Why
the Maldives?
(Also
published as "keep it simple", in New Frontiers, August 97 issue.)
Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson
Several
possible locations and development scenarios for Aquarius Rising are being
investigated. One gemstar / project team has decided to investigate locating
Aquarius Rising on the island republic of Maldives in the Indian ocean.
You will probably find that much of the reasoning which supports the Maldives
as a location also holds true for other possible locations, like the Seychelles
in the Indian ocean or Tonga, as another example, which is located in the
Pacific ocean.
Two
of the main points in the final chapter of The
Millennial Project are about philosophy. These points in my view go
to the very core of what we do and why we do it. "Two operative philosophies
guide the development of all Millennial space colonies, including Anlagen*.
The first philosophy, is to live lightly - minimising consumption. The second
philosophy is to live symbiotically - existing in self-sustaining harmony
with an ecosphere. Both of these principles are essential."
My
view, and several people support me, is that Aquarius Rising as depicted
in the plans for St. Croix and other alternatives outlined is far from living
lightly, nor is it to live in symbiosis with the environment. US$ 300,000,000
hotel complexes and luxury resorts could in my mind never be classified
as following either of these philosophies. The Maldives offer us the chance
to live up to these goals which we have set for ourselves in a way which
other proposals cannot fulfil.
The
Maldives
The
Maldives are an island republic with 250,000 citizens, situated on the equator
in the Indian ocean (1°S - 7°N, 73°E - 74°E).
The Maldives consist of some 1,200 islands in the shape of 20 atolls, roundish
formations of coral reefs and islands. Currently 200 islands are inhabited
by native Maldivians - this includes the capital island, Male. Male has
a population of 65,000 people and covers just about 4 square kilometres.
Some 80 islands are holiday resorts and the remaining 920 islands are uninhabited.
Most islands are very small, hundreds of meters across. The Maldives have
approximately 17,000 Sri Lankan guest workers to make up for a shortage
in the work force.
Why
the Maldives for Aquarius Rising?
The
Maldives are an appropriate location for an Aquarius Rising facility for
several reasons (in no particular order):
Due to extremely pleasant weather and general conditions in the Maldives
a standard infrastructure can be very inexpensive. Even people on luxury
holidays do not expect giant air conditioned concrete lobbies, swimming
pools or tennis courts. This means in practice that Aquarius Rising facilities
for both the research and potential tourist resort on the Maldives could
probably cost a fraction (1%, rough estimate) of the first proposed Aquarius
Rising for St.Croix.
The
Maldives are the type of area in which Aquarius would be located, tropical
waters which are in the middle of the ocean. The temperature difference
between surface water and deep water - which is what drives an Ocean Thermal
Energy Converter (OTEC) - is amongst the best possible available.
In
the Maldives one can find easy access to sheltered waters where aquaculture
could be performed. Nearly all the islands are sheltered by the reefs which
make up the edge of the island atolls. This gives protection from the ocean
for our mariculture ponds. The Maldives are located in the doldrums, which
means that no really heavy weather is to be expected, but shelter from strong
winds and large waves is always a good idea. That the weather is never really
bad also means that the biggest danger to the OTEC - losing the cold water
pipe due to large waves - is very unlikely.
With mariculture as one of our main areas of research it is good to know
that fish export is the second biggest Maldivian industry. This means that
we can just plug into it with our production without having to worry about
whether there is a market or not for our output. There is also a fair chance
that there will be a strong local interest in our mariculture research.
If
fishing is the second largest industry in the Maldives then it probably
does not come as a surprise that tourism is the largest Maldivian industry.
Tourism represented 18% of GDP and 60% of foreign exchange receipts according
to the CIA World Fact Book. This means that there is potential easy access
to eco-tourists whom we would want to encourage into visiting Aquarius Rising.
The
other outputs from a multi-product OTEC system would also be in demand.
The Maldives have many desalination plants and also import (very expensive)
drinking water for the tourists. If we can get the desalinated water from
our plant to taste good we could be supplying 80 resorts with bottled drinking
water in recycled containers. Today most drinking water for the tourist
industry is imported from Indonesia or Singapore in plastic bottles and
the disposal of these bottles presents a problem.
And last but not least, the Maldives are a net energy importer and with
a 10 MW OTEC this could be changed. The CIA
World Fact book estimates that the Maldives currently have a total capacity
of 5 MW from gas or other fossil fuel burning generators.
Are
there no negative bits?
So with all these good points about the Maldives are there any bad points?
There are a few which we have identified so far.
There are only a few locations with relatively easy access to deep water
for the OTEC. So far we have identified ten sites through a chart survey
which appear to be suitable for an OTEC. These are islands which according
to our island directory are not currently inhabited. We have already disqualified
inhabited islands. Apart from having to be uninhabited the main requirement
is that the distance to deep water (1,000 meters deep) should be no more
than 3 kilometres. These ten islands will probably need to be investigated
on-site together with several other locations which seem to have potential,
but are lacking in soundings on the charts.
Another
potential drawback is that the Maldives is quite far from Europe as the
747 flies. Male airport is 9 to 12 hours flying depending on the route and
stopovers and another 6 hours from the US east coast. This is true for many
potential locations in the Pacific as well, though the US is then closer
than Europe.
Something
else which has been keeping us thinking hard is that there is no large infrastructure
to plug into, i.e. no country-wide electricity network and no easily accessible
fresh water system from our expected location. So if we want to sell these
outputs from the OTEC, we either have to be a bit creative or close to one
of the two population centres, Male (population 65,000) or Hithadhoo (population
15,000). We will write more on that in the next issue of New
Frontiers.
And
finally, due to its remote location, telecommunications facilities in the
Maldives are currently very expensive. Only one satellite station is in
operation (60% owned by the Maldivian government and 40% by Cable and Wireless).
But I think this will be less of a problem over the next five years with
the new global coverage satellite systems going on-line - like Iridium and
Teledesic.
Synergistic
opportunities
One of our members, Janyce Kanfer, wrote the following on of our mailing
lists:
"Instead of building just another tourist trap, a Maldivian AR could
be developed into a large scale prototype of the real Aquarius, at a (greatly)
reduced cost, since there is no need for the bulk of the structure to float.
Moreover, we would get a chance to learn, first hand, just what conditions
Aquarius would need to face in terms of breakwater, storm resistance, etc.
This simply isn't possible in St. Croix."
Similar
thinking has made the Maldives very attractive to me. Beyond the normally
planned Aquarius Rising facilities (OTEC, aquaculture, research facility,
fresh water production, hydrogen production plant) we would do several things
which would augment what we are doing.
FMF
Maldives University
The Maldives has no university. Inserting a "colony" of "hitech"
people like us could be done in a way which is very beneficial to the people
of the Maldives. If you think about it, Aquarius Rising actually has many
things in common with a university campus, so an interesting possibility
is for us to run an education facility in conjunction with our research
facility. We would teach our own members as well as the local population.
We would educate in ecology management, fish farming, tourism, information
technology etc.
Maldivians
are in some ways like the "original Aquarians". They know more
from a practical point of view about fishing and living off limited resources
in an environmentally sustainable way than we do. They will have a lot to
teach us which would be very beneficial.
Eco
resort
How does a visit to the worlds first "Eco resort island" sound?
If Earthwatch can charge "tourists"
$2,000 for ten days of assisting researchers in their work, then perhaps
we are be able to run a similar scheme. It might even be possible for Aquarius
Rising to be part of the Earthwatch set-up.
Dive
centre with a purpose
Did I say that the Maldives have fabulous scuba diving? We can have a dive
school which actually tries to teach divers something about the ocean and
reef life rather than just have them ogle at the cool fish. They can take
part in some research and conservation efforts. We could become an expert
centre on Indian Ocean aquatic life. Today nearly all the Maldivian resorts
have some dive facilities - this alone tells how interesting the underwater
environment is in the Maldives. It also shows a lot of potential: divers
generally have an interest in the environment and a disposable income. We
should capitalise on that.
Tele-commuting
centre
With good internet connection, telecommunications facilities and information
technology infrastructure we could set up a tele-commuting centre. Foundation
members can come and stay for weeks or months, working normal or reduced
work days in our "tele-cottage", communicating with customers
and office via the Internet and via telephone. This could be piggy-backed
onto the infrastructure we need anyway and thus we could be subsidised through
office rent and bandwidth renting. In the evenings and on the weekends our
tele-commuters take part in the work at Aquarius Rising. In fact, our tele-commuting
centre could be turned into "the most desirable tele-cottage in the
world".
Finding
out more
Before any of this can happen there is obviously a lot more work to be done.
I and others on the Aquarius Rising Maldives project team have spent some
time investigating the Maldives through guide books, Web sites, talking
to Maldivians and last but not least by going there. I have found several
things which make the Maldives as a location for Aquarius Rising more attractive
than I initially envisaged.
I have been told that that over the last couple of years the Maldivian government
have started to encourage foreign investment. Mainly this is done by liberalising
regulation associated with investment and company ownership. I understand
that it is now possible to have companies in the Maldives which are wholly
owned by foreign parties. This was not previously possible and could have
been a problem for us.
I have been told that if a business is deemed suitable and beneficial for
the Maldives by the Maldivian government, it is possible to get a lease
of an island. The lease packages generally consist of 21 year leases where
the first year is free. The lease cost seems reasonable from what I have
heard so far. My opinion is however that we should be able to show how Aquarius
Rising would benefit the Maldives in such an way that lease fees could be
substantially reduced.
Several
Maldivians have told me that the Maldivian government is interested in projects
which go beyond the normal tourist investment. We have had an exchange of
correspondence with the Director General of Investments of the Maldivian
Ministry of Trade, Industries and Labour which is very encouraging at this
stage and we will pursue this with vigour. Any news of progress will of
course be made available to FMF members.
And
what if we do not succeed in convincing the Maldivian government? Much of
what I have said above is applicable to other possible OTEC locations and
somewhere we will find people who see it our way, be it in the Seychelles,
Tonga, Guam, Mauritius, American Samoa ...
For
the latest, subscribe to the mailing list fmf-ar@millennial.org or check
out the AR Maldivian project page http://www.trellis.demon.co.uk/