Seawater/Saline Agriculture for Energy,Warming,Water, Rainfall,Land,Food and Minerals

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Seawater/Saline Agriculture for
Energy,Warming,Water,Rainfall,Land,Food and
Minerals

• Dennis M. Bushnell
• Chief Scientist
• NASA Langley Research Center

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SPACESHIP EARTH
We,The crew are - Plundering the ships
supplies - Tinkering with the temperature and
life-support controls - Still looking for the
instruction manual - Engaging in bloody
skirmishes in every corner of the
vessel - Increasing the size of the crew by 2
million PER WEEK P. Creola
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The (Economic) Ages of Humankind

• Hunter/Killer groups (1 Million - 5K BC)
• Agriculture (5K BC - 1850 AD)
• Industrial (1850 AD - 1950 AD)
• Information (1950 AD - 2040 AD)
• BIO/NANO (1995 - 2040)
• Virtual (2015 - ?)

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• Hunter-Gatherer - Nature Provided
• Agriculture - Controlled Nature (Plants/Animals)
• Industrial - Mechanized Agriculture
• 1800-97 Farmers,Now-2
• IT/BIO/Nano - Automating Industry/Agriculture
• Virtual - Robotization of IT/Bio/Nano/Industry/Agr
  iculture
• Technology MATTERS - For Both Good and ill

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Humans Have Taken Over and Vastly Shortened
EvolutionHuman EngenderedE7 times Natural
Of the Planet Global Warming/Pollution/Deforestati
on Huge Public Works (e.g. 3 Gorges Dam) Of the
Human Species Genomic Design and Repair Mind
Children (Moravec) Products/Life Forms Cross
Species Molecular Breeding Directed Evolution
(Maxygen etc.)
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- CO2 levels are NOW greater than at any time in
the last 650,000 Years- Tundra
Melting,Releasing huge amounts of Methane.-
European Gulf Stream Heating reduced by 30
overlying fresh water from melting glaciers.
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THE KEY TECHNOLOGIES(highly
synergistic / at the frontiers of the small / in
a feeding frenzy off each other)

• IT (comms/computing/sensors/electronics/machine
  intelligence)
• Bio (genomics/molecular biology/designer life
  forms)
• Nano (coatings/barriers/computers/sensors/material
  s/assemblers)
• Energetics (HEDM (various)/revol.
  solar/biomass/explosives/propellants/storage)
• Quantum crypto/computing/sensors/optics/Electroni
  cs
• Societal Technological Systems (motivational
  asynchronous distance learning,
  immersive/virtual presence, tele-everything,
  robotic everything, digital earth/digital
  airspace)

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The Major Societal Problems

• Warming Anthropogenic CO2-Induced,Attendant
  Arctic Methane Release
• Consequent Green Energy Requirement,Simultaneous
  Demise of Cheap Oil
• Shortages of Water Arable Land
• An Increasing Food Shortage

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Current Worldwide Energy Usage

• Petroleum - 140 Exojoules
• Natural Gas - 85
• Coal - 90
• Biomass - 55 Potential to 4,000
• Nuclear Fission - 28
• Hydroelectric - 9
• Others Wind etc. - 10

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Petroleum Transportation Fuel Outlook

• In General,Cheap Oil Production is peaking or
  has peaked.Residual supplies will have greater
  production costs.Increasing Petroleum
  demand,particularly from the developing world
  ,will ensure ever increasing oil prices and
  shifts,from purely economic drivers, to
  Alternatives H2,Biomass
• Demand Example - U.S. has 745 vehicles per 1,000
  population.China,the second largest oil importer,
  has 3 vehicles per 1,000 population.If China goes
  to 5 Vehicles per 1,000 Population they will have
  to DOUBLE their Oil Imports to 10 Million
  Barrels/Day

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Energy and Warming

• 75 of Energy Usage is releasing climate-changing
  amounts of Fossil Carbon as CO2
• This Fossil CO2 warming is releasing Fossil
  Methane from the Tundra,Methane some 22X more of
  a warming gas than CO2,A Warming Accelerant
• Of the Renewables,only Solar via Biomass and
  Other Approaches has the potential to provide
  the requisite Capacity Wind,Hydro,Nuc
  cannot.
• Biomass Produces Liquid Fuels and is less
  expensive currently than other Solar

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Direct Solar Energy Utilization Spectrum

• Biomass
• PV emerging Plastic/Nano PV,1/10th the cost.
• H2 from Photosynthesis Genomic Biologics and
  artificial Photosynthesis
• Photo-Catalytic Disassociation of Water
• Solar Furnaces/Concentrators/Direct Heating
  including Zn production for H2 Generation..

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Biomass Benefits

• Renewable
• Nearly CO2-Neutral
• No New H2 infrastructure Required
• Minimal Sulfur
• Relatively Inexpensive
• Energy costs of biomass production/Processing up
  to an order of magnitude less than Energy
  Yields
• - Capacity/Tonnage Currently limited by
  available water and suitable land

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Bio-Refineries

• Bio-Chemical,Enzymatic Hydrolysis/Fermentation of
  Biomass into Sugars,Lignin,alcohol and Methane
• Thermochemical,Pyrolysis/gasification,Conversion
  to gas/liquid/solid mix,catalysis producing
  Biopolymers and Liquid or Gaseous Fuels
• Chemical,Biomass Oil conversion to BioDiesel
  etc. fuels
• - Due to costs of Biomass transportation,Bio-refi
  neries should be Distributed,Products largely
  delivered/deliverable via Pipelines

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Sampling - Biomass Utilization Archipelago

• Transportation/Liquid Fuels Distill/Refine it
• Direct Heat Generation Burn it
• Direct Electricity Generation Bio Fuel Cells
• Food via Genomics
• Petro-Chemical Feed-Stock Plastics etc.
• Direct H2 Production e.g. Fermentation/Algae
  feeding
• On Site Micro-Power/Co-electricity Generation

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Biomass Energy Potentials

• 6 of U.S. land mass producing Biomass could
  supply the U.S. with current Oil AND Natural Gas
  Usage
• Estimates indicate that Biomass grown on the
  Sahara only could supply the Worlds Energy
  Requirements

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Water Scarcity is now the single greatest
threat to Human Health,The Environment and the
Global Food Supply
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Per Capita Water Availability in North Africa

• 1955 - 2285 M3
• 1990 - 958 M3
• 2025 600 M3
• - Long Distance Water Transfer Costs 600 Km
  Plus for 1.2 Acre Meter of water 1.2 meters of
  water covering an acre of land over a years time
  - required for Agriculture is 1200
• - Desalinization Costs for 1.2 Acre Meter of
  Water by Reverse Osmosis is 2,400

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Sahara Groundwater Resources

• Vast Distributed underground Aquifers,largely
  trans-national and underutilized.
• Often Saline and becoming more so
• Utilization causing land Salinization
• A Sufficiency example - For the Nubian
  sandstone Aquifer the total water available is
  75 Acre Meters,would suffice for some 60 years
  only of Intensive Agriculture.Water age some
  20,000 years.Compared to agricultural use rates
  the fill rates are negligible.

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North African Irrigation Growth

• 65 to 90 of Fresh water utilized for
  Agriculture
• 1800 - 8Mha Irrigated
• 1900 - 40Mha
• 2000 - 240Mha
• 20 of Irrigated land affected by
  Salinity,Growing at 3Ha PER MINUTE
• By 2025,80 of Food Production from Irrigated
  Land

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The Emerging Desert Mantra

• Desert Area Characteristics
• - Sunlight
• - Brackish/Saline Ground Water
• - Many near/on seacoasts
• Utilize these Resources For
• - Nano-Plastic PV
• - Saline-Seawater Agriculture for Biomass/Energy
  and Food

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Conventional/Historical Wisdom -
Seawater/Saline incursions/occurance
Detrimental-to-Disasterous for Agriculture

• Unconventional - Saline/Salt water Agriculture a
  Viable-to-Desirable Alternative to Conventional
  Agriculture

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Saline/Seawater Agriculture

• Quasi-Conventional
• - For Food Fodder
• - Reclaim/Desalinate land via Biologics
• Unconventional
• - For Land,Water,Energy,Warming,Minerals,Food
  and Terra-Forming/enhanced Rainfall i.e.
  STRATEGIC Not Tactical, to Contribute to ALL the
  Major Problems,not just food

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Advantages of Seawater AG

• 97 of all water is seawater,will not Run Out
• Seawater Contains
• - wide variety of important minerals
• - 80 of Nutrients required for Agriculture
  need to add Nitrogen,Phosphorus and Iron
• In proximity to a number of Dry/Desert Areas

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Mineral Extraction from Seawater

• - Conventional mining is one of the most
  environmentally damaging activities carried out
  by Humans
• Seawater AG puts missing/trace Minerals back
  into Food Supply
• Current Seawater Mineral Extraction -
  Magnesium,Bromide,Salts,Phosphorites,Metallic
  Sulfides,
• Seawater and Brines appear destined to replace
  Mineral Ores as the main source of Light Metals
• Nascent low cost/energy Bio/Algae Extraction
  Approaches.

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Alternative Seawater AG Employment Approaches

• Desalinization in General,too expensive for
  Agriculture
• Cold/deeper Ocean water to via heat exchangers
  precipitate moisture from the atmosphere
• Seawater Greenhouses involve vaporization/re-prec
  ipitation
• Direct Plant Seawater Irrigation

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Some Numbers

• Sahara some 2E9 Acres
• 1.2 Acre Meters Required for Agriculture/Irrigatio
  n per year
• Average Sahara Elevation some 450 Meters
• cost to pump 1.2 acre meters of Seawater to 450
  Meters altitude vertical lift only some
  1200/Acre
• 1 Acre produces 10-to-40 tons of dry Biomass per
  year
• I Ton of dry Biomass provides 16E6 BTUs 2.75
  Barrels of Oil
• _at_ 60/Barrel of oil,1 ton of Biomass worth after
  refining 165 other estimates,which include
  Addit. Goodness factors e.g. countering warming
  are as high as 300-700/ton
• _at_ 20 Tons/Acre and 165/ton Value of an Acre of
  Biomass 3300

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Irrigation Influences Upon Rainfall

• Irrigation can Represent an Enormous
  Perturbation of the Regional Atmospheric Water
  and Heat Balance
• Cool,Wet Surface increases low level Atmospheric
  Instabilities,incites Storms
• Various Studies Indicate -
• - 18-25 precipitation Increase from only .4
  acre meter Irrigation
• - Irrigation increased Rainfall by 91
• - Irrigation and Vegetation changes are clear
  dominating factors with direct influence upon
  atmospheric water content

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Halophyte Salt-Plant Utilization Per Yensen

• Patents issued for Halophyte Crops
  Genetics,Genomics
• 10,000 Natural Halophyte Plants,250 of these
  are potential Staple crops
• Research ongoing on/for Halophilic Salt-LOVING
  Halophytes,The more salt the faster the growth
• Huge areas worldwide are already salt-affected 1
  B Hectares and another Billion Hectares overlie
  Saline Aquifers.
• Over 100 halophyte plants now in trials for
  Commercial applications

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Sample Countries with Saline AG projects

• China
• Mexico
• Eritria
• India
• Pakistan
• Israel
• Libya
• Jordan
• Tunisia
• - Current Status,Prototype Farms/Experiments for
  FOOD

• Egypt
• Iran
• Morocco
• U.S.
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• UAE
• Kuwait
• Australia
• Sudan

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Chinese Seawater AG Reporting

• Genetically Modified grown on Beaches using
  Seawater
• - Tomato
• - Eggplant
• - Pepper
• - Wheat
• - Rice
• - Rapeseed

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The Potentials for enhanced Halophyte Plant
Growth via Nano/Bio Technology thought to be
Large,60 improvements thus far,Only Beginning
- An Example Requisite Capability - Nitrogen
Fixation utilization/extraction from the air
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On-going Research Areas

• Enhanced Plant growth rates and enhanced
  Salt-Loving
• Reduced water/nutrient Requirements
• Irrigation Efficiency Improvements
• Plant /Lifeform tailoring for specific
  Bio-Conversion/Refining Processes
• Safe/Contained Saline/Seawater Irrigation
  Practices,Avoid-to-Obviate Fresh Aquifer
  Contamination

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Suggested North African/Sahara Biomass Solution
Mix

• Seawater Irrigation near dry and flattish
  Coastal areas
• Saline irrigation where Saline Aquifers are
  available at Reasonable Pumping Depths
• Seawater Irrigation inland where Economics appear
  feasible
• Enhanced rainfall induced by Irrigation the
  Terraforming aspects

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TerraForming -1

• Altering a Planetary Surface to make it suitable
  for Terrestrial life
• Seawater AG for Biomass Energy can be of
  sufficient magnitude to qualify as Terra-Forming
• Humans have long practiced Anti-Terraforming
  with neither plan nor prediction
• It appears timely/necessary to attempt
  terraforming of North Africa but with both Plan
  and Prediction

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TerraForming -2 Raddatz and Knom

• The Biosphere/Surface vegetation plays a dominant
  role on climate
• Vegetation can affect continent-scale atmospheric
  motions,e.g. in North Africa
• The interaction between Atmosphere and land cover
  in North Africa is HIGHLY NON-LINEAR..

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Obvious Terraforming Modeling/Computation
Requirements/Inputs

• Irrigated Land Area
• Type of Vegetation/Evaporation Rate
• Vegetation Coverage
• Atmospheric Particulate details allow cloud
  formation at .1 super-saturation
• Utilization of both Boundary Layer Meteorology
  and Global Circulation/Earth System Models
• ETC

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Bottom Line Enablers/Pull - Saline/Seawater
Biomass Irrigation

• Oil Prices now high enough and going higher to
  make the economics worth looking into again
• H2 Infrastructure Costs Storage issues
• Potential Halophyte Genomic improvements
• Global Warming,Green Energy Requirements
• Increasing shortages of Sweet water/Arable Land
• - Requires SERIOUS Forecasting