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An unlikely hub for wave energy research found in landlocked Colorado

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory research wave energy using absolutely no ocean waves at all.

BOULDER, Colorado — Inside a facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Arvada, researchers have been testing how ocean waves can generate energy without using any waves whatsoever.

"It's a six-degree free motion platform typically used a flight simulator," said researcher, Scott Jenne. "We're using it to simulate wave environments for a wave energy converter."

The researchers are using a massive, lunar-module looking device to simulate the ocean. 

"Currently, we have it setup to run profiles that are representative of waves on the East Coast," Jenne said. On top of the platform sits a wave energy converter that converts the energy in the waves into "useful energy", according to Jenne.

Jenne uses the wave simulator to subject energy-generating devices to ocean-like forces to see how they'll perform or hold up well before the high-cost prototypes make it into the rough ocean waters.

"This is effectively a dry wave tank," Jenne explained.

Currently, researchers are using the device to test a desalination system.

All the wave energy generated on the ocean would be fed back to shore, generating enough energy to produce drinking water for about 300 people. 

It's something that will become more important as our climate warms, weather becomes more extreme, and weather-related disasters more intense, especially for island communities.

"If a hurricane comes through, they might be out of power for months at a time," Jenne said. "Usually that translates to being out of water for months to years."

Wave energy that could very well be the wave of the future that's being tested in landlocked Colorado.  

"At the end of the day, its energy, whether we're making electricity or making water or charging someone's cell phone, it's just a version of energy that we're converting in one way or another," Jenne said.

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