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?

NUTRIENTS + LIGHT= PHYTOPLANKTON

HonoluluSeawater

AirConditioning

Project

NUTRIENTS + LIGHT= PHYTOPLANKTON

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)

Project

CASE STUDY:Enhanced upwelling and carbon

sequestration• Site is critical – nutrient flux• Community succession is key• C-N-P stoichiometry is key

J. E. Lovelock and C. G. Rapley (2007)

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

A small-scale field test of the “nutrient loading” hypothesis

Karin Björkman, today!

Karl 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!

Why can’t it be done in the sea?

EXPERIMENTAL TERRESTRIAL PLOTS

HOW IS PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCED IN THE OCEAN GYRES?

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:1P325C: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

OPPEX: Pump Deployment, R/V Kilo Moana31 May 2008

Elapsed time = 16 min

K. Lee / BEACH collaboration

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 ToolConsequences

Intended Unintended

Pump deep: offshore Discharge 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 well Discharge 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 facility Discharge 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 facility Discharge 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 facility Discharge 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

SEA ORBITER

The futureis today!

Coming soonto Honolulu…