A New Look at the Caribbean Sea

The worldwide search for energy alternatives has been going on for some time now. Scientists, universities and economists, as well as oil companies and traditional utility providers, are all on an innovative path towards cleaner, more sustainable and reliable energy sources, including the technology and infrastructure needed to get from source to user, being it industrial, commercial or household. The common denominator is the undisputable realization that fossil energy sources are getting scarcer, and that our environment is in desperate need of help for survival. Curaçao is no exception. In the process of developing our economy towards stable economic growth, now is the time to consider the innovations gathered on the palette of green and sustainable solutions.

The installation of the seawater pipe to the depth of about a kilometer into the cold-water of the coast of Hato International Airport is the first phase of this project. Pumping up the cold seawater into the distribution plant has minimum impact on the coastal environment. Rolling out the distribution network on the 450 hectares of Hato Airport terrains will be in coordination with the expansion of the airport related businesses like warehousing, hangars and intensification of air traffic to and from the airport itself.

Diego Acevedo, co-founder of Bluerise, is one of the driving motors behind this new thinking. He and his fellow Bluerise partners are putting their money where their mouths are. Bluerise is in the preparation stages of installing their Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) and Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC) technology on Curaçao’s airport terrains. Acevedo’s explanation is as easy to understand as it is incredibly fascinating. “We see the ocean as a giant solar collector that stores the sun’s energy in the form of heat in the upper layer of the sea; the deeper layers are constantly fed with huge amounts of cold water from the arctic. This temperature difference can be used to drive processes that provide a constant and renewable source of reliable base load power. The thermal energy stored in the tropical ocean surrounding Curaçao is ideal to generate sustainable electricity, cooling, and even fresh water.” Aha, you might think, so that’s what the ocean is for! But there’s more. The technology and investment plans Bluerise develops for implementation of OTEC and SWAC also entail on-land spin offs in the form of Ocean Ecoparks, which utilize the ocean’s resource by means of innovative technologies for desalination, agriculture and aquaculture.

Nothing New Under the Sun
The French physicist Jacques-Arsene d’Arsonval already started experimenting with the OTEC principle in 1881. He used warm ocean water to bring liquid to a boil and used the produced steam to drive a turbine. Pumped up cold deep seawater condenses the steam again, so that the working fluid can be reused. In the years of the oil crisis, the United States invested a lot of money in further engineering this technique, aiming to make America independent of the import of fossil energy. In the 1970’s, engineers had little experience with this method and their technology had not advanced. Oil prices fell again and the interest in the further development of this method diminished. This new century brings revived importance for OTEC. Acevedo stated, “Bluerise has worked hard to perfect the technique. We use a mixture of water and ammonia that improves the performance by 10%-15%.” This innovation on the existing technique has caught the attention of prestigious organizations.

Why Curaçao?
Bluerise considers Curaçao’s position in the Caribbean Sea as ideal for installing and exploiting OTEC and SWAC. “Technical potential is all around the island and has been supported for decades. Although it was previously considered as feasible, its economic potential was never as evident as it is now.” Curaçao is in the process of their economic, political and social reorganization since the statutory independence in 2010. This offers numerous opportunities for reevaluating the positioning of the Land Curaçao within the Pan American region. Projected as an economic and financial hub between Europe and South America, development of business, schooling, service concepts, transportation routes and facilities are all part of the bigger plan. Bluerise believes in the potential of Curaçao and is eager to invest in making the island more compatible on the level of energy and sustainability. On August 28, 2014, partners from leading companies around the world gathered on Curaçao to share thoughts and experiences with local entrepreneurs during the Curaçao Ocean Ecopark seminar. While discussing the opportunities and benefits with a group of more than 70 local business people, experts from Hawaii, Iceland, The Netherlands and University of Curaçao provided insights and welcomed all brainstorming suggestions from the audience. Although the OTEC technology itself was met by immediate understanding and belief, the Ecopark spin off possibilities met with some skepticism. Curaçao has witnessed several attempts at green housing and other agri- and aqua- culture initiatives in the past decades. None was very successful. Nonetheless, the combined conviction of the Bluerise partners is that technology has improved considerably and the success stories from around the world in similar climatic environments prove that the opportunities for Curaçao make good business sense.

Out of the box sensibility
Looking at our surrounding ocean with new eyes can be rather liberating. Imagine a world without worries about cost fluctuations of electricity and drinking water and being less dependent on the import of a variety of commodities like greens and fish. Imagine a future creating new industries for our highly qualified future generations of Yu di Korsou (children of Curaçao) that benefit from economic growth because Curaçao has attracted more businesses, thanks in part to the competitive advantage of our energy supply from the ever-giving streams and cold undercurrents of the sea. This kind of thinking is out the box, innovative, feasible and, most importantly, doable.

In their vision, Bluerise states that the Ecopark is an inseparable part of the business project. Making full use of that what the ocean offers through the OTEC and SWAC technologies by tapping into this resource, the pipeline is the gateway to:

• Cooling: A Seawater District Cooling (SDC) system will enable the replacement of electricity-driven chillers and cooling units, offering large energy efficiency opportunities for the area and enabling enhanced production of different industries.

• Electricity production: The temperature difference between the warm surface water and cold deep seawater can be used to generate electricity by means of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Harnessing this energy provides a source of power free of CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

• Food and water production techniques: The cold, deep seawater used is free of viruses and bacteria and is a terrific source of nutrients to serve different agri- and aqua-culture and algae production techniques. This technique, combined with the possibility to have low cost temperature control, allows for the production of high value products at highly competitive prices.

For more information, you can visit the website:
www.bluerise.nl