Offshore wind cable plan highlights grid bottleneck

From CNET

Without a "backbone" to shuttle megawatts of power, the offshore wind resource on the U.S. Atlantic coast will remain undeveloped, according to one of the architects behind the Atlantic Wind Connection offshore transmission line project (AWS).

Trans-Elect Development today detailed an ambitious project to lay underwater cables to carry electricity generated by offshore wind turbines along the eastern seaboard from Virginia to New Jersey.

The group said that an initial group of investors, including Google and Good Energies, have put in tens of millions of dollars each into the project, which they hope to begin construction of in 2013.
During a press conference today, executives said the capital just for procuring the equipment and engineering is on the order of $5 billion. The initial, three-year phase will require $1.8 billion.

If fully built, the 350-mile backbone could support 1,600 giant offshore wind turbines, which are larger than on-shore turbines, and generate enough to power 1.9 million homes, executives said. The group hopes to complete the network by 2020.

The plan calls for the use of direct current transmission lines and relatively new sea-based converter stations, which would act as a switch to direct hundreds of megawatts of power on and off the transmission cable, said Trans-Elect CEO Robert Mitchell.
This relatively new technology makes it easier for new projects to plug in as they come online, but the developers said that the engineering should not pose insurmountable challenges.
"This is not rocket science. We're going to lay a cable," Mitchell said. "The real technology factor that's never been done before is that fact that there will be multiple points going on and off (the backbone). That's not been done before."

If they don't build it, will they come?

Executives said they are confident that the transmission line will attract offshore wind farm developers because it addresses one of the most significant hurdles--and costs--to offshore wind.
This project is starting off the coast of Delaware and New Jersey because offshore projects there are farthest along.

Without transmission lines, many large-scale renewable-energy projects get scuttled. T. Boone Pickens, for example, had to shelve plans for a giant wind farm in Texas in part because a lack of transmission lines.

A wind farm off the coast of Long Island would have required upgrading the terrestrial grid with costly and controversial transmission lines, Mitchell noted.
"Once you got to shore, the upgrades would have cost $415 million and I don't know any wind farm can absorb that kind of cost," he said.

Approvals for the plan will require cooperation of both the federal and state governments, which include a barrage of permits and environmental impact studies.
Mitchell noted that the Obama administration supports developing offshore wind on the East Coast, though Congress has not yet been able to pass energy and climate legislation favorable to clean-energy technologies this year.
Gaining initial investors to get the project off the ground is the most difficult part of financing the entire operation, Mitchell said.
When the project is ready for construction, the group will rely on traditional project finance.

Regional transmission operator PJM, which serves the Mid-Atlantic states, will also play a key role in financing as it will need to assess the benefits, such as improving grid reliability, and get approval for paying for the infrastructure investment through ratepayers, executives said today.

Without a backbone transmission line, only a handful of offshore wind developers will be attracted to the Atlantic coast and ultimately those efforts will founder, Mitchell predicted.
One of the advantages of an offshore cable is that it will allow turbines to be placed as much as 18 miles offshore, where they would not be viewable from shore.
"There will be no offshore wind industry in this country if we as a team are not successful in getting a backbone transmission line going," he said.

Links :

• NewYorkTimes : Offshore wind power line wins backing
• Reuters : Google's wind investments just keep getting bigger - and more strategic
  

Bluefin on the edge - inside the tuna black market

The Documentary
ICIJ teamed up with London-based tve
to produce a companion documentary on BBC World News.

From The Center for Public Integrity

Twelve days before regulators gather in Paris to decide the fate of the endangered Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, a new documentary launching on BBC World News this weekend reveals a sorry saga of illegal over-fishing that has led to plummeting tuna stocks worldwide.

Co-produced by tve with the Washington-based ICIJ (the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists), ‘Looting the Seas’ shows how a decade of fraud involving Mediterranean fisheries, European governments and foreign dealers has helped push Atlantic bluefin stocks to the brink – and how the rules put in place to conserve them still don’t work effectively.

Bluefin tuna sit near the top of the marine food chain. If tuna stocks collapse, it could affect the entire marine ecosystem. Spawning stocks of Eastern Atlantic bluefin – the kind caught in the Mediterranean – are widely estimated to have shrunk by around 75 percent in the last four decades. As the global appetite for sushi spreads beyond Japan, ‘Looting the Seas’ asks if it’s now too late to rescue one of Nature's most noble fish, prized by the Romans – and today often worth thousands of dollars each.

According to the UN, 25 percent of the world fisheries are fished out, while 50 percent are fished to their biological maximum. No fish today better exemplifies the dire state of the seas than the prized Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Prized for its fatty, red flesh, bluefin tuna is considered a delicacy among sushi lovers in Japan and worldwide.

The fishing and trade in bluefin is regulated by ICCAT - the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, with headquarters in Madrid. ICCAT’s international panel of scientists advise on sustainable fishing levels but, as ‘Looting the Seas’ reveals, they say that for years their recommendations have been ignored.

Fisheries consultant Roberto Mielgo told ICIJ reporter Kate Willson: ‘Cheating was part of the game and a business necessity in order to survive.’

After years of underreporting from ICCAT-registered vessels, and a lack of enforcement by member countries, the European Union has only recently begun to crack down on its fleets. But as the film reveals, there’s evidence some of the measures in place are still not working as they should.

How Overfishing, Fraud, and Negligence Plundered the Majestic Bluefin Tuna

OVERVIEW: The Black Market in Bluefin
How a decade of rampant fraud and lax oversight threatened tuna stocks and created a $4 billion black market.

PART I: A Mediterranean Feeding Frenzy
Mediterranean fleets engaged in massive overfishing while governments stood by.

PART II: Diving into the Tuna Ranching Industry
Sea “ranches” for fattening tuna became lucrative centers for “laundering” bluefin.

PART III: Bluefin, Inc.
With no questions asked, Japanese traders fed a ravenous demand for high-quality sushi.

Key Findings
Highlights of ICIJ’s seven-month investigation into the bluefin trade.

About this Project
ICIJ’s multinational team scoured public records and interviewed sources in ten countries.

Links :

• AFP : Tuna black market worth billions of dollars
• LifeOnLine (TVE) : to read more about ‘Looting the Seas’
• BBC News : feature article by Life on the Edge series editor Steve Bradshaw
• BBC : Bluefin tuna protection system 'full of holes'
• YouTube : National Geographic, tuna matenza
  

Kelly Slater wins his 10th surfing world title

Kelly Slater : two decades of perfection (Surfer Magazine)

From ESPN

Kelly Slater claimed his record 10th ASP world title Saturday at the 2010 Rip Curl Pro Search in Puerto Rico.

In clean, contestable 3- to 4-foot surf at Middles, Slater advanced out of his quarterfinal heat over Brazil's Adriano De Souza to mathematically eliminate world No. 2 Jordy Smith from the world title race.

Since his previous title, in 2008, there had been a great deal of speculation as to whether Slater would go for a 10th, and after an uncharacteristic ninth-place finish at the Quiksilver Pro this year, questions about his motivation surfaced.

But Slater, 38, went on to win the second event of the year, the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, Australia. From that point, he gained momentum and went into Puerto Rico on a tear, having finished third, first, second, and first in the previous four contests.

Had Slater failed to advance through the quarterfinal, Smith could have kept the title race alive by winning the event. But Slater caught his first wave within seconds of the heat's start, fading deep into a barrel and emerging with a 9.00 out of a possible 10.

Minutes later, Slater caught a second wave -- this one providing two separate barrel sections that he cleared with ease. The wave earned him a 9.87 and, just like that, De Souza faced a nearly insurmountable hill to climb. It was never even close.

"I'm just really relieved right now. It's not one maneuver or one wave, it's a year-long thing. I'm so tired of worrying about my boards, my food and everything. This comes as such a relief," he told ESPN after his heat today.

Slater's professional career spans nearly 20 years. Hailing from Cocoa Beach, Fla., he first exploded onto the scene in 1992, when he won his first world title at age 20. By 1998, he had six world titles to his credit.

"This is the closest world tour event we've ever had to where I grew up, and there are a lot of familiar faces and old friends here. It's been 25 years since I first came here, and it's nice to have so much support around me for this," Slater said.

He unexpectedly walked away from tour life in 1999, only to return to competition in 2001.
His 2008 title came at the Billabong Pro Mundaka in Spain, when he held off a very on-point Joel Parkinson.

Slater holds the distinction of being the youngest and oldest ASP world champion.
He has a record 44 world tour wins, as well as six Pipeline Masters victories.

Slater's win comes after finding out Tuesday that three-time world champion Andy Irons was found dead in a Dallas hotel room.

As Slater was returning to competition from his hiatus in 2001, it would be Irons who emerged as his fiercest, most determined adversary.
Their battles in the water since have become the stuff of legend.

A medical examiner said a ruling on the cause of Iron's death could take several weeks, but said there were no signs of trauma or foul play. A police report stated prescription anti-anxiety and sleeping aid medications were found in Irons' hotel room.

More than 100 surfers had paddled out on Wednesday to honor Irons, including Slater.
They clasped hands and formed a circle, as tradition dictates, to honor a surfer who dies.

Links :

• ASPWorldTour : Kelly Slater claims Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico, 2010 ASP World Title
• Surfline : Kelly Slater biography and photos
• Time : Q&A surfer Kelly Slater
• NewYorkTimes (2006) : Kelly Slater and Jeremy Irons, when a man loves a rival
• Kelly Slater foundation / official website
  

3-D maps reveal depths of sea floor

3D fly-through of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea using the new high-resolution depth model, called Project 3DGBR. Depths plunge to 5625 metres.

From Australian Geographic

Astounding 3-D images have revealed, for the first time, the mysteries of Queensland's coastal watery depths. (Marine GeoGarage position)

Scientists from James Cook University have mapped the sea floor along ancient coral reefs, underwater river beds and extended canyons; among the features are a vast undersea landslide 60 times the size of Uluru and a 5-km abyss.
The 3-D model covers 3 million sq. km, stretching from the entire Queensland coast to almost as far as New Caledonia.

"Only six per cent of the Great Barrier Reef area consists of coral reefs.
Unfortunately, a vast amount of the reef has been ignored. With this model we are stripping back the water and peering into the depths," says lead scientist Robin Beaman.
"This grid is very much the map of the future. It gives researchers a base on which they can plan future expeditions."

Monumental task

Creating the 3-D undersea model has proved to be a monumental three-year task, which involved Robin and colleagues collecting data from nearly 900 million individual points.
They used echo sounders and satellite imagery, with an accuracy down to just 100 m - which is significantly detailed, given the vastness of the area surveyed.

"3D undersea models have already been created by Geoscience Australia, but never to this degree of detail," says Robin.
"This visual representation allows the complexity of the deep ocean to really jump out at you."

David Souter, research director at the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre believes the map will form a window of opportunity to further understand the formation of the Great Barrier Reef.
The model is already being used by oceanographers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to simulate ocean current flows that will be used to study the effects of water quality changes on the Great Barrier Reef.

Robin says there is a great future for his depth model which includes working with the Great Barrier Reef marine Park Authority to compare current marine park zoning with seabed features.

Links :

• Australian Geographic : Deep-sea canyon discovered off WA / Australian deep sea canyon video
  
• Deepreef explorer
• e-Atlas : GBR - 3DGBR, high-resolution bathymetry for the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea (JCU)
  

Atlantic Ocean flow reversed 10,000 years ago, slowing down again

The global conveyer, or thermohaline system,
with surface currents in red, deep cold currents in blue (Image by Avs)

From ArsTechnica

The flow of top- and bottom-level currents in the Atlantic Ocean appear to be slowing down and may be due for a reversal like one that happened 10,000 years ago, according to new data.
By studying sediment samples, scientists have found that, some time after the last glacial maximum, the undercurrent of the Atlantic Ocean switched from flowing north to flowing south, thanks in large part to changing temperatures.

Recently, discussions about the flow of the ocean have centered around what role it plays in climate change.
The "conveyor belt" flow of the Atlantic Ocean, which currently goes south on the underside and north closer to the surface, helps regulate the temperature of the water and can distribute heat to normally cold areas.
If it were to stop, it might allow for a bit of localized cooling in areas that are otherwise melting.

To get a better history of the Atlantic's flow, researchers studied sediment samples, specifically looking for the elements protactinium and thorium.
They noted that a short time after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the gradient of these elements in the North and South Atlantic reversed.

This indicates that the ocean used to flow north on the underside and south on the surface, the opposite of the way it does now.
The ocean was likely at an effective standstill at some point, probably around the beginning of the Holocene between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago.
The authors attribute the changes to surface cooling during the LGM, as well has an increase in seawater salinity in the Southern Ocean.

According to a graph in the paper that shows water mass travel time in the ocean, the flow speed increased for a while, but has become lethargic in the past few thousand years, indicating it may be on its way to a stoppage.
Of course, it will likely be on the order of a thousand years or more before this happens naturally and, even if it does, the climate may be radically different by then anyway.