We stand at an energy crossroads with two routes – rely on diminishing oil supplies or embrace sources of renewable energy. Making a change from fossil fuels to renewables requires a combination of leadership, effort and action from practical visionaries willing to take calculated risks.
Jeremy Feakins, CEO of Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, is one such visionary. He leads an inspired group working to develop OTEC as a commercially viable baseload electricity option.
For Feakins and his partners, OTEC provides a fundamentally sound business model, and a sound decision for the world. “Improving the lives and well-being of literally millions of people worldwide is core to our mission and we want make it happen – that’s why we embarked on this mission to start with.”
Dependence
We often hear politicians use the phrase “cut our dependence on foreign oil”, something of greater consequence in developing economies entirely dependent on imported oil. Specifically, island nations regularly pay five times more per kilowatt hour than the U.S. “Customers want to move away from the price volatility of oil,” Feakins explains. “They can’t fix their electricity prices. For example, in The Bahamas, residents can’t afford to have their electricity running all day long so they turn off all their appliances at 6 o’clock at night and sit there in the dark.”
It’s in nations like The Bahamas and other small countries within the tropics where there is an unmet need for OTEC right now. Feakins adds, “Many of these countries suffer brownouts – it’s a tough situation – in 2011, people in developed countries still don’t have access to reliable electricity.”
The problems created by fossil fuels continue to outweigh the power created but Jeremy Feakins and the rest of the OTE Corporation team are trying to change this with the help of OTEC.
Clean Power is just the beginning. Read how the benefits of OTEC drive Jeremy and his company in Part 2.
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