Hello everyone,
I am in the process of organizing a grassroots crowdsourcing initiative to fund a global network of regional carbon sinks utilizing microalgae technology in an effort to offset C02 emissions worldwide. The goals of this crowdsourced project are twofold: *Primary Goal:* Create a worldwide microalgae production network to offset C02 emissions. *Secondary Goal:* Invite individual and corporate investors to purchase shares of regional microalgae production plants with a guarantee of future revenue once (and if) biofuel technology matures to the point of economic viability. For more detail, please refer to the following outline: 1. The initial regional Kickstarter campaign might be launched in either Palo Alto or Los Angeles (or both), in conjunction with Google, Stanford, Palo Alto College, UCLA, CSU, USC, the Natural Resource Defense Council, and the Leonardo DiCaprio environmental foundation. One advantage to using L.A. as the initial Kickstarter.com campaign would be the Hollywood star power, which would in turn lead to huge amounts of press. 2. Once PR is generated from the initial campaign, members of other cities/communities around the world will be directed to unsmog.org (a domain I have registered) to learn how to form and promote their own regional Kickstarter campaigns in accordance with predetermined guidelines. In addition, visitors to unsmog.org will be instructed on how to lobby government policymakers in an effort to match dollars donated by citizens. 3. Educate ecofriendly, high-income consumers about the potential of microalgae. For example, a bioreactor filled with microalgae might be placed in Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s stores with a display explaining the science behind microalgae and its potential for biofuel production and C02 sequestration. Visitors to these stores would be directed to the Kickstarter page, upon which they will be able to calculate their carbon footprint. This footprint will then determine how much money they would need to invest in the campaign in order to offset their total emissions. 4. On the unsmog.org website, each city might be represented on a map of Earth with a small glowing light that becomes brighter as more investors pledge, similar to a satellite image of Earth at night. 5. Guarantee investors a substantial return on investment (10-20%) of future biodiesel revenue if and when the farming stations become profitable. Since I am not an environmental scientist, I am hoping members of this forum might be willing to help me with the following points: 1) Based on the following article, scientists are predicting that a gallon of microalgae-based biodiesel can be produced for approximately $2 by 2016. Is this a realistic goal? http://www.thebioenergysite.com/news/13286/turning-algae-into-fuel-keeping-costs-low 2) Can anyone direct me to a reputable microalgae business consultant to help develop a business plan? I envision employee compensation to be a driving force for innovation, but do not want corporate greed to come before the goal of CO2 remediation. This would mean recruiting employees and CEOs whose philosophies are in line with the vision of the company, similar to the ideals espoused in the book "Conscious Capitalism." 3) Can someone help to recruit talented web programmers who would be willing to donate their time to develop the Kickstarter campaign and unsmog.org website? Perhaps computer science students? 4) I can recruit designers from various forums and ad schools to help with the artwork for the campaign, and can oversee the overall look and feel, since part of my background is in graphic design. This project seems to be a win-win scenario for several reasons: 1) Individuals who invest in the company will become more mindful of their carbon footprint. 2) Universities, companies, cities and countries can publicize that their energy usage is offset through heavy investment in microalgae. 3) These same groups can compete against each other in a race to offset C02. Such statistics can be viewed via unsmog.org. 4) While investors can choose to direct their money to fund projects in developing countries, most investors will be funding local projects and, as a result, will be supporting the local economy. 5) Much of the money generated by each regional production facility will stay within that community, however a portion of the profit will be returned to the parent corporation to cover operating costs. I am hoping this is a viable project, and I look forward to feedback! Thank you so much for your time, Jonathan Cunningham -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
