by Wataru Tanaka, Kiyohiko Wakui and Hideaki Kanki, Research Institute for Ocean Economics Japan
The western coastal regions of northern part of Japan look out upon the sea of Japan. They are washed by the poor-nutrient "Tsushima Current" and the water temperature of the sea is too high in summer to raise fish. It can be a possible effective way for fish-raising in those regions to make use of the nutrients and the cold temperature of deep ocean water (DOW) of the sea. But there is a critical question: How will and economically do you use the very cold DOW in winter season when even the temperatures of air and surface seawater are low?
Our institute worked out a plan to resolve this question for a town on the west coast of Hokkaido in order to encourage the local economy. This plan is a comprehensive geo-ocean energy utilization system using of DOW and hot spring water. A small scale of independent power generation, hothouse agriculture, fish raising, seaweed cultivation and recreational facilities are included. The detail of the plan will be described in our paper.