N. C. 

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NORTH CAROLINA STATE' LIBRARY. 



ODCaOWUISgDW ®p 



IARCH, 1976 



1235 Burlington Laboratories 

 NCSU, Raleigh, N.C. 27607 Tel: (919) 737-2U5U 



Energy From 

 The Ocean: 

 Is It Possible? 



Sweaters are more popular. Windows are getting 

 insulation. Advertisers tell us how many inches 

 of insulation we need. The Arabs have us, literally, 

 over a barrel. Electricity and gas prices keep going 

 up. Fuel surcharges are now a part of life. 



And the country is scrambling for new sources 

 of energy. A number of possibilities — both large 

 and small — are being considered. Some people say 

 energy can be extracted from the oceans. Though 

 the possibility is admittedly a small part of the 

 larger picture, supporters of the idea are enthusi- 

 astic. 



At a recent conference on energy from the 

 oceans, scientists from Massachusetts to England 

 gathered to discuss energy in wind, waves, tem- 

 perature differentials and more. The conference, 

 sponsored by NCSU Center for Marine and Coastal 

 Studies, UNC Sea Grant, and the Coastal Plains 

 Center for Marine Development Services, was held 

 in Raleigh. 



Three-fourths of this country's energy comes 

 from oil and gas. As fossil fuels are exhausted in 

 the next 25 years or so, the United States will be- 

 come increasingly desperate for fuel. The govern- 

 ment is exploring better ways to recover and use 

 remaining fossil fuels (especially coal) and meet 

 short-term needs. But at the same time, it is fund- 

 ing research in other long-range areas as well. 



Some time after the year 2000, according to the 

 Energy Research and Development Administra- 

 tion (ERDA), the nation will have to depend on 

 essentially inexhaustible sources of energy. ERDA 

 lists three major sources: fusion, the breeder re- 

 actor and solar electric power. 



Almost half of the research budget is still de- 

 voted to nuclear power. Solar power — both land- 



and ocean-based — gets only a tiny slice of the pie. 

 But there are reports that solar power is becoming 

 more popular. And, one method of capturing solar 

 power from the oceans — thermal energy conversion 

 — is expected to get more attention. 



Of course, the problem with solar energy is: How 

 does one capture the beast? ERDA is looking into 

 both land- and sea-based methods. But at the ocean 

 energy conference, scientists were particularly 

 enthusiastic about the potential for the sea. 



As one scientist explains it, the ocean is the 

 largest, most efficient collector of the sun's energy. 

 Then the question is: How does one get energy 

 out of the ocean? To answer that, scientists here 

 and abroad have begun looking at some schemes. 

 They range from huge windmills to elaborate power 

 plants reaching 1,500 feet down into the ocean. 



(See "Plenty," page 2) 



