While on the Big Island, future scientist Aren Elliott had two questions: when do we go to the volcano and are there any scientist on this island. Well yes Aren, there’s plenty to interest scientists on the Big Island from the 11 out of 13 climates across the terrain, to the incredibly brilliant night skies perfect for constellation spotting. Not to mention those volcanoes.
But the science-technology hub of international interest is at Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) Hawaii Gateway Energy Center. Why? Because when you live on such a remote string of islands you need to consider alternate sources of energy.
In Hawaii they look to the sea. Deep into the sea. 500 leagues into the sea deep.
After an introduction to the science behind Hawaii’s solar thermal energy concepts with Guy Toyama we learned how to boil a liquid with the heat of our hand then visited Keahole Solar Power to see first hand how surface water heated by the sun and cooler deep sea water can be used together to generate enough power to operate a generator or other machinery. You see energy operations manager Dean Towle starting up the machine and showing off the solar plates at the beginning and end of the video.
Afterwards we trekked to Big Island Abalone, which takes advantage of the rich nutrients found in the deep-water current to farm raise exceptionally healthy abalone – seafood revered in Japan. Aren didn’t like the sample served onsite but Iden did enjoy playing with his food. Our guide, Hiroshi Arai, found an exceptionally large shellfish for the kids to hold. It is much bigger than the ones they sell. Our travel companion, Chef Olelo pa’a Faith Ogawa, later prepared the most delicate breaded delicacy.
On we went to Cyanotech, an organization that uses the nutrient rich deep-sea water to grow microalgae. In the video you can see the waters behind Aren change in color from clear to light foam green to deeper green as the Spirulina are cultivated. The last “lake” is Haematococcus microalgae, which is a green algae that when stressed turns a deep red color. It is the red Astaxanthin shield that acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and is a unique antioxidant that provides benefits to the brain. Both the Spirulina and Astaxanthin are harvested and used in nutritional supplements.
Our video closes with the ocean shore where we enjoyed a light lunch and some splashing. Not to terribly scientific. Still, there is so much we gain from the sea.
