An introduction to Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology.

The following information on Wikipedia contains a reasonable introductory description of OTEC from an informed layman’s perspective. Some of the information is dated, however and the statement that “The total energy available is one or two orders of magnitude higher than other ocean energy options such as wave power, but the small size of the temperature difference makes energy extraction difficult and expensive. Hence, existing OTEC systems have an overall efficiency of only 1 to 3%.” is not accurate for solutions devised by some of the more advanced engineering firms working with OTEC. Since they have concentrated their efforts in the tropical oceans, in a band that extends roughly a few degrees north and south of the equator, the temperature difference is considerably greater than suggested and the overall efficiency, consequently, is considerably higher as well. Here is the article citation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion

The construction of the OTEC plant on the island of Diego Garcia continues and is both on schedule and on budget. The OTEC plant on the Kona coast of Hawaii is being re-built and re-designed to produce even more power. As gas prices rise, interest in OTEC as a source of low-footprint, zero-impact electrical energy and, more importantly, a source of high volumes of hydrogen gas to fuel the coming fuel cell economy increases as well, although other alternative sources of energy continue to hold the public spotlight.