WILL OTEC BE ABLE TO PREVENT HURRICANES?

Day 93 of the Lower Puna Eruption, and there are no signs of an end.

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Jim Baird sent me his co-authored paper on Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) to be published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews in November:

Negative-CO2-emissions ocean thermal energy conversion

Author links open overlay panelGreg H.Raua, Jim R.Bairdb

Highlights

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OTEC can generate electricity while cooling the surface ocean/atmosphere.

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Vertically transporting fluids other than seawater increases OTEC efficiency.

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Conversion of OTEC electricity to H2 via electrolysis allows energy transport onshore.

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Modifying electrolysis to consume CO2 produces negative-CO2-emissions OTEC, NEOTEC.

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CO2 is converted to ocean alkalinity for carbon storage and for acidity mitigation.

Read the abstract.

I've long been speculating that the OTEC process would both remediate global warming and someday even eliminate hurricanes from forming.  However, both environmental enhancement possibilities have long largely remained unsubstantiated, so to have a carefully reviewed paper published showing the reduction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is, indeed, gratifying.  Plus, that first bullet at the top did say the ocean surface would be cooled, and hurricanes do not form in the winter.

I might add that the co-author, Greg Rau (right), and I have been communicating for years in a network with Gary Noland (left) on this subject.  The two, with Baird, presented in 2016 to the American Geophysical Union:

NEOTEC: Negative-CO2-Emissions Marine Energy With Direct Mitigation of Global Warming, Sea-Level Rise and Ocean Acidification.

They also brought up opportunities to reduce sea-level rise and ocean acidification as additional benefits.   Gary worked on the Lockheed OTEC program and Greg is with the Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz.

If you're brand new to this technology and don't know what is OTEC, click on my HuffPo treating this subject.  This is what the technology is all about.  Here, a short history.  To the left in the above photo is the open cycle OTEC facility of the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research.


The longer term value of OTEC is linked to the cornucopia of potential sustainable products to come from the process, plus the potential for remediating climate change and preventing the formation of hurricanes.  So, next, on to the Blue Revolution, which I'll report on next week.

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Speaking of hurricanes, Hector will strengthen into a Category 3 and is now projected to more closely approach Hawaii:

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