The Anonymous Widower

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

When we think about green energy with a small carbon footprint, some ideas keep turning up.  One is ocean thermal energy conversion.

It is a very simple idea in that it exploits the temperature difference between the surface of the sea and the depths.  It needs deep water fairly close to land and the temperature difference is only large enough in the tropics.  But as the article shows, there are a large number of places, where this method might well be employed in the future.

Is it feasible?

Perhaps not now! But as with many technologies there will be a reduction in costs and new materials and methods in the next few years.

One proposal for using OTEC is to use it to smelt aluminium from bauxite in places like Surinam.  The aluminium would then be transported to places in need of power and burnt in a power station.  This would produce aluminium oxide or bauxite, which would then be transported back to the smelter.  Obviously, if smelters are powered by green energy such as hydro-electric, then they could be elsewhere.

I am a betting man and I reckon that we’ve not seen the last of OTEC.

December 21, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | World | Energy, Global Warming/Zero-Carbon