What an elegant solution, a boat powered by the waves . . . Sometimes technology rivals with poetry. This is one such example.

I dream of a day when car will be solely powered by the sun.

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com

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written by gregory , February 28, 2008

The Sailfin company of Vancouver marketed a boat, in fact I still have mine, that was also driven by wave power using flexible "flukes" or fins underneath. I bought mine in 1981.

Wind is powerful
written by Azalia Short , February 28, 2008

The wind is more powerful than the waves.
Just look at the Maltese Falcon yacht of that rich guy who build a monster ship that is powered by wind alone to achieve speeds that are comparable to the speeds of a diesel powered boat.

The yacht was more expensive, but at least it does not harm any fish with it's propeller.

I think that the wave powered boats might be very good for drones that are monitoring the sea.

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written by Bob , February 28, 2008

wind power was invented a looooong time ago

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written by Buck , February 28, 2008

That's pretty sweet. Combine this with sails and solar power this could be very cool in a few generations.

Sail power
written by kailorenz , February 28, 2008

Ever heard of sailing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WAY BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wave Power
written by net97surferx , February 29, 2008

It's not so revolutionary or 'better'... it's that they are trying to 'think outside the box'. Each step like this tends to lead to other 'ideas' which may hold merit.

It is when we stop thinking there are no other 'good ideas' that we screw ourselves in our progress and our life.

Why either/or?
written by Robbert , February 29, 2008

Why is it, that whenever we talk about renewable energy, we must compete with the other renewable resources?
This is an excellent example of where you can combine the two.
If you have a sailing ship, it will spend time in the water waiting for wind. in that case you could lower the wave-fins to proper your ship using wave power.
Perhaps you can even combine the two when you're going against the wind.

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written by Magnulus , February 29, 2008

Looking forward to seeing this incorporated in a boat that uses all three of the abundant sources on the sea, wave, wind and solar.
Heck, even a hybrid boat that uses wave power to lower the diesel usage would be terrific to see in general use.

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written by Djarada , March 01, 2008

Ofcourse if one then adds human effort by rowing or peddling then one has a multi task boat that would never have to worry about calm conditions anymore.
I suppose that would be called a "Multo Hybrid" or?
When one takes it a bit further one could even use the power produced by ones leftovers(in the widest example).
Wouldn´t it be great(Dreaming),if one could pesuade a Pod of Dolphins to help as Huskies do.

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written by Djarada , March 01, 2008

By the way,there is such a Dolphin as a "Hybrid Dolphin"

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written by jamie , March 02, 2008

how would you control the speed of the boat?

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written by Adam , March 03, 2008

I think a big advantage over sailing here would be being able to sail in any direction. I think the "triple scoop" of solar wind and this new one might be the only game changer.

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written by dodge , March 05, 2008

i like the idea, it is a work in progres. would be so much more stable than a sail boat. imagine not having to worry about bridges etc when coming into harbour as you do when you have a mast.

wind/wave choice
written by Nicola Terry , March 05, 2008

The waves are a more concentrated form of energy but they are primarily made by wind and when there isn't much wind there won't be much wave power either. Waves are directional too, but maybe the design only harnesses up/down motion so that doesn't matter.

This isn't new.
written by James , March 18, 2008

I bought a boat from a company called "Sailfin" when I was in California in the early 80s. It used this technology. Actually, what the company did was "give" you a boat if you "invested" some money in their company. They were trying to raise capital to put these fins on ocean liners adn oil tankers and such.

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