The seas around the UK will soon play host to a daring engineering adventure. The aim? To shift much of the nation's electricity production offshore and cut carbon emissions in the process. At the Oceanology International 2010 conference in London earlier this month, New Scientist brought together a panel of experts to discuss the challenges to be met for this grand project to succeed. Justin Mullins explores their views and reports on other work highlighted at the meeting. © 2010 Reed Business Information Ltd, England.