Ocean energy and the law of the sea: The need for a protocol
Although fossil fuels are the overwhelming source of energy for the world, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, demographic, environmental, political, and economic factors indicat...
Innovative Uses of the Ocean
Instead of attempting to write an entire book on innovative uses of the ocean I have chosen to highlight some of the more probable future possibilities and avoid the impractical and improbable. In particular, I emphasize possibilities for using the ocean as a source of energy, the interaction of the ocean and climate, fresh water from the ocean, the ocean as an ultimate resting place for nuclear wastes, and imaginative uses of, for example, satellites and the organisms in the ocean. It goes without saying that other major innovative uses of the ocean are likely to be developed that have been completely unanticipated in the writing of the chapter.
POWER GENERATION FROM OCEAN CURRENTS
There is considerable energy available from ocean currents. The velocity of these is generally low and it varies with location, the seasons, and with depth from the ocean surface. It is possible to use this energy for power generation and an analysis is presented reviewing various types of water turbines, including Water Wheels, Kaplan Turbines, Propeller Turbines and Vertical Axis Machines. The analysis evaluates the effects of velocity gradients and the machines best suited for this application. Due to the low energy flux, the machinery will get relatively large and is of slow speed. However, since substantial amounts of energy are available, such water turbines may become of interest in specific locations where such units can be built close to the source of energy demand.