OTEC Facilities
Co-located and Spinoff Business
In a report tabled by the Phillipine Congressional Commission on Science & Technology and Engineering, researcher Daniel MacNamara comments on the numerous opportunities for co-located and spinoff businesses that may be generated from a nearby ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) facility.
Of course, the most commonly cited growth opportunities focus on desalinated water production, hydrogen generation & storage, and seawater air conditioning applications. However, these actually are components of the OTEC process, rather than business opportunities that could evolve as a consequence of building an OTEC plant in key locations of the tropical ocean.
At the core of co-located business development for OTEC facilities is the use of waste from the plant. The term, “waste,” in itself, is grossly inappropriate for the OTEC technology, since that waste consists of cold and warm seawater (the same ingredients that went into the production process) and fresh water. So, OTEC waste is no waste at all, and could just as easily be disposed of without any environmental concern.
Such operations as growing algae, fish, vegetables & fruit were common at one pilot project. Aside from aquaculture, nearby land was being irrigated for gardening and small plot farming. Each OTEC plant offers other opportunities on site, including development of fish farms, and “mining” of the seawater effluent for valuable chemicals and water-borne minerals.
The cold water that is discharged form OTEC plants is a valuable asset, that can be used to feed fish and other aquafarm “livestock” such as lobster, abalone, crab, a variety of fish and shrimp. It is nutrient rich, and could attract wild harvestable sea life, or be used as a liquid fertilizer on shore or in intensely grown on-site plots.
Cold water from deep in the ocean is largely free from pathogens and pollutants, yet rich in harvestable nitrates & phosphates that can be extracted.
Although seaweed and algae may grow naturally in uncontrolled discharge water (producing oxygen and taking in CO2), the controlled growth of seaweeds for betacarotene offers a valuable resource for the pharmaceutical industry. A second option is to grow Ogo seaweed as a nutritious human food source. Alternatively, algae could be grown and harvested for use in production of biodiesel. Considered one of the best raw materials for biodiesel, algae grown in these tropical conditions multiplies rapidly and soaks up polluting CO2 while generating oxygen during its lifecycle.
While many of us look at tropical climates as being able to grow any crop, many temperate crops are unsuited for warm-weather growth (root crops, canola, etc). By running cool water tubes under the soil, tropical environments may be able to support these temperate-climate crops for local use.
With the dozens of co-located & spinoff applications accompanying OTEC systems, any evaluation of the cost versus benefit of such projects must consider the immense opportunity for other developments that would result from construction of what is, arguably, a very expensive concept. However, after factoring in return per investment dollar, OTEC holds the potential to be one of the most lucrative & beneficial alternative, green energy concepts for the immediate future.
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