 
On January 22, 2010, Dr. Pereira, President and CEO of
Energinat S.A., made a presentation entitled "Utilization of
Integrated Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Systems: A
Vehicle for the Blue-Green Renaissance of Haiti" at the
invitation of the Haitian-American Association of Engineers
and Scientists (HAES). The presentation was held at the
SeaTech campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Dania
Beach. Dr. Pereira and his corporation, as discussed in this
website, has researched and developed extensive plans for
the establishment of integrated deep ocean water (DOW)
systems with an OTEC electricity producing component which
can make a significant impact on development in five
geographic sites of Haiti that lie adjacent to deep ocean
and which will contribute greatly to the rebirth of the
country, especially in the aftermath of the devastating and murderous
earthquake of January 12, 2010. Below are comments made by
some who attended the presentation.
"Thank you for a very informative
presentation. I learned a lot of things I
did not know before. Dr. Pereira, I am glad to see that the ideas and passion
of the original OTEC creator,
Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, have been
reincarnated in you."
Ted Jagusztyn, Managing Director, Cotherm of
America Corporation, Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, USA.
"I have seen many descriptive talks
about OTEC but none were as comprehensive as
yours. I saw a number of slides I have never
seen before. I especially found your photos
and details re: cold water agriculture very
compelling. Deep ocean water (DOW) holds great
promise for the rebuilding of Haiti."
Richard A. Meyer, President, Ocean
Energy Council, West Palm Beach, Florida,
USA.
Hurricanes only form over warm ocean water heated by the sun
to a temperature of at least 26.5oC
(80oF). Each of
these very large and powerful storm systems constitutes a
mass of hot chaotic energy that can be tamed by using a cold
source to convert some of it into a more coherent, ordered
energy. The greater the difference in temperature between
the hot and cold energy the more ordered energy can be
produced. This difference is referred to as the Delta T or
the Carnot efficiency and is given by the simple equation:
Delta T = T1–T2/T1, where T1 is the absolute temperature of
the hot energy and T2 is the temperature of the cold energy.
As reported by
USA Today of July 17 and
Fox News of July 20,
2009, Bill Gates and some climate scientists propose to tame
or slow
hurricanes by pumping cold, deep ocean water (DOW) in their
paths from a line of barges. The feasibility potential of this simple
patented idea again shows the promise of DOW utilization.
On June 3, 2008, Dr. Pereira, President and CEO of Energinat
S.A., presented a paper co-authored by Dr. Jack Davidson (Energinat's
Vice President) and entitled "Deep Ocean Water
Utilization and Carbon Trading: An Approach to Helping Haiti"
at the four-day Pacific Congress on Marine Science and
Technology (PACON)
international conference on Energy and Climate Change held
in Honolulu, Hawaii. Below is the comment (http://hawaiienergyoptions.blogspot.com/)
made on the presentation by Doug Carlson, a media reporter
and communications consultant in Hawaii.
<We’ll end our PACON reporting by noting the efforts of Dr.
Gerard Pereira, president and CEO of Energinat S.A., which
intends to use ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) to end
the crushing poverty of Haiti, his native land.
Pereira’s presentation noted that
deforestation affects 95 percent of Haiti;
once agriculturally rich, Haiti now has only a few areas
where agriculture can flourish.
OTEC can be the key to resurrecting Haiti’s economy, says
Pereira. Water depths of 1,000 meters are found close to
shore, and there are five good sites where OTEC plants could
be constructed to produce electricity, pure water for
drinking and irrigation and, eventually, hydrogen for the
coming hydrogen economy.
“Sustainable clean energy is the key to ending poverty”,
says Pereira, “and Haiti has an inexhaustible gold mine
of possibilities through OTEC.”>
As reported in the "Aquaculture" section of this website,
Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum have announced the
construction of a facility in Hawaii to grow marine algae
(feedstock) and produce vegetable oil for conversion into
biofuel. The facility will be built at the Natural Energy
Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) on the Kona coast of
the Big Island of Hawaii near existing commercial algae
enterprises, primarily serving the pharmaceutical and
nutrition industries. Marine microalgae have several
advantages: (1) they grow very rapidly, (2) they are rich in
vegetable oil and (3) they can be cultivated in ponds of
seawater, minimizing the use of fertile land and fresh
water. Indeed, they can double their biomass overnight and
produce 15 times more oil per hectare than alternative
sources such as rape, palm, soya or jatropha; up to 50% of
an alga's body weight is comprised of oil. Unlike other
biofuel feedstocks, such as soy or corn, they can be
harvested day after day. Furthermore, algae cultivation
facilities can be built in open-air, raceway-type ponds away
from the farm lands and forests on coastal land unsuitable
for conventional agriculture, thus minimizing the damages
caused to the ecosystems and food chain systems. For these
reasons, algae have emerged as one of the most promising
sources especially for biodiesel production. One of the
greatest advantages of biodiesel derived from algae compared
to many other alternative transportation fuels is that it
can be used in existing diesel engines without modification.
Moreover, algae biofuel contains no sulphur, is non-toxic,
is highly biodegradable and, therefore, is a much
cleaner-burning fuel than petroleum-based diesel.
Energinat proposes to grow in raceway-type ponds
high-yield, oil-rich marine microalgae specifically for
biodiesel production in the five desert locations identified
along the coast of Haiti and supplied with pumped-up,
nutrient-rich deep ocean water (DOW). The development of
such high-yield algae farms in these coastal desert regions
could potentially provide the vegetable oil for producing
enough biodiesel to replace completely the petroleum-based
diesel used in Haiti as transportation fuel. To obtain this
high production, in most cases, this would require feeding
the algae with feed from commercial sources. With
nutrient-rich DOW the algae would take much less, if any,
commercial feed. With concerns over global warming, the
algae farms will have the potential to capture and store
large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2)
released into the atmosphere from the burning of
fossil fuels. For carbon trading, algae have the potential
not only of producing diesel-type fuels with a very low CO2
footprint but of serving as a big substitute for the
present footprint of fossil fuels. Click on above
image to view a 26.5-MB video showing the rapid
growth of marine microalgae in Cyanotech raceways equipped with paddle
wheels and supplied with pumped-up deep ocean water at NELHA.
The foregoing will be part of an invited presentation at
the Twenty-First PACON 2008 International Conference on
Energy and Climate Change to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, on
June 1-5, 2008.
The most important greenhouse gas contributing to global
warming is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is mainly
emitted by burning fossil fuels.
To offset greenhouse gas emissions, a new form of commerce,
the carbon trade, was created
to facilitate the buying
and selling of the rights to emit greenhouse gases. Interest
in carbon trading at regional level is increasing in America
and Europe, because this market seems like a win-win
situation: greenhouse gases emissions may be reduced while
some countries reap economic benefit. Basically, there are
two ways of trading carbon.
The first is what is called a cap-and-trade scheme whereby
emissions are limited and can then be traded.
The second main way of trading carbon is through
credits from projects that compensate for or "offset"
emissions. For example, the Kyoto protocol's Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) allows developed countries to gain emissions
credits for financing projects based in developing
countries.
More >>
A project estimated at US$ 145 million to replace big,
energy-gulping air conditioning systems in Downtown Honolulu
buildings with a system that uses piped cold deep seawater
is one step closer to reality. The proposed system will use
a 4-mile-long, 63-inch-diameter intake pipe to collect
seawater from a depth of 500 meters or 1,600 feet to cool
buildings in the downtown district of Honolulu. After
running the cold seawater through a heat exchanger to chill
fresh water that will be piped into Downtown buildings to
provide cooling, the seawater partially depleted of its
coldness will be returned to the ocean down to a depth of
about 60 meters or 200 feet.
 
The
French president-elect Sarkozy mentions OTEC
in an
interview with
Mer
et Marine on May
14, 2007.
"La mer tropicale est également une source majeure
d'énergies renouvelables, malheureusement inexploitée
aujourd'hui. Leur développement passe par une recherche
appliquée pertinente sur l'éolien offshore, sur l'hydrolien
et surtout sur l'énergie thermique des mers (OTEC),
actuellement ignorée."
English translation: "The tropical sea is also a major
source of renewable energies, unfortunately not harvested
today. Their development requires applied research on
offshore wind energy, currents (tidal) energy and especially
ocean thermal energy (OTEC), actually ignored."  
Energinat was delighted to learn in an article published in
the 20th of March 2007 issue of Le
Matin (one of the two national daily newspapers of
Haiti) that the National Telephone Company of Haiti, Téléco,
is contemplating adopting its telecommunications project,
namely that of connecting our deep ocean water (DOW) sites
plus all coastal villages, towns and cities with a necklace
of submarine fiber optic cables that will be linked to the
world via the transatlantic cables. This project was
conceived in 1998 in close collaboration with world-class
scientists and the supplier of optical line systems, Nortel
Networks Corporation, and described in articles published on
the Internet in 1999 and 2002 and in the
Fiber
Optic
section of the Energinat Web site in which one can read, at
his leisure, a detailed description of the project.
Energinat hopes that, with this clarification relating to
the facts, Téléco, as a local carrier of communication
services, will respect the substance of its fiber optic
project.
Energinat cannot but congratulate Téléco on having been
inspired by its project and hopes the Haitian government
will soon take measures to protect intellectual property and
other property rights, a prerequisite for attracting
investments. Indeed, echoing the words of William Arthur
Ward: "Blessed is he who has learned… to follow but not
imitate".
Click here to read a
letter sent by Energinat to the editor in chief of Le
Matin which was published on page 2 of the 17th
of April 2007 issue of the newspaper.
Click
here
to read a copy of a letter addressed to His Excellency René
Préval, President of the Republic of Haiti, to ask for his
political support for the Energinat projects and to seek the
assistance of his government in our efforts to secure five
geographic sites that lie adjacent to deep seawater, namely
Mole St. Nicolas (Mole’s Cape), St. Marc’s Bay (St. Marc’s
Point), Gonave Island (West Point), the northern coast of
the Southern Peninsula (near Jérémie), and a coastal zone
east of the city of Jacmel. These sites will be linked to
all coastal cities, towns and villages by sea transportation
and submarine fiber optic telecommunications.
 Dr.
Pereira, the President and CEO of Energinat S.A., was
invited by Mr. Richard Bailey, President and CEO of Tahiti
Beachcomber S.A. and owner of several luxury resorts in
French Polynesia, to visit the
Intercontinental
Resort and Thalasso Spa Bora Bora,
a five star hotel which opened on the French Polynesian
island of Bora Bora in May 2006 and which is the first hotel
in the world to use an air conditioning system with deep
ocean water designed by Makai Ocean Engineering Inc. This system pumps cold deep seawater from a
depth of 900 meters or 3,000 feet to cool down 80 top of the
top, luxurious over-water bungalows, plus restaurants,
kitchens, a thalasso spa and even staff housing, using
noiseless pumps and titanium heat exchangers. Upon exiting
the heat exchangers,
 the
seawater partially depleted of its coldness is returned to
the sea down to a depth of 45 meters or 150 feet. Seawater
Air Conditioning (SWAC) represents an energy saving equal to
90% of the electricity that would be used by the hotel with
the conventional air conditioning systems. A similar system
will be used to air condition a lavish five star eco-hotel,
called
The Brando, slated to
open in 2008 on the French Polynesian atoll of Tetiaroa
(just 26 miles north of Tahiti), owned by the late Marlon
Brando.
 During
his stay at the Bora Bora resort, which was already
experiencing an average occupancy rate of more than 87%, Dr. Pereira had the
pleasure of receiving a warm and a cold thalasso treatment
at the Deep Ocean Thalasso Spa located in the heart of the
resort and benefiting from the exceptional properties of the
extraordinarily pure and mineral-rich deep ocean water. This
thalasso spa is the first one to be built in the southern
hemisphere and is the only establishment in the world using
the curative benefits of seawater drawn from depths of over
800 meters.
This Bora Bora resort is the first true 21st century
eco-resort. It represents a significant step forward in
environmentally responsible tourism and provides concrete
evidence that sustainable development can also save money,
reduce maintenance and even yield handsome returns.
-
"I am a Saskatchewan farmer and have been to Haiti.
Your project makes more sense than a lot of other
solutions I have heard to revitalize Haiti."
Ken
Wallis, D'Arcy, Saskatchewan, Canada.
-
“Best of luck to Energinat. We need to stop
portraying Haiti as the land of the poor but rather as
the land of opportunity. You make me proud. Isn’t that
what we need in Haiti, brains that make things happen?
Great work and let’s hope to see a new Haiti in 10
years.” Jean-Patrick Lucien (Haitian-born
Massachusetts engineer, founder of EDEM Foundation)
-
"Congratulations on
this initiative. This is another potential,
environmentally friendly solution to Haiti's energy
crisis, which does not rely on the importation of energy
from other countries, while having the added benefits of
helping to solve the water and food production
problems... I would like to be involved in this project
and contribute to its success."
Max Everett Massac, P.E.
(Licensed Mechanical Engineer, Miami, Florida)
-
“I have been in Haiti… I am an Acadien… or Cajun in
Louisiana… or sometimes marron… There is so much to do.
Your salt project could put hundreds of proud people to
work. Great web site! If I can help, feel free!!!”
J.E. Denis Robichaud (President, GEDEI Inc.,
Administrateur du Forum Francophone des Affaires)
-
“Great web site! Maybe I can give you a hand. Haiti
is in terrible need of revolutionary approaches to
leapfrog ahead of its troubles.” Ambassador Roger
Noriega (U.S. Permanent Representative to the
Organization of American States from 2001 to 2003, U.S.
State Department's Assistant Secretary of State for
Latin America and the Caribbean from 2003 to 2005)
-
“The concept of the DOW system presented in your
project appears excellent and well adapted to the
current reality of Haiti. Sustainable and clean energy
would indeed be a saviour. I will continue to visit your
great site.” Jean E. Saint-Vil (Networks of Centres
of Excellence, Ottawa, Canada)
-
“I draw comfort in knowing that you have been
thinking about OTEC for Haiti… My vision, which runs
along the same line as yours, is of a techno-organic
culture, with eco-villages disseminated throughout the
island, inhabited by folks that have a community of
interest and that share a particular world view… The
fiber optic layout certainly brings with it the
Internet. In a country such as Haiti, that technology
alone can change everything.” Henry Hogarth (Civil
Action Coordinator in a Civil Society project funded by
USAID as part of its Democracy Enhancement Portfolio)
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