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Fossil fuels are one day going to dry up, so we must start looking now for alternative and renewable sources of energy so that we can maintain our lifestyles. Fossil fuels may last for years to come, but we must be prepared when the oil stops pumping.

Alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric are thought to be the forerunners in clean energy. Developing their technology so that the price of energy is lower than fossil fuels will be important for weaning us off of fossil fuels.

There are many other good ideas in existence for renewable sources of energy, as well. One of these ideas is wave energy, which harnesses the energy in ocean and sea waves to power coastal cities.

The energy in waves is very dense, so energy can be taken out of them with a relatively small power plant. Wave energy also doesn’t break like sun energy or wind energy may.

Australia, which is famous for its waves and surfing, has many of these wind generators in place powering homes in many of its coastal cities.

A wave power plant exists off the coast of a city just south of Sydney, about 100 yards off the coast. It produces enough energy to power 500 homes and desalinates enough water to supply those homes with fresh drinking water, as well. It weighs about 500 tons.

It is very sturdy - built to survive most major storms. Because it can generate power all the time, it can generate about 500kW of power. It cost about 4.7M to build.

Though it is still on the expensive side, as technology develops many believe that it has the best chance of any of the renewable energies out there to become much cheaper than fossil fuels.