Surf's up ? on landlocked lakes and rivers

2 hrs.

John Roach

Landlocked surf bums jonesing to catch a wave may need to look no further than the nearest body of water, be it a lake, river or pond, thanks a new wave-making machine.

While wave makers are old news, the Spanish team behind?Wavegarden claim their contraption generates consistently ride-able surf in a much more energy-efficient fashion than any other device.

The waves are customizable, from gentle rollers for newbies and the kids, to challenging waves with big tubes for?you old pros stuck in Midwest cubicle farms.

The concept has been under development since 2005 and a prototype installation is in northern Spain. The company is now busy?marketing the wave-makers around the world. Check out the promo video below.

The length of the wave, according to the company, is only limited by the size of the available land. A 5.25-foot wave, for example, produces a 30-second tube over a length of 820 feet.

Minimum requirements to install the surf (yes, this does requires some landscaping) is an area of 656 feet by 164 feet, though enough room for the 30-second ride is recommended.

The Wavegarden can be retrofitted to existing bodies of water ? they need to have a fairly consistent water level and be able to be drained at least once a year for maintenance ?? or can be built from scratch.

Once built, the carbon footprint of creating waves with the machine is less than driving 30 minutes to catch waves at the beach, according to the company?s rough calculations.

Of course, even if you live in the Midwest, you are likely to have to drive a bit to find the closest Wavegarden ? but it might prevent you from jumping on a plane to Hawaii.?

Maybe.?

??Via Gizmag?

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website and follow him on Twitter. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

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