As the price of fossil fuels soars, private companies from Hawaii to Japan are racing to build commercial Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants which generate energy by exploiting the difference in temperature between seawater near the surface and deep down.

India's National Institute of Ocean Technology, with technical support from Japan's Saga University, is building a 1,000-kw ocean thermal energy conversion pilot. The experiment, if successful, would mark a big step toward economically viable production of clean energy by tapping the temperature difference between the sun-heated water on the sea surface and cold deep seawater.

A number of Pacific island nations are discussing using new Japanese technology that can both desalinate seawater for drinking and produce electricity by exploiting the difference in temperatures between the surface of the sea and the depths of the ocean.

A report on the status and future of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, a novel form of renewable energy that use thermal differences in ocean water to power massive turbines.