NREL's Marine Energy Research: Advancing a Clean Energy Future (Text Version)

This is the text version of the video NREL's Marine Energy Research: Advancing a Clean Energy Future.

You know the ocean is powerful.

You've surfed it, swam in it, or watched it wreak havoc in high sea dramas.

But did you know researchers are working to harness that power to generate huge amounts of clean energy?

The power surging in U.S. oceans and rivers equates to nearly 60% of the country's annual electricity needs.

That power has the potential to play a key role in a 100% clean energy future, and NREL researchers are working hard to get us there.

Marine energy comes in many forms—and so do marine energy technologies. Underwater turbines harness water currents, and devices like buoys and paddles capture energy from ocean waves. NREL researchers are also working on other methods to convert energy from fluctuating water temperatures, pressures, and salt levels into useful forms of energy.

At NREL's Flatirons Campus, researchers are collaborating with industry partners to guide projects from theoretical concept to rivers and oceans around the country.

With help from the lab's experts and their simulation software, wave tank, specialized validation equipment, and marine energy resource atlas, technology developers can make sure their designs will be reliable, productive, and cost-effective wherever they choose to install them.

Marine energy could provide affordable, clean power to rural and remote communities as well as offshore industries, like fish farms, all while playing a key role in helping the nation achieve a 100% clean energy power sector by 2035.

With marine energy, the ocean isn't just powerful; the ocean is power.

Catch the wave to a clean energy future with NREL. Learn more about NREL's marine energy program at nrel.gov/water/marine-energy.html.