By George, laddies, it doesn' make much sense to force an algae bloom
and not harvest it.
Obviously that is too ambitious a plan to pull-off from day one - but
looking ahead a few years ... (here is another idea for Russ to "borrow")
Call me crazy (or call me Ishmael) but... wouldn't the ideal situation
be to have in place a system of at least two (or more) ships tracing the
same route ?? the leading one being a spreader of minerals to make the
algae bloom, and the following vessels -- which are a day or two behind,
but in the same pathway, harvesting the algae for biofuel (and spreading
more minerals if they were also being tailed).
And as for bio-micimcry in this regard - we might look to the Baleen
whales for the proper design, if we can still find one, as they have
been hunted to near extinction.
The second ship would be the "Baleener" (We can even christen her as
Omoo-Too <g> or if the Japanese beat us to the goo, she may be called
Omoo-Maru) ... anyway... the baleener would be a kind of double wide, so
to speak, a large ocean-going catamaran, modified so that between the
hulls is a continuous roll of baleen/screen/filter which removes algae,
plankton, seaweed, small fish and everything else by the megaton -- to
serve as the biomass which can be converted into both fuel and food.
Hey -- the ships can be be (at least partly) wind-powered as well. Not
that the scheme isn't green-enough without wind.
Ish...
Side note: Speaking if windy tales, whales and ishmaels, there is a
strange kind of unifying factor over there where Ish was born. The
(non-Melvillian) Ishmael was Abraham's eldest son, born near Baghdad.
You may not realize this but Judaism, Islam and Christianity are
collectively known as "Abrahamic religions" because they all trace their
earliest history to the covenant God made with Abraham.
Ishmael was born by his Abe's wife's "handmaiden" and not his wife
Sarah, and so Joha the trickster will often quip that there was a
bastard around from the very start <g>.
Nick Palmer wrote:
Hi Michel/Robin - the most significant thing about some plankton is that
they are coccoliths ie they form calcium carbonate skeletons which end
up as chalk etc - permanent removal of CO2. In fact, they are a major
negative influence on CO2 levels by absorbing volcanic derived CO2 and
preventing an excess building up, however, like all of the natural
stabilising climate control mechanisms, they have been stressed and
pushed to and beyond the limits
Nick Palmer
- Re: [Vo]:Russ George in New York Times Jones Beene
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