I thought I'd add a seventh posting to my series on the ocean as the next frontier for economic development. The USA and Europe are too focused on their internal problems. Japan is in a state of panic about their options and must take extraordinary steps now to save their future. Fukushima was so devastating and monumentally cataclysmic that this is the only nation that can galvanize a quantum leap in ocean development. This is all so simple. They have no hope if they want to only continue to import fossil fuels and install solar and wind systems. The ocean is their last chance to save their country.
The following article was published in the Huffington Post in May, and follows a number of contributions related to Japan and the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear catastrophe that can also be found in HuffPo (10April2011, 7April2011, 14March2011):
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During the past two months, I have spent some time in Japan and, no particular surprise, they are in deep trouble regarding energy supply. The great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster set them backto square 1945, and they will need to reinvent the country again. I have a sense they will ultimately recover, but only with the right decisions.
Fukushima was a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: nuclear devastation symbolic of a nation already in decline. I again visited these two atomic-bombed sites, and found the vitality and metamorphosis remarkable. Can the nation rebound a second time? Clearly, nuclear fission will never again become an option for the country.
Japan is too crowded for biomass, not sunny enough for solar and has limited wind potential. While they are number two to Germany in solar photovoltaic cell sales, the fact of the matter is that, like the rest of the world, the total amount of renewables used today is far less than five percent of the total energy used, with most of this being hydroelectric power. Furthermore, the winds and sun are intermittent, and can safely accommodate only up to 20 percent the electricity load. What can they do about the remaining 80 percent, plus ground and air transport requirements? These challenges, actually, are also faced by the rest of the world, but Japan has to address them right now.
Yes, there are, further, the exotic options:
2. Nuclear fusion remains a long term option. Japan is leading the international consortium on materials research for this technology, but commercialization could well be in the neighborhood of 2050, and only with a lot of luck and necessary funding.
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The Dow Jones Industrials crashed 513 (-4.31%) to 11,384, the biggest drop since December of 2008 when the world was at the precipice of another Great Depression. The Dow is now 1.67% lower than at the beginning of this year. I'm actually looking forward to another 1500 point decline so that I can invest for the first time in more than two years. Germany stayed about the same, but Brazil sunk 5.7%, Hong Kong 5% and much of Europe and Japan around -3.5%. Interestingly enough, gold dropped $16/toz to $1645 and oil also declined, the NYMEX all the way down to $85/barrel and the Brent Spot to $105/barrel. If oil drops to $50/barrel, it is all over to renewable energy development. Yes, the U.S. economy looks weaker, but the blame is being placed more on Spain and Italy. It they go, so will the Euro and Europe in general. Murmurs of double dip are returning, but I worry more about the next Great D.
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Emily in the Atlantic is weakening, Eugene in the east Pacific is doing the same and Typhoon Muifa, barreled through Okinawa as a Catergory 3 storm (see clip):
is taking that track I earlier described, only skirting Zhoushan and Shanghai and head more north than west. Looks like, except for some wind and rain, China will be largely spared, although Quingdao and Weihai could still be threatened.
Tropical Storm Merbok will become a typhoon, but will harmlessly move north and east away from Japan.
is taking that track I earlier described, only skirting Zhoushan and Shanghai and head more north than west. Looks like, except for some wind and rain, China will be largely spared, although Quingdao and Weihai could still be threatened.
Tropical Storm Merbok will become a typhoon, but will harmlessly move north and east away from Japan.
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Then again, perhaps one way to ameliorate the problem is to safely use it over a prolonged period.
I was part of a group twenty years ago that wrote a book on seabed resources, including a chapter on MMH, where we speculated that there was twice the amount of energy in these deposits than all the known coal, oil and natural gas:
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Yes, it was clear that you thought it might be too expensive, my question was why you might think so (and why you thought they were a "disperse" resource). I think the research yet to be done will address the cost issue. I think the resource concentrat
As for a "Venus Syndrome" , I read the "..jiggles all the marine methane hydrate to the surface.." and can understand your fear. However, such a thing is absolutely not possible. Research over the past 20 years has shown that 2% or less (at most) of marine methane hydrate are even remotely susceptibl
There are many types of hydrate. Only a small portion is amenable to production and only a small portion is susceptibl
Thanks!
Fukushima was inundated by a Tsunami but the coastal regions of the world face devistatin
OTEC can prevent this by limiting thermal expansion due to cooling the ocean waters, converting part of the ocean’s liquid volume to gas by electrolys
By starting from scratch using OTEC, Japan could come out ahead of the pack on the renewable energy front in the long run.
Hopefully they heed your counsel.
Regards,
Jim Baird
The time has come to shift all war and space spending towards rescuing Planet Earth and Humanity, We all need to work together beginning now to overcome Peak Oil and Global Warming. Alas, I see no sign of inspiratio
You can transfer far more heat - far more rapidly - and accordingl
Unfortunat
I see however hope in Japan's current troubles for a breakthrou
A good place to start is the Energy Catalyst invented by Andrea Rossi.
These 4.7 kW heat generating modules are in production
330 are being tested for assembly into a one Megawatt heating plant in Greece scheduled to open in October. A similar one may follow in the USA.
See Energy Catalyst at www.aesopi
This is a Black Swan, a highly improbable innovation with huge impact potential. See Black Swans on the same site for a few others. More are not ready to emerge quite yet. But, all promise to provide cheap green energy.
See Green Light on the Aesop site to understand why decentrali
The surprise is that Black Swans can make a much more rapid impact than might be anticipate
A 24/7 initiative to validate, develop and mass-produ
A few entreprene
Goodbye coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear power. This is a whole new ball game.