As a result of a rapidly expanding human population and a growing need for more of energy to run the wheels of industries, the oceans draw our attention to utilize and harness various kinds of marine energy resources which until today remain untapped. They include tidal energy, wave energy, current energy and many other forms of potential marine energy resources.
The energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources has just begun. Since oil and gas have become scarce and more costly, we will now change to new energy sources.
One of the new energy sources is the tidal energy. It is a form of water power that might be derived from ocean tides in a few places where conditions are favourable. A minimum rise of about 8 meters is necessary to harness the tidal power.
The principle of tidal power is to build dams across the entrance to bays, creating a reservoir on the landward side so as to create a difference in water level between the ocean and the reservoir.
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The water coining out from the reservoir can be used to turn hydraulic turbines that will produce electricity. However, it is not expected to grow much because of lack of potential sites and environmental considerations.
In addition to the tidal energy, with the fast developing marine technology it will be possible to harness the wave energy in future. However, this energy is quite dispersed and is not constant at any particular point or time, so there is little possibility of harnessing this energy.
Another possible source of energy from the oceans is by the utilization of oceanic biomass. Since certain marine plants grow very fast, it is possible that the marine biomass may be cultivated for energy conversion. However, this source of energy does not seem to be economically feasible.