US Plan: Chemosynthetic Management of the Water/Energy/Nutrient Nexus (WENN) by The WENN Protocol

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

Hello, I will pass this message along to our development team, and hopefully we can solve this problem! Thanks, Annalyn Bachmann Visiting Student with the Climate CoLab

Thanks for the feedback and I'm trying to deal with the issue you kindly mentioned. Best, Michael Google Doc reflecting final submission form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16xC-3NXB9xCt91IbkanFNX57L_3md0aHv1QldPtHKl0/pub

Thank you for submitting your proposal to this Climate CoLab contest. Because you had submitted it before July 18, the contest Judges were able to review your proposal and provide you with some feedback, which we have included below. Please note that these comments refer to the content of this proposal as it was provided on July 18. We hope that you will use it to further develop your work before the August 31 deadline. On August 31 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 (see https://www.climatecolab.org/resources/-/wiki/Main/Climate+CoLab+Points), and the top point-earners will receive shares of a cash prize of $10,000. Thank you for your great work and good luck! - 2015 Climate CoLab Judges and Fellows *** Judges' Feedback (1) Sam Adams: I like the boldness of this chemosynthesis-related proposal and the fact that it is grounded in a detailed description(s) of how it can work. I like the suggestion to use existing common utility right-of-ways. Further refinement of it will require applying cost/benefit analysis to determine priorities for its application. A cost/benefit analysis comparing this solution to others would also strengthen this proposal. A political feasibility analysis for each option would useful -- some come with massive vested interests. Maybe not the sexiest part of the concept but perhaps the most important element is its call for, "global standardization of primary climate change mitigation and sequestration (WENN) technologies..." The current hodgepodge of protocols and standards is a huge barrier in this field (2) Kate Gordon I appreciate that the proposal is specific and outlines a clear path for solving a piece of the climate puzzle. I particularly like the specificity of the potential funding mechanisms, which demonstrate a real understanding of the current political and economic environment in which the proposal is being put forward. I’d make the following suggestions to strengthen the proposal, none of which is focused on the science (as it’s not my area of expertise): Organization: the proposal would benefit from a much clearer statement of the project in language that is not academic or scientific, but instead locates this proposal within the larger set of issues being addressed by co-lab participants. Why do the authors think this is the most effective way to address climate change? Why have they chosen this specific approach? How does it fit in with other approaches? I felt the proposal dived directly into the science and details without putting the ideas into context. Tone: The issue of climate change is, unfortunately, still controversial in many places, and the idea that we need to spend significant dollars to solve it is not universal. Therefore I am a strong believer that EVERY proposal addressing climate change needs to be written for a diverse audience that includes those who are not immersed in the subject on a daily basis. This includes government officials with multiple issues on their plates, experts in a range of fields, business leaders, the media, etc. This proposal is very much written for a scientifically expert audience with prior knowledge of climate issues; I think it would benefit from a rewrite that makes it much clearer to a wider group. Hyperlinks: hyperlinks to other sources should be used to back up or provide more information on ideas, not as a place that readers MUST go in order to understand the point being made. The authors should not expect their readers to have to go to multiple websites simply to understand the proposal. On feasibility and boldness, this is a great proposal. I think its strengths will not come through without some attention to the writing, especially to organization and tone. (3) Mindy Lubber Overall, there is a lot of information and a compelling case to build and commercialize this technology to impact the rate of growth of carbon emissions. Without any technological background, it is quite hard for me to judge the viability of large scale use of the proposed technology. I suggest the next version of the proposal offer more specifics on the technological viability. As there is no question of the need for technological changes to be part of the solution, I welcome the development of this proposal. The global approach is necessary and should be the frame from which to consider this proposal. It would be helpful to consider the funding opportunities with greater specificity. While I noted the list of possible options, developing the funding section with more details would provide the judges with a clearer sense of viability. Collaborations with academic institutions such as MIT as well as other top tier scientific centers will be important as this moves forward. Overall, I found the proposal to be impressive and to provide enough relevant information to suggest further exploration (Additional) Comments from Climate CoLab Fellow Joseph Nyangon: In addition to the judges' feedback provided above, I find this proposal very detailed in outlining a clear path for solving a piece of the climate puzzle. It offers a suite of technologies which could support a clear path for global climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, water production, and nutrient management through chemosynthesis. The expected benefits of the proposal include wide application to a broad spectrum of sectors including energy, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, waste management, etc. This is a very practical proposal with extensive technical, scientific, and economic justification. However, the author could benefit from some technical advice in order to streamline this proposal and make it more specific to one or two climate change solutions as well as offer these solutions to a diverse audience especially those who are not immersed in the specialized and highly technical issues on a daily basis.. The author correctly points out how this proposal could benefit from other proposals in the MIT Colab library, which are technically linked to the WENN Protocol and related technology suite. This is a welcome observation that the author should pursue to make this proposal for the U.S. region more dynamic and viable.

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

Robert Simmon & Jesse Allen - NASA Earth Observatory

Red circles on this map show the location and size of many of our planet’s dead zones. Black 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.

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 

Please watch this brief message from B. Gates as it helps address the judge's concern over initial risk.

The Breakthrough Energy Coalition

Bill, thank you for your kind comment.