Energy And The Oceans

Any overview of "energy from the oceans" must perforce be dominated by petroleum-related energy since oil and gas are the only ocean energy resources that have been developed to a commercial status. The other sources - kinetic, thermal, and biomass - have long been the subjects of conjecture and, to some extent, of research and development activities. The present paper reviews the history of OCS oil and gas development and briefly discusses the challenges still to be faced. The concerns to be faced in developing the other potential sources of energy from the oceans are then discussed in the light of what we should have learned from the past 35 years of OCS oil and gas development.