A British company, Checkmate Seaenergy Ltd, has demonstrated a new wave energy device known as "Anaconda"..
Its inventors claim the key to its success lies in its simplicity: Anaconda is little more than a length of rubber tubing filled with water. Waves in the water create bulges which travel along the tubing gathering energy. In effect, the bulge surfs the front of the wave. At the end of the tube, the surge of energy drives a turbine that generates electricity.
The company has been testing a small-scale, 8 metre long prototype in a wave tank in Gosport, Hampshire, and is now looking to raise funds from investors to build a larger version to test at sea.
The co-inventor of the device, Professor Rod Rainey, said: "The beauty of wave energy is its consistency. However, the problem holding back wave energy machines is that devices tend to deteriorate over time in the harsh marine environment. Anaconda is non-mechanical. It is mainly rubber, a natural material with a natural resilience, and so has very few moving parts to maintain."