Abstract
THERE have been several recent suggestions that wave-power systems could provide a substantial part of Britain's energy requirements. The development of such systems presents, however, some formidable problems. One which has been largely overlooked concerns the energy investment required in their construction, compared with the predicted rate of energy return. The calculations which follow suggest that the energy recovery period may be many years. Similar calculations for wind-power systems, whose characteristics are known with greater precision, indicate a very much shorter energy recovery period. Moreover, though the wind is often regarded as a diffuse source of power, it is shown to offer a power density comparable with that assumed for wave-power systems.
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MUSGROVE, P. Energy analysis of wave-power and wind-power systems. Nature 262, 206–207 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/262206a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/262206a0
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