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OTE Sees Opportunity to Combat Intensity and Frequency of Droughts in the Caribbean with Its OTEC Technology
OTE Sees Opportunity to Combat Intensity and Frequency of Droughts in the Caribbean with Its OTEC Technology.
About this update from Ocean Thermal Energy Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"LANCASTER, PA / ACCESSWIRE / March 1, 2018 / Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation (OTCQB: CPWR) (\"OTE\" or \"the Company\"), a project developer for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) renewable energy plants, announced today that it is planning to actively explore opportunities to combat the intensity and frequency of droughts in the Caribbean with its OTEC technology.\"Drought ranks as the single most common cause of severe food shortages in developing countries, so this is a key issue for Caribbean food security.\" - Deep Ford, United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization Regional Coordinator in the Caribbean United Nations' Food and Agriculture OrganizationRecent reports from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warn that a change in long-term weather patterns is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of droughts in the Caribbean. The FAO is urging countries of the region to enhance their capabilities to deal with this and other extreme weather-related challenges to ensure food security and hunger eradication. The Caribbean already experiences drought-like events every year, with low water availability often impacting agriculture.Historic Drought and DisastersFor the last 3 to 5 years, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have experienced uncommonly dry weather. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) are in the grip of a historic drought despite extreme rainfall caused by the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in 2017.Before Hurricane Maria, Eastern Puerto Rico, eastern parts of St. Thomas and St. John, and the entire islands of Vieques and Culebra, Puerto Rico, and St. Croix, USVI had been without significant rainfall for an extended period of time. In addition to the island-wide severe devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, over 86% of Puerto Rico and the USVI now have a water deficit, and 25% of Puerto Rico is still without electricity or clean water after nearly one year. Only accelerated by the recent devastation, the USDA has designated St. Croix, US Virgin Islands as a \"primary natural disaster\" area due to damages and losses caused by the drought, only magnified by the infrastructure damage caused by the recent disasters.OTE CommitmentOcean Thermal Energy Corporation (OTE), led by its Chairman and CEO...