Of the wide array of ambitious geoengineering projects intended to fight global climate change, one of my favorites suggests using robotic ocean going vessels to produce seed clouds intended to increase precipitation and general cloud cover. The underlying logic behind this proposed idea is to increase the Earth's overall albedo and as a result mitigate some of the effects of the greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. While theoretically a decent idea, there currently is no financial incentive to develop these vessels, which are estimated to cost between one point five and three million dollars (I'm converting from British pounds from the source article). Government bodies may eventually decide that geoengineering programs will be part of their climate change portfolio, but as it stands now only anti-desertification programs are being applied on a large scale (as far as I know, there may be other geo-engineering projects actively being done, I just don't know them. Please note I am ignoring the weather modification program of the Chinese government and other groups.) Without international support how might we develop these seed ship technologies to promote the preservation of polar ice caps and mitigate changes in sea level rise?
One, long shot, solution for promoting ice production in polar regions would be to take advantage of the frequently mocked notion of shipping icebergs to the world's deserts as a source of fresh water. The direct economics are questionable (but this is for fun so who really cares), according to one article the price of desalinated water is roughly $1/cubic meter, providing an excellent reference for what the cost structure should look like. Most publicly available information appears to strongly suggest that shipping icebergs is not cost effective, at least when considered as a single product. What I would like to suggest is a more complete package where a business(es) would develop a series of technologies intended to produce large quantities of both water ice and liquid atmosphere as products intended for sale.
Imagine large artificial islands, possibly made from pykrete, in the Indian Ocean covered in wind turbines, solar panels, and possibly wave generators, growing every winter to massive proportions and slowly shrinking as the extra ice is shipped to water poor regions. In addition to the water ice production the islands turn any surplus electricity into refrigerating gases like oxygen and nitrogen into their liquid states, storing energy for a later day. The liquid gases and ice could be used in concert with intelligently designed regional distribution centers intended for both water and power production. The liquid gases could also be moved via pipeline to nearby factories where waste heat could be more effectively used for localized co-generation plants. To help ensure cost efficacy (maybe) and improve long term sustainability (probably) the liquid gases and ice would be moved by some kind of smart sailing technology.
The selection of the Indian Ocean is not arbitrary, the region is currently at risk for both energy and water consumption matching ever increasing demands, in tandem with relatively few sea routes occurring below the 60th southern parallel. Providing a reasonably underused volume of water that is relatively near its target markets. I have no misconceptions that if my proposed addition to the ocean seeding concept would immediately or fully alleviate the challenges facing our planet, I do believe that by finding an economic benefit that a business could take advantage of trying to increase the Earth's albedo, without government incentives is paramount to long term sustainability.
One, long shot, solution for promoting ice production in polar regions would be to take advantage of the frequently mocked notion of shipping icebergs to the world's deserts as a source of fresh water. The direct economics are questionable (but this is for fun so who really cares), according to one article the price of desalinated water is roughly $1/cubic meter, providing an excellent reference for what the cost structure should look like. Most publicly available information appears to strongly suggest that shipping icebergs is not cost effective, at least when considered as a single product. What I would like to suggest is a more complete package where a business(es) would develop a series of technologies intended to produce large quantities of both water ice and liquid atmosphere as products intended for sale.
Imagine large artificial islands, possibly made from pykrete, in the Indian Ocean covered in wind turbines, solar panels, and possibly wave generators, growing every winter to massive proportions and slowly shrinking as the extra ice is shipped to water poor regions. In addition to the water ice production the islands turn any surplus electricity into refrigerating gases like oxygen and nitrogen into their liquid states, storing energy for a later day. The liquid gases and ice could be used in concert with intelligently designed regional distribution centers intended for both water and power production. The liquid gases could also be moved via pipeline to nearby factories where waste heat could be more effectively used for localized co-generation plants. To help ensure cost efficacy (maybe) and improve long term sustainability (probably) the liquid gases and ice would be moved by some kind of smart sailing technology.
The selection of the Indian Ocean is not arbitrary, the region is currently at risk for both energy and water consumption matching ever increasing demands, in tandem with relatively few sea routes occurring below the 60th southern parallel. Providing a reasonably underused volume of water that is relatively near its target markets. I have no misconceptions that if my proposed addition to the ocean seeding concept would immediately or fully alleviate the challenges facing our planet, I do believe that by finding an economic benefit that a business could take advantage of trying to increase the Earth's albedo, without government incentives is paramount to long term sustainability.
No comments:
Post a Comment