Diversified Renewables -- Florida Looks to Mine Ocean Energy

08.26.09Howard Hanson, Ph.D, Professor of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University

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Because energy use in the United States is so dominated by fossil fuel combustion -- the Department of Energy estimates that dominance at about 85 percent -- it is not an overstatement to suggest that the country has nearly all of its energy eggs in a single basket. The fact that a significant portion of that basket, the half or so holding the petroleum, is woven together with a fragile political alliance involving the volatile Middle Eastern oil producers makes the metaphor all the more compelling.

Alternatives, however, are problematic, especially in light of the numbers involved. It goes without saying that coming up with 2,800 gigawatts or so of power to replace the fossil fuels we burn is not a trivial proposition. If a single source analogous to fossil fuels is sought, the problem is daunting indeed.

This validates the sensibility of the current research and development policy that encourages development of as many renewable energy sources as can be made economically viable.

The state of Florida has recognized this need for a diversified energy portfolio with investment in a variety of new renewable technologies. All of them, in one way or another, are related to forms of energy that are easily traced to the sun. Photovoltaic conversion, direct solar heating, biofuels development and even wind generation are all being investigated under the auspices of the Florida Energy Systems Consortium, a research group comprising the state universities.

At Florida Atlantic University, the Center for Ocean Energy Technology is exploring one of the more novel ideas for renewable energy, capturing the power of the gulfstream. The center is taking a systematic approach. It is assessing the resource -- how much power is available out there -- with oceanic instrumentation designed to augment decades of oceanographic observations in the Florida Straits, and it is developing a test-bed facility for power system designers and manufacturers to use in real-world field trials.

Further, it is taking an upfront, careful look at potential environmental impacts. These range from the effect of power extraction on the resource itself to impacts on the physical and biological characteristics of the ocean bottom to interactions with marine life in the water column. By providing instrumentation to investigate these and other environmental questions, the center can use small, prototype test systems as experiments involving minimal impact to gather data that can be scaled up to larger, commercial-scale systems.

The center's goal is to see such commercial-scale systems in the water, generating power, providing a significant part of a diversified energy portfolio for Florida's future. The test-bed facility will expedite testing and evaluation of new systems, eliminating the need for significant private-sector investment in the process, and open the door to a new world of economic opportunity for ocean energy providers.

More generally, it will also provide a foundation for U.S. industry to be competitive globally in the potential international market. The gulfstream, after all, is but one current in the ocean. And that, perhaps, is the real payoff: a global diversified renewables portfolio.

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EnergyBiz magazine is the thought-leading, award-winning publication of the emerging power industry. This article originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue.

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Reader's Comments

Date	Comment
Harry Valentine 8.26.09	I'm concerned about the combination of the change of channel cross-section and water depth off the coast of Florida whenit comes to installing hydrokinetic turbines in that region. There is a ridge of less than 150-ft depth at the Grenadines (St Vincent to Grenada) where it is possible to install such turbines . . . the water depth (equivalent channel cross section) reduces by a factor of 40 to 1 over a distance of under 300-miles and can accelerate the Gulf Stream in that region to high enough velocity to generate power from hydrokinetic turbines. The channel cross section changes by a factor of over 100 to 1 as the Southern Current approaches the shallow waters around King Island in the Bass Strait off Southern Australia and bya factor over 70 to 1 as it approaches the shallow waters of Foveaux Strait off southern New Zealand. There may be a way of installing some kind of barrier along sections of the Florida Keys to suficiently accelerate a section of the Gulf Stream to allow for viable operation of hydrokinetic turbines in at region.
James Carson 8.26.09	How long is it going to take Europeans to notice that harvesting "hydrokinetic" energy might slow down the Gulf Stream, potentially changing their climate for the colder?
Harry Valentine 8.26.09	James, too many hydrokinetic turbines may slow some ocean currents, however, water has tremendous seasonal thermal storage capacity. The North Pacific Current travels slowly eastward toward Seattle and Vancouver (Canada). An experiment at Washington State University illustrated that even if the North Pacific Current and the Gulf Stream stopped, the northern Pacific and north Atlantic would still be heated by the summer sun . . . prevailing winds would still carry warmed air from the ocean over toward Seattle/Vancouver and the British Isles and Western Europe. Expected change in temperature would be minimal.
Don Hirschberg 9.1.09	Harry responded to James: “ …even if …the Gulf Stream stopped, the north Atlantic would still be heated by the summer sun . . . prevailing winds would still carry warmed air from the ocean over toward … the British Isles and Western Europe. Expected change in temperature would be minimal.” Ice-covered Greenland, most of Scandinavia (less Denmark) and the bulk of Alaska all lie north of the 60th parallel. There are almost no people in vast Greenland and Fairbanks has extreme cold weather and needs to import nearly all its food. Korea, much farther south (bisected by the 38th parallel) can have extreme cold, and The Riviera lies north of Chicago. All this has always been explained by the Gulf Stream, not by “the summer sun.”