IT IS NECESSARY TO PRODUCE ON THE WAVES OF THIS SEA

By: Milena Barbosa de Melo

Doctor and master in International Law by the University of Coimbra- Portugal; Foreign Trade Analyst; University Professor- UEPB; Academic Director of ANEDD; Content Teacher

It is redundant to speak about the importance of the oceans for the development of society, because as the sea favors the construction of new economic possibilities, it is capable to unite economically diversified worlds. Its importance is so great that, over the years, multiple international agreements were elaborated and, hence, incorporated by many legal orders around the world.

Therefore, the sea is always an object of important exploration by companies and countries, and that is why the international society organizes itself in a manner to limit the exploration of the resources from the marine environment.

As such, countries that wish to benefit from its resources must follow regulations that are mostly standards from the international juridical system, whose objective is to limit the activities on the marine environment.

The necessity to limit the activities on the marine environment accrue from the acts of environmental degradation that have been observed throughout the years, a situation that has been bringing a lot of discomfort to the organizations that work for environmental protection.

To limit, however, does not mean to forbid, but only to draw the strategies capable of promoting the development of the world, which can be seen in the case of obtaining clean energy from the movement of the waves, also known as wave energy.

And, analyzing this new form of energy generation, it is explicit that there are aspects that must be considered, both from a positive and negative perspective, which are:

1. Advantages: Energy production is absolutely clean, which means without causing any environmental damage, that is why it is a renewable energy. It does not depend on the external conditions of the coastal zone, and there is a great variety of forms that are meant for energy harvesting, there is the use of low-cost material, and a bigger availability of energy generation when compared to wind and solar energy. (ANDRADE, 2016)
2. Disadvantages: Reduction of the installations’ potency; finding an ideal location which has a specific coastal geography that favors the creation of big waves; inhibition of navigation; high-cost of installation and maintenance, and easy degradation of the installations that are set on the sea, due to the exposition to salt water (ANDRADE, 2016)

Therefore, even observing the presence of multiple obstacles for the use of wave energy, one cannot help but notice that the benefits to the environment would be felt in the medium to long term and, thereby, it is important to disseminate the use of methods capable of connecting exploration, development, and environmental protection throughout the international society.

Said positioning can be observed both in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the prevention principle, when observing that, talking about a future perspective, the country must put all needed efforts to ward off the energy exploration from non-renewable measures.

In the case of Brazil, wave energy would be a viable measure to be used. In addition to having the necessary technology, it has an extensive coastal area, which provides for this possibility. In this sense, it is already possible to find in the country, as in the case of the State of Ceará, initiatives aimed at the usage of waves as an instrument of energy generation.

Working as such, the country is getting even closer to measures capable of building an ecologically balanced environment, following the provisions of both International Law and its Federal Constitution.

REFERENCES:

ANDRADE, P. V. F.; Espindola, R. L. Análise Teórica da Produção de um Conversor de Energia Ondomotriz do Tipo Absorvedor Pontual. In: VI Congresso Brasileiro de Energia Solar, 2016, Belo Horizonte.

Cover Image: Portal da Energia
Available at: https://portaldaenergia.com/energia-das-ondas/