Admittedly the concept of powering the whole world seems far fetched. Yet researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering are making that claim. <\/p>\n
The relatively new field of ocean engineering is a multidisciplinary field dedicated to developing new technologies to explore and harness the ocean\u2019s resources. Ocean engineers design, build, operate and maintain ships, offshore structures, submarines, sailboats, tankers, tugboats, yachts, oil rigs, underwater robots, and acoustic sonar. <\/p>\n
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University are adopting existing green energy applications, such as hydrogen, wind and thermal renewable energy resources, and converting the engineering principles to harvest the power of the ocean. Ocean engineers are designing ocean turbines, that operate much like wind turbines, to produce electricity that is transmitted to shore. Ocean thermal energy is a resource that can be produced by driving warm surface water to colder ocean depths. Underwater electricity can be generated to produce hydrogen that will be pumped to waiting tankers at the surface for transport to shore. <\/p>\n
Will Florida power the world? Unlikely. But global dissemination of green ocean engineering research promotes a greener world armed with alternatives. <\/p>\n