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