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- A2: OTEC has failed
- A2: Not commercially viable
- A2: Can’t be commercialized
- A2: Environmental Defect
- 2ac at: OTEC counterplan
- --- at: Hydrogen
2nc KT Renewable EnergyThe counterplan fuels renewable energy development Smrka, 11 (6/24/11, Karel, information resources consultant and translator at Creamer’s Media Engineering and News, “Ocean energy can play important role in renewable resources mix”, http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/ocean-energy-can-play-important-role-in-renewable-resources-mix-2011-06-24) Renewable technologies could supply the world with more energy than it would ever need and at a very competitive cost, avers Steve Sawyer, secretary-general of the Global Wind Energy Council. He adds that ocean energy may play a very important role in the future. Ocean energy derives from the potential, kinetic, thermal and chemical energy of seawater, which can be transformed to provide electricity, thermal energy or potable water. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published recently, several technologies are possible, such as submarine turbines for tidal and ocean currents, heat exchangers for ocean thermal energy conversion, and a variety of devices to harness the energy of waves and salinity gradients. Ocean technologies, with the exception of tidal barrages, are at the demonstration and pilot project phases and many require additional research and development. Some of the technologies have variable energy output profiles with differing levels of predictability (for instance, wave, tidal range and current), while others may be capable of near-constant or even controllable operation (for instance, ocean thermal and salinity gradient). OTEC facilitates the production of limitless renewable energy Friedman, 08 (6/17/08, Becca, Harvard Political Review, “Examining the Future of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/index.php/OTEC-News/Examining-the-future-of-Ocean-Thermal-Energy-Conversion.html) Although it may seem like an environmentalist’s fantasy, experts in oceanic energy contend that the technology to provide a truly infinite source of power to the United States already exists in the form of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Despite enthusiastic projections and promising prototypes, however, a lack of governmental support and the need for risky capital investment have stalled OTEC in its research and development phase. Regardless, oceanic energy experts have high hopes. Dr. Joseph Huang, Senior Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and former leader of a Department of Energy team on oceanic energy, told the HPR, “If we can use one percent of the energy [generated by OTEC] for electricity and other things, the potential is so big. It is more than 100 to 1000 times more than the current consumption of worldwide energy. The potential is huge. There is not any other renewable energy that can compare with OTEC.”
Most of the planet is covered by the oceans, and they absorb a staggering amount of energy from the sun each day. Ocean thermal energy conversion, or OTEC, taps into this energy to produce electricity. Ocean thermal energy conversion relies on the fact that water near the surface is heated by sunlight while seawater deep in the dark is much colder. OTEC plants use warm surface water to heat ammonia or some other fluid that boils at a low temperature. The resulting gas is used to drive turbines that produce electricity. The gas is then cooled by cold water pumped up from the ocean depths and the resulting fluid is recycled to help generate power. As OTEC relies on temperature differences, it works best in the tropics, where the surface water is hottest. As long as the temperature of surface water and the deep water differs by roughly 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), an OTEC system can generate significant amounts of power. The idea for ocean thermal energy conversion was originally proposed in 1881 by French physicist Jacques-Arsene d'Arsonval. The first OTEC plant was later built in Cuba in 1930 and produced 22 kilowatts of power, enough to supply roughly two typical modern households. Although a handful of OTEC plants were created following the oil crisis of the 1970s, funding for them dwindled after the price of oil dropped, and none are now operating. Still, rising fuel costs have revived interest in these devices. In September the U.S. Department of Energy awarded its first grant for OTEC in years. Pros If less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all the solar energy trapped in the oceans could be converted into electric power , it would supply more than 20 times the total electricity the United States consumes every day, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "It could easily supply all the energy we wanted," said Terry Penney, a lab program manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. "The process is very low efficiency, just 2 or 3 or 4 percent, but all that energy's free." Unlike wind and solar power, OTEC can provide constant power that utilities can depend on any time of day. The electricity it produces could also be used to drive chemical reactions that generate fuel such as hydrogen, ammonia or methanol, Penney added. It might especially benefit island communities or military outposts that rely heavily on imported fuel. Depending on how OTEC plants are set up, they could provide copious amounts of drinkable freshwater, Penney said. Also, the deep seawater that OTEC plants suck upward is naturally loaded with nutrients from all the organic matter that sunk down from the surface, which could be used to benefit aquaculture farms. "Experiments done in Hawaii showed lobsters and salmon grew much faster with this nutrient-rich water," he explained. A2: OTEC has failedOTEC technology has improved drastically Galbraith, 09 (4/12/09, Kate, The New York Times, “Generating Energy from the Deep”, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/business/energy-environment/30thermal.html) Proponents say that since the last attempt to develop it, the technology has improved enormously. Offshore oil platforms similar to the platforms needed for the ocean energy system have become more sophisticated, for example in their ability to withstand hurricanes and to moor in deeper water. In theory the technology could, among other uses, provide substantial amounts of power to Hawaii and other warm-water sites and also be used in floating power plants making industrial products like ammonia. However, such goals are distant.
Oceanic energy advocates insist that the long-term benefits of OTEC more than justify the short-term expense. Huang said that the changes in the economic climate over the past few decades have increased OTEC’s viability. According to Huang, current economic conditions are more favorable to OTEC. At $65-70 per barrel, oil is roughly six times more expensive than in the 1980s, when initial OTEC cost projections were made. Moreover, a lower interest rate makes capital investment more attractive. OTEC plants may also generate revenue from non-energy products. Anderson described several additional revenue streams, including natural by-products such as hydrogen, ethanol, and desalinated fresh water. OTEC can also serve as a form of aquaculture. “You are effectively fertilizing the upper photic zone…The fishing around the sea solar power plants will be among the best fishing holes in the world naturally,” Anderson said. And, he added, these benefits are not limited to the United States. “Look at Africa, look at South America , look at the Far East . It is a gigantic pot of wealth for everybody… People are crying for power.” A2: Can’t be commercializedThe counterplan can be commercialized- it’s economically viable Huang, 3 (1/20/03, Joseph C., Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, “Revisit Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, Earth and Environmental Science) The OTEC system has many co-products (or by-products). In addition to electricity, other products are briefly described below: The open cycle of OTEC generates electricity and also produces drinking water after condensing the vaporized steam. The closed cycle and hybrid OTEC also produce both with some minor modifications. OTEC can be used effectively to produce hydrogen through electrolysis. Hydrogen is considered to be the clean energy carrier of the future. Liquid hydrogen can be transported as fuel with some cryogenic storage. Hydrogen can also be combined with Nitrogen to form ammonia which is much easier to transport. Methanol, which burns cleanly as a substitute for petroleum-based fuel, can be made by combining two volumes of hydrogen with one volume of carbon monoxide in the presence of a suitable catalyst (Amery and Wu 1994). The deep ocean water can also be used for air conditioning, for aquaculture fishery farming and for temperature controlled agricultural food growth. All these valuable by-products have been demonstrated in Hawaii (Daniels 2000). Above all, oceanic electricity power is a clean renewable energy that will alleviate greenhouse gas emissions, which have caused major concerns over climate change and global warming. It should also be noted that research conducted for OTEC development discovered that the rate of gas exchange in and out of seawater is more rapid than for fresh water (Zapka 1988; Oney and Krock 1989; Oney 1993) and that molecular diffusion of gases in seawater is also faster than in fresh water (Oney 1988). This is pertinent because global computer models of atmosphericocean exchange rates have been using freshwater rates for carbon-dioxide and should be updated. It is probable that with the more rapid exchange rate it will be determined that most of the ‘missing carbon’ is in the ocean. It is also likely that the additional carbon dioxide in the ocean surface layer in the tropical zone lowers the pH and is thereby a factor in the recently documented extensive global damage to coral. The current status of OTEC system technology has been advanced to a very promising and economically viable stage. The interest of the world in OTEC energy and related valuable by-products is strong. It is estimated that there are ninety-eight nations and territories with thermal resources amenable to OTEC development over the tropical regions of the world. This is a significant market potential of up to 1,500 gigawatt of new base load electric power facilities valued at more than trillion dollars under current market conditions (U.S. Congress 1978). Even if initial costs are high, minimal maintenance cost means the counterplan’s economically viable Huang, 3 (1/20/03, Joseph C., Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, “Revisit Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, Earth and Environmental Science) It should also be noted while efficiency is important; the actual viability of an OTEC system is based upon economics. Fossil fuel based systems have relatively low initial capital costs but high operations and maintenance costs and so are economically viable when fuel costs are low and interest rates are high. OTEC systems are economically viable when interest rates are low and fuel and maintenance costs of competing systems are high. Additionally, island-based OTEC systems can have revenue streams from not only power production, but also fresh water, cold seawater air conditioning, aquaculture, agriculture, ice production and hydrogen. In general terms the economics of OTEC systems, especially large-scale floating OTEC systems producing hydrogen, are similar to hydro-electric systems. Initial capital costs are high but the ‘fuel’ is free. A2: Environmental DefectNo environmental defects Huang, 3 (1/20/03, Joseph C., Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, “Revisit Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, Earth and Environmental Science) The OTEC system has great potential in helping the world face the current challenges which include: climate change global warming, world poverty and food demand, drinking water shortage, and no energy security for economic advancements. OTEC offers one of the environmentally friendly, benign power production technologies at relatively low speed and low temperature conditions with very low operation and maintenance costs. OTEC can also produce significant quantities of drinking water. The daily energy resource for OTEC power is supplied by the sun free of charge, thus saving billions in refueling costs for generating power by conventional fossil fuel plants. Oil and gas energy resources will be exhausted within several decades while the thermal energy resource from the tropical ocean has no such limitation. OTEC by-products from aquaculture, agriculture, and oceanic fishery farming can provide food supply to alleviate world food shortages. OTEC also provides national energy security. 2ac at: OTEC counterplanOTEC’s unsustainable Choi, 08 (12/12/08, Charles Q., Live Science, “The Energy Debates: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, http://www.livescience.com/3155-energy-debates-ocean-thermal-energy-conversion.html) Ocean thermal energy conversion requires a lot of money up front since the devices are massive undertakings, Penney explained. The pipes have to be wide or else the deep seawater rushes up too fast, heating up as it rubs against the sides — an intolerable consequence, since it needs to be cold. To get the cold water necessary, the pipes also have to extend down thousands of feet. Keeping the plants operating in the face of the corrosive saltwater environment and organic matter that inevitably clogs up the works could prove challenging also. "And for all that investment, you don't know if two months after you deploy it whether a tropical storm will then wipe it out," Penney said. Still, "the oil industry clearly knows how to put structures in place in the ocean and drill down to 15,000 feet. The technology is there — it could just be very costly." The environmental impact of OTEC remains murky. While nutrients in cold water from the deep could help aquaculture farms prosper, one question is whether they might also help unwanted life to grow as well. "And if you're pumping up billions of gallons from the depths, what might it change there?" Penney asked. "There's life down there too." OTEC can’t be commercialized U.S DoE, 11 (2/9/11, U.S Department of Energy, “Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, http://www.energysavers.gov/renewable_energy/ocean/index.cfm/mytopic=50010) OTEC power plants require substantial capital investment upfront. OTEC researchers believe private sector firms probably will be unwilling to make the enormous initial investment required to build large-scale plants until the price of fossil fuels increases dramatically or until national governments provide financial incentives. Another factor hindering the commercialization of OTEC is that there are only a few hundred land-based sites in the tropics where deep-ocean water is close enough to shore to make OTEC plants feasible. The counterplan’s unsustainable- environmental concerns Laberge, 11 (6/16/11, Normand, founder of Tidewalker Associates, “Creating Energy from the Tides, Wind”, http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/16/opinion/contributors/creating-energy-from-the-tides-wind/?ref=mostReadBox) I have noticed that ocean thermal energy conversion has re-emerged after being seriously considered in the 1970s and 1980s. In this case, environmental concerns seem to pose unavoidable consequences that are virtual showstoppers. So, why place a great deal of hope and investment on this resource? Five years ago, the Electric Power Research Institute published an unrealistic report on the prospects for tidal hydro-kinetic systems. It now turns out that the cost of electricity from a proposal in Cobscook Bay is expected to cost more than $1 per kilowatt-hour from a technology with some major environmental concerns and without a real potential for a favorable “learning curve” benefit for commercialization. The counterplan’s highly inefficient Galbraith, 09 (4/12/09, Kate, The New York Times, “Generating Energy from the Deep”, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/business/energy-environment/30thermal.html) Skeptics say that the technology is highly inefficient because it requires large amounts of energy to pump the cold water through the system. Patricia Tummons, who edits the newsletter Environment Hawaii, said a major question about the technology was “just how economical it can be.” Robert Varley, who is helping to lead Lockheed’s efforts, estimated that just 3.5 percent of the potential energy from the warm water pumped might actually be used. “In reality that doesn’t matter — the fuel is free,” he said. OTEC fails- environmental vulnerability Friedman, 08 (6/17/08, Becca, Harvard Political Review, “Examining the Future of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/index.php/OTEC-News/Examining-the-future-of-Ocean-Thermal-Energy-Conversion.html) Despite the sound science, a fully functioning OTEC prototype has yet to be developed. The high costs of building even a model pose the main barrier. Although piecemeal experiments have proven the effectiveness of the individual components, a large-scale plant has never been built. Luis Vega of the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research estimated in an OTEC summary presentation that a commercial-size five-megawatt OTEC plant could cost from 80 to 100 million dollars over five years. According to Terry Penney, the Technology Manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the combination of cost and risk is OTEC’s main liability. “We’ve talked to inventors and other constituents over the years, and it’s still a matter of huge capital investment and a huge risk, and there are many [alternate forms of energy] that are less risky that could produce power with the same certainty,” Penney told the HPR. Moreover, OTEC is highly vulnerable to the elements in the marine environment. Big storms or a hurricane like Katrina could completely disrupt energy production by mangling the OTEC plants. Were a country completely dependent on oceanic energy, severe weather could be debilitating. In addition, there is a risk that the salt water surrounding an OTEC plant would cause the machinery to “rust or corrode” or “fill up with seaweed or mud,” according to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory spokesman. Even environmentalists have impeded OTEC’s development. According to Penney, people do not want to see OTEC plants when they look at the ocean. When they see a disruption of the pristine marine landscape, they think pollution. The counterplan can’t attract private investors Huang, 3 (1/20/03, Joseph C., Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, “Revisit Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion”, Earth and Environmental Science) There are still many difficulties for OTEC commercialization. OTEC facility required a substantial capital outlay. The major hesitation for industries to participate is that OTEC has not yet been demonstrated at a full scale over a long period with integrated power, fresh-water, and other by-products. OTEC is feasible at relatively isolated sites; from such sites, the power and products must be transported to market. Though all essential components of an OTEC system have been demonstrated on pilot scales in Hawaii (Vega 2002) and on other research campuses, further improvements and advancement are still needed. It is very difficult to obtain any funding to support OTEC research and demonstration after the unfavorable review from the Energy Research and Development Panel of the U.S.A. President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology in 1997, based mostly on results from the early eighty’s OTEC experiments. The economic assessments of a multiproduct OTEC system need to be proven before extensive commercial applications will attract private investors. The present economic landscape of relatively low interest rates and high primary energy costs should prove favorable for the development of an OTEC system which has moderately high initial costs but very low operational and maintenance costs (the ‘fuel’ is free). A critical review and re-visit on OTEC is timely on demand. --- at: HydrogenA Hydrogen economy is impossible, it’s too dangerous Rifkin, 02 (12/2/02, Jeremy, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and author of The Hydrogen Economy, “The Hydrogen Economy”, http://www.emagazine.com/archive/171) Nonetheless, there are some who speculate that hydrogen is simply too dangerous to ever be safely used for cars. Peter Voyentzie of Danbury, Connecticut's Energy Research Corporation, which makes large stationary fuel cell power plants, is skeptical about automotive applications. "Hydrogen is a strange beast," he says. "It's the smallest molecule, and it leaks out of everything. You also can't see it burn. In a car, it has to remain stable through collisions and constant agitation. That's a lot to expect." Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 0.56 Mb. Share with your friends:
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