Retiree's Concept Takes Energy Search Out To Sea
Skip directly to the full story.
By LIZ BLEAU lbleau@tampatrib.com
Published: May 20, 2006
SUN CITY CENTER - Dave Nicholson is working to launch his idea for an alternative energy source: collapsible wind turbines secured on ocean platforms tied to a hydrogen production process.
Nicholson, a retired mechanical engineer, has formed Windhunter Corp., tapping into the varied backgrounds of some of his Sun City Center neighbors to serve as consultants for his project.
Frank Slesnick, a retired economics professor, developed the economic analysis for the plan; retired Norwegian ship captain Olav Olsen helped Nicholson with the seagoing aspects of the venture; and George Shambaugh, also a retired professor, assisted with technical writing. Nicholson and Shambaugh have known each other more than 50 years and attended college together.
For now, Nicholson's project is an idea and a tabletop model. He has applied for a patent for his system and hopes to garner enough interest in it to have someone make his concept a reality.
Nicholson came up with the idea for his project as he researched global warming and related issues for a talk he gave last year to a local current-events group, Issues and Ideas.
Nicholson estimates it would cost about $100 million to equip and operate his invention for 20 years, including staff salaries. According to his calculations, the project would begin making a profit four to five years after it's launched.
He and his wife hope an investor with sufficient means to build the vessel will purchase the rights to his invention, perhaps in another country already using hydrogen to propel vehicles.
"I started to look at ways to correct global warming and at energy sources," he said. "The problem with wind turbines is that people don't want them in their neighborhoods and it is hard to get them mounted."
"I knew hydrogen is a good energy source, but it's difficult to produce," he said.
His Windhunter model solves a number of problems that exist with wind turbines and with hydrogen production, he said.
Wind turbines only work at full capacity a small percentage of the time because of available wind. With the Windhunter, the oceangoing platform can relocate at sea to find higher wind velocities.
In the event of a storm, during relocation or for maintenance, the turbines can be lowered parallel to the platform deck.
The turbines would produce electricity, which would be used to break down treated seawater into its components of oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen would be captured and stored in tanks. When the storage area is full, the tanks would be transferred to a surface ship for transport to shore.
"The turbines and hydrogen production would operate 24/7," Nicholson said. "It would be like a huge floating power plant. Eighteen-member crews would operate the plant; each crew would rotate after 30 days."
Except for the mounting of the turbines on the collapsible frame, all the other parts of the system already exist, Nicholson said.
"And we could use old oil tankers that are going to be phased out for the platforms," he said, "or old military vessels."
The cost of the hydrogen product varies, he said, depending on current energy prices and how long it would take for the vessel to break even.
Slesnick has designed a Web site so that variable figures can be put in to change the financial outcomes.
"If you think our estimates are not conservative enough, you can put in your own numbers and see what you get," he said.
Barbara Nicholson, who serves as company vice president, said she believes her husband's idea could help save the planet.
"We wanted to do this for our grandchildren and all the world's grandchildren," she said. "It's kind of like our baby. It keeps us up at night, and we will never be rid of it. We might be able to sell the concept, but it's still ours."
The Web site, www.wind hunter.org, has been in operation since April and has logged more than 38,000 hits, Nicholson said. When a neighbor mentioned Windhunter during a telephone call broadcast on C-SPAN several weeks ago, the site had almost 11,000 visits in 24 hours.
AI
