Pretend the coastal town of Galveston, TX decided to install new wave generators on all its beaches to create energy for the entire island. What disadvantages might arise

Answer: 1: Environmental effects

2: High Cost

Explanation:

1 Environmental Effects

Power farms on shore that are visible from land may cause conflicts with tourism and local acceptance. Due to this, coastal installations and facilities on land has to meet higher restrictions in terms of size and location.

We don't yet know exactly how wave power affects sea life. We will hopefully in the next following years have more data in this area.

2 Costs

Wave power is in very early stages of development, which makes speculating on costs harder. Wave resources, connections to the power grid and the lifespan of the technology are just a few factors that result in different costs for different projects. Of these factors, the lifespan is the most uncertain one, since this is a relatively new technology and we are lacking data on how long these wave power inventions realistically can operate.

At the moment, the costs of wave power are generally very high. These power plants cannot be developed without sufficient funding from the governments. On the other hand, renewable energy is the future, and the costs are expected to drop when larger facilities are up and running.

Many of the parts that are involved in wave power generation require regular maintenance. The fact that some of these parts are under the water does not make it any easier - or cheaper for that matter.