nutrients + light = phytoplankton sea water air conditioning (swac) for hawaii
TRANSCRIPT
NUTRIENTS + LIGHT= PHYTOPLANKTON
Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC) for Hawaii
Honolulu/Waikiki SWAC
A Kyo-ya/UH collaboration
• Intro: SWAC and upwelling
• Nutrients: the good and the evil
• Prospectus: 2013, and beyond
• Ocean science and society
• Coupled natural-human systems
• Economics and sustainability
• Education and public outreach
A NEW SUBDISCIPLINE?
Upwelling is key for photosynthesis
“new water” = new production
SURFACE OCEAN CHLOROPHYLL
forests and deserts
OCEAN CONDITIONS NEAR HAWAII
The ocean’s desert blooms -- July 2005
MARE LIBERUM: LOCAL ISSUES WITH GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS
• Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC): 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?
Heat exchange medium in air
conditioning or energy production applications
ColdDSW
CO2-rich, N&P-rich
waste
SWAC and OTEC
Are there any unintended environmental consequences???
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!
Why can’t it be done in the sea?
EXPERIMENTAL TERRESTRIAL PLOTS
J.D.H.STRICKLAND“Between beakers
and bays”New Scientist, 1967
BAG-I(Biogeochemistry And Genomes)
• Inaugural deployment
• Nutrient loading exp. impact of P
• C-MORE/BEACH-MMI collaboration
Dec 2011
MOTIVATION
II. SCIENTIFIC GOAL
Study the effects of nutrient additions on surface ocean plankton communities
& processes
I. ENGINEERING GOAL
Assemble, deploy, maintain & recover three mesocosms in
Hawaiian waters
PHOTO COURTESY K. BJÖRKMAN AND S. POULOS
n
1: Seawater Air Conditioning
2: Scaling
Ingoing Outgoing
EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
Nutrients - P Nutrients + PControl
SURFACE SEAWATER + NITRATE, + SILICATE
+ TRACE METALS, + VITAMINS
SURFACE SEAWATERONLY
SURFACE SEAWATER + NITRATE, + PHOSPHATE, + SILICATE
+ TRACE METALS, + VITAMINS
20L 20L 20L
Nutrients added simulated a 15% addition of deep-water (1000m) from Stn ALOHA
6μm Nitrite + Nitrate, 0.5μm Phosphate, 14μm Silicate
(Fe, Zn, Se, Ni, Co) (B1, B7, B12) (Fe, Zn, Se, Ni, Co) (B1, B7, B12)
10L1L
Science Editorial26 March 1999“A PotentialPhosphate Crisis”Philip H. AbelsonScientist extraordinaire
COMMODITY $$$
Nature, 6 Oct 2011
PEAK P?
GLOBAL P-ROCK RESERVES
The next “resource” crisis
from: EcoSanRes (2008)
Cruise track provided by S. Tozzi, UCSC
DEPLOYMENT, DRIFT PATTERN & RECOVERY
RECOVERLOCATION
DEPLOYMENT LOCATION
Kona
Hawaii
MauiMolokai
Lanai
Oahu• Honolulu
Data provided by K. Börkman & Daniela Böttjer, UH
PHYTOPLANKTON BIOMASS AND PRODUCTION
BIOMASS
PRODUCTION
P RECOVERY FROM THE DEEP BLUE SEA?Patent pending…
Pump deep sea water
(SWAC/OTEC)
Remove/Recover P by “MAGIC”
N/P discharge leads to phyto
bloom
No P, no bloom,no starvation,
no wars, AND a revenue stream to support research
>1 MT P/d $250 K/d
Agriculture
Food security
Human survival
Biofuels
Energy security
P is a non-renewable, limiting resource
P
I P !
(Photo: Tara Clemente)
3 min BAG-1 video