Connor Baxter of Hawaii is knocked off his board by a wave during a practice session for the Red Bull Heavy Water event at Ocean Beach in 2016.This past summer, millions of Californians trekked to the beach to relax, swim, surf and beat the heat. Chances are very few of them realized the waves they frolicked in might also help us achieve our clean-energy and climate-mitigation goals.
The National Renewable Energy Lab has reported that U.S. marine energy resources are equal to roughly 57% of the nation’s 2019 electricity generation — enough to power approximately 220 million U.S. homes. According to the lab, California’s marine energy resource potential could supply power to approximately 13 million homes.
Wave and tidal power can play an important role in California’s renewable energy portfolio. In 2022, onshore wind and solar provided nearly 27% of California’s in-state energy generation. When the sun sets and the wind stops blowing, the ocean’s constant movement will continue to produce energy. When it reaches commercial scale, wave and tidal energy has the potential to join wind, solar, hydroelectric, storage and other carbon-free sources to help California’s transition to clean energy and to overcome the challenges of climate change.Californians have suffered through weather events made more extreme, persistent and frequent by climate change. Atmospheric rivers, drought, wildfires and heat waves have brought death, destruction and economic loss in the billions of dollars.