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Michael Hayes

May 30, 2015
04:18

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The below is a copy of a comment offered to Jim Baird on his proposal found at: https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301501/phaseId/1306817/planId/1317203/tab/COMMENTS Hello Jim, Your proposal hits on a large number of important technologies and your writing is clear. I would like to offer a few technical points which may fit into the scenario you're proposing. 1) Up-welling of electrolized H2 will produce significant pressure within the up-welling pipe head and thus the pressurized H2 (kenetics) can be used to energize a sizable desalinization operation. It is a 2-for-1 opportunity. In brief, up-welling of gas within a pipe creates an 'air lift pump'. As I'm sure you recognize, this will create a head pressure which can be used for multiple cultivation and processing/refining operations. See below link. https://www.google.com/search?q=air+lift+pump&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PflpVYTIIYH7oQSU04HQAw&ved=0CCYQsAQ 2) The 'perpetual salt fountain' concept is related to this overall up-welling issue and offers important insights about up-welling. See link below. https://www.google.com/search?q=perpetual+salt+fountain&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CPppVaLXM5DfoASEnYHYDw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg And, it has been found that the above form of up-welling will cause CO2 out-gassing and production of CO2 via dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) reacting with surface dynamics. 3) The up-welling of artificially warmed fluids, if not within an a well insulated pipe, will warm the local water column and thus create an external (un-confined) up-welling of CO2/DIC rich water. Thus, the final carbon foot print may be larger than what is accounted for within the process. 4)Shunting the out-gassed/produced CO2 into sealed chemosynthetic cultivation tank farms will allow for the utilization/sequestration of much of the generated CO2. The excess CO2 not used bythe cultivation effort can be sequestered through multiple paths. However, it is important that we utilize the CO2 to the fullest extent possible with sequestration being the last option. 5) Further, electrolysis of saltwater produces significant amounts of chlorine gas which will need to be captured and properly used/stored. The upper atmospheric chemistry is highly sensitive to chlorine and unchecked chlorine production/release can devastate the ozone layer in short order. 6) Electrolysis of seawater to create 'Biorock' is a good reference when working in this overall field. Dr. Wolf Hillbertz foresaw much of the 'Multi-Purpose OTEC' potential back in the 1970-1980s. A link to one of his papers is included below. http://www.wolfhilbertz.com/downloads/1979/hilbertz_IEEE_1979.pdf (Please see Fig. 30) 7) You have speculated that "It would take therefore a full war time effort the rest of this century to reach OTEC’s full potential.". Many in the OTEC field have the same view. However, it may be possible to see robust OTEC usage in far less time if the focus of the OTEC development is first applied to off-shore biomass production, which can produce carbon negative portable biofuels/biochar, food, feed, etc., with on-shore grid support as a secondary priority. 8) The oxyhydrogen reaction in algae (chemosynthesis) uses hydrogen to replace the need for photosynthesis in some species of micro-algae and thus production of hydrogen is a needed component to a vast scale carbon negative biofuel/biochar scenario. Currently, many who are waking up to the value of chemosynthesis are calling for liberating the H2 from the biomass via hydrothermal conversion of the biomass. I, however, recommend the use of an advanced perpetual salt fountain which uses heat and electrolysis for many of the reasons you have detailed. 9) By focusing solely upon feeding the on-shore electrical grid, the OTEC operations profits, and thus operations, are dependent upon high $bbl prices. It is possible that fracking will keep energy prices far below what typical OTEC needs as a competitive price for the foreseeable future. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading your well informed proposal and found your focus upon the existential threat of deep ocean thermal inertia to be spot on. Also, thank you for the 'Solomon et al' paper (I thought I had read all of her works!). Part of the work I'm pulling together under the IMBECUS Protocol attempts to address the ocean thermal problem set through the deployment of vast scale ocean biomass production platforms which can also function as vast scale surface cooling platforms in association with other cooling methods such as Marine Cloud Brightening. In short, deep-welling cold pH adjusted water while up-welling nutrients, CO2 for use in the production of carbon negative biofuels/biochar hits on the majority of the critical key issues which are critical to our survival. Thank you for your work, Michael

Sergio Pena

Jun 12, 2015
11:07

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Dear contributor, on your first contribution I make some comments. You can find the same in the area of China. Excelent contribution. Best regards, Sergio Peña, Connector Catalyst.

Michael Hayes

Jun 23, 2015
08:49

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Thank you, Sergio.

Michael Hayes

Jul 17, 2015
06:38

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Google Doc reflecting final submission form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16xC-3NXB9xCt91IbkanFNX57L_3md0aHv1QldPtHKl0/pub

Michael Hayes

Aug 4, 2015
04:37

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Hello Maruf, The WENN Protocol and technology suite is highly relevant to....any....region. As I tried to explain in my writings, the WENN Protocol is an attempt to standardize and coordinate actions across all regions so as to create an equal opportunity for all nations to participate in an advance mitigation and adaptation effort. The technologies being proposed can be used in all sectors (i.e. urban, rural, distant rural and marine environments). Thus, the technology is 'Universal' in its nature and use. The overall protocol is an attempt to bring coordinated funding opportunities to...all..nations, cities and even the smallest communities. The Green Bond market can reach trillions of dollars yet there is a need to bring high levels of coordination to the wide spectrum of issues to insure the best use of the funds and to also insure that the climate change mitigation/adaptation technologies being paid for through the Green Bonds are used to their greatest abilities. Currently, we have many technologies available to help us mitigate and adapt to climate change. What we do not have is a widely coordinated means of funding and managing those critical technologies. The WENN suite of technologies can provide a 'Universal' base upon which coordinated funding and management can be achieved. Without a strong and coordinated 'Universally' coordinated funding and management regimen ...nothing....on the scale needed to aggressively mitigate or adapt to climate change....can...emerge. The problem is too vast for uncoordinated/piecemeal efforts to solve in the time available. The WENN Protocol is an effort to coordinate actions, funding and possibly even mitigation/adaptation governance between all nations, regions and even the smallest villages. The multiple problem sets we currently face (and will face for generations) is so complex and vast that nothing short of a full trans-regional/global scale coordinated effort will prevent the climate disruption which is already baked into the system. Maruf, thank you for your comment and suggestions. I value any opportunity to clarify my work as it is rather complex and...yes...ambitious. Climate change mitigation and adaptation will need both ambitious and even bold ideas and actions. It will also need many important actors willing to step outside their own comfort zone as what we, as a species, are currently and comfortably doing today is simply not working in our collective interests. Warmest wishes, Michael

Michael Hayes

Aug 12, 2015
09:16

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The limited space provided within the CoLab form makes addressing the suggestions and concerns of the Judges extremely difficult within that limited space. Also, the time and effort spent in simply trying to work in such a limited space needs to be better spent. Thus, I've transferred the CoLab format to a Google Doc (link below). This allows for expanded text, better graphics, more complete explanations at multiple levels (i.e. non-technical, policy centric, funding centric and STEM centric etc.). This link will also allow the reader to follow the conceptual development of the U.S. Plan: Chemosynthetic Management of the Water/Energy/Nutrient Nexus (WENN) even after the CoLab competition is complete. The link is below and you may need to copy and paste it into your browser as links to such 'work-arounds' many times become broken. https://docs.google.com/document/d/16xC-3NXB9xCt91IbkanFNX57L_3md0aHv1QldPtHKl0/pub Best regards, Michael

Mohammad Aatish Khan

Aug 13, 2015
09:30

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Thank you for submitting your proposal to this Climate CoLab contest. Because you had submitted it before July 18th, the contest Judges were able to review your proposal and provide you with some feedback, which we have included below. We hope that you will use it to further develop your work before the August 31 deadline. On that date at midnight Eastern Time, your proposal will be locked and considered in final form. The Judges will then select which proposals will continue to the Finalists round. Finalists are eligible for the contest’s Judges Choice award, as well as for public voting to select the contest’s Popular Choice award. The Winners will receive a special invitation to attend selected sessions at MIT’s SOLVE conference and showcase their work before key constituents in a workshop the next day. A few select Climate CoLab winners will join distinguished SOLVE attendees in a highly collaborative problem-solving session. In addition, if your plan is included in one or more winning global plans, you will receive Climate CoLab Points, and the top point-getters will receive shares of a cash prize of $10,000. Thank you for your great work and good luck! 2015 Climate CoLab Judges & Fellows Judges Feedback 1: The proposal dealing with the water, energy, nutrient nexus has transformative potential. However, as highlighted by the fellow’s comments, the proposal needs to have greater clarity in terms of explaining the key objectives and outcomes in a more structured/logical manner. Currently it seems to be drawing from earlier submissions/literature and the India component of the proposal needs to stand out. Also, it would be good to mention some safeguards or potential impacts of adoption of the new technology in the long run. Judges Feedback 2: Your feedback: In this “proposal,” if one can call it that, the authors have suggested that a chemosynthetic route to carbon capture and utilizatin can help address the climate, energy, and water challenges but have given no guidance as to how this might happen. The mere existence of a seemilgly-attractive technology or its success in pilot projects is not sufficient evidence of its implementability. The document basically is a series of graphics and extracts (often pasted in without attribution) about chemosynthesis without any explanatory text whatsover as to what these are or what the overall proposed strategy for deplyment is (apart from listing possible sources of funding), what the technical and economic feasibility might be, and what the other cosntraints to deployment might be. The “costs” and “challenges” sections at the end, therefore, contain no real discussion whatsoever. If this proposal is to be taken seriously, the authors must outline what they see is a possible way of deploying this tcehnology, including a thorough analysis of the technical and economic feasibility as well as other critical issues that would need to be considered for large-scale deployment. Lastly, the intended meaning of the term “protocol” is not clear. Are the authors suggresting an international treaty/agreement (as in Kyoto Protocol)? Or are they suggesting a methodology (as in an experimental protocol )?

Michael Hayes

Sep 2, 2015
04:25

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Dead Zones in red, black dots are of un-known size

Robert Simmon & Jesse Allen - NASA Earth Observatory

Red circles on this map show the location and size of many of our planet’s dead zonesBlack dots show where dead zones have been observed, but their size is unknown. It’s no coincidence that dead zones occur down river of places where human population density is high (darkest brown). Darker blues in this image show higher concentrations of particulate organic matter, an indication of the overly fertile waters that can culminate in dead zones.


Michael Hayes

Sep 2, 2015
07:57

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The above map shows marine hypoxic/anoxic areas where WENN production would be highly efficient. 


Michael Hayes

Sep 12, 2015
03:25

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Greetings,

There has been further refinement of the Water, Energy, Nutrient Nexus (WENN) Protocol in the area of authorship and organization.

The link to that work is:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16xC-3NXB9xCt91IbkanFNX57L_3md0aHv1QldPtHKl0/pub

However, there still is the need to address each nation's/region's ability to use the WENN Protocol per the competition(s) mandate.I'm working my way through the information found in the World Resource Institute database: http://cait.wri.org/ and hope to be able to make clear linkage between the national pledges and the WENN Protocol within the revision time frame allowed within the Finals stage of the competition.

Your continued patients with the development of the WENN Protocol proposal and further support would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Michael