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Ocean Thermal ResourcesWhat are Ocean Thermal Resources? | The Need for Ocean Thermal Energy in a Sustainable Energy System | The Resource | The Future for Ocean Thermal Energy | Further Information | References |What are Ocean Thermal Resources?Ocean thermal resources are temperature differences between the warm surface seawater and cold deep ocean water. This resource can be used to generate electricity. For ocean thermal resources to be useful for an energy source to humans, the temperature difference between the surface water and water at a depth of 1000 m needs to be at least 20oC (Wikipedia, 2007).
The Need for Ocean Thermal Resources in a Sustainable Energy SystemOcean thermal resources are a potential source of power that can be tapped and used to generate electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This resource would be especially useful to small island regions and coasts that need 24 hour power and do not have an abundance of natural resources, due to their limited size. Extending existing grids across many islands is an expensive way of providing quality energy services and utilising ocean thermal resources may be one method of providing such services. In addition to power generation, ocean thermal systems can also provide fresh drinking water from seawater.
The ResourceThere are vast quantities of seawater available for use in power generation. On an average day, 60 million square kilometres (23 million square miles) of tropical seas absorb an amount of solar radiation equal in heat content to about 250 billion barrels of oil (NREL, 2007). It has been estimated that there could be as much as 107 MW of ocean thermal power available worldwide. Figure 1 shows the ocean thermal resources available throughout the world. 
Figure 1 Temperature difference between surface and sub surface (1000m) sea water (Image courtesy of NREL).
The Future for Ocean Thermal ResourcesAt the present time there is a lull in the research that pertains to exploiting ocean thermal resources. This is due to many factors, including alternative sources of energy, the immaturity of the technology and markets, the costs involved, and a general reduction in funding for research and development. However the resource remains to be utilised as a future sustainable energy source. Further InformationRISE Resources - Information regarding available renewable energy resources.RISE Technologies - An extensive collection of information regarding renewable energy technologies.RISE Applications & System Design - Renewable energy application information and system designs.RISE System Displays - Case studies and information on installed renewable energy systems & performance data.
OTEC Technology - RISE Information Portal National Renewable Energy Laboratory OTEC research National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NEHLA)
ReferencesNREL, 2007. “Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion” (Online) http://www.nrel.gov/otec/what.html (Accessed 16 February 2007). Wikipedia, 2007. “Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion” (Online) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTEC (Accessed 16 February 2007). |
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