Programmatic environmental impact assessment for operational OTEC platforms: a progress report

Conference · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1979

OSTI ID:5908851

Sands, M D

As the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Program advances toward commercialization, the potential environmental impacts of large-scale development must be assessed. Design modifications that will mitigate or reduce potentially adverse effects must be identified and incorporated into the design configurations. The key issues associated with the deployment and operation of demonstration- and commercial-size plants are under evaluation. Presently, three platforms design configurations are being considered: (1) a 10 to 20 MW/sub e/ land-based plant; (2) an industrial plant-ship operation; and (3) a 20 to 400 MW/sub e/ moored plant. In the program, the land-based plants are to be located on tropical or subtropical islands, while the plant-ships would graze in the open ocean, producing ammonia, hydrogen, or other energy-intensive products. The moored platform will transmit electricity through a cable to a shore-based distribution point. In this assessment, both individual platforms and a mix of the above are being considered for potential siting in the thermal resource regions. The key issues considered may be generically grouped into three categories: (1) social, economic and institutional impacts; (2) environmental impacts; and (3) health and safety on and adjacent to the platforms. While this program is not complete, the major findings to date are presented.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5908851
• Report Number(s): LBL-9183; CONF-790941-1
• Resource Relation: Conference: MTS Oceans conference, San Diego, CA, USA, Sep 1979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
OCEAN THERMAL POWER PLANTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ECONOMICS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
SAFETY
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
CONVERSION
ENERGY CONVERSION
POWER PLANTS
SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
140800* - Solar Energy- Ocean Energy Systems
140400 - Solar Energy- Environmental Aspects