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MARE LIBERUM: LOCAL ISSUES WITH GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS
• Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning – use deep, cold (nutrient- and CO2-rich) seawater in lieu of heat pumps
• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) – use deep, cold (nutrient- and CO2-rich) seawater to generate electricity
Green solutions “green” ocean?
CASE STUDY:Enhanced upwelling and carbon
sequestration
• Site is critical – nutrient flux• Community succession is key• C-N-P stoichiometry is key
Immediate retort from the science community… essentially “What are you smoking in those pipes?”
The issue has to do with the CNP ratio of upwelled water relative to particle export
Nothing’s as fundamental as elemental!!
J. Shepherd et al. 2007
“Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it” David Starr Jordan
(1851-1931)
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH THEMES
Heat exchange medium in air
conditioning or energy production applications
ColdDSW
CO2-rich, N&P-rich
waste
SWAC and OTEC
A.C. REDFIELD (1958)
“The inadequacy of experiments in marine
biology”
• Ecosystem manipulation/perturbation experiments are essential
• Complex systems must be thoroughly described and well understood before relevant experiments can be conducted
C:N:P
We may now be ready to move!
Water from~300 m
DIC:P = 150N:P < 16
“Redfield”bloom andexport with
residual DIC and P
Selects forphoto-trophic
N2 fixing microbes
Non-Redfield “echo”
bloom and export
STEP 1 STEP 2
106C:16N:1P
325C:50N:1P
STEP 3
N2/CO2
STA. ALOHA UPWELLING HYPOTHESIS
OPPEX Objectives:
(1) to verify the structural integrity and assess the performance of commercially available (Atmocean, Inc.) wave pumps
(2) to develop a monitoring and sampling strategy appropriate for tracking the pumps and the upwelled water for the duration of a deployment in waters north of the Hawaiian islands and
(3) to study the biological response of the system.
Baseline Conditions
Temperature
Dissolved Oxygen
Chlorophyll
Ocean Productivity Perturbation Experiment (OPPEX)30 May – 1 June 2008
BAG-I(Biogeochemistry And Genomes)
• Inaugural deployment
• Nutrient loading exp. (Karl-Letelier hypothesis)
• C-MORE/BEACH-MMI collaboration
Dec 2011
NSF-SEES: proposal Nov 2011
Karl selectedinaugural Kyo-Ya Fellow
of “sustainable coastal tourism”
SOEST-led UH sustainability initiative
cluster hire: 5 new faculty coming soon
Waste DOW Disposal Method Protocol, Management Tool
Consequences
Intended Unintended
Pump deep: offshoreDischarge waste DOW to original ocean depth
Keep nutrients out of shallow lighted coastal zone
Density change (by heating) causes enhanced turbulence at point of discharge
Pump deep: land-based injection wellDischarge waste DOW to a deep injection well on land
N, P CO2 and N2O kept out of near-shore ocean environment
Unknown hydrology and carrying capacity may lead to coastal ocean injections
Pump shallow: offshore (Mamala Bay [MB]) Discharge waste DOW at ~50 m Keep nutrients out of near surface waters of MB
Plankton blooms still possible since light is present to ~125 m
Pump shallow-nearshore (Ala Wai Canal [AWC]) Discharge waste DOW into AWC
Improve water quality of AWC; convert from fresh water-estuarine to marine; remove sediment that accumulate in AWC by flushing
Change in species diversity, plankton blooms in AWC and Waikīkī; CO2 and N2O discharge to atmosphere
Pump to biomass production facilityDischarge waste DOW into algal/fish ponds for biofuel stock or other purposes
Use DOW nutrient and CO2 as a resource for coupled food/biomass production
Greenhouse gas discharge from algal/fish ponds
Pump to P treatment facilityDischarge waste DOW into a facility to recover P and, possibly, CO2
Without phosphate, no plankton bloom will occur; phosphate can be sold as fertilizer
Nitrate discharged to coastal waters; N2O, and possibly CO2, discharged to atmosphere
Pump to N treatment facilityDischarge waste DOW into a facility to remove N, and possibly CO2 and N2O
Without nitrate plankton bloom will probably not occur
Phosphate discharged to coastal waters may lead to bloom of N2 fixing microbes
Pump to N and P treatment facilityDischarge waste DOW into a facility to recover P and remove N, and possibly remove CO2 and N2O
Remove all macronutrients and prevent possibility of bloom
CO2 and N2O may still enter the atmosphere
EARTH FREE INSTITUTEC-MORE Workshop
28-29 Nov 2011
“Enhanced Upwelling:Science and Opportunities”
Stay tuned for progress