Poster's note : interesting concept, but major questions remain regarding wave action, biodegradation, and the effect on marine life.
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/ra/c4ra08714c Long-term stabilization of reflective foams in sea water Alex Aziz, Helen C. Hailes, John M. Ward and Julian R. G. Evans RSC Adv., 2014,4, 53028-53036 DOI: 10.1039/C4RA08714C Abstract This work explores the challenge of making persistent foams in salt water to provide high reflectance. While stable foam is essential in the food industry and in fire fighting, this is the first work aimed at combining foam persistence with reflectance. One application is the use of oceanic foams to increase planetary albedo: extending foam lifetime moderates the energy required to maintain large areas of ‘ocean mirror’. Two compositions to produce such foams in seawater are described. The first is based on high methyl ester pectin-type A gelatin complexes which produced foams with a reflectance of 0.5. The second produces stable foams using cellulose ethers and iota carrageenan gelling agents. These foams gelled in the presence of sea water to give measured reflectance of 0.65–0.75. Both had lifetimes, without wave action, beyond three months at which point the experiment ended. In contrast, single protein species such as gelatin B, whey protein isolate and albumin produced short-lived foams. Foam stability was measured by recording liquid drainage and foam height as a function of time. In the event that climate interventions are needed, such additives would be appropriate for nutrient-deficient ocean regions that support low levels of marine life. -- 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/d/optout.
