What would life in Hawaii be like without energy? We would have no lights, no refrigerators, no TVs, no VCRs, no gas. We would have to do without automobiles, airplanes, banks, movies or mail. Imagine Hawaii with no cooking, no air conditioning, no computers, no traffic lights, and basically no jobs. We would have very little left of what we take for granted. Imported oil is used to supply about 90 percent of Hawaii's energy needs. No place else in the United States is so critically dependent on imported oil. Unlike the Mainland, Hawaii can't turn to neighboring states to make up for any temporary or permanent energy shortages. Unlike any other state, imported oil is the single thread that can completely unravel Hawaii's future. But Hawaii is blessed with a variety of other energy sources ﷓ lots of sunshine, strong winds, fast﷓growing crops, flowing streams, geothermal heat, and both warm and cold ocean waters. All these resources have the potential to help produce energy and reduce our dependency on imported petroleum.

Hawaii is determined to explore the best ways to take advantage of its renewable energy resources. Each of the

The disadvantages of OTEC is that it produces electricity at present would cost more than electricity generated from fossil fuels at their current costs.(refer to Hawaiian Electric Company cost analysis chart below) The electricity cost could be reduced significantly if the plant operated without major overhaul for 30 years or more, but there are no data on possible plant life cycles. OTEC plants must be located where a difference of about 40° Fahrenheit (F) occurs year around. Ocean depths must be available fairly close to shore﷓based facilities for economic operation. The ocean waters off of Keahole are ideal because of the dramatic drop of sea floor depth that is very near shore. Floating plant ships could provide more flexibility. Although extensive and successful testing of OTEC has occurred in experiments on component parts or small scale plants, a pilot or demonstration plant of commercial size needs to be built to further document economic feasibility. Construction of OTEC plants and laying of pipes in coastal waters may cause localized damage to reefs and near﷓shore marine ecosystems. Some additional development of key components is essential to the success of future OTEC plants (e.g., less﷓costly large diameter, deep sea water pipelines; low﷓pressure turbines and condensers for open﷓cycle systems; etc.). The main disadvantage that OTEC faces is that the State or private organizations will not fund OTEC in a large scale plant production. Until the day comes when OTEC finally does receive large funding for larger scale production, "it will remain in a experimental stage. The amount that it cost for HECO to produce a kilo watt of energy using fossil fuels is cheaper than what OTEC can."(State Senator Kalani English)

Several techniques have been proposed to use the ocean thermal resource, but presently it appears that only the closed cycle (CC﷓OTEC) and the open cycle (OC﷓OTEC) schemes have a solid foundation of theoretical as well as experimental work.(refer to pictures of CC and OC) In the CC﷓OTEC system, warm surface seawater and cold seawater are used to vaporize and condense a working fluid, such as anhydrous ammonia, which drives a turbine generator in a closed loop producing electricity. In the OC﷓OTEC system seawater is flash﷓evaporated in a vacuum chamber. The resulting low﷓pressure steam is used to drive a turbine﷓generator. Cold seawater is used to condense the steam after it has passed through the turbine. The open﷓cycle can be configured to produce desalinated water as well as electricity.

utility costs that are significantly influenced by the cost of fossil fuel. To allow renewable energy to provide cost savings in the face of expected oil prices, smarter ways for paying for renewable energy need to be developed. If oil prices skyrocket, for example, the price for renewable energy would also increase if it were tied to the price of oil. Such a linkage could result in windfall profits to developers of renewable energy projects. Therefore it will be important to develop innovative contract terms for renewable energy projects that provide a fair rate of return to renewable energy project developers without linking payments to future cost trends for fossil fuels. Since most renewable energy projects have little or no on﷓going fuel costs, it can be argued that contract payments need not emphasize possible escalation in fuel prices.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3060
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)