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The sea is a warehouse of natural resources central to the
future of Haiti. The implementation of the Energinat deep
ocean water (DOW) projects will provide electricity, fresh
water, air conditioning, agriculture and aquaculture, with
little or no greenhouse gas
emissions. These projects will spawn immense economic, social and
environmental benefits for the country. Indeed, significant
benefits both economic and in terms of quality of life would
accrue from the reduced environmental impacts.
Firstly, Electricity and Fresh Water; Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process
which utilizes the temperature difference between warm
surface seawater and cold deep ocean water to drive turbines
to generate electricity and produce pure fresh water as a
bonus by-product. Using the sun for its heat source, the
OTEC process is free of the emissions associated with fossil
fuel electricity generation and, because of the vast amount
of stored energy in the warm latitudes, is potentially one
of the earth's greatest source of non-polluting power. The potential of OTEC
to curb greenhouse gases will be a long term benefit for the
well being of the local population and for the planet as a
whole. OTEC to supply clean power
and pure fresh water without fossil fuel emissions will make Haiti be
part of the drive to reduce greenhouse gases and show
solidarity with the rest of humanity. Also, the pure
fresh water generated by OTEC plants can eventually be used
for the production of
hydrogen via electrolysis to power
cars, buses, motorcycles and even boats equipped with fuel
cells, which would further reduce carbon emissions.
Secondly, DOW is very nutrient rich. In locations where
natural ocean upwellings bring up DOW to the surface, these nutrients are
processed by phytoplankton, using the energy of the sun
through photosynthesis. Phytoplankton serves as root of the
food chain for other plants and animals in the sea. Upwellings therefore
generate very high levels of ocean life compared to most
other areas of the ocean. Phytoplankton, in addition to being the basic
nutrient for most sea animals, will contribute to reducing
greenhouse gases by absorbing millions of tons of carbon
dioxide. Hence upwelling areas become very effective
atmospheric carbon sinks as well as productive fisheries.
This has led to discussion of the values of creating
artificial upwellings to reduce levels of atmospheric
carbon.
The DOW water an OTEC plant uses serves the dual purpose of
cooling the electrical generation process and reducing the
steam created in the process of pure fresh water
production. It can also serve as an artificial upwelling to
create a local phytoplankton carbon sink or reservoir as it
is discharged back into the ocean. In the future OTEC
plants will be sited in the open ocean to graze the heat of
warmer latitudes. These will be
of a order of magnitude larger and the discharges will be
the size of very large rivers, large enough to foster
extensive areas of fertilized seawater ready to serve to
expand sea-life populations and serve as carbon sinks.
Tethered close enough to ship electricity and fresh water to
shore they could serve coastal cities with these products
and enrich near-shore waters.
In the case of Haiti which would probably use on-shore
closed-cycle OTEC plants, the ‘used’ DOW water with its rich
nutrients mostly intact can be discharged along the near
shore or in a bay to enhance the production of local
phytoplankton blooms and other sea life. On the way to
these areas it can support a sizable economically and
environmentally sustainable community.
The 'necklace' of sustainable
DOW communities planned by Energinat in this website will
feature many other environmental enhancing features. These
communities will be lighted and powered by OTEC and cooled
by DOW air conditioning. Lush plantations will be
cultivated in these coastal desert locations using the cold
agriculture technology (which require little, if any,
irrigation, as the DOW in pipes buried in the soil spawn
abundant fresh water condensation) and productive
aquaculture enterprises established, all relatively emission
free. Such plantations will also contribute to reducing
greenhouse gases by removing significant quantities of
carbon dioxide.
Thirdly, Haiti relies on imported fossil fuel for all of its
transportation systems and most of its electrical
generation. The country has no petroleum resources and
little hydroelectricity potential. Furthermore,
the
exploration by international development agencies of
alternative sources of energy in Haiti, such as wind power, solar
power and power generation from organic waste, which are
intermittent producers of electricity, has found that none
appears to be immediately feasible.
Utilizing cold deep ocean
water (DOW) for air conditioning can save as much as 90% of
the energy cost compared to typical compressor type cooling
systems. Cooling with DOW is both inexpensive and
environmentally sound, as it uses chilled fresh water as a
cooling fluid with no emissions. Thus, use of the cold deep
seawater, with a fresh water loop, for cooling would
replace, at greatly reduced costs, much of the fossil fuel
energy, that would be used in urban homes, buildings and
hotels, thereby causing further significant reductions in
carbon emissions.
Finally, the maritime transportation system planned by
Energinat in this website, in contrast to the existing road
transportation system of Haiti, is another means of
conserving energy and reducing significantly consumption of
fossil fuels and emissions of atmospheric carbon. Indeed, as
described in the "Sea Transportation" section of the
website, all coastal cities, towns and villages of the
country are to be connected by a small fleet of high speed
SLICE ferryboats. The SLICE ship has a twin hull and four
submerged lower mini-hulls that act as mini-submarines,
which produce less drag. This structure allows the SLICE
hull to reduce wave-making resistance at high speeds by up
to 35% and go faster with the same horsepower, thereby
reducing fossil fuel consumption. This craft is an optimum
affordable ship that operates at high speed in rough seas
with outstanding stability and can be used as a fast
commuter ferry capable of transporting up to 400 passengers.
For all these reasons, Energinat is contemplating
establishing a carbon trade niche and applying for carbon
funding. Carbon credits can be sold on the Chicago Climate
Exchange, the European Climate Exchange and the
soon-to-be-created Montreal Carbon Exchange; also, the Dubai
Mercantile Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
will soon start trading in carbon credits. Funding can be
obtained from the World Bank, one of the main players in
carbon financing, whose carbon finance fund has more than
doubled from US$415 million in 2004 to US$915 million in
2005. The Bank believes the carbon market has the potential
to bring more than US$30 billion by 2006 in new financing
for sustainable
development to the poorest countries and the developing
world. The Bank is also finalizing details on a new Carbon
Partnership Facility (CPF) to support developing countries
in their moves towards lower carbon development paths.
As noted by World Bank Group President Robert B.
Zoellick, "developing countries will earn money and
obtain clean technology in exchange for the greenhouse gas
emission reductions they will sell to developed countries.
The World Bank estimates
developing countries will need investments in the
neighborhood of US$100 billion per year over the next 25
years to meet their energy needs through low-carbon means."
Funding can also be obtained from investment banks, such as
Citibank and Bank of America which have announced a
commitment of US$50 billion and US$20 billion,
respectively, over the next decade to environmental projects
moving away from fossil fuels.
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