Thanks Sam, As to micro-bubbles acting as insulation, this is perhaps applicable where warm water of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean is entering the Arctic Ocean. Micro-bubbles could possibly be added to the stream close to the sea ice, to form an insulating layer underneath the ice, when entering the Arctic, thus reducing heat transfer from the Gulf Stream to the ice. It's just a thought that needs further discussion and research, but it could add to the functionality of micro-bubbles, i.e. 1. bright water (albedo change), 2. adding oxygen (methane oxidation in water) and 3. insulating the ice. That is a very interesting path to think about. Autonomous buoys that can relocate themselves is an advanced concept I am currently thinking through. And, your application would be a perfect fit. I did not see that potential. A buoy swarm could be guided by daily sat. data concerning heat eddy movement along the front of the ice sheet. This is very interesting!
As to adding oxygen to the water, the optimal size of bubbles needs further testing, as well as their make-up. Apart from loading micro-bubbles with oxygen, further testing could look at also adding nutrients inside the bubbles for bacteria that could help with methane oxidation Dr. Seitz has worked out those issues and it is mainly a matter of deployment. The recommended hydrosol size is .002mm. The issue of using a hydrosol surfactant to feed the bacteria would be in the sulfur class and it has been in the back of my mind all day. If this is even remotely possible, the effects on the entire food web will need extensively evaluated. I do know that soy oil is a surfactant used in medical microbubble preparations, however that is a dead end duo to the needed logistics and being the wrong "food group".LoL Supplying a surfactant to the buoys is possible at a limited scale, but would be a major logistics/energy issue on regional scale. However, I am starting to learn of the efforts in understanding of bacterial genetics and would not rule out the future possibility of that work leading to a path to couple hydrosol surfactants to the food chain. Getting the 2 fields to understand the synergistic potential would be important. Many time, one field will have absolutely no understanding of their work in other fields. Finding those links is what I am trying to do here. I assume that the bubbles are best produced by buoys floating on the water. Such buoys will also have a valuable monitoring function, measuring methane concentrations, water and air temperature, etc. It could be a virtual world wide extension of the Ocean Observatory Initiative. I can get real excited about that. Here is the main link to OOI http://www.oceanobservatories.org/science/major-science-themes/ Buoys could be powered by solar panels, but could also be powered by the motion. I add two links on viability of the latter: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/9237529/wave-energy-buoy-launched-in-world-first/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/25/ocean-buoys-to-provide-10-of-us-energy-requirements/ Thanks for the links. I waited years for the development of wind-able superconducting elements. I remember the day I head that it had been achieved, I was on the Bering Sea. That type of magnet actually has 2 functions. Beyond the obvious, it is also a means for storing energy. And, the more energy it stores, the stronger the magnetic field. I think this development path could be important to the concept we are working on, as well as, the general area of wave energy. Using the induction form of wave energy production, enhanced with super conductive magnets, seems well worth the added cost. The more energy it stores, the stronger the induction, the more energy is available for storage, etc. etc. If you take that type of super conductive enhanced buoy and use the energy to do nothing but cool the local waters, it would be worth the added cost and complexity. Here is a link to our largest induction type wave proposal here on the West coast. http://www.oregonwave.org/wp-content/uploads/Task-4.2-Integrated-Systems-Analysis.pdf If this buoy concept (Sea Worm) ever gets serious attention. I would hope the advanced induction wave concept would be used. The cryo system itself would be a local water cooler. Yet, it would require a completely autonomous subsystem to compress air down to liquid. However, look at what we could do with the LO2!!!!! The buoys, their power, the measuring equipment, lights, communications and all that is involved seems feasible with products that are available off-the-shelf, but further testing is recommended regarding the functionality of the bubbles. Hydrosol use *has * to pass muster with the marine biology field. Some organisms can not tolerate air bubble injections. Reviewing that issue is on my list in the next few days. A comment was posted to Ken(?) from a marine biologist and I need to find that post/person. The 7th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting did start in Nuuk, Greenland on 12 May 2011. Member states are Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States of America. I suggest that this issue is put on the agenda. Perhaps someone has the necessary contacts to reach delegates? I suggest to send them a sentence like this: "In recognition of the risk of large amounts of methane being released in the Arctic, action is necessary now, including large-scale deployment of buoys." Does anyone see virtue in sending a call for action in the form of an Open Letter to the Council, or would it be better to seek a more private approach? Private contact is worth a ton of paper, IMHO. However, drawing up such a letter to give the private contact something to move forward with would be an important tool for the contact. How to frame and collect signatures for that effort is more in the area of Albert's field. I hope he is reading this. Also, I am trying to keep this thread populated with the key papers that I find and linked to other threads that address this issue. I hope that this quickly evolves into a quick course for the policy makers and others. Any help in collecting relevant links would be appreciated. Thanks, Sam. Michael -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
