The Blue Revolution: The Key to Hydrogen from OTEC

Abstract

While the Green Revolution improved grain cultivation and has been recognized as an important accomplishment of science, the Blue Revolution promises much more. All indications are that the Next Frontier is not space, but the open ocean. At 1000 meter depths in the region bounded by the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, is nutrient-rich seawater at 4°C, that can serve as a cold thermal sink for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems to produce electricity, and as fertilizer to sustain mariculture activities. If only one part in ten thousand of the daily insolation falling in this band can be converted to useful products, the food and energy needs of society would be satisfied in-to the foreseeable future. This warm portion of the ocean is characterized as a wet desert, for the net primary productivity is low at around one-tenth that of tropical rain forests. However, as certain aquatic species are known to be from two to five times more efficient than any terrestrial plant, if technology can be developed to utilize this currently unused resource base, at hand will be a vast region providing immense sustainable resource and habitat opportunities. The Blue Revolution promises this broad package of natural products, only one possible option being hydrogen fuel.