An atlas report from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) outlines the monstrous
wave energy potential of the country's southern coastline. The
report, Ocean Power for Australia -- Waves, Tides, and Ocean
Currents [pdf], outlines that if Australia could harness just
10% of the wave energy produced, it would meet all of its
current electricity consumption. "If we look at the sustained
energy resource along the southern coastline - and we're looking
between Geraldton in West Australia and southern tip of Tasmania
-- that has a sustained wave energy resource of about five times
larger than Australia's present day electricity consumption,"
said Dr. Mark Hemer from The Centre for Australian Weather and
Climate Research. "We figured out that if we could harness just
10 per cent of the wave energy along a 1,000km strip of the
southern coast, then that would be enough to meet the Australian
Government's renewable energy targets of 20 per cent renewable
energy before 2020."