A deepwater horizon that can't blow up

The environmental disaster at the Deepwater Horizon site operated by TransOcean and BP should convince even diehard skeptics that we should now proceed with environmentally safe, ocean-energy alternatives.

Mankind is evolving past the use of oil as the cheap energy of first resort. This path will transform our relationship to the oceans away from a past dominated by fishermen, surface ships and oil platforms to one where we are managers and stewards of the submarine ecosystems.

If Florida takes the lead in this great human migration, we will secure our future, wealth and fame.

Ocean currents can be converted into electrical power via the use of turbines beneath the sea. A moving current of water carries 832 times more energy than a moving current of wind.

Florida is blessed with the premiere ocean current on the planet: the Gulf Stream. This river of energy passes by Florida's largest energy market, Miami-Dade. Wind turbines are well understood and can generate cheap electricity; however, wind is a poor choice for Florida because wind is not steady. The salt water depths are challenging but not beyond our abilities.

In areas that lack swift currents but contain great depths, the temperature differential between the warm ocean surface and the cold waters 1 mile deep can be harnessed to generate electricity. These deep waters are so cold that they posed a problem to the engineers as they attempted to cap the undersea oil gusher - the pipes kept freezing.

Much as your air conditioner uses electricity to remove heat from household air, heat can be used to make electricity via a reverse mechanical cycle. In your home air conditioner, electric motors pump refrigerant fluids between the hot condenser and the cold evaporator. In a similar fashion, turbines placed between the fluid temperature differentials within a vast closed loop can extract energy for America.

In spite of some apocalyptic predictions, the world is not running out of oil. The existence of high pressure reservoirs of crude over 20,000 feet deep reveals this. Oil in this quantity and at this depth must be coming from some other source than biological processes on the Earth's surface.

The risk and capital costs of tapping these reserves should now give us pause. We may never run out of oil, but we certainly can run out of fresh air and clean water. So why drill when you can surf? We can use the forces that drive the climate to power our lives.

If the United States is to continue as a world industrial power, then leadership in ocean technologies is paramount. Florida is uniquely positioned by geography and history as the launch point. This is the new "Horizon."

Florida can be a net energy exporter. Layoffs at NASA can provide a steady stream of skilled engineers. Federal financing for alternative energy is available. The technology spin-offs will equal or exceed the technical marvels we gained from the race to the moon.