Other Sources of Renewable Energy

Solar Power: Rising Rapidly

Solar Power is also rapidly developing. Like wind, there are limitless, free sources of energy. Even in northern climates, solar hot water and solar energy are freeing homeowners and businesses from fossil fuel dependency. Solar gnerated power also allows energy to be generated where it is used, alleviating the need for costly transmission infrastructure. Boston area Solar group: http://www.basea.org/

Ocean Power: Major promise for the future

Wave Energy
The total power of waves breaking on the world's coastlines is estimated at 2 to 3 million megawatts. In favorable locations, wave energy density can average 65 megawatts per mile of coastline.

Tidal Energy

Tidal energy traditionally involves erecting a dam across the opening to a tidal basin. The dam includes a sluice that is opened to allow the tide to flow into the basin; the sluice is then closed, and as the sea level drops, traditional hydropower technologies can be used to generate electricity from the elevated water in the basin. Some researchers are also trying to extract energy directly from tidal flow streams.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Systems
A great amount of thermal energy (heat) is stored in the world's oceans. Each day, the oceans absorb enough heat from the sun to equal the thermal energy contained in 250 billion barrels of oil. OTEC systems convert this thermal energy into electricity  often while producing desalinated water.