Oceanic Carbon Capture and Control

Problem: Human abuse of the carbon cycle is causing climate change more quickly than nature can adapt.  Locally, it's flooding and wind damage.  Regionally, there are possible extinctions in process.  Globally, the entire planet is hotter than it should be at this point in natural history.  We are in an ice age meltdown, and must adapt to nature while nature tries to absorb our carbon and other pollutants.

Human activity added more pollution to the environment in too short a time frame for nature to absorb.  The solution has been right here all along.  The excess carbon can be controlled by feeding it to something.  The great Pacific Garbage Patch gave me the idea to use the ocean as the restaurant for what we feed the carbon to.  Something like this: Kevin's MIT Carbon Buffet - Coming Soon at a Fishing Ground Near You!  Enough with silly sales pitches.

By using this idea as a solution, it will reduce the intensity of storms.  It might increase rainfall to wildfire areas by reducing ocean temperature.  Houses and forests are saved.

This solution also has a side benefit in that it cleans up oceanic plastic, which is then recycled on board a ship, where it is made into a scaffold.  The scaffold, in turn, gives plants a place to attach.

Since the solution is to eat the carbon, edible seaweed farms can be used to help offset the world hunger problem caused by drought.  Some species can be cultivated so that they make better fertilizer than directly as food.

This solution is versatile, expandable, and open to innovation and improvement.  Do it right, and the profitability will offset its maintenance expense.

The target population is Terra of Sol, every living thing.  There is nowhere on Earth that will not benefit.  This includes the deepest parts of the ocean.

Specifically, coastal regions will experience lesser flooding and slower wind speeds in storms.  Inland regions will receive more rainfall because the storms no longer dump on the coast and fizzle out.  Rainfall that makes it inland will help extinguish wildfires.  Polar ice will melt more slowly, giving polar animals some time to find better ice floes.

Giving the carbon to something that sees it as food will slow human climate change, possibly enough that we can find solutions involving the elimination of pollution before it starts.  It will buy us some time.

I live in a coastal region that floods and gets some really nasty storms.  If I can reduce the intensity of these storms, the life disruptions and property damage can be greatly reduced.

50 years ago, there was no active insect life in Rhode Island winter.  The last few years have been different, with my first mosquito bite in late February.  I never saw garter snakes, but this year I've seen four.  Last year, the trees budded three times, not two.  I expect just once this year, as it is already too warm to consider two budding periods.

I alone cannot do anything, but given a team, I can help.  My sister is a Manager, and will assist with the people aspect of the operation.  I will work with teams to improve and implement solutions.

All of the details as to why I chose Concept is because there is no intentionally-constructed man-made prototype at this time.  I do, however, have the ability to take it to prototype, if thrift stores have what I need.

50-gallon aquarium setup.  Clean, service, and fill 3/4 with water.  No stones below, just sterile glass.  Let it stabilize, create a matrix for plants to attach to.  Float it just below the surface.  Plant the plants, let it stabilize.  Add minnows and small herbivorous species.  Let them get fat before adding a small predator species.  Stabilize, seal it off to the room air, and watch it evolve.

I expect the predators and prey to eventually match pace, and a closed-loop carbon cycle to begin once it is stabilized and sealed off from the room air.  I expect the plants to thrive, and a rudimentary form of marine snow to form on the glass bottom.

My financial barrier is: I live at about 40% of the poverty rate, from Disability payments.

Technically, this is a bit of time in thrift shops finding the equipment to build a tiny prototype.  The technology for full implementation is 100% available to us with little or no modifications to our existing technology level.

Legally, I'm not sure how to complete this task.  It must be multinational or it will not be effective enough.

Cultural barriers are none, because the solution is not built on dry land or anywhere near it.  Also, it's everyone's project, because everyone eats and breathes.

Market barriers are gigantic corporations whose sole reason for existence is profit at any hidden cost.  Another barrier is governments who would much rather stay in corporate pockets.

I am applying to Solve in order to help save the planet from its human infestation and save its human population from its mismanagement of resources.  I apply also to help change government and corporate viewpoints as to how to maintain a sustainable carbon cycle that involves some degree of human pollution.

My personal reasons don't matter.

My solution uses the most ancient of ways that Nature takes to clean up a mess.  It uses modern technology for the organisms that eat the carbon to have a place to live so they can eat the carbon.  Currently, there is nowhere for the organisms to live.

The seaweed that grows from this solution will have a side effect of offsetting world hunger.  The seaweed can be processed and given to hungry nations, or sold at a profitable rate to supermarkets and restaurants.  It is hard to find a modern supermarket that does not carry a seaweed salad.  Asian restaurants will purchase the seaweed crop.

Seaweed is a huge consumer of carbon dioxide in the ocean.  It will exhaust oxygen, mostly into the ocean.  The carbon dioxide will be consumed by the seaweed crop.  Climate change slowed.

Since the bulk of the crop will be eaten by humans and some domestic livestock, hunger is reduced.  Seaweed isn't the only benefit.  Seaweed and floating grass beds attract fish and the predators that eat them, improving fish populations.  World hunger, partially solved.

Coastal nations will eventually notice fewer floods and gentler storms.  Life and property saved.

The intended results are twofold.  The primary intended result is at least partial mitigation of human activity on climate change.  The second intended result is partial mitigation of world hunger.

The third and unintentional result is that there will be new job descriptions added to the already near-infinite list of job descriptions.  The new occupations will be related to oceanic farming.  I expect this field to take off slowly at first, eventually creating thousands of jobs.

A completely unpredictable but possible outcome is a more peaceful world.  There are too many studies that say poverty is a huge source of conflict, and by reducing poverty with all these new jobs, conflicts will be reduced.  By reducing hunger, people are no longer interested in what bit of land or crops they can steal from their neighbors.

Finally, the economic aspects aside from jobs is lower insurance costs.  A house that weathers a storm has an owner that doesn't make insurance claims.

No new technology needs to be created.  Modern technology will need few modifications.  The technological ability to do this has been with us since the late 1940's or earlier.

What is not currently in our technological tool box is the machinery needed to create scaffolds that seaweed can cling to.  So far as I know, there are no floating recycling plants.  Again, 20th century technology can be used here.  Add a recycling ship to the too-small fleet of clean-up vessels in existence to create the scaffolds on site.

Scaffolds are created from cleaned-up garbage found in oceanic patches and terrestrial recycled plastics.

Presently there is only myself.  I will recruit my sister when it comes time to add management.

Since 1983, I have been involved in pollution mitigation.  Lately, the climate is changing so rapidly that I feel the need to step things up a bit from my point of reference.  There are only so many bottles and cans and cigarette butts one person can clean up, before noticing there is a big picture that also needs attention.

There is presently just me on the team, so diversity is impossible.  With that out of the way, my hiring will be done when I need help.  The workplace will begin with a DEI environment.

Business model: Reduces carbon by feeding it to something, anything, including humans, thus reducing world hunger.  Reduces storm damage by reducing atmospheric carbon.  This part is nonprofit.  Sort of.

The for-profit portion is the farming operation.  The crop is sold at a healthy markup so as to keep the whole thing going.  It will create many marine and landlubber jobs.  As stated before, if it is proven to be a carbon sponge, its effect will be the reversal, or partial offset, of human carbon activity.

It will also provide invaluable data to science.  Biology and Climatology come to mind as the two branches of science which will benefit most.

Ultimate goal here is Type-I Civilization.

The work will bring money in by selling its seaweed and fish products to people for food and cosmetic use.  The least will be break-even if properly managed.

Starting the operation will be the biggest initial cost, but once in operation, it will be self-sustaining.  If it is too effective it may need to be scaled back.

As for the customer base, governments and businesses are very necessary to its operation.  Governments spend money to maintain it and do research to improve it, and once working, leases it to businesses, who sow and reap crops according to the climate and market's needs.