Solar sea power

Abstract

The French physicist Jacques D'Arsonval predicted in 1881 that Man would someday mine the ocean for heat to power his civilization, rather than mine the earth for fossil fuels. Specifically, he suggested that a heat engine operate between the warm upper layer and the cold deep water of the tropical oceans. The power delivered from such a heat engine may appropriately be called “solar sea power,” for the sun would rapidly restore to the upper layer the heat transferred to the cold deep water.