Ocean Thermal Energy Ammonia Production and Heat Transport to Reverse Global Warming(PPT)

摘要

OTECisatruetripleremedyforglobalwarming.Itistheonlytechnologythatactstodirectlyreducethetemperatureoftheocean(itwasestimatedonedegreeFahrenheitreductioneverytwentyyearsfor10,000250MWeplantsin1977),eliminatescarbonemissions,andincreasescarbondioxideabsorption(coolerwaterabsorbsmoreCO2)atthesametime.Itgeneratesfuelthatisportableandefficient,andelectricityforcoastalareaswhenmooredoffshore.Itcreatesjobs,perhapsmillionsofthem,ifitbecomestheseriouscontenderforafuturemulti-trillion-dollarenergyeconomy.Theprocessesforoceansurfacewarmingarehighlynonlinearandinvolvemasstransport,chemicalabsorption,radiativeheating,conduction,evaporativecooling,re-radiationtotheatmosphereandultimatelytospace,andlocalizedeffectsofoceancurrentsin3D.98%oftheearth'sCO2istrappedintheocean,mostlybelow500mdepthwithinthethermoclineandinsubstanceslyingontheoceanfloor.Thesizeoftheheatsinkrepresentedbythe"coldoceanmass"inthetropicswouldbemorethan300timesorlargerresourcethanthatoftheOTECpowergenerationoverayearsothatitsimpactbecomesathirdorderefect.Thisapproachisenabledbythewideacceptanceanduseofanhydrousammoniatoreplacevirtuallyallfossilfuels.Ammoniaisthebestpossiblemeanstotransporthydrogentoallendusers,andcontainstwotothreetimesasmuchenergyperunitvolumethanhydrogenitself.ThispaperpresentstheconcepttyingtogetherthekeyelementsofOTECdesign,engineeringcostestimates,deploymentstrategies,expectedenvironmentalandsocietaladvantages,economics,anditsimpactuponsustainabilityandcontinuationoftheearth'secosystem.