Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority
Coordinates: 19 ° 42'58 " N , 156 ° 2'1" W.
The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (short Natural Energy Lab or NELHA ) is the administrative unit of research and energy parks based in Kailua-Kona . The heart of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority is the 350-acre Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park (HOST Park) in Keahole Point .
The Natural Energy Laboratory was founded in 1974 as a branch of the University of Hawaii . The original goal was to research and use the thermal gradient in the oceans for energy generation and aquaculture . As early as 1979, the principle of oceanothermal energy generation was successfully demonstrated in a three-month test run off the coast. Due to the success, an experimental marine thermal power plant with an open circuit was built and put into operation from 1993 to 1998.
Since the 1990s, the fields of activity in the field of the Natural Energy Laboratory have expanded and numerous companies have been involved. For the detection of neutrinos as part of the DUMAND project, which has since been discontinued, the construction of an underwater telescope was tackled. The main focus, the research and use of renewable energies, was extended to photovoltaics and solar thermal energy . Microalgae are used to produce biofuels.
Web links
- http://nelha.hawaii.gov/ - Website of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority