Anyone scuba diving off the coast of the UK in three years time could be in for a shock.
A new device that creates electricity from wave power has been unveiled by Checkmate Sea Energy – and it looks like a giant sea snake.
The Anaconda Wave Energy Converter is a long rubber tube filled with water. When it's placed in the sea and anchored to a generator, the movement of water pushes the tube back and forth, creating "bulge waves" inside it. That builds up pressure that drives a turbine and generates electricity.
It is estimated that a 200-metre Anaconda could provide enough energy to power 2,000 homes. The first could be up and running by 2012.
One advantage of the new system is that it sits below the water level, so it does not spoil coastal views.
The UK has excellent conditions for generating marine energy and the industry has been steadily growing over the past 25 years. The Strangford Lough Tidal Generator in Northern Ireland was installed in 2008 and has a capacity of 1.2 megawatts (enough to power 1,140 homes) and the world's first commercial wave-power device has been in operation at Islay, Scotland since 2000.
Nick Cooper, a freelance writer, can be contacted at email@example.com