The technology to power the Blue Revolution is ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). Doug Carlson's OTEC blog carried a short article today, based on University of Hawaii's Gerard Nihous' article on the subject.
The map that particularly caught my attention had to do with temperature:
1. Usually, in the northern hemisphere, temperature differentials (surface minus 1000 meter deep water in Celsius) increase from north to south. This map indicates that Kauai and Oahu could well be better future OTEC sites than the Big Island, although there is that nice red band around Keahole Point.
2. This should have been intuitive, but it is true that the temperatures on the leeward side of an island are significantly higher than windward. Thus, there seems to be at least a sub-optimal relationship between the placement of plantships relative to ocean depth and distance from land. Of especial significance is that a 1 degree C higher differential can improve the net electricity production by 15%. All this combined with the certainty that these floating facilities would have been be placed in these calmer lee waters anyway.
3. The fortuitous placement of islands and population centers in the middle of major oceans can thus serve as the bridge to a larger OTEC future, for initial commercial operations will start in the 10-100 MW range, then, as the technology improves, to mega 1000 MW plantships in the truly open ocean. Yes, I have a feeling that this is, finally, The Dawn of the Blue Revolution.*
* Reminder: tonight at 6:30, my talk on the Blue Revolution at the Hanauma Bay Educational Center.
-
The Dow Jones Industrials edged down 5 to 10,675, while world markets were mixed and the Japan Nikkei had a healthy 165 jump to 9654. Gold dropped a buck a troy ounce to $1196 and crude oil is at $82/barrel. I should mention that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has oil only at $95.59/barrel in December of 2018. But how often have they been right eight years into the future?
-
There is now only one disturbance, in the East Pacific, and, if anything, possibly headed towards Baha rather than Hawaii.
-
There is now only one disturbance, in the East Pacific, and, if anything, possibly headed towards Baha rather than Hawaii.
-
1 comment:
OTEC works on tapping into the energy associated with the vertical thermal distribution in the ocean. Based on the laws of thermodynamics, if that energy is removed will it not result in a change in this thermal gradient? I wonder if there are any unintended consequences of this even if the change is barely detectable.
Post a Comment