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Taiwan officially investigates OTEC
The Taiwan Journal published by the Taiwan government says in an article [cached] that in January the Council for Economic Planning and Development set up a task force promoting R&D in deep-sea water industries, including OTEC. Taitung County is promoting establishing a deep-sea water science park, like NELHA, on Hawaii
posted by bjelkeman at 14:17

Jamaica's chief energy planner claims OTEC "uneconomical"
The Jamaica Observer reports on Al Binger's efforts [cached] to convince the Jamaican government to go with OTEC. Jamaica's chief energy planner Dr Raymond Wright, asked for a comment, said the OTEC system was evaluated in 1980s and found to be uneconomical. "We have not been able to get prices to be competitive," Wright, the group managing director of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), told the Observer. According to the Observer: In 2002, Wright had written on the subject in an article titled "Will Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion fulfill its promise?" pointing out then that OTEC had to thrive alongside competitive new technologies such as fuel cells. And Wright also said that commercial OTEC plants would have some negative effects on the marine environment as construction facilities may disrupt the seabed, temporarily destroying marine ecosystem.


Comment: It is quite clear that any OTEC system will overall have substantially less impact on the environment than the use of fossil fuels, which Raymond Wright rather keep. OTEC technology has also improved markedly in the last twenty years, something which Dr. Wright want us to ignore. Lastly it can be said that OTEC does not compete with technology such as fuel cells, as fuel cells require a supply of energy, something which OTEC can provide. Fuel cells can't provide fuel, they consume fuel.
posted by bjelkeman at 14:53

OTEC instead of LPG in Jamaica, says Al Binger
The Jamaica Gleaner reports that Professor Al Binger of the University of the West Indies is casting doubt over the viability of a LPG gas terminal which is being built on Jamaica. The director of the University of the West Indies Centre for Environment and Development (UWICED) is suggesting that the Government should instead explore another option, the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Professor Binger told The Gleaner: "I think LNG is swapping monkey for black dog. Why put all that money in a resource that is not yours when you have a resource that is yours that you can make the same investment in?" Read the full story here [cached].
posted by bjelkeman at 07:33

ECRIN tells the French government about OTEC
J. Ruer from SAIPEM tells us that “ECRIN notified to the French House of the Commons the existence of OTEC technology and the abundance of this energy source in the French overseas territories.” The presentation was part of a session of the parliamentary office for the evaluation of the scientific and technological choices.
_{Thanks to David Levrat for translation and coordination of this news item.}
posted by bjelkeman at 10:51

OTEC and methanol vehicles
William Avery, the lead author of Renewable Energy from them Ocean, A guide to OTEC published an article on IOA's web site about The influence of recent low interest rates on the estimated prices of OTEC fuels [cached]. This was written last year, but only now came to our attention.

Introduction: An important goal of OTEC commercial development is to produce vehicle fuels that can be a cost-effective, sustainable alternative to gasoline. If OTEC methanol was available now in commercial quantities it could replace gasoline made from crude oil, particularly that imported from the Persian Gulf region.
posted by bjelkeman at 10:22

District Cooling gains momentum in Europe
There is a steadily growing demand for air conditioning or comfort cooling in all of Europe, mainly in commercial and institutional buildings. Most cooling is based on electricity to run individual appliances. With Kyoto requirements and global warming to contend with, a substantial increase in use of electricity for cooling is not very helpful. Michel Gauthier tells us about District Cooling from cold seawater, a presentation held at the European Energy Foundation.
Thanks to David Levrat for coordinating this news item.

posted by bjelkeman at 10:20