Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation Leads the Way in OTEC
As the name suggests, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, which I visited on my last trip back to the East Coast, is one of the leaders in the development of OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion), a technology with huge potential to change the world energy picture. Best of all, these folks, while they’re true business professionals and leading scientists, are acutely aware of the environmental benefits at stake here. More than one billion people live in the tropics, close to oceans that store vast amounts of energy in their warm surface waters that can be cleanly converted to electricity, or used in desalination, providing potable drinking water to large and growing populations where this commodity is scarce.
The company’s website contains a wonderful section called “Common Ground” which begins with an excerpt from the writings of Amy Maddox: “Underneath We’re All the Same.”
He prayed, it wasn’t my religion.
He ate, it wasn’t what I ate.
He spoke, it wasn’t my language.
He dressed, it wasn’t what I wore.
He took my hand, it wasn’t the color of mine.
But when he laughed, it was how I laughed.
and when he cried, it was how I cried.
That’s what I love about what all of us clean energy folks are doing here. We really are bringing about a reduction in ecologically damaging processes and doing something good for mankind and all life forms; we actually are making a difference. For once, the good guys are going to win one.
And here’s a company that’s going to become a considerable success in this space, with significant committed projects, both in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Here’s why I think this:
For one, it’s only a matter of time before someone makes a killing in OTEC. The costs have come down, the efficiencies have improved, the cost of competitive approaches is rising, and the potential exists where, at scale, OTEC can produce electricity very inexpensively — even less than coal. Exactly how far that day lies in our future is open to argument, but there is no doubt that this technology can – and will – scale. If I were a betting man, I’d simply choose the obvious leader, and reckon that they will continue to perform, as this technology matures and comes to achieve the prominence everyone expects it to achieve.
Another thing I like here is the team. In addition to the executive roster, which is impressive in its own right, listed first on the company’s board of advisors is Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 – 2011. I’ve heard Mr. Rendell speak at length on clean energy generally; in fact, he gave the keynote at last year’s Renewable Energy Finance Forum that I attended last fall in New York City. He certainly approaches the subject with a level of passion and sincerity that is sadly rare among politicians. His presence here, provides me with great deal of comfort that OTEC will not be marginalized as a component of the world’s grid-mix, and that I am, in fact, backing the right horse in the race.
Hi Craig!
Congratulations you´ve come across with such a RE route! I ask you to sign on the Linkedin´s OTEC group and also visit the web sites: http://otecinternationalllc.com, http://www.xenesys.com, http://www.otec.ws, http://www.otecpower.com, http://www.otecorporation.com, and http://www.lockheedmartin.com/how.
Summary: very capital intensive, $6/W to $9/W capex, 9-12 years payback, and $13/MWh to $28/MWh opex. Also 7/24 energy availability, and synergy with the oil and gas offshore business.
Hope you give more attention to it from now on,
My best,
Vicente Fachina
If you or someone else are/is willing to write a 5 pp + fig-s and tables piece on OTEC–past, present and future–I will guarantee its puvblication in the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Energy whereto I am contributing most of the entrieson Ocean Energy. The piece you would be sending me would be, of course, under whoseever signature you wish: Type of entry and style: see my chapters in Ocean Energy (Elsevier 1992) andor Tidal Energy (Springer 2009). Please if not interested (NO royalties) so notify me.
Good intentions and some simplified basic physics are not sufficient to make an idea viable. Few experts in thermodynamics, manufacturing, and energy conversion have looked at OTEC more closely than I have. I’ve gone through the detailed simulations of advanced thermodynamic cycles that offer more promise for OTEC than any that have been implemented. The fundamental problem is that the cost of heat transfer is inversely proportional to the temperature differential. OTEC will never come close to being competitive with any of the sustainable and scalable alternatives – wind, geothermal, solar, wave, and advanced nuclear. But perhaps even more importantly from a business perspective, renewables now must compete successfully with shale gas and LNG, which will be abundant and relatively inexpensive for at least the next decade.
I think from an environmental perspective we should be happy that OTEC will not compete, as it would probably also have enormous unintended adverse environmental consequences.
With respect to the claim that OTEC produces desalinated water as a byproduct, that too is hype so far as I can tell. Potable water (though perhaps not water for agriculture) really should become a non-issue for all coastal and most other communities in the future. The cost of desalination by reverse osmosis has dropped by a factor of 20 over the past 25 years and it will probably drop by another factor of two over the coming decade. Yes, it requires municipalities to make long-term investments, which they have become less inclined to do over the past five years, but we’re really not talking about that much money to address this issue.
Thermal distillation desalination plants have typically required about 20 kWh/m3 of freshwater produced from seawater.
Reverse osmosis (RO) plants 25 years ago were only better than distillation plants by about a factor of 2 in energy consumption, but they have been making steady progress, by a combination of pressure recovery through isobaric chambers and improved membrane technology. Typical RO plants remove over 99.8% of the salt and an even higher percentage of suspended particles.
Progress in membranes continues. Researchers are optimistic that ~99.9% salt removal with membrane lifetime greater than 100,000 hrs and energy requirement under 0.7 kWhr/m3 should soon be practical.
“The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose…” – Isaiah 35:1, KJV
Wow, it’s hard to imagine how people who have studied the heck out of this could come to such markedly different conclusions. E.g., I’ve spoken at length with Lockheed Martin’s Dr. Ted Johnson, http://www.otecorporation.com/ted_johnson.html, who certainly disagrees with you.
Perhaps we can discuss this further when I see you at the American Chemical Society conference later in the month.
Dear Mr.
Our company is officially registered in Armenia and works as a researcher in “Green Energy” area.
We have invented a way of producing electricity by means of compressed air, and I think, that it can be successfully combining to wind generators- in such days when the wind is weak or in general is absent.
Allow me, to give an interesting idea about association of wind generators with our invention. Probably it will interest and we can co-operate, because we have workings out in sphere of alternative energy sources, and we want to use these ideas…
As a result of long-term works on search of alternative energy sources, we managed to construct an engine (mechanism) – working with compressed air, which is connected to the dynamo-machine , and makes an electricity . In our deep belief, the engine (mechanism), in the near future will become the most simple and accessible energy source, because during its work it “uses” two components only, which stocks are practically inexhaustible in the nature – the water and the atmospheric air. The word “uses” is taken in inverted commas, as engines work occurs in the course of air expansion, and even, it is possible to consider, that air is rented from atmosphere -used in mechanism, and released back to atmosphere, without mechanical, chemical or physical change. Restoration of an initial stock of compressed air, occurs during work of the engine .
The engine is ecologically pure and absolutely safe because, there is no process of combustion and no harmful emissions in atmosphere. Examination, carried out for the purpose of licensing of the new engine, has shown- it is valid innovation and has enough a big future.
In the absence of financial and material means, we did not yet manage to finish the program and to create an engine prototype, that on practice to show its abilities.
It has forced us to search for partners or investors. We have decided to offer the interested companies or individuals, on the good beginnings, to take part in finishing this project and then together enjoy success consequences…. Results will be unimaginable.
By our calculations, to manufacture (build) a prototype, is required from $ 100 000 to 150 000, but the results, by our modest calculations, will be in a hundred or thousand times more. Also would like to pay attention, that at first, is necessary to do some theoretical calculations.
A little working group, consisting of several experts of a narrow profile, under favorable conditions, can make these devices during half a year and immediately begin mass production. We are assured, that the mechanism will find wide application in wind energy producing. We invite Your attention, that we not ask money, but we offer You, to put a finish together to a results of our, more than twenty year’s researches, and then together enjoy expected results. More detailed description of the mechanism, we can give in case of original interest and Your prior consent.
Thank You.
Looking forward to your reply!
Best Regards, K. Grigoryan
Director of “SANMAN” LLC.
Yerevan , Armenia
55 Kapantzyan street Tel.+37491221700
What keeps the ocean depths cold?
As far as I can see the only mechanism to keep the deep oceans cold is by sinking ocean currents bringing cold water from the Poles, as in the case of the Gulf Stream.
If we are to extract massive amounts of energy from the surface to deep ocean temperature differential then we are effectively short circuiting the natural mechanism that keeps the major ocean currents, such as the Atlantic Gulf Stream, circulating. Has anyone considered how much energy we can extract considering the fact that OTEC is effectively pumping heat into the deep ocean.
To me this scheme has similarities to ground source heat pumps which rely on the sun heating the ground in the summer which acts as a heat store for extraction in the winter. The amount of heat supplied by the sun doesn’t increase when heat pumps are installed so there has to be a net reduction in ground temperature where they are installed, which in the worst situations causes the ground to freeze and stops the pump from working. By analogy the oceans will not absorb any more solar energy to compensate for the energy extracted but the act of extracting energy is achieved by transferring heat from the surface to the deep ocean. My concern is that this could have substantial environmental impacts if implemented at large scale, the Gulf Stream is already slowing, it doesn’t need any more help.
I don’t pretend to be particularly knowledgeable in OTEC technology but has the full environmental analysis been done on this potential RE source to establish what level of energy extraction is sustainable.
I’d like to try to address some OTEC concerns. Not a scientist here, but someone who’s done a lot of personal reading on the subject. Also had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Ted Johnson myself. The concerns over environmental impacts have been addressed in the 30+ years OTEC has been studied and put to use of the coast of Hawaii’s Big Island. This is not a “shot in the dark” idea, OTEC has been studied and proven for decades. There is no need to worry over heating the ocean, the waste water is not overheated to a temp that is dangerous, and is just pumped back into the ocean at a depth of equal temp, thus there is no danger of algae growth, or adverse effects on marine life. To the commenter who says OTEC can never compete with other energy sources… well, it doesn’t need to. Nobody is arguing for OTEC to replace all energy sources, but for a coastal community, which will always pay much higher costs for shipping in fuels, the opportunity to create clean power from its own waters is a better option for them than nuclear, or even natural gas. And don’t argue against the de-sal, the world will always need more clean water, and running a de-sal plant from the power created at an OTEC plant and from the water pumped through the OTEC system is a benefit for the entire world.
Lots more news and info on OTEC happenings and ideas at The On Project.
http://www.theonproject.org/?utm_source=2greeneenergy&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=mscomment