platforms 2.0 by red eye lab llc

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Jennifer Perron

Sep 28, 2015
09:54

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Dear Will,

Thank you for beginning your proposal on a living ocean garden/carbon sink under the Global Climate Action Plan contest of MIT's Climate CoLab. I am one of the Fellows for this contest, here to serve as a liaison to the Colab, answer any questions you may have, and help provide substantive feedback to strengthen proposals. Fellows will also have a role in the evaluative portion of this contest.

I find your concept quite creative and intriguing, not to mention, I like how it involves an ecologic and 'natural' approach. This is a very interesting idea...

A few questions:

How would you propose to measure the sequestration potential of such an initiative?
What might be an ideal size for these floating gardens?
Where might they most desirably be located (for emissions reductions, or for other reasons)?
Are there any national governments you could envision investing in such a concept?
What other entities might you envision having a willingness to fund start-up?

As you know, for this contest we are asking contestants to draw from the various regional and national plans to help inform a global strategy. Please take a look at the submissions in these other contests, and begin to consider and select plans that could be effectively woven together in contributing toward your plan.

I look forward to seeing how you continue to develop your concept, and thank you again for your contributions to the CoLab!

Best,

Jennifer

Will Rumph

Oct 10, 2015
07:36

Member

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Proposal
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Hi Jennifer,

In response to your questions, One of my goals was to create something that could be easily replicated around the world. With that in mind, I also wanted to create a system that would make financing just as easy. I want to develop a matrix that would include NGO,crowd funding, corporations, volunteers, paid labors and local/national governments. For countries with larger economies, technology and volunteers will play a larger role. Countries with smaller economies can rely on lower labor cost and financing by NGO and wealthier nations.

The goal for my system is to used the bottom of the ocean as a carbon sink. The cold and the extreme pressure should keep the carbon locked in the plants. The amount of carbon sequestration is based on the research done by the USDA Forest Service:http://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/tools/cufr-tree-carbon-calculator-ctcc. Using their research as a guide, I estimate that a collection of units(ranging in size from pool to lagoon) can remove about one hundred tons of carbon annually. Each unit is about four feet in diameter.

To work, Platform will need the participation of the world; but coastal communities are vital to the system success. Local and national governments can provide information on where to install the system. One of my goal is to avoid shipping lanes and migration routes for marine animals.