The next wave of alternative energy

For students that frequent the less-than-sparkling beaches punctuating California’s coastline, it’s easy to think of the ocean as the place where we jettison all things polluted or unwieldy.

And for every discarded Dos Equis bottle or plastic Target bag that we  see lining the piers, we can be sure of an exponentially greater number that we don’t. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that behemoth floating landfill that is one, two, three times the size of the continental United States — no one’s really sure — serves as a decidedly unattractive Exhibit A.

Thankfully, we’ve started putting the Pacific to better use.

California is now one of several states taking on pilot projects to explore the ability of tides to provide electricity. If further invested in, hydrokinetic endeavors could theoretically overtake hydropower dams in energy output, providing up to 10 percent of the nation’s electric power, according to the Los Angeles Times.

California’s coastline, specifically around Santa Barbara, Calif., is one of the few areas in the United States that easily facilitates hydrokinetic projects, and with the state’s reputation as an environmental trailblazer, we would seem to be the clear choice to spearhead a shift toward hydrokinetic energy.

Which is why it’s surprising that out of all the states in which hydrokinetic studies and projects are currently underway — including Washington, Alaska, Florida, Oregon, Hawaii and New York — California is among those struggling the most to find support.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was recently forced to postpone a promising hydrokinetic pilot project, WaveConnect, in Northern California’s Humboldt County, because of a “difficulty of obtaining permits and the high cost of development,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

The $50-million project would have been groundbreaking, the first substantial effort to test a variety of wave power generators in one area. There’s talk of the project being relocated to Santa Barbara, but nothing concrete has been decided. Other areas of California aren’t faring much better, though for some, such as Palo Alto, Calif., the physical obstacles are proving to be much more problematic than any budgetary constraints.

There have been strong indications in the last few months that hydrokinetic power is growing in popularity.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued 140 hydrokinetic permits, where before it granted only a few, and the U.S. Department of Energy announced in September $37 million in grants to fund 27 different marine and hydrokinetic projects.

Meanwhile, businesses are making headway across the nation, as evidenced by  Ocean Renewable Power Co. in Maine, Ocean Power Technologies in Hawaii and Oregon, and Snohomish County Public Utility District in Washington.

California can’t afford to be left behind.

The concept of hydropower is not new. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to construct tidal dikes to capture electric power as early as 1935 (the project was stymied by an unsympathetic Congress). What’s new is the interest the nation is now taking in it and the strides the technology is subsequently making.

Much as with other branches of alternative energy, there’s a lot of economic potential in hydrokinetic power. Between the growing national spotlight on the field and California’s need for new sources of revenue, now is the time to capitalize on that potential — not the time to pass the environmental baton to Maine.

Unfortunately, the inevitable flip side is that hydrokinetic turbines are costly, as is the technology for pretty much any form of alternative energy. As evidenced by the suspension of the WaveConnect project, sometimes that expense is too much to manage.

But we need to make the effort.

New York is struggling with debt, too, and yet it’s still finding ways to explore the hydrokinetic power of the East River. Percentage-wise, Alaska, Maine, Washington and Florida also boast a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than California, and they’re all still making headway with wave energy.

As hydrokinetic power finds its way into the news more and more, California too needs to explore ways to incorporate it into the state budget.  For both its economic and environmental benefits, we need to lead, not follow, the upcoming pilot projects in hydrokinetic energy.

Kastalia Medrano is a sophomore majoring in print and digital journalism and editorial director for the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Green Piece,” runs Tuesdays.