PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Speed up development of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) technology so it can help meet U.S. energy needs. Congress says U.S. nonrenewable fuels are being used up and we need other energy sources. OTEC is a renewable option whose technology has recently gotten better. Small pilot plants of about 10 to 40 megawatts are now less risky to build. The federal program should move faster to build pilot and demonstration facilities, plan for commercial projects, and help grow a strong U.S. industry. Consistent with the Domestic Policy Review on Solar Energy, OTEC could potentially supply at least one-tenth of a quad per year by 2000. The law sets clear targets: show at least 100 megawatts of OTEC capacity by 1986, at least 500 megawatts by 1989, make OTEC cost-competitive in the mid-1990s for the Gulf Coast and U.S. islands, and aim for 10,000 megawatts by 1999.

Title 42, §9001

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Congress finds that—

(1)the supply of nonrenewable fuels in the United States is slowly being depleted;

(2)alternative sources of energy must be developed;

(3)ocean thermal energy is a renewable energy resource that can make a significant contribution to the energy needs of the United States;

(4)the technology base for ocean thermal energy conversion has improved over the past two years, and has consequently lowered the technical risk involved in constructing moderate-sized pilot plants with an electrical generating capacity of about ten to forty megawatts;

(5)while the Federal ocean thermal energy conversion program has grown in size and scope over the past several years, it is in the national interest to accelerate efforts to commercialize ocean thermal energy conversion by building pilot and demonstration facilities and to begin planning for the commercial demonstration of ocean thermal energy conversion technology;

(6)a strong and innovative domestic industry committed to the commercialization of ocean thermal energy conversion must be established, and many competent domestic industrial groups are already involved in ocean thermal energy conversion research and development activity; and

(7)consistent with the findings of the Domestic Policy Review on Solar Energy, ocean thermal energy conversion energy can potentially contribute at least one-tenth of quad of energy per year by the year 2000.

(b)Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to accelerate ocean thermal energy conversion technology development to provide a technical base for meeting the following goals:

(1)demonstration by 1986 of at least one hundred megawatts of electrical capacity or energy product equivalent from ocean thermal energy conversion systems;

(2)demonstration by 1989 of at least five hundred megawatts of electrical capacity or energy product equivalent from ocean thermal energy conversion systems;

(3)achievement in the mid-1990’s, for the gulf coast region of the continental United States and for islands in the United States, its possessions and its territories, an average cost of electricity or energy product equivalent produced by installed ocean thermal energy conversion systems that is competitive with conventional energy sources; and

(4)establish as a national goal ten thousand megawatts of electrical capacity or energy product equivalent from ocean thermal energy conversion systems by the year 1999.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 96–310, § 1, July 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 941, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Research, Development, and Demonstration Act’.”

§9001 Congressional Findings and Declaration of Purpose

Summary

Title 42, §9001

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Citations & Metadata