QUESTION 11: THE OCEANS CONTAIN A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF THERMAL (INTERNAL) ENERGY. WHY, IN GENERAL, IS IT NOT POSSIBLE TO PUT THIS ENERGY TO USEFUL WORK?
FIRSTLY, THE MAIN OBVIOUS REASON FOR WHY THIS ENERGY CAN'T BE USED FOR WORK IS BECAUSE OF SUCH TREMENDOUS AMOUNT. THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY IS EXTREMELY LARGE, SO THERE IS NO PRACTICAL OR EXISTENT WAY TO EXTRACT IT IN CONSIDERABLE SIZES. TO TRANSFORM THERMAL ENERGY INTO WORK, THE SAME MUST FLOW FROM A HOT RESERVOIR TO A COLD ONE (AS IN A HEAT PUMP SYSTEM), SO THIS ENERGY CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO WORK, THEORETICALLY. IT COULD FLOW FROM WARMER PARTS OF AN OCEAN TO COLDER AREAS. YET, THE PROPORTIONS AND SCALE ARE TOO BIG.
THIS VIDEO TALKS ABOUT A SYSTEM OF THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION BEING PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES (VERY INTERESTING) AND ALSO ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF THIS CONVERSION:
THIS VIDEO TALKS ABOUT A SYSTEM OF THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION BEING PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES (VERY INTERESTING) AND ALSO ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF THIS CONVERSION: