Sea change

• Autores: Helen Knight
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2958, 2014, págs. 48-51
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In theory, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) could provide 4,000 times the world's energy needs in any given year with neither pollution nor greenhouse gases to show for it. In the real world, however, it has long been written off as impractical. This year a surprising number of projects are getting under way around the world, helmed not by quixotic visionaries but by hard-nosed pragmatists such as those at aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. Here, Knight details that proponents of the technology believe the future lies in OTEC ships that graze the oceans for electricity. To get around the problem of delivering it to shore by submarine cables, the electricity generated could be used in situ to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen stored in fuel cells before being transported for use around the world.