Rubber Sea Snake Harnesses Power Of Waves

A British manufacturer has unveiled a new wave energy generator called the Anaconda — a giant snake-like device they say could be deployed off the coast of Britain within five years. Tethered to the ocean floor and floating under the surface of the sea, the Anaconda uses the motion of rolling waves to drive a turbine in its tail. A wave’s swell creates a bulge in the snake, which travels the length of the tube, producing a burst of energy captured by the turbine. While the trial version of the Anaconda is about 30 feet long, manufacturers say the mass-produced version would be about 650 feet. At that length, they say, a single Anaconda could produce 1 megawatt of power — enough to provide electricity for 1,000 homes. The Carbon Trust, a government-created nonprofit that helps U.K. companies reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has endorsed the technology.