Agucadora: There's Money in Them There Waves!

Just saw a tasty little tidbit on DVICE about the opening of "Agucadoura, the world's first wave farm off (the) coast (of Portugal), consisting of three Wave Energy Converters generating a total of 2.25MW.

The elongated metal contraptions bob up and down with the waves, while internal pistons, attached to the sea floor, remain stationary and pump hydraulic fluid. This drives electric generators, whose power is brought ashore by underwater electrical cables. The wave farm is now tapping into enough constant, renewable energy to power 1500 homes."

- Charlie White @ dvice

Got that? These little dandies wiggle about in the ocean and generate electricity.
More dandies wiggling = more homes powered.

Wave power is so cool. Scalable, carbon-free, and limitless waves make limitless power.

What a wonderful world.

Here's an earlier SF post: Wave Power Round Up.

Aquaculture!

Of course the first thing that pops into your mind where you hear the word aquaculture is your favorite underwater 80's cartoon:



The second thing you think of is fish farming. Aquaculture is the broad term for any type of fish production (breeding, rearing, and harvesting) in any water environment in the world. You more commonly understand it as the difference between "farm-raised" and "wild-caught", at your local Whole Foods store. As the NOAA (national ocean and atmospheric administration) website states: "Aquaculture is the fastest growing form of food production in the world," and "Globally nearly half the fish consumed by humans is produced by fish farms"

That's big business and it's getting bigger as the world's wild ocean fisheries rapidly diminish. We at SuperForest love our seafood, which is why we also love aquaculture farms like this:



Sustainable Open Ocean fish cages like the one above, simulate and replenish actual wild fish populations. They are healthy, humane, and what is more, pull double duty as man-made reefs -- overtime transforming into their own self-contained ecosystems; promoting growth and attracting marine life big and small. I know because I saw it firsthand, freediving off the cage pictured above, in Hawaii.

Hopefully this type of pro-environment aquaculture already underway in Hawaii can serve as a model for similiar types of sustainable fish-farming worldwide. My marine biologist and NOAA friends are excited about it. And SuperForest is too.

Mmm...sushi!

-Always Merry and Bright!
Jordan