01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 3, 2004

When you stand at the ocean's edge and watch the waves break at your feet, you are seeing an explosion of energy that has traveled all the way from the sun's core, more than 94 million miles away.

There, at temperatures of 27 million degrees Fahrenheit, hydrogen atoms find each other irresistible. In such heat, they don't just bond; they fuse -- the two atoms become one. Their nuclear marriage sends waves of energy radiating out into the universe in all directions.

Only the tiniest fraction of that heat and light penetrates Earth's atmosphere to reach our oceans' surface. But when the sunlight strikes the water, some of the energy bounces off the water and heats the air above.

The wind begins to blow. The agitated air then collides with the water, and the resulting friction starts a dance, as the waves of energy skidding over the ocean surface create waves in the water.

Thus, an ocean wave is not the flow of the water itself. It's the flow of energy that began in the center of the sun.

Rolling over the ocean, a wave of energy travels sometimes thousands of miles until breaking up on the shoreline -- perhaps at your feet. Some of that energy travels back skyward, as ocean spray. Some, connecting with your toes, travels through your body and perhaps makes you laugh.

For centuries, people have sought to make use of the energy in an ocean wave to power their inventions. The first of these attempts was patented in 1799, in France, but none have been successful.

Until now. In Scotland, two companies have developed devices that turn the energy in ocean waves into electricity. And in Australia, another company is building a full-size prototype.

These designs hold special significance for New England: Our offshore waters may be host to the first American demonstrations of these exciting ideas.

Led by Roger Bedard, a team from the Electric Power Research Institute, a U.S. organization, has found many potential wave-energy sites in Massachusett and Maine. "The region has potential to create significant impacts in energy generation," says wave-energy expert George Hagerman, of the Virginia Tech Alexandria Research Institute.

In addition, a Maine advisory committee recently chose the Scottish Ocean Power Delivery for a pilot demonstration in 2006 along the state's southern coast. And the clean-energy funds of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut intend to provide as much as $1.5 million to Australian Tom Denniss to build a device off Rhode Island's Point Judith.

This is all very well. But now it's time for the federal government to step up to the plate. "The DOE [Department of Energy] has no wave-energy program," says Massachusetts's Robert Pratt, a leader in innovating strategies to jump-start clean energy in New England. "There's a hole in their program."

Mr. Denniss's Energetech demonstration will cost roughly $3.5 million. Messrs. Pratt, Bedard, Hagerman and many others want the Feds to kick in their share. "The Apollo project was a decade-long commitment," says Mr. Hagerman. "That's the kind of commitment we need here."

We agree. The Feds should also help Maine with its nascent project.

This would be an investment in New England's long-term future. The development of a successful wave-energy device could mean many new jobs for the region -- and much, much cleaner air.