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platforms 2.0 by red eye lab llc

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Pitch

To create a floating mass on the world's oceans that would reduce ocean acidification and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.


Description

Summary

Like the original "Platform" submitted in 2014, I decided to revisit the idea of creating a floating garden in the world's oceans.  Platform 2.0 uses kelp as the primary part of the design.  In particular, those kelps that have the air bladder in the leaves.  My new design uses glass or steel buoys, hemp rope, and steel cables and frames.  The hemp rope is used as a platform and anchor for the kelp.  The glass buoys will be tied to the rope to keep it close to water surface.  Each unit will be anchored to the sea floor with the steel cable.

I designed the system as a series of interlocking rings that can be made in any size.  The sizes can range from a swimming pool to a large lagoon.  As the system grows, it will release oxygen into the water, which will in turn help balance the ph level of the ocean.

 Another benefit of the system is that it can be used as a nursery/home for a verity of marine species.

At some point the units will become too massive to stay afloat.  At that time, we would remove the buoys and cables to allow the unit to sink to the ocean floor.   We have created a system for putting carbon in our atmosphere, so we need a system for extracting carbon.

Each unit will consist of hemp threaded with a 3/8 inch steel rod.  Glass or steel buoys and cables with anchors.   The hemp rope will be implanted with kelp spores inside a nursery before being placed outside.  


Category of the action

Geoengineering


What actions do you propose?

Platform 2.0 will be setup as a system that will have its own chain of support.  We will pay farmers for hemp the same way we pay farmers to grow corn for ethanol.   We will set up assemblage plants in coastal communities around the world.  Each community will used a type of kelp that is native to their waters.  Once the unit is in placed, it will be monitored by a combination of marine biologists and the coast guard.

The best way to think of Platform 2.0 is as reverse farming system.  The crops/kelp is planted in the ocean and after a period of time, the unit will be allow to sink under its own weight.  The carbon, absorbed by kelp, will be safely sequestered on the bottom of the ocean.


Who will take these actions?

Non-profit corporation will set up the first manufacturing plants.  Local and nation governments will help with farm subsidies as well as research and monitoring.  Private companies that work on the world's oceans and seas can provide strategic information about where to setup each system.  Individuals can volunteer to work in the manufacturing plant or patrol the units in the water. 


Where will these actions be taken?

Any nation that has a border that extends into one of the world's ocean or seas.  I made Platform 2.0 as easy to produce and maintain as possible so most nations can afford to put the system in place.


What are other key benefits?

With the exception of trees in out protected areas, we currently don's have a system in place that is constantly removing carbon from our atmosphere. Platform 2.0 not only removes carbon, it was also design to put tons of oxygen directly into the ocean.  The increase in oxygen will help balance the ph level which will, in turn, allow shell fish and coral to recover. 


What are the proposal’s costs?

I am comparing the cost of Platform 2.0 to the cost of producing corn for biofuels.  If I am right, the two systems should have a similar cost.


Time line

The system will take about seven years to set up.  The sequestration should take another four years; depending on the species of kelp.


Related proposals


References

Experiment could help restore kelp forests in Puget ... - Kitsap Sun

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/estuaries/media/supp_estuar10f_ph.html