With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Lockheed Martin is about to explore the possibilities of producing energy from the world's oceans. The technology in question is Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), in which the temperature difference between shallow and deep water is used to drive a heat engine.

Under the $1.2 million DOE contract, Lockheed will build a big pipe to move all that salty seawater and implement a pilot scale test plant.

Lockheed is a good choice for the project -- the company built the first (and only) floating net-power-producing OTEC plant in 1974. Lockheed is looking at using thermal energy for electricity generation and water desalination.

OTEC is a technology that could supply our energy needs many fold if it were possible to exploit. OTEC has the potential to meet all of Hawaii's energy needs within a generation. Tropical seas absorb 250 billion barrels worth of solar energy every day; one-tenth that amount could supply 20 times the average daily energy use in the United States.