<Li> Ocean thermal energy converters in deep tropical waters . </Li> <P> In the year 2015 ten new reactors came online and 67 more were under construction including the first eight new Generation III+ AP1000 reactors in the US and China and the first four new Generation III EPR reactors in Finland, France and China . Reactors are also under construction in Belarus, Brazil, India, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Slovakia, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates . </P> <P> Thorium is a fissionable material for possible future use in a thorium - based reactor . Proponents of thorium reactors claims several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle, such as thorium's greater abundance, better resistance to nuclear weapons proliferation, and reduced plutonium and actinide production . Thorium reactors can be modified to produce Uranium - 233, which can then be processed into highly enriched uranium, which has been tested in low yield weapons, and is unproven on a commercial scale . </P> <P> As an emerging economic sector, there are limited stock market investment opportunities in alternative energy available to the general public . The public can buy shares of alternative energy companies from various stock markets, with wildly volatile returns . The recent IPO of SolarCity demonstrates the nascent nature of this sector - within a few weeks, it already had achieved the second highest market cap within the alternative energy sector . </P>

Why is it important to develop alternative sources of energy