advantages as well as the disadvantages of OTEC. Also stated in this paper will be the high cost that Hawaii pays for its energy, reasons why we should even use other energy sources, and if these alternative energy=s are so good then what=s holding them back from further development?
             The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), an agency of the State of Hawaii, operates its facilities at Keahole Point on the west coast of the Big Island. In 1974 the State Legislature established and set aside 321 acres of land for research and development of natural energy sources, primarily OTEC. In 1984, the State Legislature set aside an additional 547 acres of land for commercial expansion of successful NELHA research projects. This area, called the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology (HOST) Park, was administered and developed by another State Agency, the High Technology Development Corporation (HTDC). In 1990, following installation of basic HOST Park infrastructure under HTDC guidance, the Legislature combined NELHA and the HOST Park into a new entity. Attached administratively to the State=s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, NELHA=s twenty State employees pump seawater to and administer leases for about 25 tenant companies. (www.nelha.org)
             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 t...