SECOND ANNUAL DINNER

The Board, Advisors and Friends of Blue Revolution Hawaii had our annual dinner at Ocean House.

The gathering was chaired by Leighton Chong, with Guy Toyama providing a powerpoint presentation on the Pacific International Ocean Station.  Above, Fuj Matsuda, Ken Sanders, Michael Asato, Joe Van Ryzin, John Farias, Benny Ron, Guy Toyama, Bill Spencer, Pat Takahashi and Leighton Chong.  A two year developmental plan was discussed.  Otherwise we had a great time with fine food and fabulous wines.

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OCEAN ENERGY WORKSHOP

Two board members of Blue Revolution Hawaii played important roles in the 11-12 September 2011 Ocean Energy Workshop of the Hawaii-Okinawa Clean Energy Task Force.  Guy Toyama organized the event at the Gateway Center of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) at Keohole Point on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Patrick Takahashi assisted as a facilitator.

The gathering, had a larger mission, but very early in the discussion discarded wavepower and  other marine options to focus on ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC).   For the first time, ever, all the key principles of OTEC convened and said all the right things to assure for the future of this technology.

The event opened with a Hawaiian prayer (pule) and welcomes by County of Hawaii Mayor William Kenoi and Kumejima Town Mayor Choukou Taira.  We learned a new word, Haisai, which is aloha in Okinawan.  Most of the locals dressed in Aloha shirts, while many from Okinawa wore their equivalent, Kariyushi wear.

Below, Okinawa Prefectural Maritime Deep Ocean Water Research Station:

Reaffirmations of the Hawaii-Okinawa clean energy cooperation objectives were provided by Desikan Bharathan from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Andrea Gill for the Governor of Hawaii and Takahiro Yabe from the New Energy Development Organization of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.  Various technical presentations were made by Will Rolston (County of Hawaii), Yasuyuki Ikegami (Saga University), Tomoyuki Yoza (Kumejima Town), Shin Okamura (Xenesys), Gary Barbour ("new" executive director of NELHA) and Jan War (NELHA).  Panels from Japan (IHI, Kobe Steel, Yokohawa Electric Corporation, Saga University and Xenesys) and the USA (Makai Ocean Engineering, Lockheed Martin, NREL and the University of Hawaii) detailed the promise of OTEC.  Representatives from Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation and OTEC International were prominent in the discussions. 

The sister city signing ceremony was particularly memorable, with Mayors Kenoi and Taira:

The list of participants was impressive, but I won't mention who they were for fear of leaving someone out.  Maybe you'll see them somewhere in the signing ceremony:

First, some history, for off the coast of NELHA was where the first net positive experiment was conducted by Lockheed on Mini-OTEC in 1979:

Then 15 years later at NELHA came the 210 kW open cycle OTEC facility of the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research:

Today, Pat and Guy posing at the Makai Ocean Engineering OTEC test tower:

Installed seven years ago was a 55 inch pipe, designed for a 1 MW OTEC power plant, with Noriko standing next to a cross section:

These two pieces of hardware are mentioned because the conferees came to a conclusion that the earliest priority is to install a turbogenerator and new pumping at the test tower so that up to 100 kW of OTEC electricity can be generated.  This enhancement could cost $5 million, and, most importantly, show the world that ocean thermal energy conversion is, indeed, producing net power.  

In parallel, planning should proceed to utilize the waters from the 55 inch cold and surface pipes to generate half to one megawatt of electricity.  It is possible that more than one OTEC system can be accommodated to operate in parallel to assure for success and provide a test bed where OTEC components can be tested.

Also discussed was the next stage, a 5-10 MW floating prototype, which could well break even economically.  Finally, part of the visioning included a 100 MW commercial OTEC plantship.  It is becoming more and more clear that "The Blue Revolution is the Optimal Solution for Japan."  A posting suggesting a similar opportunity can be found at "Blue Revolution for Germany."

Finally, finally, OTEC appears to be making progress.  We hope to see two operating OTEC systems at NELHA within a couple of years and a third net-positive OTEC facility at Kumejima (below) in this same time frame.

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BIO JET FUEL FROM MACROALGAL PLANTATIONS

Simple Solutions for Planet Earth and Humanity was almost called Simple Solutions for Planet Water and Humanity because our globe from space is blue, and the oceans are largely ignored, except to protect it.  The Fukushima tsunami/tsunami/nuclear disaster has spurred a re-look at the seas around us for sustainable commodities.  


However, there remains a conservation ethic regarding the marine environment, as underscored in a publication released today by the International Program on the State of the Ocean:

'Shocking' Oceans Report Warns Of Impending Mass Extinction

The preliminary report from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) is the result of the first-ever interdisciplinary international workshop examining the combined impact of all of the stressors currently affecting the oceans, including pollution, warming, acidification, overfishing and hypoxia.

The participants were mostly preservationists, so caution can be expected.  Yet, if you read the details, the Blue Revolution actually can be applied to ameliorate those identified impacts.    This attitude of "let us protect the ocean" is indoctrinated through the K-12 levels, because science teachers tend to be anti-development.  This mentality prevails through college and graduate school for most of the courses are taught by ocean scientists, and their interest is to measure, monitor and model, not to commercialize.

However, the oceans now are being re-considered for renewable resources, and jet fuel, in particular has become a priority for the U.S. Department of Defense.  Thus, a report from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on:

     Microalgae as a Biomass Feedstock

is worthy of close scrutiny, although no mention was made of any link of macroalgae to the effluents from Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).

To summarize:

  1.  The United States has the largest Exclusive Economic Zone (the 200 nautical mile region surrounding land--about 30,000,000 square miles, of which 85% is in the Pacific--in comparison, the land area of the USA is close to 25,000,000 square miles).   Thus, the U.S. has more seawater than land ownership.  France is #2, followed by Australia, Russia, UK, New Zealand, Indonesia, Canada, Japan and Chile.  Thus, all these countries (UK through Commonwealth countries) touch the Pacific. 

     2.  To quote from the above PNNL publication:

The photosynthetic efficiency of aquatic biomass with an average 6 to 8% is much higher than the average photosynthetic efficiency of 1.8 to 2.2% for terrestrial biomass (Aresta et al.,2005a).

Thus, a rough average is that aquatic biomass is three times more efficient in converting sunlight into mass than land crops, where there is no additional cost for irrigation, plus the fertilizer is free if the effluent from an OTEC facility is used.  Note that where there is macroalgae, there is also fish (left from Monterrey Bay).

     3.  Japan has two major macroalgal projects:  the Mitsubishi bioethanol from seawater project and the Ocean Sunrise Project.  The UK/Ireland has the Biomara Project.  The USA has no comprehensive project.

     5.  An excellent online reference is produced by Oilgae.

     6.  Go to Bio Jet Fuel to learn more about this subject.

While the sensible option for terrestrial biomass is the biomethanol economy using the direct methanol fuel cell for transportation applications, when it comes to macroalgae, as the moisture content is higher than 80%, it is possible that hydrolysis and fermentation might well argue for ethanol as the final product.  Historically, methane has been favored as the fuel, and if this pathway dominates, then conversion to methanol is a mere step away using a 

catalyst.  There is a more recent tendency, though, to use fermentation to produce isobutanol (right), a four carbon chain alcohol, as linking two of these molecules can produce bio-gasoline, adding one more molecule (12 carbon chain) gives jet fuel and yet another to 16-carbon diesel.

To maximize hydrolysis/fermentation operations, yeasts and microorganisms capable of sea or brackish water tolerance would be desired.  Thus, to advance this field, extensive research and development will be required in the genetic engineering of conversion science, ocean engineering of optimal macroalgal farms at sea and next generation catalysts to convert methane to methanol or isobutanol (or butanol) to gasoline and jet fuel.

There is every reason to believe that production costs of $3 can be attained, and, perhaps, even $2/gallon.  For Hawaii, then, the advancement of open ocean macroalgal plantations and discovery of a magic catalyst to produce jet fuel from methane or butanol should be of particular priority.

As microalgae is even more efficient than macroalgae, research should also be expanded on the production of biofuels from these microorganisms. The ocean engineering of this system in the open ocean will be a particular challenge.

The systems analysis of the Pacific International Ocean Station is especially crucial now to justify  funding for this project.  Compelling documentation can solidify the partnership of academia, government and the private sector, and to also gain the participation of international interests.

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ZHEJIANG OCEAN UNIVERSITY AND BLUE REVOLUTION HAWAII SIGN MOU

Blue Revolution Hawaii today hosted five professors from Zhejiang Ocean University:

Professor Dajun Zhou (group leader, second from the right)
Vice President of Zhejiang Ocean University

Professor Zhibo Tang (tour leader, in the mddle)
Director of Scientific Research Department

Professor Shilai Wang
Director of Teaching Affairs

Dean Guofang Ding
School of Food Science, Pharmacy and Medicine

Dean Yin Wang, Dean
School of Social Sciences


We signed a Memorandum of Agreement (a following posting will provide details):

Several interesting bits of information:

1.  A bridge (just part of it is to the right) finally connected Zhoushan Island (where Zhejiang Ocean University is located) to the mainland only last year at a cost of about two billion dollars.  These islands (and there are a thousand of them) were then made a Special Economic Zone.  Several more bridges will be built.  There are construction canes all over the island.

2.  The city of Shenzen, located close to Hong Kong was named a Special Economic Zone in 1988.  Depending on who you ask, the population is today 9 million, 14 million, 20 million or 30 million.  This means that the population grew by a factor of 30 to 100 over the past 23 years.

3.  Zhoushan now has a population of about a million.  Projections are that this will "only" increase to 3 million to 5 million by the Year 2020.

4.  Zhejiang Ocean University was formed in 1988, but already has 15,000 students.  A new campus at the coastline is being constructed.  I would not be surprised if this someday becomes the pre-eminent ocean institution for the country.

A sister city relationship is being discussed between Zhoushan and Honolulu.  Hawaii's primary link to China could well in time become these islands, located across the bay and south of Shanghai, for we have very similar interests and are the only island states of our respective countries.  [I was reminded that there, too, are Hainan and Taiwan, and, yes, we should form partnerships with all three locations.]

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THE BLUE REVOLUTION IS THE OPTIMAL SOLUTION FOR JAPAN

Japan is back to square 1945, and will need to re-invent itself for the Year 2045.  It will take about that long to regain any kind of prominence, and only with the right decisions.

Clearly, Fukushima was only a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:  devastation symbolic of a nation on decline.  Obviously, nuclear fission will never become a major energy option for the country.

Japan is too crowded for biomass, not sunny enough for solar and has limited wind potential.  While the country is #2 to Germany in solar photovoltaic cell sales, the fact of the matter is that, like the rest of the world, the total amount of renewables used today is far less than 5% of the total, with most of this being hydroelectric power.  Anyway, the winds and sun are intermittent, and can safely be accommodated only up to 20% the electricity load. What can they do about the remaining 80%, plus, ground and air transport requirements?  This challenge, actually, is also faced by the rest of the world, but Japan has to address this matter right now.

First, it is easy to recommend that they forget more fossil energy.  There will soon be something like a carbon tax for coal, as global warming won't be ignored for too much longer.  Mind you, nothing much will happen for as long as a decade, but someday, when the crunch of Peak Oil and Global Warming results in something catastrophic,  steps will haphazardly be taken.  Japan does have some potential for marine methane hydrates (MMH, seen left burning), but the costs will be astronomical and, although there could be twice the amount of energy in these deep sea deposits compared to all the known coal, oil and natural gas resources, MMH is too dispersed and difficult to harvest.

Second, geothermal energy seems attractive, for onsens can be found throughout the country.  Their current geo-production is on the order of 500 megawatts, around half that of one typical nuclear power plant.  So even if they can increase geothermal electricity by a factor of 10 (and this won't happen because very little of this resource approaches the temperatures needed to make the effort worthwhile) they won't even match the production of those nuclear facilities now decommissioned in and around Fukushima.

Third, become truly serious about energy conservation.  Room fans are flying off the shelves, so people are already anticipating an uncomfortable summer.  Escalators and many elevators will no doubt be halted, major cities will become dark at night, companies will face a long recessionary period and life will soon be supremely inconvenient for the populace.  But the character of the nation is such that they will overcome.

Finally, the ocean is the obvious solution for Japan.  They don't have much in terms of current, tidal and salinity gradient resources.  Waves are possible, and this country has had several pioneering projects (Mighty Whale to the right), with yet another one being planned.  Certainly, continue this development, but I've long worried that this option will never become truly competitive, mostly because of the cost required to protect these devices from major storms.

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) remains as the best marine alternative.  Japan's only successful experiment, led by Toshiba and Tokyo Electric Power Company, occurred thirty years ago on Nauru.  Unfortunately, yet another natural disaster, a hurricane that time, wiped out the effort.  OTEC can be used to power a grazing plantship, where the economic opportunities would include:  next generation fisheries, marine biomass plantations (from which methane and various biofuels can be produced at sea), electricity (from which hydrogen can be electrolyzed) and freshwater.  Certainly, these platforms can be utilized to capture the the sun and winds, too.  Of particular intrigue is the potential to prevent hurricanes and remediate global warming.

Yes, there are, further, at least two exotic options:  

  1.  Solar power plant in space, with Japan already leading the R&D of this option.  But at $21 billion to provide electricity just a fraction of a nuclear facility, the costs are way too high.

  2.  Nuclear fusion remains a long term option.  Japan is leading the international consortium on materials research for this pathway, but commercialization could well be in 2050, and only with much luck.

So, faced with the need to make immediate decisions, the sea around them represents the future of Japan.  It was once the top shipbuilding nation.  South Korea replaced them eight years ago, and China looms to become #1 in 2015.  However, Japan has the basic infrastructure to build those floating platforms, and can thus best return to prominence through the Blue Revolution.  

During the past two decades I have provided at least a dozen lectures in Japan to spark interest in the ocean as an ideal project for international cooperation, most recently to the Japan Marine Technology Society.  The opportunity is now at hand for the country to take the leading role in partnering with the world to develop the Pacific International Ocean Station (PIOS), the proposed ocean version of the International Space Station (ISS).  This space effort cost more than a hundred billion dollars, but produced, essentially, nothing.  

The organizers of Blue Revolution Hawaii have already discussed Japanese participation in PIOS, for Shimizu's Green Float concept (left) is very similar to our vision.  Suddenly, the Great Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster has thrust the Blue Revolution as the optimal solution for Japan's future.  For one percent the cost of the ISS, PIOS can establish a marine pathway for economic progress, not only for Japan, but the rest of the world.  Japan can assume the leadership role for this magnificent global enterprise, and take that important step towards a progressive recovery.

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THE PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL OCEAN STATION

           

The next frontier for Humanity is not Space, but the Ocean. 

WHEREAS, 71% of our Earth’s surface is water, and three-quarters of the heat of the Sun shining daily on Earth is stored as thermal energy in the oceans.  By pumping or upwelling cold deep waters to warm surface waters for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) into electricity, the thermal energy potential of the oceans would in theory be equal to 10,000 times the total energy currently used by mankind, indefinitely, at all times of the day and year.

WHEREAS, just a portion of the energy that could be generated from OTEC conversion could be used to desalinate potable water to supply the needs of human populations of the world.

WHEREAS, deep ocean waters store vast concentrations of dissolved minerals that if brought to the surface could act as natural fertilizer for growing 3.5 billion dry tons of new marine biomass annually from just 1% of the ocean’s surface.  This would be equal to 3 times the total terrestrial biomass that can be collected annually on land in the U.S.  It would also represent about 1 billion tons of carbon sequestration annually.

WHEREAS, each ton of marine biomass could be cleanly processed into 400 gallons of clean fuels such as methanol, green diesel, ammonia or hydrogen, and the biomass residue can be further processed into organic fertilizers, protein-rich animal and fish feeds, bioactive pharmaceuticals and other high-value marine co-products.

WHEREAS, pumping or upwelling cold ocean water to the surface in volumes sufficient for OTEC energy production could improve the world’s environment through cooling surface water temperatures to prevent the formation of typhoons and hurricanes, and absorbing large volumes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reduce global warming.

WHEREAS, pumping or upwelling cold ocean water to the surface could have a beneficial effect of nutrient enrichment in euphotic zones of ocean waters to stimulate marine life growth and enhance marine food chains to revitalize the world’s wild fish stocks.

WHEREAS, current technologies exist that could be deployed on integrated platforms in the oceans to produce all of these ocean energy, potable water, clean fuels, sea food, and bioproduct benefits.  However, field testing and operational research on these technologies need to be conducted in the ocean in order to refine and optimize them for economically justified, widespread use throughout the world.

            WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii is in an ideal location of tropical ocean waters in the Pacific Ocean, and can build upon its unique assets in ocean and OTEC research, commercial fisheries, traditional and current knowledge in aquaculture, and state and federal government agency support to promote international cooperative research for optimization of ocean resources technologies for the benefit of the world and our Planet Earth.

NOW, THEREFORE, WE SUPPORTERS OF BLUE REVOLUTION HAWAII, (“BRH”) a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization, declare as our vision, that:

1.  We advocate the building of the PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL OCEAN STATION (PIOS) in Hawaii’s ocean waters as the world’s first floating island supporting international cooperative research on sustainable and environmentally beneficial, ocean resources development.

            2.  To promote international cooperation and tap some of the best ocean thermal conditions in the world, PIOS is to be deployed in extra-territorial waters southwest of the Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (out to 200 miles) bounding the State of Hawaii.

            3.  PIOS is to be supported on a large artificial island (about 2 miles in diameter) having a floating understructure engineered to weather ocean waves, storms, and tsunamis.  It could have in the range of 1500 acres of surface area for research activities, and residential quarters sufficient to accommodate 5,000 or more international researchers and visitors.

            4.  To the extent practicable, all live/work activities on PIOS should be designed and managed to be environmentally protective, zero-emission, carbon-reducing, and closed-recycling enabled.

            5.  PIOS will invite and host important research activities of ocean universities, institutions, and agencies from other countries in international partnership under an international cooperative research agreement. 

            6.  BRH will seek to orchestrate private philanthropic, inter-governmental and research partnership funding support for design, building and deployment costs of the PIOS platform.  Research partners will be given priority for conducting research activities on the PIOS platform, and will be assessed only allocated incremental costs of hosting their activities.

            7.  BRH plans as target dates: April 2013 for securing the necessary funding commitments for PIOS platform deployment; April 2014 for start of construction; October 2015 for completion and deployment of the PIOS platform in Hawaii’s ocean waters; and April 2016 for start of research activities of its international research partners.

 

8.  BRH plans to host a Pacific International Ocean Station Summit Conference in October 2013 to promote international cooperation for realization of PIOS, to which its international research partners, funding sources, inter-governmental agencies, and enthusiastic supporters will be invited.

April 29, 2011

THE BLUE REVOLUTION HAWAII TEAM

SUSTAINABLE U.S. MARINE AQUACULTURE EXPANSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The May/June 2010 issue of the Marine Technology Society Journal is devoted to "Sustainable U.S. Marine Aquaculture Expansion in the 21st Century."  The Guest Editor is John Corbin of Hawaii.  To quote:

What is the state of technology for open ocean fish farming? How are U.S. policies and programs helping or hindering the inevitable movement toward sustainable aquaculture in the open ocean? These and a host of other questions are addressed in the May/June issue of the Marine Technology Society Journal, Vol. 44, No. 3.

Edited by John S. Corbin, President of Aquaculture Planning and Advocacy LLC and former Manager of the Hawaii Aquaculture Development Program, this timely issue gives historical perspective, describes the current state of affairs, and unveils the technologies of the future. Here are brief overviews of the peer-reviewed papers:

• Sustainable U.S. Marine Aquaculture Expansion, A Necessity – In his overview, John  Corbin sets the stage for this special issue by providing detailed background information on U.S. seafood consumption, supply, and projected needs. He looks at the potential for future disruption of seafood imports and reviews the status and potential for the development of  the expansive and diverse U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.
• Site Selection Criteria for Open Ocean Aquaculture – Daniel  Benetti, of the University of Miami, and his co-authors focus on site selection criteria for open ocean aquaculture, not only practical considerations like ocean conditions, materials and manpower, but also socioeconomic and political issues. Among other things, they address lessons that aquaculture operations can learn from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
• A Case Study of an Offshore SeaStation Sea Farm – Gary  Loverich discusses the SeaStation cage his company, Ocean Spar LLC, has been developing since 1994, presenting   a review of a large commercial cage system  operating off Keahole Point, Kona, Hawaii. His paper describes the features that make the cages unique, as well as the  challenges that arise when multiple cages are deployed to grow fish at commercial scale .
• Technology Needs for Improved Efficiency of Open Ocean Cage Culture -  Richard Langan, University of New Hampshire, explores the status of aquaculture support systems capable of autonomous operation in the open ocean. Successful farming will require necessary tasks, such as  feeding, maintenance, and observation of stock and the environment to be carried out routinely, even when   harsh conditions may keep vessels and personnel on shore.
• Shellfish Culture in the Open Ocean: Lessons Learned for Offshore Expansion– Daniel Cheney, of the Pacific Shellfish Institute, joins his fellow authors for a look at the state of the art, as well as future prospects and challenges, in shellfish aquaculture, providing three case examples to illustrate the extent and types of open ocean shellfish farming underway.
• What Can U.S. Open Ocean Aquaculture Learn from Salmon Farming? – The U.S. imported 83% of its seafood needs in 2008. In this paper, John Forster, of Forster Consulting, Inc., explores the history of farmed salmon, which he has been involved with since the late 1960s. He discusses why other countries have been successful and the lessons for the U.S., noting that for open ocean aquaculture to succeed, containment systems must be easily deployed and operated, and governments must create space in their coastal waters.
• Deep Ocean Water Resources in the 21st Century – Brandon  Yoza, University of Hawaii, and his co-authors from Norway, Japan and Hawaii, discuss some cutting edge, large-scale concepts for using deep ocean water for energy generation and offshore aquaculture. They explain how “artificial upwelling”–bringing deep ocean water to the surface mechanically–could enhance the ocean food web and restore depleted marine life at all trophic levels.
• Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Systems: The Need for a New Social Contract for Aquaculture Development – Barry  Costa-Pierce, University of Rhode Island, describes ecological aquaculture, an emerging, new paradigm for global aquaculture planning, policy, and development. He argues that policymakers should consider this approach to foster environmentally, economically, and socially responsible aquaculture.
• Marine Stock Enhancement, a Valuable Extension of Expanded U.S. Marine Aquaculture – Guest editor John  Corbin provides a brief  commentary on the history and current status of U.S. marine stock enhancement as a valuable tool for coastal fisheries management. He discusses the need for increased research funding, greater infrastructure planning and development, and inclusion of marine stock enhancement in current national ocean policy and marine spatial planning efforts.
• U.S. Open Ocean Fish Farming: Are We There Yet? – Randy Cates, of Cates International, Inc., and Hukilau Foods LLC, provides a commercial, offshore fish farmer’s hard-won insights into the state of the technology as well as the status of emerging federal support policies and programs. From his perspective of 10 years of research and commercial experience, Cates discusses research needs for open ocean fish farming and highlights areas for innovation that could help successfully establish commercial farming in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

The "Deep Ocean Water Resources in the 21st Century" paper was co-authored by Brandon Yoza, Gerard Nihous, Patrick Takahashi, Jan War, Lars Golmen (Norway), Koji Otsuka (Japan), Kazuyuki Ouchi (Japan) and Stephen Masutani.  Japan has the Takumi Project to study the effect of pumping nutrient rich waters from the deep on the fish population.

Filed by Patrick Takahashi.

NEXT GENERATION FISHERIES AND OTEC

The following recent publications provide information on:

  Next Generation Fisheries:  Jay Fidell, State Must Save, Not End, Open-Ocean Fish Farming

  OTEC:  Life of the Land, Hawaii Energy Independence

                 file:///Users/patkentak/Desktop/Hawai%60i_Energy_Independence.pdf

                (to access:  copy file and paste above to the right of the + sign, then click on enter or return)

THE STORY OF THE BLUE OCEAN DRAGON

Posted by Patrick Takahashi:

You might have been wondering why that blue ocean dragon is pictured to the right.  As chief visionary, born in the year of the Dragon (2012 could, indeed, be an interesting year),  I have long searched for a dragon carved from blue jade.  I thought I saw one in Shanghai several years ago, but let pass that opportunity.

Thus, when Leighton Chong and I were in Shanghai to participate in the 2010 Expo and visit with Zhejiang Ocean University, we conducted an intensive search for this potential marine mascot.  Alas, we were several times informed that there was no such thing as blue jade.  The common belief was that any blue jade was dyed.  I thus settled for a blue crystal dragon.

However, I subsequently made a further check, and found various sources for BLUE Jade.  As for example:

According to this article, blue jade can be found in the United States, and the following came from the West Coast:

more specifically at Big Sur (California, just south of Carmel):

This is not exactly the blue I desire, but someday, maybe one of genuine true blue jade will be discovered and we will have two blue ocean dragons.

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CHARTER BOARD MEETING OF BLUE REVOLUTION HAWAII

Our charter board meeting was held today at the Plaza Club.  The original members are Fujio Matsuda, John Farias, Guy Toyama, Leighton Chong and Patrick Takahashi (who is taking this photo):

After the meeting, I happened to see Reb Bellinger waiting for Mari, so I joined them for a long chat on the future of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). Makai Ocean Engineering, of course, is the local link to Lockheed Martin on their OTEC project, and the Blue Revolution is contingent on the commercial success of this technology.

Posted by Patrick Takahashi.
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BLUE REVOLUTION HAWAII UPDATE

This is an update on recent contacts by the Blue Revolution Hawaii Team with potential partners worldwide:

On his recent trip around the world starting in September, Pat Takahashi met in Tokyo with Dr. Professor Toshitsugu Sakou, a long-time proponent of ocean research at Tokyo University and current Chair of the Marine Technology Society of Japan, and MTS Japan colleagues preparing for the MTS Oceans conference in Kobe. They discussed possibilities for research cooperation between the U.S. and Japan, and the goal of the Blue Revolution Hawaii team to promote Hawaii to take a leading role for ocean resources development in Hawaiian waters.

Overlapping enroute to China in October, Pat and Leighton met with Dr. Changwen Wu, Vice President and Director of Research at Zhejiang Ocean University, which is among the top 5 universities in China for ocean research. We agreed to work together to establish a research exchange relationship with the University of Hawaii and other research institutes in Hawaii. Our meeting was set up by Dr. Zhibo Tang, Director of the Dept. of Science and Technology at Zhejiang Ocean University.

Pat and Leighton were also invited to lunch with Mr. Shi Jun Chen, Director for the Office of the Mayor of the City of Zhoushan, to discuss a possible clean-energy-city relationship with Honolulu. Zhoushan is the main island in the strategic archipelago south of Shanghai that is the easternmost point of China in the East China Sea, and has been designated for national strategic development in the coming years by the Government of China. Zhoushan was a fishing village of 6,000 people only 15 years ago, and today is a bustling international city of 1.5 million.

While Pat continued around the world, Leighton capped off his trip to China with a meeting in Tokyo with principals of Shimizu Corp., a pre-eminent architectural engineering firm in Japan. Shimizu has been developing engineering plans to build “Green Floating Islands” in the ocean that are 3,000 meters (2 miles) in diameter and can support 30,000 residents each as entirely clean energy, self-sustaining and carbon-negative ecosystems. Shimizu showed keen interest in Blue Revolution Hawaii’s goal to have the world’s first floating island built in Hawaiian waters as a living laboratory for ocean research.

While in Tokyo Leighton also attended the EcoBalance 2010 conference in November at the Miraikan Science Museum, delivering presentations on ocean resources developments and clean energy incentives in Hawaii. Both topics were unique in a conference that included over 200 presentations by researchers and sustainability development experts from 48 countries worldwide.

Here in Hawaii Lockheed Martin is proceeding with its plan to construct a 5 MW OTEC pilot plant in partnership with the State of Hawaii and the Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute starting next year in 2011. The pilot plant will enable the collection of operational and ocean impact monitoring data for optimization of design and operation of large-scale OTEC facilities in the ocean. Hawaii has the largest ocean exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of all states in the U.S. With successful pilot plant operation, Lockheed Martin plans, in Phase 2, to build a 100 MW OTEC-powered platform to generate baseload electricity and freshwater for Honolulu. The Lockheed Martin team is partnering with Makai Ocean Engineering and other Hawaii companies and the University of Hawaii.

A proposal for growing yellowfin and bigeye tuna in large, autonomous, OTEC-powered “Oceanspheres” in an ocean lease zone 3 miles off Kawaihae Harbor of the Island of Hawaii has been put forward by Hawaii Oceanic Technology Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii. The company received approval of its final Environmental Impact Statement in October 2009 and recently completed licensing permitting for operations. Such next generation fisheries in deep ocean waters hold great promise for food sustainability and security, as well as positive health, environmental and socioeconomic benefits.

Now that Neil Abercrombie has been sworn in as the new Governor of Hawaii, we hope he will make it a top priority of his Administration to have Hawaii take a leading role in the Blue Revolution. As U.S. congressman, Abercrombie has been a strong supporter of funding for OTEC research and NELHA in Hawaii. Our BRH goals for the new State Administration in 2011 include:

(1) making a proclamation of Hawaii’s taking a leading role in ocean resources development on World Ocean Day in June 2011;

(2) enabling the State’s Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) to support ocean resources development as a Strategic Industry and draft a strategic plan for ocean resources development in the State of Hawaii;

(3) retitling the State’s Department of Land & Natural Resources as the “Department of Land, Ocean & Natural Resources” (DLONR), and providing the Ocean division with staffing and technical expertise for regulation of ocean resources development in state jurisdictional waters; and

(4) inviting and facilitating external investment and research exchange relationships with global companies and organizations worldwide for ocean resources development in Hawaii.

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