My submission was:
*THREE CLIMATE SOLUTIONS*
*Introduction. *As harnessing industry is likely to be key to prompt and
effective climate action and investment, the text in blue bold below
indicates some of the industrial applications of the three conceptual
technologies. Some of them should be profitable. Most await independent
assessment, modelling, development, governance and deployment. Supporting
documentation is available on request. The three technologies are currently
under active investigation by a consortium of renowned research institutes.
*Buoyant Flake Ocean Fertilization (BFOF)* is designed to nutriate
oligotrophic surface waters with the necessary nutrients. Rice husks rich
in opaline silica are coated in waste minerals containing iron, phosphate
and trace elements using hot-melt lignin glue derived from straw or woody
waste and a leavening agent to provide buoyancy. Reactive nitrogen is
provided by nutrient-supplemented cyanobacteria that convert atmospheric
nitrogen and CO2 into biomass. The flakes are pumped pneumatically from the
holds of bulk cargo ships thinly over the sea surface, into which flake
nutrients leach out over a year before the husks disintegrate and sink.
Modelling should be able to establish the theoretical cooling effect
provided by increasing the albedo of these waters by increasing their
phytoplankton concentrations. Modelling and experimentation should also be
able to estimate the increase in marine biomass that would likely be
generated by such supplementary fertilization, together with its beneficial
effects on ocean de-acidification and the moving downwards (sequestration)
of the carbonaceous material contained in marine faeces, dead organisms,
marine ‘snow', flake residuals, and the bicarbonate released by bacterial
and chemical action. It has been estimated that this could sequester from
6-13GtC/yr in the ocean depths - at very low cost, or even profitably.
The ultra-slow release of nutrients into nutrient-poor, and increasingly
stratified, surface waters should allow a rich and stable marine ecology to
develop. Furthermore, it would tend to prevent eutrophication and toxicity
from occurring. The effectiveness of this proposed method has recently been
given a major boost, as it was realized that krill and other diel,
vertically-migrating (DVM) species form an Active Carbon Pump that, when
supplemented by increased phytoplankton numbers fed by the minerals
released by the buoyant flakes, could release sufficient carbon-rich faecal
pellets and respiration at depth fully to offset annual anthropogenic
carbon dioxide emissions. *The commercial opportunities offered by this
technology lie mainly in the additional fish catch or fishing royalties
that it could provide. In time, independently-verified carbon credits might
also become monetizable from proven carbon sequestration. The increase in
ocean cooling albedo caused by the solar-reflecting phytoplankton and their
cloud-thickening emissions is unlikely to be monetizable, though beneficial
to the biosphere and humanity. *
Floating* Seatomizer* (seawater atomizing) units, powered by offshore wind
farms, could spray seawater into the lower atmosphere to humidify the air,
form high-albedo marine cloud, cool the surface water, restore coral reefs,
increase off-planet heat flow, and irrigate the land with additional,
gentle precipitation. BETE’s commercial spray nozzles, when adapted to use
higher and triphasic pressures, might generate droplets in the right size
distributions to produce sea salt aerosols, cloud nucleation, atmospheric
humidification up to the point where saturation occurs, marine cloud forms
or thickens, and rainfall or snow may be induced to fall at predetermined
distances downwind - saving crops, forests, and homes. Performed in arctic
warm seasons, ice albedo and thickness could be protected.
Anchored arrays of Seatomizer units should be able to have significant
regional cooling effects on the warming waters that power extreme weather
events. The main effect is to increase the rate of evaporation of seawater,
its turbulent uplift, and the subsequent long wave radiation of its
released vapour heat content, on condensation, into space. A recent
extension of this technology would allow for iron salt aerosols (ISA) to be
sublimated to generate photocatalytic aerosols that destroy harmful
atmospheric methane, black carbon, ozone and smog. *Economically cooling
selected marine waters, including those related to sensitive mariculture
operations. Desert re-greening.*
The ice thickening concept of* Ice Shields* is designed to refreeze those
parts of the polar and subpolar oceans that have been progressively losing
ice for the last several decades, as well as to sequester surface ocean and
atmospheric CO2 and O2. The means used are cold-adapted, commercial
floating wind turbines powering seawater pumps to thicken, and possibly
ground, sea ice by up to seventy metres per year. Ice shield array growth
should: increase global albedo and cooling; stabilise the polar vortex;
save the ice sheets and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current (AMOC);
strengthen the marine biological pump; and help to control seabed methane
emissions.
The carbon dioxide and oxygen sequestration in the depths would result from
the gases’ concentration in the fast chilling and salinating seawater brine
flowing intermittently in thin sheets and rivulets down the
gently-inclined, conical ice shields (like lava) and off them into the sea
to sink by density rapidly to the seabed. The arrays of ice shields could
eventually cover most of the polar regions and subpolar seas, leaving only
open water for polynyas and surface marine passage by ships and wildlife.
The brine flows would sequester for up to centuries the atmospheric
CO2 dissolved in them, as it would react with seabed carbonates (shells,
bones and limestone) to form benign, dissolved bicarbonate. The additional
oceanic oxygen and cooling would be beneficial to most marine life.
The thermals resulting from the heat released by the freezing seawater
would convect ocean heat energy directly to the tropopause, whence it would
radiate, almost unhindered by the otherwise-insulating GHGs, into deep
space. In the non-freezing seasons, the seawater pumps could be applied to
spraying low-micron, seawater droplets into the atmosphere so that it
formed ice-protecting cloud cover. Some of the spare power might also be
used for Seatomizer-like methane destruction by ISA. *As corporate
involvement is likely to be an essential component of this solution,
profits might be derived from government contracts, carbon credits, coastal
stabilization, habitat protection, renewable Arctic wind power sufficient
to power most of the northern hemisphere, and the harvesting of ebullient
Arctic methane.*
On Friday, September 9, 2022 at 8:57:15 AM UTC+10 Andrew Lockley wrote:
> If anyone has drafted comments it would be great to see them here.
>
> A
>
> On Thu, 8 Sept 2022, 23:53 Ron Baiman, <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Request for Public Comments:*
>>
>>
>> In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, the White House Office of
>> Science and Technology Policy <https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/legal/>
>> (OSTP),
>> in coordination with relevant Federal agencies, was directed by Congress to
>> develop a five-year “scientific assessment of solar and other rapid climate
>> interventions in the context of near-term climate risks and hazards. The
>> report shall include:
>>
>> 1.
>>
>> the definition of goals in relevant areas of scientific research;
>> 2.
>>
>> capabilities required to model, analyze, observe, and monitor
>> atmospheric composition;
>> 3.
>>
>> climate impacts and the Earth's radiation budget; and
>> 4.
>>
>> the coordination of Federal research and investments to deliver this
>> assessment to manage near-term climate risk and research in climate
>> intervention.
>>
>>
>>
>> OSTP recognizes the importance of this research topic. With the
>> assistance of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, OSTP is offering a
>> brief comment period to enable public input while also providing a timely
>> response to Congress. The focus of this plan will be on research
>> associated with climate intervention, and comments are being requested in
>> that context only.
>>
>>
>>
>> Input should be narrative only (i.e., no figures, graphics, or
>> attachments), should be limited to 1,000 words, should respond to the
>> Congressional direction above, and should relate either to one of the four
>> categories listed in legislative language or more generally to climate
>> intervention research. Input must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on
>> September 9, 2022.
>>
>>
>>
>> Posted, Aug 19, 2022
>>
>> Open Notice,
>> https://www.globalchange.gov/content/request-input-five-year-climate-intervention-research-plan
>>
>> Individuals interested in submitting comment should visit
>> contribute.globalchange.gov
>>
>> *HPAC Submission*
>>
>> Healthy Planet Action Coalition USGCRP RCI Comment
>>
>> The Healthy Planet Action Coalition is a diverse international group of
>> scientists, engineers, technologists, and public policy experts active in
>> relevant fields spanning all aspects of climate change.
>>
>> We are united by a determined and informed optimism that a threefold
>> approach can prevent climate catastrophes and restore a more benevolent
>> climate. We call this approach “The Climate Triad”.
>>
>> The Climate Triad of Direct Climate Cooling (DCC), GHG Emissions
>> Reductions, and Greenhouse Gas Removal (GHGR) works as a complementary
>> system to stabilize and moderate the climate and ultimately restore a safe,
>> healthy, and sustainable planet. Creating this system requires a
>> collaborative, inclusive, and expedited research program with a priority
>> focus on direct climate cooling. HPAC offers these recommendations for
>> the development of such a program.
>>
>>
>>
>> (1) The definition of goals in relevant areas of scientific research
>>
>>
>>
>> The Healthy Planet Action Coalition calls on the White House to set
>> direct climate cooling, greenhouse gas removal and emission reduction as
>> co-equal priorities. An overall goal of keeping temperature rise below
>> 1.5°C could be achieved by a primary focus in this decade on cooling
>> technologies to increase planetary albedo, cut radiative forcing, and
>> implement other methods for direct climate cooling. Urgent direct climate
>> cooling is now necessary to reduce current and near term human and other
>> species harm and risk from current and near term future levels of global
>> warming. Due to this urgency, we ask that the proposed five year research
>> and implementation plan, depending on the method, be accelerated to one or
>> two years.
>>
>>
>>
>> The following is a menu of proposed climate cooling approaches that we
>> suggest merit early consideration and responsible investigation with
>> actions that can be monitored and reported on:
>>
>> -
>>
>> Buoyant Flakes
>> -
>>
>> Cirrus cloud thinning
>> -
>>
>> Fizz Tops (Fiztops)
>> -
>>
>> Ice Shields to thicken polar ice
>> -
>>
>> Iron salt aerosol (ISA)
>> -
>>
>> Making building and paving material more reflective and planting
>> trees in urban areas.
>> -
>>
>> Marine algal bloom stimulation
>> -
>>
>> Marine cloud brightening
>> -
>>
>> Mirrors for Earth's Energy Rebalancing (MEER)
>> -
>>
>> Ocean thermal energy conversion
>>
>>
>> -
>>
>> Restoring natural upwelling and kelp forest ecosystem services
>> offshore
>> -
>>
>> Restoring soil and vegetation
>> -
>>
>> Seawater atomization (Seatomizers)
>> -
>>
>> Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI)
>> -
>>
>> Surface Albedo Modification (SAM)
>>
>> Short summaries for most of these methods written or reviewed by climate
>> cooling experts cited in the document are available here:
>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TowThwi6j6cX3iLGBRrj22D30cYhKa_9/edit
>>
>>
>>
>> Relevant scientific research on direct climate cooling methods and
>> technologies currently being conducted include marine cloud brightening,
>> stratospheric aerosol injection, sea-ice freezing, ocean thermal energy
>> conversion, ocean and glacier microspheres, terrestrial and atmospheric
>> mirrors, cirrus cloud thinning, iron salt aerosols, and white reflective
>> rooftops and streets.
>>
>> Refreezing the poles should be a global climate priority in support of
>> national and international security, biodiversity protection, and reducing
>> extreme weather and sea level rise. US encouragement of COP27 in Cairo to
>> set goals on albedo and biodiversity would sharpen research priorities.
>>
>>
>>
>> (2) Capabilities required to model, analyze, observe, and monitor
>> atmospheric composition
>>
>>
>>
>> A direct climate cooling program will require major capabilities in
>> atmospheric science, enabling scientific experts to provide direct advice
>> to government and industry on priorities and findings. Modeling, analysis,
>> observation and monitoring of the atmosphere must guide climate
>> intervention priorities and programs. Research, testing and deployment
>> strategies require high level scientific skills in universities, supported
>> by public and private investment.
>>
>>
>>
>> A way to encourage investment in cooling expertise is to introduce direct
>> climate cooling credits as a more immediate climate offset than carbon
>> credits. Coordination of atmospheric science with governance systems is
>> essential to enforce ethical standards, ensure safety and consultation
>> through transparent and accountable planning and delivery, and link with
>> international diplomacy on programs such as refreezing the Arctic.
>>
>>
>>
>> (3) Climate impacts and the Earth's radiation budget
>>
>>
>>
>> A focus on cooling technology is the best way to mitigate climate impacts
>> and improve the Earth’s radiation budget in the near term, alongside
>> ongoing work on emission reduction and GHG removal as they take effect over
>> the longer-term. The best overall measure of climate impacts is radiative
>> forcing, the excess of incoming over outgoing radiation at the top of the
>> atmosphere. Government and private funds should be applied to methods that
>> most effectively cut radiative forcing. Augmenting the current carbon
>> credit system with a system of direct climate cooling credits would better
>> cost the temperature impact of emission reduction, greenhouse gas removal
>> and direct cooling technology.
>>
>>
>>
>> (4) Coordination of Federal research and investments to deliver this
>> assessment to manage near-term climate risk and research in climate
>> intervention.
>>
>>
>>
>> The USA should coordinate with other nations to develop a cooperative
>> international program to refreeze the Arctic Ocean. Domestic US resources
>> should be mobilized to support coordinated global and regional climate
>> cooling. Arctic Amplification (with up to four times the temperature rise
>> of the equator) and the role of Arctic sea-ice in regulating climate
>> through the jet stream and ocean currents make the Arctic Circle the most
>> serious planetary warming risk and cooling priority. Substantial cooling
>> of the Arctic must be complemented by similar cooling of the Antarctic to
>> achieve a stable global climate benefit. Ongoing disruption of these
>> planetary systems is a major climate security risk, whereas action to
>> reverse the disruption has benefits for peacebuilding, biodiversity and
>> mitigation of warming. Climate security should be integrated with military
>> security as part of national strategic priority setting and risk
>> assessment. Diplomacy through the Arctic Council and COP27 and other
>> relevant international bodies should engage on the urgency of cooling the
>> pole, laying a foundation for the USA to work with other interested
>> governments to test and deploy methods that will help reverse the current
>> warming trend. Coordinated research and investment can be promoted by the
>> USA taking a strong stance at COP27 and in other relevant international
>> forums in favor of assessing direct cooling technology and refreezing the
>> Arctic Ocean.
>>
>> --
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>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAPhUB9AtiHkp7VHdDJBqBDG2DJAyOJ%2BJh5J%2BnmWQyY4TVoecpw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
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