Wave energy

Potential

Wave energy is known as a tertiary form of energy, where the sun (primary) heats the earth's surface unevenly leading to climate systems such as wind (secondary) to blow across the oceans. Although tidal currents also play a role, wave energy is primarily a product of wind energy. The transfer of energy from one source to another is greatly diminished due to the First Law of Thermodynamics, where not all of the energy is converted. Conversely, the concentration of energy (energy density) can be significantly increased compared to the energy source prior. For the conversion of wind to wave energy, this is due to water having a greater density than air, and again due to the uneven energy distribution. This makes many locations around the globe extremely favourable for wave energy conversion.