[Physicist]

As I recall, OTEC plants have projected efficiencies in the single digits. That makes them HUGE...

And if they are huge, that means the only economical OTEC plant would be open-cycle (i.e., it would circulate actual seawater, instead of ammonia). The problem with such systems is that they biofoul in short order. Every few months--or weeks--their innards would need to be scoured of barnacles, mussels, and whatever else can cling and grow.

[ClaireSolt]

If we were to stop buying Middle Eastern oil and they went broke, guess what--we would all have Middle Eastern neighbors a la Mexico.

We have been researching alternate sources for 30 years. The main stumbling blocks to a political solution are political because solutions advantage red states. So, for the time being I say, thank God for foreign oil.