FINANCING THE ULTIMATE BLUE REVOLUTION

Much of my professional life dealt with the search for funds to support the efforts of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii and the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research.  I would guess that I had a hand in perhaps securing $100 million for expenditure in Hawaii.

At the UH, HNEI became the National Science Foundation Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center, the Department of Energy's Hydrogen Research and Educational Center and the Department of Interior's Marine Minerals Technology Center.  At PICHTR, our two mega projects dealt with a biomass to methanol plant on Maui and successfully designing, building and testing an open cycle OTEC facility at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, detailed in postings this past week.

Here is a quote from PICHTR/HNEI's Luis Vega, one of the world authorities on this subject:

It is estimated that, in an annual basis, the amount solar energy absorbed by the oceans is equivalent to at least 4000 times the amount presently consumed by humans. For an OTEC efficiency of 3 percent, in converting ocean thermal energy to electricity, we would need less than 1 percent of this renewable energy to satisfy all of our desires for energy.  

Vega further reported on PICHTR's open cycle OTEC facility:

The experimental plant was successfully operated for six years (1993-1998). The highest production rates achieved were 255 kWe (gross) with a corresponding net power of 103 kW and 0.4 l s-1 of desalinated water. These are world records for OTEC .

Just to appreciate the enormity of the energy potential represented by ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), here is a map of where this renewable option can be tapped (between the north and south 20 degree latitudes):

But how to get the Blue Revolution to move forward from its current Blue Evolution stage of growth?  It took minor miracles to get the power source, OTEC, advanced from concept to reality.  Another one will be required for the Pacific Ocean International Station.  I'm so committed that I donated my penthouse apartment to the University of Hawaii to create a Blue Revolution program on campus and serve as seed and cost-matching to stimulate the long-term effort.

I still have an office on the Manoa Campus, and will continue my efforts into the Year 2020, which will mark half a century of my presence at the University of Hawaii.  By then, I have hopes that sufficient momentum will have been created.

All it will take is one billionaire to fund the PIOS stage.  According to Forbes, last year there were 2,208 billionaires.  John D. Rockefeller (left) became the first in 1916.  Depending on what you use as the relative value over time, $1 billion then would be worth anywhere from $16.2 billion to $409 billion today, the latter figure using inflation adjustments.

Wikipedia says that in 2018 there were just over 14 million millionaires in the world.  That surprises me as rather low, for I would have guessed that almost half of the residents at 15 Craigside were once millionaires, just on real estate value and stock ownership.  However, apparently the official definition excludes property or retirement plans.  On this basis, 6% of Americans are millionaires.

A couple of days ago, Investopedia speculated on who would become the first trillionaire.  They eliminated Warren Buffet because he is too old, and Bill Gates because he would need to find another Microsoft, but is now focused on charity.  Potential candidates include Mark Zuckerberg, who is only 26 and worth $7 billion, and if he finds a way to grow his wealth at 10%/year, would become a trillionaire at the age of 60.  

They add Craig Venter of genomic fame, if he finds a cure for cancer or synthetic biology for new biofuels.  But he is already 72.  Jeff Bezos?  Maybe by 2042.  But that speculation was made in 2017 before he got into marital difficulties.  Also, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google are mentioned, plus Jack Ma and Ma Huateng of China.

I purposefully pinpoint trillionaires because they will be the keys to the Ultimate Blue Revolution.  If global climate warming turns out to be truly serious, the United Nations will be useless as the spearhead.  Countries will mistrust each other.  Industry will be stymied by their conservative boards.  A credible visionary who is also a trillionaire will have the best chance of orchestrating a partnership of his peers with giant corporations and nations to take the necessary steps.  I've long felt that a benevolent dictatorship was the ideal form of government.  This trillionaire will need to be just that.  The $150 billion cost of the Pacific Ocean International Exposition (POI Expo) by 2050 as the initial endeavor will triumph by showing that global warming remediation can be engendered, and at a profit.  

These mega ocean platforms will mushroom if POI Expo, staged as the 2050 World's Fair, succeeds.  But can you build a thousand of them in a short period?  As significant as global heating might be, the effect will just get worse over the next century.  There probably won't be a tipping point where recovery becomes impossible.  This short period could well become a century, providing a sufficient period for the Ultimate Blue Revolution to unfold as the dominant solution to save Planet Earth and Humanity.  Of course it's best to prevent the misery, but the reality of people and politics is such that steps are only taken when it is almost too late.

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