OceanGenesis™ Why the level of the oceans could be lower in 50-100 years not higher.
Committed to Improving the Environment Through Research
What if humans had the “power” to desalinate oceans (convert sea water to fresh water) at a rate such that the ocean sea-level would drop faster than global warming is raising it. And use that fresh water to grow food, capture carbon, store electricity from renewables and create new habitable places in arid areas.
• Let’s run the numbers to see if it is possible.
How many cubic meters of water is in 1 mm of earth’s ocean surface?
• Fact: There are about 361 million square kilometers of ocean sea water surface on earth.
• How many cubic meters of water in a square kilometer of water one millimeter thick?
• 1,000,000 m^2/km^2 / 1,000 mm/meter = 1,000 m^3/mm/km^2
• 1,000 cubic meters of water per square kilometer of 1 mm depth.
• And the amount of water contained in 1mm of entire ocean surface:
• Ocean surface(361,000,000 km^2) x (1,000 m^3/1mm/km^2) =
• 361,000,000,000 m^3 of water per 1 mm of ocean depth at surface.
My Case for Desalinating the Oceans
How much energy does it take to turn one millimeter of ocean surface into fresh water?
• Fact: One millimeter of depth of the earth’s oceans surface contains 361,000,000,000 m^3 of water.
• Assuming 3.8 kWh of electrical energy to convert sea water into a cubic meter fresh water. (A high value with current seawater desalinization. In theory it can be as low as 1 kWh per m^3) Membrane_Desalination_Power_Usage_Put_In_Perspective.pdf
• Therefore, the energy required to convert 1 mm of the oceans surface into fresh water with current technologies is:
• (361,000,000,000 m^3) x (3.8 kWh/m^3)
• 1,371,800,000,000 kWh.
What would be the continuous power needed to convert 1 mm of the ocean’s surface to fresh water in one year?
• The energy needed to convert 1mm of the ocean’s surface to fresh water is 1,371,800,000,000 kWh.
• There are 8760 hours in one year.
• 1,371,800,000,000 kW-hours / 8760 hours =
• 156,598,173.5 kW
• 157 GW of continuous power to remove 1 mm/year from oceans.
• Oceans are rising at about 3.6 mm per year, or 565 GW to stop rise.
• Wikipedia - Sea level rise
• For reference total generation capacity of world in 2019
• Fossil fuels 4,213 GW and Renewable 2,497 GW. (Of course, we would not use fossil fuel to desalinate.)
Carbon free sources of energy
There are two primary sources of carbon free energy.
Nuclear
Which is carbon free and reliable but should be run at 100% all the time whether demand call for power or not for peak efficiency. (We can put a small area of the planet at risk with nuclear, or the whole planet with fossil fuel.)
Renewables (wind and solar)
Which are carbon free, but not reliable as they depend on weather. Grid power demand and production may not be in sync. Needs a method of energy storage.
• Hydro –Can be a method of energy storage.
The OceanGenesis™ Plan
Using nuclear power or offshore windfarms to desalinate ocean water. Then use renewable (wind and solar) to pump water inland for: energy storage (pump-generators), food production, carbon capture (vegetation/trees) and increased land value (waterfront property is very desirable).
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Step One: Ocean based desalination plant offshore of an arid or water hungry land
• Either on a platform or ship many miles offshore place a nuclear power plant or offshore wind farm.
• Use the power to run a desalination plant. Best option is nuclear as it can be matched with the demand of the desalination plant for continuous operation and peak efficiency. (U.S. Navy experts on ocean reactors)
• Far enough from shore to mitigate risk from brine outflow. (If nuclear is used mitigate heat or reactor meltdown risks.)
• Pump the fresh water through a pipeline to an onshore reservoir.
• Assuming a 1 GW power plant used (about average size of a US nuclear power plant), the resulting water flow would be about 73 cubic meters per second. (2550 cfs). This is more than the average flow of the Central Arizona Project supplying about 5 million people in Arizona.
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Step Two: Pump-Generator Stations to move water inland and store energy
• Create a network of canals and reservoirs to move water inland avoiding natural rivers and lakes when it would have a negative impact on current environment.
• Using Pump-Generator stations and renewable energy: (mostly solar and wind) move the fresh water via a canal system to reservoirs at higher elevations farther inland from initial reservoir.
• During periods of excess renewable generation water will be pumped to higher elevations.
• During periods of high electrical demand, light winds, night or cloud cover water will flow in reverse to generate and meet the needed electrical demand.
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Step Three: Land and water agriculture. Carbon capture. Underground storage
• The waterways themselves can be used to grow fish, shellfish and aquatic plants.
• The land near to the canals and lakes can be used to grow crops.
• Excess water can be released into areas that will create vegetation or forests (carbon capture) on the surface and form water storage underground in case access to water from the sea is lost. And ultimately, we do not water evaporating and returning to the sea.
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Step Four: Habitation
• The system of wind/solar renewable energy and pump-generation energy storage can create a reliable and sustainable energy grid.
• Some of the most valuable land is waterfront property. The many miles of canals and lakes created will result in many acres of valuable property for people to move to.
• Waterways provide a means of transportation, especially large or bulky items.
• The waterways created can be used for recreation.
• For example, imagine the Phoenix Arizona area. Seven million people currently supplied from Salt and Colorado rivers (supplies presently at risk). Less than 2 GW of seawater desalinization could equal that supply. • Desalinating at a rate to match current sea rise could sustain at least 2 billion people in areas previously uninhabitable.
The OceanGenesis™ Plan Conclusion
• Humans can not only slow sea-level rise but reverse it. And in the process convert harsh desert areas into livable areas.
• Monetary value is created in the energy storage, property value, material (forest) and food production.
• This is compounded with recitational areas created and carbon capture in the vegetation/trees grown with the fresh water.
• We may also need a plan to counter dropping sea levels and the effects on shipping and ports, if ocean desalinization exceeds rise rates.
•Will we need international treaties that limit the amount of ocean water that can be desalinated?
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