Pitch
We can recyle a LOT of CO2 into renewable jet and diesel fuels by exploiting flying windmills out in the middle of the oceans.
Description
Summary
We have established technology to convert recycled carbon dioxide from our coal burning electric power plants into jet and diesel fuel by using sea water and electricity. We also have various types of flying windmills that in theory could supply use with all the electricity we need, but we cannot use them near cities, due to the danger to aircrafts and NIMBY protestors. However, we could retrofit used up ocean oil drill platforms with the gear needed to do this, and add flying windmills, and ship in CO2 recycled from our coal burning electric power plants. These modified facilities could, with unlimited sea water, unlimited CO2, and unlimited electricity from the flying windmills, create a practically unlimited supply of renewable jet fuel and diesel fuel. It would be a massive undertaking, but we have the established hardware to do it now, and such a largescale CO2 recycling would actually make a dent in global warming in the long run.
What actions do you propose?
Tell everyone upstairs that if we undertake this massive operation to mass produce renewable, synthetic jet fuel and diesel fuel, we will no longer have to have our politics dominated by Saudi Arabia anymore.
Who will take these actions?
It would require an across the board cooperation from the coal burning electric power plants owners, to recycle the CO2 from those plants, and oil industries with the used up ocean oil rigs, although big fuel tanker ships could work in this instance as well, the U.S. Navy, and the wind power industry that makes various models of flying windmills. These flying windmill fly high up in the sky to exploit the far stronger winds up there, to turn generators to make electricity to send to the ground through long tether lines. Or we could use a KiteGen company device that generates electric power by using a kite that pulls out a line, and is umbrella-closed, retracted, and send back up repeatedly. The flying windmill option would be the most flexible and mobile option initially, although later we would add wave powered electricity generating devices like Palamis or solar cell panels to supply the electricity needed for this fuel making process. You would have to establish some kind of no fly zones for low flying aircrafts where all this is happening as well. Again, it would be a massive across the board operation involving whole nations, but it's technically possible. And we might as well do right now, because eventually we'll end up having to make all our fuels from renewable sources in a generation or so. We should do it before the harder economic times come.
Where will these actions be taken?
Out in the middle of the deep blue sea!
How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?
I am not qualified to say. It would depend on the flexible scale of the project and the amount of CO2 for carbon-neutral made fuel used.
What are other key benefits?
The artifical jet fuel and diesel fuel burns cleanest of all fuels, ensuring a lesser degree of air pollution. Plus, cheaper fuels all around for everyone!
What are the proposal’s costs?
It could millions of dollars to start it initially, but you could roll over some of the initial profits from this operation, to expand it and keep on expanding it. A global projects like this would certainly cost billions, but it's economically possible to start it relatively small and keep it growing this way.
Time line
Rough estimate one to two years.
Related proposals
It would make urban living cheaper, if we have a cheap source of synthetic diesel fuel.
References
Well, the new companies called Sunfire and Altaeros Energies and Carbon Engineering are already manufacturing synthetic fuel, by simply extracting carbon dioxide out of the air itself to do so. This whole thing is a kind of source reduction idea really. That is, if the coal-burning electric power plants are making the excess carbon dioxide in the air, why not remove it at the source for a more robust version of what they are already doing anyway?
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