The paradise capital of the island of Hawaii, and the largest city in the country, Honolulu is all set to receive the an innovative air conditioning system, derived entirely from the frigid waters of the sea, thereby significantly reducing the country’s carbon emissions.

The proposed project was the brainchild of the Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning that would involve the plumbing process five miles in the ocean at a depth of 1,800 feet where the average temperature of the water is 45-degrees. As per the plan, the water taken from the ocean will be circulated through out downtown Honolulu’s AC system and then the water will be released back to the sea. The feasibility studies for the AC project has been given a go ahead by the Hawaiian government and as per the Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning the construction wok would begin in the year 2010 and the project is expected get it final touches by early 2012.

According to Dale Jensen (Sr. Engineer, Makai Ocean Engineering),

“It takes a very special place to do a seawater air conditioning system because you need to have deep water close to shore, you need to have a large air conditioning load to make it feasible, and you need to have fairly high electricity rates.”

The entire project is expected to cost about $200 million and based on the success of the initial downtown trials, the technology could also very well make its way to the Waikiki hotels. The sea water air conditioning technology has already been implemented by Toronto, Stockholm, Bora Bora and Hawaii’s Big Island.

Via R&D, ACS Publications & Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning.