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| If artificial species can be developed that are resistant to viruses, mechanically stronger, and better at capturing sunlight and CO2 and nitrogen, provided with phosphates and steered into "farms", they could greatly multiply the biological activity of the oceans. That is a '''very big if''' we don't know nearly enough biology to do this, much less to do it safely, but it does point towards future opportunities to sequester CO_2_ and produce more food and carbon fuel. Perhaps, 100 years from now, the "CO_2_" crisis will be a lack of it, rather than an overabundance. While we should work towards expeditious restoration of a healthy 300ppm CO_2_, we must not panic and unleash mechanisms that we cannot control. | If artificial species can be developed that are resistant to viruses, mechanically stronger, and better at capturing sunlight and CO2 and nitrogen, provided with phosphates and steered into "farms", they could greatly multiply the biological activity of the oceans. That is a '''very big if''' we don't know nearly enough biology to do this, much less to do it safely, but it does point towards future opportunities to sequester CO,,2,, and produce more food and carbon fuel. Perhaps, 100 years from now, the "CO,,2,," crisis will be a lack of it, rather than an overabundance. While we should work towards expeditious restoration of a healthy 300ppm CO,,2,, , we must not panic and unleash mechanisms that we cannot control. |
Oceans and Deserts
According to the World Atlas of Biodiversity by Groombridge et al (excerpts available on Google Books) the active biomass on land is 550 billion tons of carbon, and 99.9% of that is plant material. The ocean is only 10 billion tons, mostly as animals. The reasons for this surprising result is trees, which incorporate a vast amount of biomass as woody structure, mostly inaccessable to predators, whereas the ocean's plants are mostly plankton, which is quickly eaten by the animals.
Krill and fish are obvious predators of plankton. But viruses are far more deadly. An average cubic centimeter of sea water contains 1 million single celled organisms (including plankton), and 10 million viruses (according to a TED talk by Craig Venter). Meanwhile, near infrared (half of sunlight) penetrates the ocean by only a few centimeters. Only half of blue light penetrates more than a meter in nutrient-rich waters. So the ocean is a surprisingly hostile environment for dense life, in contrast to the land.
The total surface area of the earth is 5.1E14 m2, of which 1.5E14 m2 is land and 3.6E14 m2 is ocean. This results in an average biomass density of 3900 g/m2 for land, and 28 g/m2 for the oceans. Both the land and the ocean are diverse, with rain-forest jungle contrasting with deserts on land, and upwellings and coastal shelves contrasting with unmixed water over most of the ocean. But even akaline deserts may have a biomass density of 2000 g/m2 according to Here Comes the Sun: Solar Thermal in the Mojave Desert—Carbon. Reduction or Loss of Sequestration? by Campbell et. al, with uptake of 100gC/m2, comparable to grassland and temperate forest.
Solar photovoltaic farms in the desert will interrupt this sequestration, by blocking the sunlight driving the plants. If they are "power tower" heat engines, they will also use scarce water. The oceans are much more "deserted", and a much better place for solar energy collection, ecologically speaking. The ocean is an especially appropriate place for rectennas for space solar power, especially if the occasional sea-bird can be steered away from the beam, perhaps using mechanical "predators" to scare them away.
If artificial species can be developed that are resistant to viruses, mechanically stronger, and better at capturing sunlight and CO2 and nitrogen, provided with phosphates and steered into "farms", they could greatly multiply the biological activity of the oceans. That is a very big if we don't know nearly enough biology to do this, much less to do it safely, but it does point towards future opportunities to sequester CO2 and produce more food and carbon fuel. Perhaps, 100 years from now, the "CO2" crisis will be a lack of it, rather than an overabundance. While we should work towards expeditious restoration of a healthy 300ppm CO2 , we must not panic and unleash mechanisms that we cannot control.
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