Potential for conversion of thermal energy in electrical energy: Highlighting the Brazilian Ocean Thermal Energy Park and the Inverse Anthropogenic Effect

Roberto Valente de Souza, Elisa Helena Leão Fernandes, José Luiz Lima de Azevedo, Mariana dos Santos Passos and Rafaela Martins Corrêa

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 161, issue C, 1155-1175

Abstract: Renewable energies as an additional source have become vital in modern societies. The search for alternative energy sources has led the scientific community to the oceans, demanding a shift in energetic policies, which must be redefined to favor the development of renewable energy technologies at sea. The goal is to generate electric energy while producing less pollutants or even while using the outputs of human anthropic activities as input for the generation of energy, food, products and for the mitigation of climate change impacts. The present study focus on the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology, which presents the greatest potential for energy exploitation from the oceans and which generates a range of by-products. The South Atlantic Ocean presents the potential to support OTEC plants, with emphasis on the region called Brazilian Ocean Thermal Energy Park, with a total coverage area of 1,893,000.00km2 and an operating potential of up to 376 OTEC plants. Results of this work indicate that the park operation in maximum capacity can generate energy at a nominal power of 41.36 GW, and remove 60.16 GW or 60.16 GJ/s of ocean heat and 8.13 kg/s or 256.37 Tg/year of atmospheric CO2.

Keywords: Renewable energy; Thermal energy; OTEC; Ocean thermal energy park; Blue amazon; Inverse anthropogenic effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:161:y:2020:i:c:p:1155-1175

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.07.050

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