392 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



A July 1, 1960, report of the House Committee on Science and 

 Astronautics states : 



The greatest source of energy in the sea lies in the water itself. Hydrogen, 

 one of the elements in water and thus in enormous abundance in the oceans, may 

 be considered the fuel from which energy may be someday derived, imitating 

 the natural process of nuclear fusion that occurs on the sun. Should current 

 research efforts succeed, man would have a virtually inexhaustible store of 

 energy, but the quest is long and arduous. 



Still another possible source of energy from the sea has been proposed by taking 

 advantage of the difference in surface and bottom temperature. It has been 

 said that almost 35,000 times tlie existing annual energy consumption of the 

 world is delivered annually to the earth in the form of solar radiation and since 

 most of the earth's surface is covered by ocean, a major portion of solar energy 

 is absorbed by the sea. The temperature at depths below which sunlight does 

 not penetrate, on the order of 1,200 feet, is ordinarily around 40° F. In the 

 tropics, surface temperatures of 80° to 90° are common. Theoretically, this 

 temperature difference could be utilized to drive a properly designed turbine, 

 but it would operate at low thermal efficiency because the temperature differences 

 are low. Quite obviously the amounts of energy so extracted are unlimited. The 

 major question is whether such systems are economically attractive. 



Finally, there is the possibility of extraction of power from the twice daily 

 rise and fall of the tides — such as has been proposed many years ago for Pas- 

 samaquoddy. It is natural that man should look for means of harnessing some 

 of the power of the tides for his own benefit, and small tide mills have been 

 operated in a few suitable localities for centuries. Many plans for tidal power 

 stations such as the Severn Barrage scheme have been drawn up, but only one 

 project has so far reached the construction stage. This is the French scheme 

 for the Ranee Estuary in the Bay of St. Malo which is designed to have a capacity 

 of 340 megawatts and is due to be completed in 19G0. The main difficulty in the 

 development of tidal power is that, even with large tidal ranges, the hydraulic 

 head available is comparatively small and large areas of tidal water would have 

 to be enclosed at high capital cost. 



While it should be noted that each po.ssibility is accompanied by 

 some reservation, it should also be noted that technological problems 

 just about as difficult and expensive have been solved cleanly in the 

 past 10 or 15 years. When the need becomes great enough — and that 

 time is not far away — there seems little doubt that ways will be found 

 to pull out and transmit the sea's restless, endless energy in the form 

 of useful work. 



THE SEARCH FOR INDUSTRY 



For the American system of private enterprise, the need for new 

 industry in the years ahead assumes marked importance, not only in 

 order to maintain a high level of consumer goods and a growing 

 economy, but as a means of employment for the rising population. 



Exploitation of the oceans rates far up on the list of genuine new 

 industrial possibilities. A recent issue of Dun's Review, for example, 

 has cited the oceans as "industry's next frontier" and comments: 



