There are many benefits that can be found in the use of OTEC. One of the most important is that it is a clean and renewable source of energy. With just one 100-megawatt OTEC facility, enough energy can be produced to equal that of 1.3 million barrels of oil. With this, instead of producing the byproduct of oil, which is carbon, the byproduct of OTEC is fresh water. This could decrease carbon emissions by half a million tons. So, not only will it produce the energy the world needs but it will also produce fresh water, another valuable resource4. There are several more advantages to OTEC that make it a very promising source of renewable energy for the near future.
- One of the biggest advantages held by OTEC is that it can produce electricity 24/7 and year round. This is called baseload energy. This stands out over many other types of sustainable energy such as solar energy which can only be collected while the sun is out or wind energy that can only be collected on a windy day1.
- Another Synergetic product that is created during ocean thermal energy conversion is cold water. This water can be used in building air-conditioning systems. Another way the cold water may be used is in ponds as food for producing mariculture. By using all synergetic products to their potential and with the energy produced by OTEC then the energy saving potential can be up to 90%1.
- OTEC is a very immense resource with the availability of this resource being able to produce 4x the world’s electrical needs2.
- OTEC is offshore and does not compete for resources on land. This also helps to prevent protests from communities about OTEC being an “eyesore” to the ocean view.
- Finally, OTEC used as a closed cycle is very low risk. The main effect that may possibly be seen is at the water discharge pup where some marine live may reproduce at different levels such as plankton.