Realistic ocean energy alternatives to fossil fuels

The US Commission on Ocean Policy endorsed the Administrations complete dependence on fossil fuels as the primary energy source for the nation. Two very significant alternatives were rejected or neglected. The first alternative was sea based semi submerged nuclear power plant ships deployed in a line paralleling the coastline of the United States. The US has developed and deployed hundreds of nuclear powered submarines without an accident affecting the people or the environment. The US has also built and successfully operated a number of land based pressurized water reactors at the 3,000 megawatt level. The marriage of these two developments would have a very significant effect on the electrical energy production now produced by fossil fuels. The second development is based on the recognition that the transport and use of hydrogen requires its containment in molecules for which nitrogen is the container. Practically this limits transport in the form of hydrazine and/or ammonia. Ammonia has been successfully used by nations deprived of a source of fossil fuel. If ammonia can be created without the use of hydrocarbons, then an ammonia energy economy is possible. The late William H. Avery has already demonstrated that large (1-3 thousand megawatt) OTEC plants located in the doldrums inside exclusive economic zones can generate tanker transported ammonia without the use of fossil fuels at a cost which is increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. The nations which implement one or both of these alternatives may be the only nations to achieve energy independence in the 21st century.