Michel Jullian wrote: > > Fresh water expanses offer less surface area than oceans obviously, and the minerals they contain couldn't be depleted indefinitely as they are needed to grow food. > > As for methanization we would have to make sure the absorbed carbon doesn't leak back to the atmosphere as a worse GHG than CO2! > > Michel > Don't ignore the MIT Algae Farms from Power Plant Stack Emissions, for sequestering CO2- too, Michel.
CO2-too sounds like the little engine that could. :-) http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-01-10-algae-powerplants_x.htm "Fed a generous helping of CO2-laden emissions, courtesy of the power plant's exhaust stack, the algae grow quickly even in the wan rays of a New England sun. The cleansed exhaust bubbles skyward, but with 40% less CO2 (a larger cut than the Kyoto treaty mandates) and another bonus: 86% less nitrous oxide." "After the CO2 is soaked up like a sponge, the algae is harvested daily. >From that harvest, a combustible vegetable oil is squeezed out: biodiesel for automobiles. Berzin hands a visitor two vials one with algal biodiesel, a clear, slightly yellowish liquid, the other with the dried green flakes that remained. Even that dried remnant can be further reprocessed to create ethanol, also used for transportation." "One key is selecting an algae with a high oil density about 50% of its weight. Because this kind of algae also grows so fast, it can produce 15,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Just 60 gallons are produced from soybeans, which along with corn are the major biodiesel crops today." "For his part, Berzin calculates that just one 1,000 megawatt power plant using his system could produce more than 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol a year. That would require a 2,000-acre "farm" of algae-filled tubes near the power plant. There are nearly 1,000 power plants nationwide with enough space nearby for a few hundred to a few thousand acres to grow algae and make a good profit, he says." Fred > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Frederick Sparber" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <vortex-l@eskimo.com> > Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 12:32 PM > Subject: Re: [Vo]: Re: The $25 Million Branson Climate Prize > > > > Michel Jullian wrote: > >> > >> > >> Floating microalgae ponds indeed Fred, but seas and oceans might be a > > better bet than fresh water surfaces, because of higher mineral contents > > and available surface area. That's what I proposed in earlier threads > > concerning biodiesel. Part or all of the production could be transformed in > > BD, and the rest if any could be dumped/sequestered in a less refined form > > maybe (would have to be a non-rotting form). > >> > > Judging from the"Algae Bloom" on Lake Mead a few years ago, and the bloom > > that > > Jones Beene pulled up on Google where the Colorado river dumps into > > the Gulf of California, any major river can be used for floating sieve > > algae farms > > plenty of natural nitrates in rivers and lakes (and groundwater too, > > judging from > > how fast algae form in livestock watering tanks from wells over 100 feet > > deep). > > > > The rotting algae "husks" are starch-cellulosic and ferment to methane, > > hence an abandoned coal mine > > filled with algae becomes an oil and gas well, Michel. > > > > Fred > >> > >> The production would be transported to land for fuel or sequestration > > using either underwater pipelines or supertankers collecting it from farm > > to farm. > >> > >> Alternatively we could exploit the natural algae fields in the oceans > > with supertankers which would also do the harvesting and processing to BD, > > if it turned out to be cheaper. > >> > >> In any case photosynthesis + sequestering does seem to be the best bet to > > absorb excess atmospheric CO2, and I suspect that doing the photosynthesis > > part at sea would be the only way to do it on a sufficiently large scale. > > All that's left to work out now is the practical details, come on guys > > shall we run collectively for the Branson prize and solve the world's > > energy problems at the same time? :) > >> > >> Michel > >> > >> > >> ----- Original Message ----- > >> From: "Frederick Sparber" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> To: "vortex-l" <vortex-l@eskimo.com> > >> Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 10:41 AM > >> Subject: Re: [Vo]: Re: The $25 Million Branson Climate Prize > >> > >> > >> > Thomas Malloy suggested "algae ponds in the southwest desert". > >> > > >> > I suggest floating filters-sieves as algae ponds on streams, rivers, > > and lakes, > >> > and Blanton's swimming pool, where the water passes through and the > > algae > >> > are contained in them for harvesting for dumping into abandoned coal > > mines for sequestering. > >> > > >> > Thomas Malloy's leaky canoe comes to mind as a demonstration. :-) > >> > > >> > Fred > > > > > >
