TY - JOUR
TI - Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Development Under U.S. and International Law and Institutions
AU - Nanda, V
T2 - Denver Journal of International Law & Policy
AB - This study has as its primary focus those legal and institutional aspects which will ostensibly have a significant bearing upon the commercialization of OTEC. These issues are broadly classified as (1) jurisdictional, (2) regulatory, and (3) environmental. They will be discussed here in the context not only of existing international law - both customary and treaty law - but also of the current developments in the law and the probable changes in it, particularly those resulting from ongoing negotiations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (LOS III). Several alternatives will be discussed and recommendations offered in each area in light of the United States' interests.This discussion will be prefaced by a short assessment of the possible arrangements for the siting of OTEC plants, their functions, and their potential for the United States. The most likely configurations for OTEC plants will be: (1) an OTEC facility operating individually as a semipermanent fixture, or a number of plants moored in clusters of eight to ten plants around a central collection device, and connected to shore by a transmission cable, supplying electrical power for general consumption to a land-based electricity grid; or (2) an open sea OTEC facility, a plant-ship, migrating and "grazing" on the surface, seeking the maximum thermal differential gradient and supplying power for an energy-intensive industry at sea. Such a facility could, for example, produce onsite ammonia to be used for the production of fertilizers and industrial chemicals or as a hydrogen carrier for production of electricity, or aluminum, or engage in energy-intensive commodity processing such as manganese nodules. The energy produced then could be converted into other forms of energy, such as hydrogen, and the products produced onsite transported to shore by vessel. Such products could also be manufactured and processed in such places as Hawaii and Puerto Rico, which are close to some of the prospective sites of OTEC facilities.
DA - 1978/01//
PY - 1978
VL - 8
IS - Number 1 Winter
SP - 51
UR - https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2072&context=djilp
LA - English
KW - Marine Energy
KW - OTEC
KW - Human Dimensions
KW - Legal & Policy
ER -