Economic contribution of 'artificial upwelling' mariculture to sea-thermal power generation

Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1976 · Aware; (United States)

OSTI ID:7345819

Roels, O A

Deep-sea water has two valuable properties: it is uniformly cold and, compared to surface water, it is rich in nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate which are necessary for plant growth. In tropical and subtropical areas, the temperature difference between the warm surface water and the cold deep water can be used for sea-thermal power generation or other cooling applications such as air-conditioning, ice-making, desalination, and cooling of refineries, power plants, etc. Once the deep water is brought to the surface, utilization of both the cold temperature and the nutrient content is likely to be more advantageous than the use of only one of them. Claude demonstrated the technical feasibility of sea-thermal power generation in Cuba in 1930. The technical feasibility of artificial upwelling mariculture in the St. Croix installation has been demonstrated. Results to date demonstrate that the gross sales value of the potential mariculture yield from a given volume of deep-sea water is many times that of the sales value of the power which can be generated by the Claude process from the same volume of deep water. Utilizing both the nutrient content and the cold temperature of the deep water may therefore make sea-thermal power generation economically feasible.

• Research Organization: City Coll., New York
• DOE Contract Number: E(11-1)-2581
• OSTI ID: 7345819
• Journal Information: Aware; (United States), Vol. 70
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
14 SOLAR ENERGY
AQUACULTURE
ECONOMICS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CRUSTACEANS
GROWTH
OCEAN THERMAL POWER PLANTS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
ANIMAL GROWTH
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
FERTILIZERS
MARKET
PLANKTON
PLANT GROWTH
PLANTS
POWER GENERATION
SEAWATER
SURFACE WATERS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WATER RESOURCES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
BIOMASS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INVERTEBRATES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POWER PLANTS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
WATER
299001* - Energy Planning & Policy- Solar- (1989-)
200106 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Economics
520500 - Environment
Aquatic- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)
140800 - Solar Energy- Ocean Energy Systems