40-Page Preliminary Proposal for Geoengineering Subtropical Deserts
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Geo-Deserts
Nov 16, 2009, 10:41:38 AM11/16/09
to geoengineering, ad...@sunhydrosystems.com
*Important note: A lot of the data tables and graphical schematics
suffered formatting problems when I tried to copy and paste this
report into this format. This initial draft was prepared for a
proposed solar desalination project/ climate trust fund in Australia
and it is written in a more digestable format for public
presentations.
TITLE: The Reverse Entropy Utility System
(REUS)
By
AUTHOR: Brennan Jorgensen
Sun Hydrosystems Research
November 2009
Copyright 2009
Table of Contents
List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
CHAPTERS
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Sunny Subtropical Deserts……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Desalination in Coastal Desert Regions……………………………………………………………………………. 8
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and Forestry……………………………………………………………………
9
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and
Forestry………………………………………………………….. 10
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the
Desert………………………………………………………… 11
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine
Salts………………………………………………………………….. 12
Oceanic Deprotonation……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium Hydroxide…………………………………………………………………..
16
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global Warming…………………………………………………………
16
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)………………………………………………………………………
19
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Model………………………………………………………………………
23
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering
Model……………………………………………. 24
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo
Offsets…………………………………………. 33
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS Model………………………………………………….
34
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System with Decreasing
Entropy…………………………………. 38
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 39
TABLES
TB 1 Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the
World…………………………............................... 7
TB 2 Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and
Forestry…………………………………… 10
TB 3 Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical
Plantations…………………………………….. 11
TB 4 Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface
Features………………………………………….. 13
TB 5 Minimum REUS Utility Outputs………………………………………………………………………………. 23
TB 6 Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-yr Average Growth
Rate………………………………………… 25
TB 7 CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture, Agriculture and
Forestry…………………………………………. 27
TB 8 Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation Lakes Over 10
Years……………. 29
TB 9 Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a 1-km2 Surface at a 30-
Degree Latitude 30
TB 10 Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2 Removal
Equivalencies at 30-Deg.. 31
TB 11 Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets for a 100-
MW REUS………. 33
TB 12 Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in
Quantities………………………………….. 36
TB 13 Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S.
Dollars………………………………………………. 36
TB 14 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in
Quantities…………………… 37
TB 15 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009 U.S.
Dollars………… 37
FIGURES
FG 1 Solar Radiation Versus Latitude at Solar
Equinox……………………………………………………. 13
FG 2 Oceanic Acidification……………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
FG 3 Oceanic Deprotonation…………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
FG 4 The Reverse Entropy Utility System…………………………………………………………………………
19
FG 5 The REUS Geoengineering Model…………………………………………………………………………… 21
FG 6 Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake
Visual……………………………………………………………………. 29
Executive Summary
With the sun as an energy source, the earth’s biosphere has evolved
over the last billion years as a decreasing entropy subsystem in the
midst of a universe of ever increasing entropy. Since the dawn of the
industrial revolution, the entropy of the biosphere has been steadily
increasing due to exponential increases in human population growth in
conjunction with various activities such as deforestation, the
emissions of greenhouse gases and large-scale losses in biodiversity.
This increasing entropy is contrary to the very life-sustaining
thermodynamic directive of the biosphere itself that has steadily
resulted in the formation of complex ecological systems since the
extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. With the current
socioeconomic path leading towards ever increasing entropy in the
biosphere, an eventual global economic and ecological collapse will be
inevitable. As a logical strategy for long term survival, all
socioeconomic policies should be based in thermodynamics and should be
striving towards a system that decreases the entropy of our life-
supporting biosphere.
A utility system that decreases the entropy of our life-supporting
biosphere would need to be both economically viable and it would also
need to be a massively scalable geoengineering project in order to
reverse many of the profound anthropomorphic changes that have
occurred to the environment over just the last century. Many of these
large-scale anthropomorphic changes to the environment can be lumped
into one of four thermodynamic and physical “megatrends.” These four
trends include increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
increasing acidity in the oceans, the decreasing albedo effect of
global snow and ice cover and rising sea levels. A Reverse Entropy
Utility System or REUS model has been devised in order to slow and
hopefully reverse these four aspects of global warming over centuries
of time. The REUS model is based on reliable technologies that involve
a solar-powered desalination system coupled to a common chloro-alkali
industrial process. The system can remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere via photosynthesis in subtropical desert regions while
removing acidic hydrogen protons from seawater. It can produce sodium
hydroxide to counter oceanic acidification while producing salt flats
that mimic global snow and ice cover. Theoretically, over centuries of
time, the system could potentially slow or even reverse rising sea
levels.
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)
Introduction
Life in the biosphere is powered almost exclusively by the sun.
Shortwave photons from the sun power photosynthesis in the biosphere
while the space outside of our atmosphere acts as a heat sink for
dissipated long wave heat radiation. This effect induces a decreasing
entropy subsystem within the biosphere relative to the universe that
“drives” the increasing organizational complexity of life on earth.
Since about 65 million years ago, the entropy of the biosphere has
been steadily decreasing resulting in the ever increasing complexity
of life on earth. However, the onslaught of the industrial revolution
over the last two hundred years has fundamentally reversed this
entropy directive contrary to the very thermodynamic strategy of life
itself. This reversal in entropy is primarily attributed to global
warming caused by the combustion of fossil fuels and forests with
resulting biodiversity losses. The release of greenhouse gases has
furthermore resulted in oceanic acidification, losses in polar ice and
rising sea levels. Increasing entropy causes the climate to become
more chaotic as it continues to shift out of its normal dynamic
equilibrium. The IPCC 2007 report found that atmospheric temperatures
could rise between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees C during the 21st century with
sea levels rising 18 to 59 cm [1]. A higher frequency of heat waves,
droughts and extreme precipitation events is already occurring.
Meanwhile, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA)
and the United Nations, the projected demand for energy, water and
agricultural resources is projected to increase nearly 50% by the year
2030 in order to meet the needs of 8 billion people thus further
exacerbating the demands on the earth’s energy and biotic resources
[2,3]. Humanity is fundamentally overshooting the very life support
system of the earth’s biosphere.
One geoengineering solution could solve this crisis on multiple
levels. The world’s subtropical deserts could in fact reverse this
positive entropy directive of the biosphere through large-scale
geoengineering efforts coordinated over centuries of time.
Subtropical deserts receive the greatest amount of solar radiation of
any land area in the world and also have the greatest potential to
sequester carbon dioxide via photosynthesis provided for by desert
irrigation with increases in the albedo effect of the land. Abundant
solar energy resources in coastal desert regions can be used to drive
desalination plants that in turn provide freshwater needed for desert
agriculture and forestry. This strategy would not only provide
additional freshwater, agricultural and forestry resources for a
growing global population but it would also sequester carbon dioxide
in the process. Currently, over 1/3 of the continental land area on
the planet is considered to be desert or desertified with
approximately half of the world’s original forest cover lost since the
Industrial Revolution. Greening the desert with agriculture and
forestry can also offset economic demands on existing forests that are
prone to slash-and-burn agricultural practices. Exisiting carbon
reserves can be protected along with remaining ecological diversity.
In addition, white salt fields leftover from the evaporation of
desalinated brine wastewater in sunny desert regions can mimic polar
ice fields and can thus increase the albedo effect of the land.
Seawater membrane brine electrolysis found in the chloro-alkali
industry can also offset the effects of global warming by reducing
oceanic acidification by removing hydrogen protons from seawater.
Brine electrolysis also produces sodium hydroxide that can neutralize
carbon dioxide in both the atmosphere and oceans. Sequestered carbon
in white sodium bicarbonate fields can also mimic the albedo effects
of polar ice much like salt fields leftover from desalination. All of
these mechanisms can be integrated into a single geoengineering
utility system that involves solar-powered desalination coupled with a
common chloro-alkali industrial process. This geoengineering utility
model has been termed the Reverse Entropy Utility System or REUS
model. The REUS model is designed to reverse the entropy of the
biosphere on multiple levels through a scalable and integrated utility
process using proven technologies that harnesses carbon-free renewable
energy via concentrating solar power, the desalination of seawater
through multi-effect stages while utilizing solar electrical
generation to power membrane brine electrolysis. The optimal
utilization of this model would occur initially in coastal subtropical
desert regions with geoengineering projects moving further inland.
Sunny Subtropical Deserts
Approximately one third of the continental land area on the earth is
considered to be desert or desertified. The world’s subtropical
deserts comprise an area about 9,312,000 Km2 or an area 12% larger
than the continent of Antarctica. Subtropical desert is defined by
its precipitation (usually less than 25 cm of rain a year) and
latitude (between 15-33 degrees North and South of the equator) [4].
Africa contains 65% of the world’s subtropical desert area or
5,952,000 Km2 with the Arabian and Australian deserts ranking second
and third respectively (see Table 1). These regions receive the most
solar energy of any land area on the planet and 50 MW of installed
capacity for a concentrating solar utility plant on a square kilometer
of desert land would yield about 250 GWh of electrical generation a
year [5]. A study determined that roughly a 150 Km by 150 Km square
area of solar concentrating utilities in the North American Southwest
could theoretically provide all of the electrical needs for the entire
United States. If less than two percent of the Saharan desert where
utilized with solar utility plants, it could provide enough solar
energy to power the entire global economy [5].
Table 1: Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the World
Region
Area Km2 Principle Deserts
1. Africa 5,952,000 Saharan, Kalahari
2. Middle East 1,600,000 Arabian
3. Australia 921,000 Gibson, Great Sandy, Victoria, Simpson, Stuart
Stony
4. North America 558,000 Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan
The large influx of solar energy received in these regions translates
into the greatest potential for any land-based solution for reversing
the increasing entropy of the biosphere by greening the desert and
increasing the albedo effect of the land. Photosynthesis is
unquestionably constrained by the lack of precipitation. However, this
can be overcome by coupling renewable energy with desalination in
coastal desert regions.
Desalination in Coastal Desert Regions
Coupling renewable energy with desalination in coastal desert regions
is not a new concept. With 1.1 billion people worldwide having
inadequate drinking water and 97% of the world’s water consisting of
seawater, the demand for desalination will continue to grow for both
direct human use and agriculture. A global population of 8 billion
people by the year 2030 would require a 50% increase in freshwater
resources. The global capacity for desalination has more than doubled
between 1994 to 2004 according to the International Desalination
Association and 70% of the water resources that humanity consumes
annually are allocated to agricultural production [3]. Renewable
energy coupled with either reverse osmosis and/ or multi-stage
desalination can provide freshwater with zero carbon emissions while
increasing photosynthetic capital in arid coastal regions. One of the
first renewable energy and desalination projects in the world was
constructed north of Perth, Australia in late 2005. The 79 MW Emu
Downs wind farm 200 Km North of Perth Australia generates 270 GWh/yr
and was initiated in November of 2005. It consists of 48 wind turbines
that provide the Kwinana reverse osmosis plant with 180 Gwh/yr. The
plant produces 144,000 m3 of freshwater a day. The most ambitious
solar desalination planned to date involves the Sana'a Solar Water
project to be built on the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula
in Yemen after 2010. The proposed 11-billion dollar project would
consist of a 1,250 MW parabolic trough concentrating solar power
field. The project would be able to provide 300 million m3/yr
freshwater through a combined heat and power (CHP) multi-effect
desalination (MED) system with another 700 million m3/yr of freshwater
provided by a separate reverse osmosis plant [5]. The coupling of
abundant solar energy with desalination in desert regions with a
proximity to seawater appears to be one of the most logical
strategies for meeting the freshwater and agricultural demands of
humanity while capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and Forestry
Capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis can be accomplished
through irrigated desert agriculture and forestry while avoiding
nitrous oxide and methane emissions. Global agricultural demand is
projected to increase 50% by the year 2030 in order to meet the needs
of 8 billion people. About 70% of the water resources that humanity
consumes in an entire year is used by agriculture around the globe and
this amounts to 2,500 Km3 of water annually [6]. The Green Revolution
that coincided with the rapid growth in agricultural productivity
since 1950 is mainly attributed to nearly a three-fold growth in
irrigated land area, a 10-fold increase in the amount of fertilizers
used and advances in high-yielding crop varieties [6]. This initial
large-scale gain in photosynthetic capital (excluding deforestation)
undoubtedly came at a price when monocultures pushed aside natural
genetic crop diversities in addition to increased nitrous oxide
emissions (from nitrogen fertilizers), methane (from rice paddies),
and carbon emissions from cleared forested land that also resulted in
overall biodiversity losses. In addition, these monocultures now lack
the once available genetic variability that could further protect them
from disease, insects and climate change. About 20 kinds of plants
represent 80% of the world’s food supply [6]. About 40% of the land
surface area on the planet is currently used for agriculture while
about 1/3 of the continental land area on the planet is considered to
be desert. The next green revolution could involve geoengineering
these remaining desert lands by avoiding losses in genetic variation
and decreasing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while
simultaneously alleviating the ongoing global water, food and climate
crises.
The concept of geoengineering subtropical desert regions with
scalable solar-powered desalination systems can be accomplished with
existing technologies that have a been around for a quarter of a
century (as is the case with parabolic solar troughs and multi-effect
desalination systems). The freshwater that is produced at
desalination plants along desert coasts can also be piped hundreds of
kilometers inland for various agriculture and forestry projects. The
proposed Sana’a Solar Water Project in Yemen involves the construction
of a 250-km steel pipeline from the coastal desalination plants inland
to the city. Both inland and coastal subtropical climates provide a
year-round, frost-free growing season with a maximum percentage of
frost-free clear, sunny days. Rapid increases in photosynthetic
capital can be realized with appropriate soil conditions that would
translate into rapid increases in both food security and carbon
assimilation.
The main nutrients required for desert plant growth are fixed nitrogen
and phosphorous, potassium followed by sulfur, magnesium and calcium
(see Table 2). Brine salts leftover from desalinization can be
extracted and utilized to enhance desert soil conditions with key
minerals [7].
Table 2: Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and Forestry
Chemical Ions
(white rows are utilized in photosynthesis) Concentration in Mg/ Kg
of Seawater Percent % Salinity
of Seawater
Chloride [Cl] 19345 55.0
Sodium [Na] 10752 30.6
Sulfate [SO4] 2701 7.7
Magnesium [Mg] 1295 3.7
Calcium [Ca] 416 1.1
Potassium [K] 390 1.1
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and Forestry
Pine plantations in the U.S. Southeast can accumulate almost 100
metric tons of carbon per acre after 90 years, or roughly one metric
ton of carbon per acre per year [8]. The U.S. Forest Service estimates
that all the forests in the United States combined sequester
approximately 25% of U.S. human-caused emissions of carbon [9]. At
the global level, the IPCC Third Assessment Report estimates about 100
billion metric tons of carbon over the next 50 years could be
sequestered just through existing forest preservation, tree planting
and improved agricultural management. This would offset 10-20% of the
world's projected fossil fuel emissions [10].
Table 3: Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical Plantations
Irrigated Subtropical Desert Plantation 10-Year Average Growth Rate
Metric Tons CO2 Uptake/ Hectare/ Year Metric Tons CO2
Uptake/ Km2/
Year
1. Mixed Bamboo 35 3500
2. Sugarcane 30 3000
3. Mixed Tropical Hardwoods 15 1500
4. Mixed Tropical Fruit Trees 10 1000
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the Desert
An estimated 20% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide emitted by human
activities results from deforestation and land use practices.
Approximately half of the world’s original forest cover has been lost
since the industrial revolution with 15 million hectares of tropical
rainforest being cleared every year due to logging, agricultural and
ranching practices. These tropical forests are the most biodiverse
ecologies on the planet supporting 60% of all known species and are
also the most productive: the Amazon rainforests occupy less than 5%
of the land surface area on the planet but provide 10% of the earth’s
primary productivity [11]. Lessening the market-level demands on these
remaining forests around the world would not only secure remaining
biodiversity but would also alleviate further potential carbon
emissions. If an irrigated square-kilometer plantation of mixed
bamboo, sugarcane, mixed tropical hardwoods and fig trees produced an
average of 12 metric tons of biomass every 100 m2 after growing for a
period of 10 years, it would sequester 50,000 metric tons of carbon
(assuming 40% of the biomass is carbon) or the equivalent of about
75,000 metric tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide [9,12]. This 1-square
kilometer desert plantation could also theoretically be able to offset
the logging and agricultural demands on a 1/3 km2 of primary tropical
rainforest thus protecting intangible biodiversity while preserving
existing carbon reserves. This would constitute a decreasing or
reverse entropy directive for the biosphere; protecting and/or
expanding existing biodiversity while re-building the earth’s primary
base of photosynthetic capital.
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine Salts
Re-building the earth’s primary base of photosynthetic capital
through agriculture and forestry is just one climatic cooling
mechanism that can be maximized in subtropical desert regions while
sequestering carbon dioxide in the process. Another climatic cooling
mechanism can consist of increasing the albedo effect of subtropical
desert land that would offset the decreasing albedo effect of global
seasonal snow cover, glacial and polar ice.
Seasonal snow cover, glacial and polar ice are decreasing at rates
higher than initially predicted just several years ago. Since 1979 the
size of the Arctic summer polar ice cap has decreased by 20% [13]. The
Wilkins Polar Ice shelf in Antarctica has decreased by about a third
from its original 16,000 km2 when first spotted decades ago [14].
About 30% of the incoming solar radiation that reaches the earth’s
surface is reflected by the earth’s overall albedo effect. Glacial and
polar ice caps, snow cover and clouds reflect this radiation while the
remaining 70% of the sun’s solar radiation is absorbed in the land,
atmosphere and oceans [15]. The oceans contain about 90% of the heat
energy in the earth’s climatic system. Increasing the reflectivity to
sunlight or albedo effect of subtropical desert land can compensate
for the albedo losses of snow and ice ranging from alpine to polar
regions. One of the most logical approaches for accomplishing this
would involve the utilization of brine salts leftover from
desalination. Brine wastewater evaporation lakes can leave behind
nearly pure white brine salts after they have evaporated. A square
kilometer salt flat at a 30-degree latitude in Northern Baja
California with 300 sunny days a year can provide a solar thermal
offset equivalent to nearly 3 km2 of sea ice at a 60-degree latitude
in Alaska (this also takes into account the more frequent occurrence
of cloud cover in Alaska) [16]. The square kilometer brine salt field
could potentially provide a thermal offset equivalent to removing at
least 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
assuming that the salt reflects at least 60% of incoming solar
radiation (Table 4) [17, 18].
Table 4: Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface Features
Physical Surface Average
Albedo Effect % of Sunlight Absorption
Fresh Snow 0.85 15
Baking Soda 0.80 20 (estimated)
PVC plastic 0.75 25 (estimated)
CSP Solar Field 0.65 35
Sea Ice 0.60 40
Brine Salt Field 0.60 40 (estimated)
Desert Land 0.40 60
Forest 0.15 85
Asphalt 0.10 90
Figure 1: Solar Radiation versus Latitude at Solar Equinox
Latitude in Degrees N or S Solar Radiation
Kwh/m2/Day
0 4.0
15 4.5
30 5.5
45 3.5
60 2.5
75 1.0
90 <0.5
The world’s subtropical deserts at approximately a 15-33 degree
latitude provide the greatest potential for enhanced albedo offsets
that can slow global warming (see Figure 1) due to the relatively
abundant amounts of solar radiation and lack of cloud cover received
in these regions [18]. The oceans also constitute another physical
medium inside the biosphere that can be geoengineered in order to
decrease overall entropy through oceanic deprotonation.
Oceanic Deprotonation
Oceanic deprotonation is a name for a geoengineering process by which
the acidity of oceans can be reduced while capturing carbon dioxide in
the process. Ocean acidification involves the ongoing decrease in the
pH of the oceans attributed to the oceanic uptake of anthropomorphic
carbon dioxide. Between 1751 and 1994 ocean surface pH is estimated to
have decreased from approximately 8.179 to 8.104 [19]. Pure water can
be considered to be a balance of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions
with a neutral pH of 7. Dissolving CO2 in seawater increases the
hydrogen proton ion (H+) concentration in the ocean thus decreasing
the oceanic pH causing acidification. Since the industrial revolution
began, the ocean surface pH has dropped .075 units with about a 25%
increase in H+ protons [19]. Oceanic acidification is represented
schematically as a chemical equation process (see Figure 2). Oceanic
deprotonation can be considered to be the reverse of this process (the
removal of hydrogen protons from the ocean) that can be initially
accomplished through a common industrial chloro-alkali process (see
Figure 3) [20].
Figure 2: Oceanic Acidification
1. Pure water is a balance of H+ and OH- ions (pH=7):
HOH (l) = H+ (aq) + OH-(aq)
2. Water becomes acidic when the H+ protons prevail over the OH- ions.
3. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to produce carbonic acid:
CO2(g) + H20(l) > H2CO3 (aq)
A surplus of H+ relative to OH- ions is created in the water thus
causing oceanic acidification:
H2CO3(aq) = H+(aq) + HCO3-(aq)
Figure 3: Oceanic Deprotonation
1. Pure water is a balance of H+ and OH- ions (pH=7):
HOH (l) = H+ (aq) + OH-(aq)
2. Oceanic deprotonation can decrease acidity by removing H+ protons
from the ocean while increasing the relative number of OH- ions.
3. A common chloro-alkali process powered by renewable energy can
remove H+ protons from purified seawater through brine electrolysis
producing chlorine gas, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen:
2NaCl(aq) + 2H20(l) > Cl2(g) +2NaOH(s) + H2(g)
4. The hydrogen can be recovered for use in a hydrogen economy while
the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) can be returned to the seawater in dilute
solutions in order to neutralize the acidification caused by carbonic
acid and the salt sodium bicarbonate is produced (Na2CO3) in water.
a. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to produce carbonic acid:
CO2(g) + H20(l) > H2CO3 (aq)
b. Carbonic acid is neutralized by sodium hydroxide:
H2CO3(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) = Na2CO3(aq) + 2H2O(l)
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, oceanic mixing and
phytoplankton have absorbed nearly a third of the carbon dioxide
emitted by human activities (over 100 billion metric tons). The oceans
constitute the most important component in the earth’s climatic
system. A carbon-free renewable energy source can power a chloro-
alkali industrial process that removes hydrogen from purified seawater
while generating sodium hydroxide in the process. The sodium hydroxide
can be returned to the seawater in dilute concentrations in order to
counter the effects of carbonic acid. Decreasing the entropy of the
increasingly acidic oceans can also usher in a hydrogen economy in the
process.
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium Hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide that is produced from the chloro-alkali process can
also be utilized to sequester carbon dioxide directly from the
atmosphere. The application of a carbon-free energy source such as
solar can be used to power membrane brine electrolysis that produces
sodium hydroxide, chlorine gas and hydrogen. Sodium hydroxide reacts
with atmospheric carbon dioxide and water vapor to produce sodium
carbonate then sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
2NaOH(s) + CO2(g) > Na2CO3(aq) + H20(l).
The resulting white sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can also be used
as a solar thermal offset in desert regions in the same manner as
brine salts. One metric ton of sodium bicarbonate will store about a ½
tonne of sequestered carbon dioxide as baking soda. This same tonne of
white baking soda spread over a 10m2 area in a sunny desert region can
provide a thermal offset equivalent to removing another tonne of CO2
from the atmosphere given that its albedo effect is similar to that of
a white roof [15,17]. The chemical affinity of sodium hydroxide for
carbon dioxide along with its albedo effect can also be incorporated
into an effective geoengineering model.
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global Warming
An effective and scalable geoengineering model should be able to slow
then reverse the increasing entropy of the biosphere while meeting the
50% projected energy, water and agriculture demands of humanity by the
year 2030. This could include a reversal in overall global warming
trends over time in addition to slowing and reversing losses in global
biodiversity. A successful planetary geoengineering model for the
earth should also be able to reverse each of the four “megatrends” of
global warming listed below with the corresponding Reverse Entropy
Geoengineering Solution (REGS):
• Increasing Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere:
Over the last century CO2 levels in the atmosphere have risen from 280
ppm to over 380 ppm with deforestation and fossil fuel burning as the
main culprits:
The REGS model would expand irrigated desert agriculture and forestry
in subtropical desert regions with renewable energy-powered
desalination in order to offset global deforestation and biodiversity
losses while capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Algae
aquacultures can be grown in brine wastewater lakes to further capture
carbon from the atmosphere. In addition, renewable energy would also
power a chloro-akali process (membrane brine electrolysis) in order to
produce sodium hydroxide for carbon capture and chlorine gas for PVC
drip irrigation systems. These two strategies for removing atmospheric
carbon dioxide can be summarized by two chemical equations:
-Photosynthesis:
6CO2(g) + 6H20(l) + Sunlight > C6H12O6 (glucose) + O2
-Sodium hydroxide carbon capture:
2NaOH(s) + CO2(g) > Na2CO3(aq) + H20(l)
• Increasing Acidity of Global Oceans:
Since the industrial revolution began, the ocean surface pH has
dropped .075 units with about a 25% increase in H+ protons.
The REGS model would once again incorporate a renewable-energy powered
chloro-akali process for purified seawater with the intent of
chemically producing sodium hydroxide while removing H+ protons
(hydrogen gas) for use in night time power generation. Carbonic acid
in brine wastewater can be slowly neutralized with sodium hydroxide
solutions.
H2CO3(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) = Na2CO3(aq) + 2H2O(l)
• Deceasing Albedo Effect of Global Snow and Ice Cover:
Warmer falls and earlier spring thaws are decreasing winter snow and
ice cover. Since 1979 the Arctic summer polar ice has decreased by
about 20% while the Wilkins Polar Ice shelf in Antarctica has shrunk
by about a third. Retreating glaciers and shortening time periods for
global snow cover are also evident around the globe that also pose a
threat to global freshwater supplies in addition to the decrease in
albedo effects available for cooling the planet.
The REGS model would increase global freshwater supplies through
desalination while utilizing brine salt fields and underlying, white
PVC-based, geosynthetic liners as a solar thermal offset in
subtropical desert regions. In addition, white sodium bicarbonate that
has already removed carbon dioxide would also be further used as an
enhanced albedo effect to offset global decreases in snow and ice
cover.
• Global Increases in Sea Levels:
Sea levels have already risen an estimated 17 centimeters during the
20th century with IPCC projections ranging from a 21 to 48 centimeters
rise by the year 2100.
Theoretically, large-scale desalination geoengineering projects
carried out over centuries of time involving the terraforming of
subtropical deserts could potentially slow or even reverse rising sea
levels. Even a 5-centimeter offset in a global sea level rise can
translate into billions of dollars worth of infrastructural savings
for coastal cities around the world. Global salt water intrusions
into coastal freshwater aquifers can be minimized while also
minimizing the biodiversity losses to coral reefs that form the very
hub for global fisheries.
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)
A scalable utility model can be devised that can reverse the major
effects of global warming while increasing energy, water, and
agricultural resources (see Figure 4). This utility system is called
the Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS). The REUS model is a
renewable energy-powered desalination system coupled to an industrial
chloro-alkali process that operates in subtropical desert regions with
access to seawater and abundant wind or solar energy resources. The
specific REUS model that is presented in this paper consists of a
combined-heat-and-power (CHP) parabolic solar concentrating power
(CSP) plant coupled to a multi-effect desalination system (MED). The
electrical generating capacity that is produced at the plant is
further utilized for brine electrolysis.
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)
Figure 4.
Steps in the Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS) Figure 4:
1. The solar energy received in subtropical desert regions approaches
5.5 Kwh/m2/day (the highest intensity of any regional land area on
earth).
2. Parabolic trough solar concentrating plants have the longest proven
track record of any solar utility system with a quarter century of
operation. The solar concentrating troughs focus the sunlight an oil-
filled absorber pipe that heats the oil up to 400 C [21].
3. Super-heated oil from the long parallel pipes is sent to a steam
turbine.
4. The heat turns the water into steam that drives a turbine that
generates electricity.
5. The electricity is sent to a chloro-alkali (CA) plant for membrane
brine electrolysis.
6. Waste heat leftover from the steam turbine is utilized in a
combined heat and power system (CHP) for the thermal desalination of
seawater.
7. Coastal seawater is pumped into the desalination plant.
8. A multi-stage desalination plant utilizes the waste heat from the
steam turbine for the desalination of seawater in a series of multi
effect chambers that have lowered atmospheric pressures that evaporate
and distill freshwater.
9. The waste heat utilized in thermal desalination for a 100-MW CSP
plant can
produce about 20 million cubic meters of freshwater a year.
10. Brine wastewater is sent to an evaporation lake and a portion of
it is also
sent for a brine purification treatment for the chloro-alkali plant.
11. Brine wastewater is treated and filtered with an ion-exchange
resin used
to remove magnesium, calcium, potassium for use as agricultural
nutrients.
12. Purified saltwater with sodium and chlorine ions is sent to the
chloro-alkali
plant.
13. A chloro-alkali membrane brine electrolysis plant utilizes
solar electricity
and an ion exchange membrane in order to produce hydrogen,
sodium
hydroxide and chlorine gas.
14. Hydrogen is sent for storage at the steam turbine during the
daytime
solar-generating hours. Stored hydrogen is combusted at the power
plant
for night time steam and electrical generation.
15. Sodium hydroxide is used in brine extraction and treatment for
precipitating ions and for increasing the alkalinity of brine
wastewater
in order to enhance CO2 uptake.
16. Chlorine gas is sold commercially for water disinfection and/or
for the PVC
manufacturing of drip irrigation systems that can be utilized in
desert
irrigation projects thus forming a symbiotic industrial partnership.
The REUS Geoengineering Model Figure 5. (continued):
17.
Steps in the REUS Geoengineering Model (Figure 5 above):
17. Chlorine gas in this model is sent to a nearby PVC manufacturing
plant.
18. PVC manufacturing produces pipes for drip irrigation systems.
19. Freshwater from multi-stage desalination is piped through the
newly
manufactured drip irrigation systems.
20. Brine nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, and calcium are
recovered
from an ion-exchange brine treatment process for use as soil
nutrients.
21. Commercially valuable desert agricultural products such as sugar
cane,
vegetables, fruits and nuts are grown with enhanced soil nutrients
and
drip irrigation systems. The drip irrigation systems deliver water
directly to
the roots at night in order to avoid evaporative water losses.
Agriculture
takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the process and it
also slows the market demands for slash-and-burn agriculture on
existing
tropical forests.
22. Desert forestry is made possible with biomass waste leftover
from
agriculture. Bamboo and tropical hardwoods are also grown on
irrigated
desert land. These forests also take up carbon dioxide and lessen
the
demand for clearing existing tropical forests.
23. Brine wastewater leftover from desalination is treated with
sodium
hydroxide and is piped to a brine lake.
24. The hyper alkaline brine evaporation lake absorbs carbon dioxide
from
the atmosphere and it supports blue-green algae (spirillium) that
can be
grown as a biomass supplement for desert soil or as an aquaculture
crop.
25. The evaporated lake bed contains sodium carbonates and white
brine salts
that provide a solar thermal albedo offset that can compensate for
losses
in the albedo of snow and ice at higher latitudes. The sodium
bicarbonate
and brine salts also have commercial value.
26. The parabolic mirror field also acts as a solar thermal albedo
offset that
can also compensate for albedo losses in the albedo of snow and ice
at
higher latitudes.
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Model
A REUS geoengineering model consisting of a hybrid 100-MW
parabolic trough CSP/ hydrogen plant operating with CHP thermal
desalination at a 30-degree latitude near the seacoast of Baja
California would generate at least 200,000-MWh/yr with a maximum of
235,000-MWh/yr (including at least 4,000 full-load solar hours with
“off-peak” or night time steam generation resulting from the
combustion of 1,500 tonnes of hydrogen annually). Waste heat recovered
from the steam turbine would desalinate 25 million cubic meters of
saltwater a year with multi-effect distillation (MED). About 85% of
the minimum electrical generation would be dedicated to membrane brine
electrolysis producing 50,000 tonnes of NaOH a year (at 3,360 KWh per
tonne NaOH). A daily and yearly minimum utility output breakdown is
presented in Table 5.
Table 5: Minimum REUS Utility Outputs
REUS Utility System Output
Daily Production Yearly Production
Minimum Electrical Generation 548 MWh 200,000 MWh
Freshwater 68,493 m3 25,000,000 m3
Brine Wastewater 205,479 m3 75,000,000 m3
NaOH 139 mt 50,600 mt
Cl2 122 mt 44,500 mt
H2 4 mt 1,500 mt
At 200,000 MWh/yr generation the REUS model would allocate
85% of the electrical generation to membrane brine electrolysis with
15% of the annual electrical generation available to support utility
operations and workers, brine processing, PVC manufacturing and
agricultural operations. 80% of the 25 million cubic meters of
freshwater would be utilized directly in irrigated agriculture and
forestry. The remaining 20% would also be used for various onsite
operations.
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering Model
The REUS Geoengineering model has three primary strategies for
reversing the effects of global warming while generating carbon-free
solar electricity, freshwater and photosynthesis in the process. These
three geoengineering strategies include increasing photosynthetic
capital in the desert, oceanic deacidification and increasing the
albedo effect of desert land:
1. Increasing Photosynthetic Capital: This includes the expansion of
photosynthetic agriculture, forestry and algae aquaculture into sub-
tropical desert regions. This increase in photosynthetic capital can
sequester carbon dioxide while reducing market-level demands on
existing ecological systems with high biodiversity.
The REUS Geoengineering model would generate a minimum of
25 million m3 of freshwater a year with MED desalination. If 80% or
20 million m3 of the 25 million m3 of freshwater produced annually is
utilized directly in agriculture and forestry it would be able to
irrigate an area 10 km2 with the equivalent of 2 meters of water a
year. This irrigated desert “oasis” would be irrigated with a
nighttime drip irrigation system constructed mostly out of PVC (57% of
the PVC is Cl2 from the chloro-alkali plant) that would deliver water
directly to the root system thus avoiding excessive water vapor
losses. This 10 km2 “oasis” could be divided into four 2.50 km2
quadrants that grow bamboo, sugarcane, mixed tropical hardwoods and
various tropical fruit trees. Both bamboo and sugarcane have the
highest known photosynthetic rates of any plant species while all four
quadrants would contain commercially valuable species. Mixed bamboo
species could sequester a minimum of 3500 tonnes CO2/km2/yr, sugarcane
at 3000 tonnes CO2/km2/yr, various tropical hardwoods at 1500 tonnes
CO2/km2/yr and various tropical fruit trees at 1000 tonnes CO2/km2/yr.
See Table 6 [8,22,23,24].
Table 6: Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-Year Average Growth Rate
Irrigated Subtropical Desert Plantation 10-Year Average Growth Rate
Metric Tons CO2
Uptake/ Km2/
Year Metric Tons CO2 Uptake/
2.5 Km2 quadrant/
Year Total
Metric Tons
CO2
Uptake
After
10 Years
1. Bamboo 3500 8750 87,500
2. Sugarcane 3000 7500 75,000
3. Tropical Hardwoods 1500 3750 37,500
4. Tropical Fruit Trees 1000 2500 25,000
Total Sum 9,000 22,500 225,000
The 10-km2 irrigated plot of agriculture and forestry would
uptake 22,500 tonnes of CO2 a year as a 10-yr average for a total of
225,000 metric tons of CO2 after 10 years. Bamboo and sugarcane would
represent 72% of the total CO2 uptake. This 10-km2 irrigated desert
zone of agriculture and forestry could also produce enough
agricultural products of commercial value on a yearly basis to prevent
the deforestation of at least 3.33-km2 of primary tropical forest in
an existing region of higher biodiversity while also saving this as an
existing carbon reserve in the process. See Figure 6 [8,22,23,24].
Figure 6: Minimum Ecological Offsets of an Irrigated Desert Plantation
Agriculture and Forestry Area Km2 Minimum Primary Tropical Forest
Offset-Area Km2
1. Bamboo 2.5 0.835
2. Sugarcane 2.5 0.418
3. Tropical Hardwoods 2.5 1.253
4. Tropical Fruit Trees 2.5 0.835
Total Area 10.0 3.334
In addition to irrigated desert agriculture and forestry,
photosynthetic aquaculture can also be realized without the need for
freshwater. The REUS utility would produce about 75 million m3/yr of
treated alkaline brine wastewater as a byproduct from desalination and
membrane brine electrolysis. Not all of this wastewater would be
returned back to the sea. Instead two alternating 25-km2 reservoirs
would be constructed with a 6-meter depth surrounding the 10-km2
agricultural and forestry “island oasis” in the middle. The 10-km2
“island’s” surface elevation would be 10-meters above the design high
water line of the two 25-km2 brine evaporation lakes in order to avoid
salt water intrusion. Pre-reservoir construction for the two
reservoirs would initially consist of testing for freshwater ground
supplies below the desert surface within at least a 100-meter depth of
the proposed base elevation of the proposed sites. This would
determine the acceptability of the site in addition to other
environmental concerns (such as rare or unique flora and fauna that
inhabit the surrounding area). Once the suitability of the site is
determined the 25-km2 reservoirs would be lined with a white PVC-based
geosynthetic liner in order to maximize the albedo effect and
photosynthesis of the filled brine reservoir while preventing salt
water intrusion into the desert soil. The daily inflow into the first
of the two constructed reservoirs would be about 205,500 m3/day at 75
million m3/year (150 million m3 for the first 2 years) with an initial
salinity of 46 grams/kilogram or 4.6% (normal seawater salinity is
3.5%). This would be enough to fill a 25-km2 lake to a depth of 6
meters. Evaporation would occur at a rate of at least 1 million m3/
year at a 30-degree subtropical desert latitude (25-km2). The first
reservoir of the two would be filled for the first two years then
allowed to evaporate for four additional years afterwards. It would
turn into a brine salt flat during the 7th year. The second reservoir
would be constructed and would receive brine wastewater in the third
and fourth years then allowed to evaporate for four additional years
until turning into a brine salt flat in the 9th year. This cycle would
alternate between the two reservoirs. The initial inflow water would
also be treated with sodium hydroxide in order to neutralize carbonic
acid and increase the overall alkalinity for carbon absorption. These
alkaline brine reservoirs would be ideal for photosynthetic carbon-
capturing mechanisms utilizing the cyanobacteria in the genus
Arthrospira (also known as spirulina). Once harvested by the Aztecs at
lake Texcoco , it can be sold commercially for human, animal or
agricultural purposes with a high percent of protein (about 55-77% dry
weight) and all essential amino acids [25,26]. The Arthrospiria could
also be used to add organic mass, potassium and other nutrients to
deficient desert soils. If the minimum six-year photosynthetic biomass
sum of the arthrospira would yield 0.15 mt for every cubic meter
(15:100 mass ratio) of the 150 million m3 brine lake after six years,
it would provide a total yield of 22.5 million metric tons of
arthrospira biomass after six years. With 30% of the biomass content
containing the element carbon (C), it would yield 6,750,000 mt of C
after six years or the equivalent of removing 24,745,500 tonnes of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for the six-year lifespan of each
lake. See Table 7 below.
Table 7: Comparison of Minimum Potential CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture,
Agriculture and Forestry
Year Brine Lake 1
Metric Tons
CO2 Uptake Brine Lake 2
Metric tons
CO2 Uptake 10-km2 oasis
Metric Tons
CO2 Uptake
01 2,070,000 construction 18,000
02 4,110,000 white pvc liner 19,440
03 6,195,000 2,070,000 21,240
04 6,195,000 4,110,000 21,870
05 4,635,000 6,195,000 22,500
06 1,545,000 6,195,000 23,130
07 white brine salt 4,635,000 23,760
08 brine harvesting 1,545,000 24,390
09 2,070,000 white brine salt 25,020
10 4,110,000 brine harvesting 25,650
Total 30,930,000 24,750,000 225,000
2. Oceanic Deacidification: This involves the removal of hydrogen
protons from processed seawater while returning sodium hydroxide to
brine wastewater in order to neutralize the acidity from carbonic
acid. Carbonic acid will further be sequestered as sodium carbonates.
Membrane brine electrolysis is a commonly used chloro-akali
chemical production process. Processed seawater with a final purity of
300-315 g NaCl/L goes into the two-compartment electrolytic cells
while a selective membrane enables the chlorine and sodium ions to
migrate across to the other side with the application of an electrical
current [20]. The chlorine gas and brine salt solution stay in the
compartment on the opposite side of the membrane. The sodium ion is
reacted with pure water to produce caustic soda NaOH and hydrogen. On
a DC basis, the amount of energy required to produce caustic soda by
the membrane brine electrolysis method is about 3,360 KWh per metric
ton of NaOH [20].
The REUS chloro-alkali utility would produce the mass
equivalent of 1,500 mt of hydrogen a year. The night time hydrogen
combustion rate (reacting with atmospheric oxygen) for steam
generation would be about 4 mt every 12 hours. This would produce a
yearly mass of 13,500 mt of H20(l) after multi-effect distillation
(MED) equivalent to 13,500 m3 of pure water a year.
The REUS chloro-alkali utility would also produce 50,600 mt
of NaOH/yr. This would be used to neutralize existing and future
carbonic acid in the brine wastewater. The REUS utility would dilute
139 mt of NaOH with 205,479 mt of brine wastewater on a daily basis.
This would represent a mass ratio of about .068 : 100 with an initial
pH of almost 9.0 (the current pH of surface seawater is close to 8.0).
The yearly total dilution ratio would be about 50,000 mt of NaOH for
every 75,000,000 m3 of brine wastewater produced from desalination.
The yearly projected carbon uptake of this is presented in Table 8.
One metric ton of NaOH can sequester about 0.55 mt of CO2 or a minimum
of 0.50 mt with reaction losses. See Table 8.
Table 8: Minimum Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation
Lakes over 10 Years
Year Reservoir 1
Metric Tons
CO2 Uptake Reservoir 2
Metric tons
CO2 Uptake
01 25,300 construction
02 25,300 white pvc liner
03 NA 25,300
04 NA 25,300
05 25,300 NA
06 NaOH sold NA
07 white brine salt 25,300
08 brine salt sold NaOH sold
09 25,300 white brine salt
10 25,300 brine salt sold
Total 126,500 75,900
During the 6th and 8th years the NaOH would be sold
commercially for various carbon capture projects, etc. This would
amount to 50,000 mt of NaOH for the 6th year and 50,000 mt for the 8th
year, respectively. The total NaOH carbon uptake for Brine Lake 1
would be 126,500 mt of CO2 after 10 years while Brine Lake 2 would
sequester 75,900 mt of CO2 after 10 years also as sodium bicarbonate
(baking soda). The total would be 202,400 mt of NaOH CO2 uptake after
10 years. The evaporated lake would leave both white brine salt and a
relatively minor amount of sodium carbonate behind providing an albedo
effect for incoming solar radiation that could mimic snow and ice in
higher
latitudes.
Figure 6: Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake Visual
3. Increasing the Desert’s Albedo Effect: The albedo effect of
subtropical desert land can be increased with mirrored solar
concentrating fields, white PVC-based geosynthetic lake liners and
white brine salt/sodium bicarbonate flats in order to compensate for
losses in polar ice and snow at higher latitudes.
About 30% of the incoming solar radiation that reaches the
earth’s biosphere is reflected back into space. This is attributed to
atmospheric particles, cloud cover, ice and snow and other factors.
About 70% of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed in both the land
and oceans. Of all land areas, the earth’s subtropical deserts receive
the greatest amount of incoming solar radiation around 5.0 KWh/m2-day
between latitudes 15-33 degrees N or S and also have the greatest
potential for solar thermal offsets utilizing surfaces with high
reflectivity’s [21]. The REUS geoengineering model maximizes these
albedo effects with the parabolic mirrored 100-MW solar concentrating
field (about 2 km2), white PVC-based geosynthetic liners for the two
brine lakes (both at 25km2) and the brine salt flats leftover after
the two alternating lakes have evaporated (both at 25 km2). The white
PVC-based geosynthetic liner would increase the reflectivity under the
brine lake water enhancing photosynthesis and decreasing the amount of
heat energy captured by the lakes themselves. Once the brine salts
have been harvested for commercial purposes the white PVC liner would
be left to compensate for the albedo loss of the salt removal. See
Tables 9 and 10.
Table 9: Minimum Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a
1-Km2 Surface at a 30-Degree Latitude
Physical Surface Average
Albedo Effect Sunlight Absorption CO2 thermal offset
mt/km2 Equivalent
Offset of Ice at 60 Degrees N or S
Parabolic Solar Field 0.65 35% 54,000 3.25-km2
PVC Lake Liner 0.75 25% 62,500 3.75-km2
Brine Salt 0.60 40% 50,000 3.00-km2
Table 10: Minimum Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2
Removal Equivalencies at a 30-Degree Latitude
Year 100-MW
Parabolic Solar Field
(2-km2)
Metric Tons
CO2 Offset Brine Lake 1
(25-km2)
Metric Tons
CO2 Offset Brine Lake 2
(25-km2)
Metric tons
CO2 Offset Equivalent Displacement of Ice at
60 degrees
N or S
(Km2)
01 108,000 0 CONSTRUCTION 6.50
02 108,000 0 1,562,500 PVC 100.25
03 108,000 0 0 6.50
04 108,000 0 0 6.50
05 108,000 0 0 6.50
06 108,000 0 0 6.50
07 108,000 1,250,000 SALT 0 81.50
08 108,000 1,562,500 PVC 0 100.25
09 108,000 0 1,250,000 SALT 81.50
10 108,000 0 1,562,500 PVC 100.25
Total 1,080,000 2,812,500 4,375,000 49.63 AVG
The mirrors of the 100-MW parabolic solar concentrating field would
encompass an area of 2-km2 and would provide an albedo of 0.65-the
equivalent of displacing the thermal atmospheric heating effects of at
least 108,000 mt of CO2 a year or 1,080,000 mt of CO2 over the 10-year
cycle of the REUS geoengineering model. Brine Lakes 1 and 2 would have
a neutral effect of solar thermal CO2 offsets when filled to a maximum
of 4 meters (considering evaporative losses) due to the white
geosynthetic PVC liner under the surface. The lake albedo would be
0.50 (50% solar reflectivity and 50% absorption). During year 7, Brine
Lake 1 would evaporate leaving 25-km2 of brine salts (displacing
1,250,000 of CO2) and after commercial brine salt harvesting, the
white PVC liner would displace the equivalent of 1,562,500 mt of CO2
in year 8. The total CO2 thermal displacement of Brine Lake 1 would
amount to 2,812,500 mt of CO2 over ten years of operation. Brine Lake
2 would realize thermal CO2 offsets in year 2 after the newly
constructed PVC liner is installed. The 2nd year displacement would be
1,562,500 mt CO2. By year 9, the Brine Lake 2 will have evaporated
leaving a 25-km2 brine salt field that would thermally displace
1,250,000 mt of CO2 from the atmosphere. By year 10, the brine salt
would have been harvested and the PVC liner would, in turn, displace
1,562,500 mt of CO2. The total 10-yr thermal displacement of Brine
Lake 2 would amount to 4,375,000 mt of CO2. The total 10-yr operating
cycle of the REUS geoengineering model operating at a 30-degree
latitude (including the 2-km2 solar concentrating field and two brine
lakes for a total of 50-km2) could provide an average yearly solar
thermal offset equivalent to displacing 50-km2 of polar sea ice at a
60-degree latitude. The total thermal offset after 10 years would be
equivalent to removing 7,187,500 mt of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The last zone of albedo consideration involves the 10-km2
plot of irrigated agriculture and forestry. The albedo value would be
approximately 0.20. This suggests that the agriculture and tropical
forestry would absorb 80% of the incoming solar radiation and that it
would constitute a 50% increase over that of the surrounding desert
(at 0.40). A 50% preliminary adjustment has been made to the 10-km2
irrigated oasis in order to account for this loss of albedo effect.
The solar thermal increase would halve the net thermal offset of
photosynthetic carbon removal over 10 years. Instead of the net effect
of 225,000 mt of CO2 being removed from the atmosphere by
photosynthesis, the thermal albedo effect would be equivalent to
removing just 112,500 mt of CO2 from the atmosphere. However,
according to research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
water vapor from trees in the tropics promotes convective cloud
formation that induces a cooling effect [27]. The cloud tops reflect
incoming solar radiation on a large scale and it enhances
precipitation. For example, roughly half of the rainfall that falls on
the Amazon rainforest comes from the clouds created by the evaporative
surface area of the leaves in the forest itself. The planting of more
tropical forests could slow atmospheric warming. Convective cloud
formation would not initially be applicable to the 10-km2 irrigated
agriculture and forestry plot due to the aridity of the subtropical
desert. However, over time, evaporation from multiple brine lakes
could potentially provide convective cloud formations that reflect
incoming solar radiation in subtropical desert regions. Initially the
water vapor could act as a greenhouse gas absorbing infrared heat
radiation.
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo Offsets
The REUS utility has both cumulative photosynthetic, NaOH
and thermal albedo effect offsets that can be summarized in the table
below with albedo effect corrections. The albedo offset of the 10-km2
plot of irrigated agriculture and forestry does deduct from the total
CO2 offset. An overall summary of is provided below with both
photosynthetic and NaOH CO2 added together.
Table 11: Minimum Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets
for a 100-MW REUS Model
Year Parabolic
Solar Field
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 1
Photo-
Synthesis
+ NaOH
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 1
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 2
Photo-
Synthesis
+ NaOH
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 2
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2 10-km2 Oasis
Photo-
Synthesis
mt CO2 10-km2
Oasis
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2
01 108,000 2,095,300 - - - 18,000 -9,000
02 108,000 4,135,300 - - 1,562,500 19,440 -9,720
03 108,000 6,195,000 - 2,095,300 - 21,240 -10,620
04 108,000 6,195,000 - 4,135,300 - 21,870 -10,935
05 108,000 4,660,300 - 6,195,000 - 22,500 -11,250
06 108,000 1,545,000 - 6,195,000 - 23,130 -11,565
07 108,000 - 1,250,000 4,660,300 - 23,760 -11,880
08 108,000 - 1,562,500 1,545,000 - 24,390 -12,195
09 108,000 2,095,300 - - 1,250,000 25,020 -12,510
10 108,000 4,135,300 - - 1,562,500 25,650 -12,825
Total 1,080,000 31,056,500 2,812,500 24,825,900 4,375,000
225,000 -112,500
The REUS model will remove a total of 56,107,400 mt tons of CO2
through photosynthesis and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) removal after 10
years for an average of 5,610,700 mt CO2/yr and it will also provide a
thermal albedo offset equivalent to removing 8,155,000 mt of CO2
after 10 years for an average of 815,500 mt of CO2/yr.
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS Model
A 100-MW REUS model provides a total CO2 offset of 64,262,400 mt of
CO2 after 10 years. This is the equivalent of removing the annual
carbon emissions of twenty 500-MW fossil fuel power plants producing
320,000 mt of CO2 over the course of 10 years. Perhaps the most
appealing aspect of the REUS model is the fact that it is simply a
reconfiguration of long- established technologies that have had a
reliable industry track record of a least a quarter of a century or
more. These technologies include parabolic solar concentrators, multi-
stage desalination systems and membrane brine electrolyzers found in
the chloro-alkali industry. In addition, PVC liners used in the mining
and landfill industry have also been available for two decades.
Besides carbon offsets, the REUS model also generates a surplus of
electricity and freshwater that is available for use onsite or offsite
from the plant’s operations. This would amount to a surplus capacity
of 30,000 MWh/yr of electricity and 5 million m3 of freshwater/yr.
• Electricity: 85% of the total yearly electrical generation is
dedicated to membrane brine electrolysis or (0.85 X 200,000 MWh/
yr=170,000 MWh/yr). The remaining electricity would amount to 30,000
MWh/yr.
• Freshwater: 80% of the total yearly freshwater production would be
used directly for agriculture (0.80 X 25,000,000 m3 of water/yr =
20,000,000 m3/yr). The remaining freshwater would amount to 5,000,000
m3/yr.
The REUS utility also has a multitude of economically valuable
chemical and material goods that it generates. Sodium hydroxide can be
sold commercially for various carbon capture projects. The yearly
production of chlorine gas can also be sold commercially in symbiotic
industrial partnerships that benefit both entities. For example, the
chlorine gas can be sold commercially to a PVC manufacturing plant
that, in turn, manufactures drip irrigation systems for REUS
agriculture and forestry operations. PVC-based geosynthetic liners can
be manufactured for REUS brine lakes.
The PVC plant can utilize the surplus of carbon-free solar electricity
produced by the utility. In addition, chlorine gas can be sold to
mining companies that use Cl2 to extract titanium-bearing ores.
Titanium, with its resistance to corrosion is used in both the multi-
effect distillation chambers and in the membrane brine electrolyzer
compartments of the REUS plant.
The REUS operation also has a number of commercially valuable products
that are grown. These include bamboo, sugarcane, fruits, tropical
hardwoods and of course, most importantly the Arthrospira. Bamboo can
offer rapid carbon assimilation in addition to providing a durable and
strong building material. Sugarcane, another record holder in
photosynthesis, reached a quarter-century market high as a commodity
in August of 2009 [28]. Tropical fruits such as figs, papayas, mangos,
etc can be sold commercially. The tropical hardwoods would not be
harvested until the 33rd year of operation and would primarily derive
their value as a carbon offset. Perhaps the most important product of
the REUS model involves the cyanobacteria probably the most important
mechanism in capturing carbon. Arthrospira can also add organic
biomass and nutrients to poor desert soils or it can be used to feed a
growing world population with a full range of amino acids. Brine salts
also have commercial value after the Arthrospira has been harvested
and the lakes have evaporated. The theoretical value of brine salts is
up to six times higher than the value gained from the production of
potable water. In one Australian study, the desalination plant
generated $30 million per year for freshwater. The brine salt mineral
value of the discharged hyper saline wastewater could generate $250
million year [29]. The brine salts contain the following listing of
valuable chemicals:
• NaCl (sodium chloride)
• MgSO4 * 7H2O (Epsom salt)
• KCL (potassium chloride) and MgCl2 (magnesium chloride)
• Br (bromine) and Li (lithium salts)
A summary of commercially valuable products is divided between the
REUS utility outputs in Table 12 and 13 and the REUS geoengineering
products listed in Table 14 and 15.
Table 12: Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in Quantities
Year Total
Carbon
Credits
mt Surplus
Electricity
MWh Surplus
Fresh-
water
m3 Sodium
Hydroxide
mt Chlorine
Gas
mt
01 2,212,300 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
02 5,815,520 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
03 8,408,920 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
04 10,449,235 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
05 10,974,550 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
06 7,859,565 30,000 5,000,000 50,600 44,500
07 6,030,180 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
08 3,227,695 30,000 5,000,000 50,600 44,500
09 3,465,810 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
10 5,818,625 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
Total 64,262,400 300,000 50,000,000 101,200 445,000
Table 13: Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S. Dollars
Year Carbon
Credits
$10.00 mt
U.S. Dollars Surplus
Electricity
$100.00
MWh
U.S. Dollars Surplus
Freshwater
$0.50 m3
U.S. Dollars Sodium
Hydroxide
$300.00 mt
U.S. Dollars Chlorine
Gas
$50.00 mt
U.S. Dollars
01 22,123,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
02 58,155,200 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
03 84,089,200 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
04 104,492,350 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
05 109,745,500 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
06 78,595,650 3,000,000 2,500,000 15,180,000 2,225,000
07 60,301,800 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
08 32,276,950 3,000,000 2,500,000 15,180,000 2,225,000
09 34,658,100 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
10 58,186,250 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
Total 642,624,000 30,000,000 25,000,000 30,360,000 22,250,000
Table 14: Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in Metric
Tons
Year Bamboo
mt Sugarcane
(raw cane)
mt Fruits
mt Tropical
Hardwoods
(after 33rd yr) Arthrospira
(dry weight)
mt Brine
Salts
mt
01 - 18,750 - - 690,000 -
02 21,875 18,750 125 - 1,370,000 -
03 21,875 18,750 125 - 2,755,000 -
04 21,875 18,750 125 - 3,435,000 -
05 21,875 18,750 125 - 3,610,000 -
06 21,875 18,750 125 - 2,580,000 -
07 21,875 18,750 125 - 1,545,000 -
08 21,875 18,750 125 - 515,000 13,800,000
09 21,875 18,750 125 - 690,000 -
10 21,875 18,750 125 - 1,370,000 13,800,000
Total 196,875 187,500 1,125 93,750 18,560,000 27,600,000
Table 15: Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009
U.S. Dollars
Year Bamboo
$25.00
mt Sugarcane
(raw cane)
$10.00
mt Fruits
$100.00
mt Hardwoods
(harvested after 33rd yr) Arthrospira
(dry weight)
$100.00
mt Brine
Salts
$15.00
mt
01 - 187,500 - - 69,000,000 -
02 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 137,000,000 -
03 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 275,500,000 -
04 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 343,500,000 -
05 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 361,000,000 -
06 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 258,000,000 -
07 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 154,500,000 -
08 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 51,500,000 207,000,000
09 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 69,000,000 -
10 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 137,000,000 207,000,000
Total 4,921,875 1,875,000 112,500 NA 1,856,000,000 414,000,000
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System that Decreases the Entropy of
the Biosphere
The estimated total engineering and construction cost of a 200,000 MWh/
yr REUS geoengineering project including the 100-MW parabolic solar
concentrating field, 25 million m3/yr multi-stage desalination plant,
50,000 mt NaOH/yr membrane electrolysis facility, 10-km2 oasis plus
two 25-km2 brine lakes would approach 1 billion U.S. dollars (2009).
The total revenue generated from the project including commercially
valuable REUS utility and geoengineering products after 10 years of
operation would total 3 billion dollars (this includes all REUS
utility products: carbon credits, surplus electricity, surplus
freshwater, sodium hydroxide and chlorine gas in addition to REUS
geoengineering products; bamboo, sugarcane, fruits, arthrospira and
brine salts.) In this model the carbon credits are assumed to have a
low range market value of $10 U.S. dollars a metric ton.
The most important aspect of the REUS model is that it constitutes a
fundamental reversal in traditional economic models that increase the
entropy of the biosphere. Nearly all economic models in existence
today generate a net increase in entropy in the biosphere that are
eroding the very thermodynamic directive of the ecological systems
that sustain life [30]. An economic model that parallels the
thermodynamic directive of ecological systems should decrease the
entropy of the biosphere by reducing carbon emissions, oceanic
acidification and global snow and ice losses while promoting the
ecological diversity that fortifies the biosphere’s life support
functions. The REUS geoengineering model can arguably be considered to
be the world’s first scalable, planetary terraforming model that, if
implemented on a global basis, can slow or even reverse the increasing
trend of entropy in the biosphere.
References
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biology and Biotechnology. CRC Press, 1997.
[26] J. Decker. “Blooming Biofuel: How Algae Could Provide the
Solution”. Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
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[27] Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. 2007. Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
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[28] Bloomberg. “Monsoon Rain Deficit Widens in India, Hurting Sugar
Cane, Rice.” Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
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[29] Desalination with Zero Sea Discharge. Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia. Retrieved on
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[30] S. Jorgensen and Y. Svirezhev. Towards a Thermodynamic Theory
for Ecological Systems. Elselvier Ltd, 2004.
suffered formatting problems when I tried to copy and paste this
report into this format. This initial draft was prepared for a
proposed solar desalination project/ climate trust fund in Australia
and it is written in a more digestable format for public
presentations.
TITLE: The Reverse Entropy Utility System
(REUS)
By
AUTHOR: Brennan Jorgensen
Sun Hydrosystems Research
November 2009
Copyright 2009
Table of Contents
List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
CHAPTERS
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Sunny Subtropical Deserts……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Desalination in Coastal Desert Regions……………………………………………………………………………. 8
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and Forestry……………………………………………………………………
9
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and
Forestry………………………………………………………….. 10
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the
Desert………………………………………………………… 11
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine
Salts………………………………………………………………….. 12
Oceanic Deprotonation……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium Hydroxide…………………………………………………………………..
16
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global Warming…………………………………………………………
16
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)………………………………………………………………………
19
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Model………………………………………………………………………
23
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering
Model……………………………………………. 24
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo
Offsets…………………………………………. 33
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS Model………………………………………………….
34
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System with Decreasing
Entropy…………………………………. 38
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 39
TABLES
TB 1 Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the
World…………………………............................... 7
TB 2 Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and
Forestry…………………………………… 10
TB 3 Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical
Plantations…………………………………….. 11
TB 4 Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface
Features………………………………………….. 13
TB 5 Minimum REUS Utility Outputs………………………………………………………………………………. 23
TB 6 Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-yr Average Growth
Rate………………………………………… 25
TB 7 CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture, Agriculture and
Forestry…………………………………………. 27
TB 8 Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation Lakes Over 10
Years……………. 29
TB 9 Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a 1-km2 Surface at a 30-
Degree Latitude 30
TB 10 Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2 Removal
Equivalencies at 30-Deg.. 31
TB 11 Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets for a 100-
MW REUS………. 33
TB 12 Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in
Quantities………………………………….. 36
TB 13 Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S.
Dollars………………………………………………. 36
TB 14 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in
Quantities…………………… 37
TB 15 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009 U.S.
Dollars………… 37
FIGURES
FG 1 Solar Radiation Versus Latitude at Solar
Equinox……………………………………………………. 13
FG 2 Oceanic Acidification……………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
FG 3 Oceanic Deprotonation…………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
FG 4 The Reverse Entropy Utility System…………………………………………………………………………
19
FG 5 The REUS Geoengineering Model…………………………………………………………………………… 21
FG 6 Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake
Visual……………………………………………………………………. 29
Executive Summary
With the sun as an energy source, the earth’s biosphere has evolved
over the last billion years as a decreasing entropy subsystem in the
midst of a universe of ever increasing entropy. Since the dawn of the
industrial revolution, the entropy of the biosphere has been steadily
increasing due to exponential increases in human population growth in
conjunction with various activities such as deforestation, the
emissions of greenhouse gases and large-scale losses in biodiversity.
This increasing entropy is contrary to the very life-sustaining
thermodynamic directive of the biosphere itself that has steadily
resulted in the formation of complex ecological systems since the
extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. With the current
socioeconomic path leading towards ever increasing entropy in the
biosphere, an eventual global economic and ecological collapse will be
inevitable. As a logical strategy for long term survival, all
socioeconomic policies should be based in thermodynamics and should be
striving towards a system that decreases the entropy of our life-
supporting biosphere.
A utility system that decreases the entropy of our life-supporting
biosphere would need to be both economically viable and it would also
need to be a massively scalable geoengineering project in order to
reverse many of the profound anthropomorphic changes that have
occurred to the environment over just the last century. Many of these
large-scale anthropomorphic changes to the environment can be lumped
into one of four thermodynamic and physical “megatrends.” These four
trends include increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
increasing acidity in the oceans, the decreasing albedo effect of
global snow and ice cover and rising sea levels. A Reverse Entropy
Utility System or REUS model has been devised in order to slow and
hopefully reverse these four aspects of global warming over centuries
of time. The REUS model is based on reliable technologies that involve
a solar-powered desalination system coupled to a common chloro-alkali
industrial process. The system can remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere via photosynthesis in subtropical desert regions while
removing acidic hydrogen protons from seawater. It can produce sodium
hydroxide to counter oceanic acidification while producing salt flats
that mimic global snow and ice cover. Theoretically, over centuries of
time, the system could potentially slow or even reverse rising sea
levels.
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)
Introduction
Life in the biosphere is powered almost exclusively by the sun.
Shortwave photons from the sun power photosynthesis in the biosphere
while the space outside of our atmosphere acts as a heat sink for
dissipated long wave heat radiation. This effect induces a decreasing
entropy subsystem within the biosphere relative to the universe that
“drives” the increasing organizational complexity of life on earth.
Since about 65 million years ago, the entropy of the biosphere has
been steadily decreasing resulting in the ever increasing complexity
of life on earth. However, the onslaught of the industrial revolution
over the last two hundred years has fundamentally reversed this
entropy directive contrary to the very thermodynamic strategy of life
itself. This reversal in entropy is primarily attributed to global
warming caused by the combustion of fossil fuels and forests with
resulting biodiversity losses. The release of greenhouse gases has
furthermore resulted in oceanic acidification, losses in polar ice and
rising sea levels. Increasing entropy causes the climate to become
more chaotic as it continues to shift out of its normal dynamic
equilibrium. The IPCC 2007 report found that atmospheric temperatures
could rise between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees C during the 21st century with
sea levels rising 18 to 59 cm [1]. A higher frequency of heat waves,
droughts and extreme precipitation events is already occurring.
Meanwhile, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA)
and the United Nations, the projected demand for energy, water and
agricultural resources is projected to increase nearly 50% by the year
2030 in order to meet the needs of 8 billion people thus further
exacerbating the demands on the earth’s energy and biotic resources
[2,3]. Humanity is fundamentally overshooting the very life support
system of the earth’s biosphere.
One geoengineering solution could solve this crisis on multiple
levels. The world’s subtropical deserts could in fact reverse this
positive entropy directive of the biosphere through large-scale
geoengineering efforts coordinated over centuries of time.
Subtropical deserts receive the greatest amount of solar radiation of
any land area in the world and also have the greatest potential to
sequester carbon dioxide via photosynthesis provided for by desert
irrigation with increases in the albedo effect of the land. Abundant
solar energy resources in coastal desert regions can be used to drive
desalination plants that in turn provide freshwater needed for desert
agriculture and forestry. This strategy would not only provide
additional freshwater, agricultural and forestry resources for a
growing global population but it would also sequester carbon dioxide
in the process. Currently, over 1/3 of the continental land area on
the planet is considered to be desert or desertified with
approximately half of the world’s original forest cover lost since the
Industrial Revolution. Greening the desert with agriculture and
forestry can also offset economic demands on existing forests that are
prone to slash-and-burn agricultural practices. Exisiting carbon
reserves can be protected along with remaining ecological diversity.
In addition, white salt fields leftover from the evaporation of
desalinated brine wastewater in sunny desert regions can mimic polar
ice fields and can thus increase the albedo effect of the land.
Seawater membrane brine electrolysis found in the chloro-alkali
industry can also offset the effects of global warming by reducing
oceanic acidification by removing hydrogen protons from seawater.
Brine electrolysis also produces sodium hydroxide that can neutralize
carbon dioxide in both the atmosphere and oceans. Sequestered carbon
in white sodium bicarbonate fields can also mimic the albedo effects
of polar ice much like salt fields leftover from desalination. All of
these mechanisms can be integrated into a single geoengineering
utility system that involves solar-powered desalination coupled with a
common chloro-alkali industrial process. This geoengineering utility
model has been termed the Reverse Entropy Utility System or REUS
model. The REUS model is designed to reverse the entropy of the
biosphere on multiple levels through a scalable and integrated utility
process using proven technologies that harnesses carbon-free renewable
energy via concentrating solar power, the desalination of seawater
through multi-effect stages while utilizing solar electrical
generation to power membrane brine electrolysis. The optimal
utilization of this model would occur initially in coastal subtropical
desert regions with geoengineering projects moving further inland.
Sunny Subtropical Deserts
Approximately one third of the continental land area on the earth is
considered to be desert or desertified. The world’s subtropical
deserts comprise an area about 9,312,000 Km2 or an area 12% larger
than the continent of Antarctica. Subtropical desert is defined by
its precipitation (usually less than 25 cm of rain a year) and
latitude (between 15-33 degrees North and South of the equator) [4].
Africa contains 65% of the world’s subtropical desert area or
5,952,000 Km2 with the Arabian and Australian deserts ranking second
and third respectively (see Table 1). These regions receive the most
solar energy of any land area on the planet and 50 MW of installed
capacity for a concentrating solar utility plant on a square kilometer
of desert land would yield about 250 GWh of electrical generation a
year [5]. A study determined that roughly a 150 Km by 150 Km square
area of solar concentrating utilities in the North American Southwest
could theoretically provide all of the electrical needs for the entire
United States. If less than two percent of the Saharan desert where
utilized with solar utility plants, it could provide enough solar
energy to power the entire global economy [5].
Table 1: Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the World
Region
Area Km2 Principle Deserts
1. Africa 5,952,000 Saharan, Kalahari
2. Middle East 1,600,000 Arabian
3. Australia 921,000 Gibson, Great Sandy, Victoria, Simpson, Stuart
Stony
4. North America 558,000 Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan
The large influx of solar energy received in these regions translates
into the greatest potential for any land-based solution for reversing
the increasing entropy of the biosphere by greening the desert and
increasing the albedo effect of the land. Photosynthesis is
unquestionably constrained by the lack of precipitation. However, this
can be overcome by coupling renewable energy with desalination in
coastal desert regions.
Desalination in Coastal Desert Regions
Coupling renewable energy with desalination in coastal desert regions
is not a new concept. With 1.1 billion people worldwide having
inadequate drinking water and 97% of the world’s water consisting of
seawater, the demand for desalination will continue to grow for both
direct human use and agriculture. A global population of 8 billion
people by the year 2030 would require a 50% increase in freshwater
resources. The global capacity for desalination has more than doubled
between 1994 to 2004 according to the International Desalination
Association and 70% of the water resources that humanity consumes
annually are allocated to agricultural production [3]. Renewable
energy coupled with either reverse osmosis and/ or multi-stage
desalination can provide freshwater with zero carbon emissions while
increasing photosynthetic capital in arid coastal regions. One of the
first renewable energy and desalination projects in the world was
constructed north of Perth, Australia in late 2005. The 79 MW Emu
Downs wind farm 200 Km North of Perth Australia generates 270 GWh/yr
and was initiated in November of 2005. It consists of 48 wind turbines
that provide the Kwinana reverse osmosis plant with 180 Gwh/yr. The
plant produces 144,000 m3 of freshwater a day. The most ambitious
solar desalination planned to date involves the Sana'a Solar Water
project to be built on the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula
in Yemen after 2010. The proposed 11-billion dollar project would
consist of a 1,250 MW parabolic trough concentrating solar power
field. The project would be able to provide 300 million m3/yr
freshwater through a combined heat and power (CHP) multi-effect
desalination (MED) system with another 700 million m3/yr of freshwater
provided by a separate reverse osmosis plant [5]. The coupling of
abundant solar energy with desalination in desert regions with a
proximity to seawater appears to be one of the most logical
strategies for meeting the freshwater and agricultural demands of
humanity while capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and Forestry
Capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis can be accomplished
through irrigated desert agriculture and forestry while avoiding
nitrous oxide and methane emissions. Global agricultural demand is
projected to increase 50% by the year 2030 in order to meet the needs
of 8 billion people. About 70% of the water resources that humanity
consumes in an entire year is used by agriculture around the globe and
this amounts to 2,500 Km3 of water annually [6]. The Green Revolution
that coincided with the rapid growth in agricultural productivity
since 1950 is mainly attributed to nearly a three-fold growth in
irrigated land area, a 10-fold increase in the amount of fertilizers
used and advances in high-yielding crop varieties [6]. This initial
large-scale gain in photosynthetic capital (excluding deforestation)
undoubtedly came at a price when monocultures pushed aside natural
genetic crop diversities in addition to increased nitrous oxide
emissions (from nitrogen fertilizers), methane (from rice paddies),
and carbon emissions from cleared forested land that also resulted in
overall biodiversity losses. In addition, these monocultures now lack
the once available genetic variability that could further protect them
from disease, insects and climate change. About 20 kinds of plants
represent 80% of the world’s food supply [6]. About 40% of the land
surface area on the planet is currently used for agriculture while
about 1/3 of the continental land area on the planet is considered to
be desert. The next green revolution could involve geoengineering
these remaining desert lands by avoiding losses in genetic variation
and decreasing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while
simultaneously alleviating the ongoing global water, food and climate
crises.
The concept of geoengineering subtropical desert regions with
scalable solar-powered desalination systems can be accomplished with
existing technologies that have a been around for a quarter of a
century (as is the case with parabolic solar troughs and multi-effect
desalination systems). The freshwater that is produced at
desalination plants along desert coasts can also be piped hundreds of
kilometers inland for various agriculture and forestry projects. The
proposed Sana’a Solar Water Project in Yemen involves the construction
of a 250-km steel pipeline from the coastal desalination plants inland
to the city. Both inland and coastal subtropical climates provide a
year-round, frost-free growing season with a maximum percentage of
frost-free clear, sunny days. Rapid increases in photosynthetic
capital can be realized with appropriate soil conditions that would
translate into rapid increases in both food security and carbon
assimilation.
The main nutrients required for desert plant growth are fixed nitrogen
and phosphorous, potassium followed by sulfur, magnesium and calcium
(see Table 2). Brine salts leftover from desalinization can be
extracted and utilized to enhance desert soil conditions with key
minerals [7].
Table 2: Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and Forestry
Chemical Ions
(white rows are utilized in photosynthesis) Concentration in Mg/ Kg
of Seawater Percent % Salinity
of Seawater
Chloride [Cl] 19345 55.0
Sodium [Na] 10752 30.6
Sulfate [SO4] 2701 7.7
Magnesium [Mg] 1295 3.7
Calcium [Ca] 416 1.1
Potassium [K] 390 1.1
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and Forestry
Pine plantations in the U.S. Southeast can accumulate almost 100
metric tons of carbon per acre after 90 years, or roughly one metric
ton of carbon per acre per year [8]. The U.S. Forest Service estimates
that all the forests in the United States combined sequester
approximately 25% of U.S. human-caused emissions of carbon [9]. At
the global level, the IPCC Third Assessment Report estimates about 100
billion metric tons of carbon over the next 50 years could be
sequestered just through existing forest preservation, tree planting
and improved agricultural management. This would offset 10-20% of the
world's projected fossil fuel emissions [10].
Table 3: Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical Plantations
Irrigated Subtropical Desert Plantation 10-Year Average Growth Rate
Metric Tons CO2 Uptake/ Hectare/ Year Metric Tons CO2
Uptake/ Km2/
Year
1. Mixed Bamboo 35 3500
2. Sugarcane 30 3000
3. Mixed Tropical Hardwoods 15 1500
4. Mixed Tropical Fruit Trees 10 1000
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the Desert
An estimated 20% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide emitted by human
activities results from deforestation and land use practices.
Approximately half of the world’s original forest cover has been lost
since the industrial revolution with 15 million hectares of tropical
rainforest being cleared every year due to logging, agricultural and
ranching practices. These tropical forests are the most biodiverse
ecologies on the planet supporting 60% of all known species and are
also the most productive: the Amazon rainforests occupy less than 5%
of the land surface area on the planet but provide 10% of the earth’s
primary productivity [11]. Lessening the market-level demands on these
remaining forests around the world would not only secure remaining
biodiversity but would also alleviate further potential carbon
emissions. If an irrigated square-kilometer plantation of mixed
bamboo, sugarcane, mixed tropical hardwoods and fig trees produced an
average of 12 metric tons of biomass every 100 m2 after growing for a
period of 10 years, it would sequester 50,000 metric tons of carbon
(assuming 40% of the biomass is carbon) or the equivalent of about
75,000 metric tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide [9,12]. This 1-square
kilometer desert plantation could also theoretically be able to offset
the logging and agricultural demands on a 1/3 km2 of primary tropical
rainforest thus protecting intangible biodiversity while preserving
existing carbon reserves. This would constitute a decreasing or
reverse entropy directive for the biosphere; protecting and/or
expanding existing biodiversity while re-building the earth’s primary
base of photosynthetic capital.
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine Salts
Re-building the earth’s primary base of photosynthetic capital
through agriculture and forestry is just one climatic cooling
mechanism that can be maximized in subtropical desert regions while
sequestering carbon dioxide in the process. Another climatic cooling
mechanism can consist of increasing the albedo effect of subtropical
desert land that would offset the decreasing albedo effect of global
seasonal snow cover, glacial and polar ice.
Seasonal snow cover, glacial and polar ice are decreasing at rates
higher than initially predicted just several years ago. Since 1979 the
size of the Arctic summer polar ice cap has decreased by 20% [13]. The
Wilkins Polar Ice shelf in Antarctica has decreased by about a third
from its original 16,000 km2 when first spotted decades ago [14].
About 30% of the incoming solar radiation that reaches the earth’s
surface is reflected by the earth’s overall albedo effect. Glacial and
polar ice caps, snow cover and clouds reflect this radiation while the
remaining 70% of the sun’s solar radiation is absorbed in the land,
atmosphere and oceans [15]. The oceans contain about 90% of the heat
energy in the earth’s climatic system. Increasing the reflectivity to
sunlight or albedo effect of subtropical desert land can compensate
for the albedo losses of snow and ice ranging from alpine to polar
regions. One of the most logical approaches for accomplishing this
would involve the utilization of brine salts leftover from
desalination. Brine wastewater evaporation lakes can leave behind
nearly pure white brine salts after they have evaporated. A square
kilometer salt flat at a 30-degree latitude in Northern Baja
California with 300 sunny days a year can provide a solar thermal
offset equivalent to nearly 3 km2 of sea ice at a 60-degree latitude
in Alaska (this also takes into account the more frequent occurrence
of cloud cover in Alaska) [16]. The square kilometer brine salt field
could potentially provide a thermal offset equivalent to removing at
least 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
assuming that the salt reflects at least 60% of incoming solar
radiation (Table 4) [17, 18].
Table 4: Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface Features
Physical Surface Average
Albedo Effect % of Sunlight Absorption
Fresh Snow 0.85 15
Baking Soda 0.80 20 (estimated)
PVC plastic 0.75 25 (estimated)
CSP Solar Field 0.65 35
Sea Ice 0.60 40
Brine Salt Field 0.60 40 (estimated)
Desert Land 0.40 60
Forest 0.15 85
Asphalt 0.10 90
Figure 1: Solar Radiation versus Latitude at Solar Equinox
Latitude in Degrees N or S Solar Radiation
Kwh/m2/Day
0 4.0
15 4.5
30 5.5
45 3.5
60 2.5
75 1.0
90 <0.5
The world’s subtropical deserts at approximately a 15-33 degree
latitude provide the greatest potential for enhanced albedo offsets
that can slow global warming (see Figure 1) due to the relatively
abundant amounts of solar radiation and lack of cloud cover received
in these regions [18]. The oceans also constitute another physical
medium inside the biosphere that can be geoengineered in order to
decrease overall entropy through oceanic deprotonation.
Oceanic Deprotonation
Oceanic deprotonation is a name for a geoengineering process by which
the acidity of oceans can be reduced while capturing carbon dioxide in
the process. Ocean acidification involves the ongoing decrease in the
pH of the oceans attributed to the oceanic uptake of anthropomorphic
carbon dioxide. Between 1751 and 1994 ocean surface pH is estimated to
have decreased from approximately 8.179 to 8.104 [19]. Pure water can
be considered to be a balance of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions
with a neutral pH of 7. Dissolving CO2 in seawater increases the
hydrogen proton ion (H+) concentration in the ocean thus decreasing
the oceanic pH causing acidification. Since the industrial revolution
began, the ocean surface pH has dropped .075 units with about a 25%
increase in H+ protons [19]. Oceanic acidification is represented
schematically as a chemical equation process (see Figure 2). Oceanic
deprotonation can be considered to be the reverse of this process (the
removal of hydrogen protons from the ocean) that can be initially
accomplished through a common industrial chloro-alkali process (see
Figure 3) [20].
Figure 2: Oceanic Acidification
1. Pure water is a balance of H+ and OH- ions (pH=7):
HOH (l) = H+ (aq) + OH-(aq)
2. Water becomes acidic when the H+ protons prevail over the OH- ions.
3. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to produce carbonic acid:
CO2(g) + H20(l) > H2CO3 (aq)
A surplus of H+ relative to OH- ions is created in the water thus
causing oceanic acidification:
H2CO3(aq) = H+(aq) + HCO3-(aq)
Figure 3: Oceanic Deprotonation
1. Pure water is a balance of H+ and OH- ions (pH=7):
HOH (l) = H+ (aq) + OH-(aq)
2. Oceanic deprotonation can decrease acidity by removing H+ protons
from the ocean while increasing the relative number of OH- ions.
3. A common chloro-alkali process powered by renewable energy can
remove H+ protons from purified seawater through brine electrolysis
producing chlorine gas, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen:
2NaCl(aq) + 2H20(l) > Cl2(g) +2NaOH(s) + H2(g)
4. The hydrogen can be recovered for use in a hydrogen economy while
the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) can be returned to the seawater in dilute
solutions in order to neutralize the acidification caused by carbonic
acid and the salt sodium bicarbonate is produced (Na2CO3) in water.
a. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to produce carbonic acid:
CO2(g) + H20(l) > H2CO3 (aq)
b. Carbonic acid is neutralized by sodium hydroxide:
H2CO3(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) = Na2CO3(aq) + 2H2O(l)
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, oceanic mixing and
phytoplankton have absorbed nearly a third of the carbon dioxide
emitted by human activities (over 100 billion metric tons). The oceans
constitute the most important component in the earth’s climatic
system. A carbon-free renewable energy source can power a chloro-
alkali industrial process that removes hydrogen from purified seawater
while generating sodium hydroxide in the process. The sodium hydroxide
can be returned to the seawater in dilute concentrations in order to
counter the effects of carbonic acid. Decreasing the entropy of the
increasingly acidic oceans can also usher in a hydrogen economy in the
process.
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium Hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide that is produced from the chloro-alkali process can
also be utilized to sequester carbon dioxide directly from the
atmosphere. The application of a carbon-free energy source such as
solar can be used to power membrane brine electrolysis that produces
sodium hydroxide, chlorine gas and hydrogen. Sodium hydroxide reacts
with atmospheric carbon dioxide and water vapor to produce sodium
carbonate then sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
2NaOH(s) + CO2(g) > Na2CO3(aq) + H20(l).
The resulting white sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can also be used
as a solar thermal offset in desert regions in the same manner as
brine salts. One metric ton of sodium bicarbonate will store about a ½
tonne of sequestered carbon dioxide as baking soda. This same tonne of
white baking soda spread over a 10m2 area in a sunny desert region can
provide a thermal offset equivalent to removing another tonne of CO2
from the atmosphere given that its albedo effect is similar to that of
a white roof [15,17]. The chemical affinity of sodium hydroxide for
carbon dioxide along with its albedo effect can also be incorporated
into an effective geoengineering model.
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global Warming
An effective and scalable geoengineering model should be able to slow
then reverse the increasing entropy of the biosphere while meeting the
50% projected energy, water and agriculture demands of humanity by the
year 2030. This could include a reversal in overall global warming
trends over time in addition to slowing and reversing losses in global
biodiversity. A successful planetary geoengineering model for the
earth should also be able to reverse each of the four “megatrends” of
global warming listed below with the corresponding Reverse Entropy
Geoengineering Solution (REGS):
• Increasing Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere:
Over the last century CO2 levels in the atmosphere have risen from 280
ppm to over 380 ppm with deforestation and fossil fuel burning as the
main culprits:
The REGS model would expand irrigated desert agriculture and forestry
in subtropical desert regions with renewable energy-powered
desalination in order to offset global deforestation and biodiversity
losses while capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Algae
aquacultures can be grown in brine wastewater lakes to further capture
carbon from the atmosphere. In addition, renewable energy would also
power a chloro-akali process (membrane brine electrolysis) in order to
produce sodium hydroxide for carbon capture and chlorine gas for PVC
drip irrigation systems. These two strategies for removing atmospheric
carbon dioxide can be summarized by two chemical equations:
-Photosynthesis:
6CO2(g) + 6H20(l) + Sunlight > C6H12O6 (glucose) + O2
-Sodium hydroxide carbon capture:
2NaOH(s) + CO2(g) > Na2CO3(aq) + H20(l)
• Increasing Acidity of Global Oceans:
Since the industrial revolution began, the ocean surface pH has
dropped .075 units with about a 25% increase in H+ protons.
The REGS model would once again incorporate a renewable-energy powered
chloro-akali process for purified seawater with the intent of
chemically producing sodium hydroxide while removing H+ protons
(hydrogen gas) for use in night time power generation. Carbonic acid
in brine wastewater can be slowly neutralized with sodium hydroxide
solutions.
H2CO3(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) = Na2CO3(aq) + 2H2O(l)
• Deceasing Albedo Effect of Global Snow and Ice Cover:
Warmer falls and earlier spring thaws are decreasing winter snow and
ice cover. Since 1979 the Arctic summer polar ice has decreased by
about 20% while the Wilkins Polar Ice shelf in Antarctica has shrunk
by about a third. Retreating glaciers and shortening time periods for
global snow cover are also evident around the globe that also pose a
threat to global freshwater supplies in addition to the decrease in
albedo effects available for cooling the planet.
The REGS model would increase global freshwater supplies through
desalination while utilizing brine salt fields and underlying, white
PVC-based, geosynthetic liners as a solar thermal offset in
subtropical desert regions. In addition, white sodium bicarbonate that
has already removed carbon dioxide would also be further used as an
enhanced albedo effect to offset global decreases in snow and ice
cover.
• Global Increases in Sea Levels:
Sea levels have already risen an estimated 17 centimeters during the
20th century with IPCC projections ranging from a 21 to 48 centimeters
rise by the year 2100.
Theoretically, large-scale desalination geoengineering projects
carried out over centuries of time involving the terraforming of
subtropical deserts could potentially slow or even reverse rising sea
levels. Even a 5-centimeter offset in a global sea level rise can
translate into billions of dollars worth of infrastructural savings
for coastal cities around the world. Global salt water intrusions
into coastal freshwater aquifers can be minimized while also
minimizing the biodiversity losses to coral reefs that form the very
hub for global fisheries.
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)
A scalable utility model can be devised that can reverse the major
effects of global warming while increasing energy, water, and
agricultural resources (see Figure 4). This utility system is called
the Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS). The REUS model is a
renewable energy-powered desalination system coupled to an industrial
chloro-alkali process that operates in subtropical desert regions with
access to seawater and abundant wind or solar energy resources. The
specific REUS model that is presented in this paper consists of a
combined-heat-and-power (CHP) parabolic solar concentrating power
(CSP) plant coupled to a multi-effect desalination system (MED). The
electrical generating capacity that is produced at the plant is
further utilized for brine electrolysis.
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)
Figure 4.
Steps in the Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS) Figure 4:
1. The solar energy received in subtropical desert regions approaches
5.5 Kwh/m2/day (the highest intensity of any regional land area on
earth).
2. Parabolic trough solar concentrating plants have the longest proven
track record of any solar utility system with a quarter century of
operation. The solar concentrating troughs focus the sunlight an oil-
filled absorber pipe that heats the oil up to 400 C [21].
3. Super-heated oil from the long parallel pipes is sent to a steam
turbine.
4. The heat turns the water into steam that drives a turbine that
generates electricity.
5. The electricity is sent to a chloro-alkali (CA) plant for membrane
brine electrolysis.
6. Waste heat leftover from the steam turbine is utilized in a
combined heat and power system (CHP) for the thermal desalination of
seawater.
7. Coastal seawater is pumped into the desalination plant.
8. A multi-stage desalination plant utilizes the waste heat from the
steam turbine for the desalination of seawater in a series of multi
effect chambers that have lowered atmospheric pressures that evaporate
and distill freshwater.
9. The waste heat utilized in thermal desalination for a 100-MW CSP
plant can
produce about 20 million cubic meters of freshwater a year.
10. Brine wastewater is sent to an evaporation lake and a portion of
it is also
sent for a brine purification treatment for the chloro-alkali plant.
11. Brine wastewater is treated and filtered with an ion-exchange
resin used
to remove magnesium, calcium, potassium for use as agricultural
nutrients.
12. Purified saltwater with sodium and chlorine ions is sent to the
chloro-alkali
plant.
13. A chloro-alkali membrane brine electrolysis plant utilizes
solar electricity
and an ion exchange membrane in order to produce hydrogen,
sodium
hydroxide and chlorine gas.
14. Hydrogen is sent for storage at the steam turbine during the
daytime
solar-generating hours. Stored hydrogen is combusted at the power
plant
for night time steam and electrical generation.
15. Sodium hydroxide is used in brine extraction and treatment for
precipitating ions and for increasing the alkalinity of brine
wastewater
in order to enhance CO2 uptake.
16. Chlorine gas is sold commercially for water disinfection and/or
for the PVC
manufacturing of drip irrigation systems that can be utilized in
desert
irrigation projects thus forming a symbiotic industrial partnership.
The REUS Geoengineering Model Figure 5. (continued):
17.
Steps in the REUS Geoengineering Model (Figure 5 above):
17. Chlorine gas in this model is sent to a nearby PVC manufacturing
plant.
18. PVC manufacturing produces pipes for drip irrigation systems.
19. Freshwater from multi-stage desalination is piped through the
newly
manufactured drip irrigation systems.
20. Brine nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, and calcium are
recovered
from an ion-exchange brine treatment process for use as soil
nutrients.
21. Commercially valuable desert agricultural products such as sugar
cane,
vegetables, fruits and nuts are grown with enhanced soil nutrients
and
drip irrigation systems. The drip irrigation systems deliver water
directly to
the roots at night in order to avoid evaporative water losses.
Agriculture
takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the process and it
also slows the market demands for slash-and-burn agriculture on
existing
tropical forests.
22. Desert forestry is made possible with biomass waste leftover
from
agriculture. Bamboo and tropical hardwoods are also grown on
irrigated
desert land. These forests also take up carbon dioxide and lessen
the
demand for clearing existing tropical forests.
23. Brine wastewater leftover from desalination is treated with
sodium
hydroxide and is piped to a brine lake.
24. The hyper alkaline brine evaporation lake absorbs carbon dioxide
from
the atmosphere and it supports blue-green algae (spirillium) that
can be
grown as a biomass supplement for desert soil or as an aquaculture
crop.
25. The evaporated lake bed contains sodium carbonates and white
brine salts
that provide a solar thermal albedo offset that can compensate for
losses
in the albedo of snow and ice at higher latitudes. The sodium
bicarbonate
and brine salts also have commercial value.
26. The parabolic mirror field also acts as a solar thermal albedo
offset that
can also compensate for albedo losses in the albedo of snow and ice
at
higher latitudes.
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Model
A REUS geoengineering model consisting of a hybrid 100-MW
parabolic trough CSP/ hydrogen plant operating with CHP thermal
desalination at a 30-degree latitude near the seacoast of Baja
California would generate at least 200,000-MWh/yr with a maximum of
235,000-MWh/yr (including at least 4,000 full-load solar hours with
“off-peak” or night time steam generation resulting from the
combustion of 1,500 tonnes of hydrogen annually). Waste heat recovered
from the steam turbine would desalinate 25 million cubic meters of
saltwater a year with multi-effect distillation (MED). About 85% of
the minimum electrical generation would be dedicated to membrane brine
electrolysis producing 50,000 tonnes of NaOH a year (at 3,360 KWh per
tonne NaOH). A daily and yearly minimum utility output breakdown is
presented in Table 5.
Table 5: Minimum REUS Utility Outputs
REUS Utility System Output
Daily Production Yearly Production
Minimum Electrical Generation 548 MWh 200,000 MWh
Freshwater 68,493 m3 25,000,000 m3
Brine Wastewater 205,479 m3 75,000,000 m3
NaOH 139 mt 50,600 mt
Cl2 122 mt 44,500 mt
H2 4 mt 1,500 mt
At 200,000 MWh/yr generation the REUS model would allocate
85% of the electrical generation to membrane brine electrolysis with
15% of the annual electrical generation available to support utility
operations and workers, brine processing, PVC manufacturing and
agricultural operations. 80% of the 25 million cubic meters of
freshwater would be utilized directly in irrigated agriculture and
forestry. The remaining 20% would also be used for various onsite
operations.
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering Model
The REUS Geoengineering model has three primary strategies for
reversing the effects of global warming while generating carbon-free
solar electricity, freshwater and photosynthesis in the process. These
three geoengineering strategies include increasing photosynthetic
capital in the desert, oceanic deacidification and increasing the
albedo effect of desert land:
1. Increasing Photosynthetic Capital: This includes the expansion of
photosynthetic agriculture, forestry and algae aquaculture into sub-
tropical desert regions. This increase in photosynthetic capital can
sequester carbon dioxide while reducing market-level demands on
existing ecological systems with high biodiversity.
The REUS Geoengineering model would generate a minimum of
25 million m3 of freshwater a year with MED desalination. If 80% or
20 million m3 of the 25 million m3 of freshwater produced annually is
utilized directly in agriculture and forestry it would be able to
irrigate an area 10 km2 with the equivalent of 2 meters of water a
year. This irrigated desert “oasis” would be irrigated with a
nighttime drip irrigation system constructed mostly out of PVC (57% of
the PVC is Cl2 from the chloro-alkali plant) that would deliver water
directly to the root system thus avoiding excessive water vapor
losses. This 10 km2 “oasis” could be divided into four 2.50 km2
quadrants that grow bamboo, sugarcane, mixed tropical hardwoods and
various tropical fruit trees. Both bamboo and sugarcane have the
highest known photosynthetic rates of any plant species while all four
quadrants would contain commercially valuable species. Mixed bamboo
species could sequester a minimum of 3500 tonnes CO2/km2/yr, sugarcane
at 3000 tonnes CO2/km2/yr, various tropical hardwoods at 1500 tonnes
CO2/km2/yr and various tropical fruit trees at 1000 tonnes CO2/km2/yr.
See Table 6 [8,22,23,24].
Table 6: Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-Year Average Growth Rate
Irrigated Subtropical Desert Plantation 10-Year Average Growth Rate
Metric Tons CO2
Uptake/ Km2/
Year Metric Tons CO2 Uptake/
2.5 Km2 quadrant/
Year Total
Metric Tons
CO2
Uptake
After
10 Years
1. Bamboo 3500 8750 87,500
2. Sugarcane 3000 7500 75,000
3. Tropical Hardwoods 1500 3750 37,500
4. Tropical Fruit Trees 1000 2500 25,000
Total Sum 9,000 22,500 225,000
The 10-km2 irrigated plot of agriculture and forestry would
uptake 22,500 tonnes of CO2 a year as a 10-yr average for a total of
225,000 metric tons of CO2 after 10 years. Bamboo and sugarcane would
represent 72% of the total CO2 uptake. This 10-km2 irrigated desert
zone of agriculture and forestry could also produce enough
agricultural products of commercial value on a yearly basis to prevent
the deforestation of at least 3.33-km2 of primary tropical forest in
an existing region of higher biodiversity while also saving this as an
existing carbon reserve in the process. See Figure 6 [8,22,23,24].
Figure 6: Minimum Ecological Offsets of an Irrigated Desert Plantation
Agriculture and Forestry Area Km2 Minimum Primary Tropical Forest
Offset-Area Km2
1. Bamboo 2.5 0.835
2. Sugarcane 2.5 0.418
3. Tropical Hardwoods 2.5 1.253
4. Tropical Fruit Trees 2.5 0.835
Total Area 10.0 3.334
In addition to irrigated desert agriculture and forestry,
photosynthetic aquaculture can also be realized without the need for
freshwater. The REUS utility would produce about 75 million m3/yr of
treated alkaline brine wastewater as a byproduct from desalination and
membrane brine electrolysis. Not all of this wastewater would be
returned back to the sea. Instead two alternating 25-km2 reservoirs
would be constructed with a 6-meter depth surrounding the 10-km2
agricultural and forestry “island oasis” in the middle. The 10-km2
“island’s” surface elevation would be 10-meters above the design high
water line of the two 25-km2 brine evaporation lakes in order to avoid
salt water intrusion. Pre-reservoir construction for the two
reservoirs would initially consist of testing for freshwater ground
supplies below the desert surface within at least a 100-meter depth of
the proposed base elevation of the proposed sites. This would
determine the acceptability of the site in addition to other
environmental concerns (such as rare or unique flora and fauna that
inhabit the surrounding area). Once the suitability of the site is
determined the 25-km2 reservoirs would be lined with a white PVC-based
geosynthetic liner in order to maximize the albedo effect and
photosynthesis of the filled brine reservoir while preventing salt
water intrusion into the desert soil. The daily inflow into the first
of the two constructed reservoirs would be about 205,500 m3/day at 75
million m3/year (150 million m3 for the first 2 years) with an initial
salinity of 46 grams/kilogram or 4.6% (normal seawater salinity is
3.5%). This would be enough to fill a 25-km2 lake to a depth of 6
meters. Evaporation would occur at a rate of at least 1 million m3/
year at a 30-degree subtropical desert latitude (25-km2). The first
reservoir of the two would be filled for the first two years then
allowed to evaporate for four additional years afterwards. It would
turn into a brine salt flat during the 7th year. The second reservoir
would be constructed and would receive brine wastewater in the third
and fourth years then allowed to evaporate for four additional years
until turning into a brine salt flat in the 9th year. This cycle would
alternate between the two reservoirs. The initial inflow water would
also be treated with sodium hydroxide in order to neutralize carbonic
acid and increase the overall alkalinity for carbon absorption. These
alkaline brine reservoirs would be ideal for photosynthetic carbon-
capturing mechanisms utilizing the cyanobacteria in the genus
Arthrospira (also known as spirulina). Once harvested by the Aztecs at
lake Texcoco , it can be sold commercially for human, animal or
agricultural purposes with a high percent of protein (about 55-77% dry
weight) and all essential amino acids [25,26]. The Arthrospiria could
also be used to add organic mass, potassium and other nutrients to
deficient desert soils. If the minimum six-year photosynthetic biomass
sum of the arthrospira would yield 0.15 mt for every cubic meter
(15:100 mass ratio) of the 150 million m3 brine lake after six years,
it would provide a total yield of 22.5 million metric tons of
arthrospira biomass after six years. With 30% of the biomass content
containing the element carbon (C), it would yield 6,750,000 mt of C
after six years or the equivalent of removing 24,745,500 tonnes of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for the six-year lifespan of each
lake. See Table 7 below.
Table 7: Comparison of Minimum Potential CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture,
Agriculture and Forestry
Year Brine Lake 1
Metric Tons
CO2 Uptake Brine Lake 2
Metric tons
CO2 Uptake 10-km2 oasis
Metric Tons
CO2 Uptake
01 2,070,000 construction 18,000
02 4,110,000 white pvc liner 19,440
03 6,195,000 2,070,000 21,240
04 6,195,000 4,110,000 21,870
05 4,635,000 6,195,000 22,500
06 1,545,000 6,195,000 23,130
07 white brine salt 4,635,000 23,760
08 brine harvesting 1,545,000 24,390
09 2,070,000 white brine salt 25,020
10 4,110,000 brine harvesting 25,650
Total 30,930,000 24,750,000 225,000
2. Oceanic Deacidification: This involves the removal of hydrogen
protons from processed seawater while returning sodium hydroxide to
brine wastewater in order to neutralize the acidity from carbonic
acid. Carbonic acid will further be sequestered as sodium carbonates.
Membrane brine electrolysis is a commonly used chloro-akali
chemical production process. Processed seawater with a final purity of
300-315 g NaCl/L goes into the two-compartment electrolytic cells
while a selective membrane enables the chlorine and sodium ions to
migrate across to the other side with the application of an electrical
current [20]. The chlorine gas and brine salt solution stay in the
compartment on the opposite side of the membrane. The sodium ion is
reacted with pure water to produce caustic soda NaOH and hydrogen. On
a DC basis, the amount of energy required to produce caustic soda by
the membrane brine electrolysis method is about 3,360 KWh per metric
ton of NaOH [20].
The REUS chloro-alkali utility would produce the mass
equivalent of 1,500 mt of hydrogen a year. The night time hydrogen
combustion rate (reacting with atmospheric oxygen) for steam
generation would be about 4 mt every 12 hours. This would produce a
yearly mass of 13,500 mt of H20(l) after multi-effect distillation
(MED) equivalent to 13,500 m3 of pure water a year.
The REUS chloro-alkali utility would also produce 50,600 mt
of NaOH/yr. This would be used to neutralize existing and future
carbonic acid in the brine wastewater. The REUS utility would dilute
139 mt of NaOH with 205,479 mt of brine wastewater on a daily basis.
This would represent a mass ratio of about .068 : 100 with an initial
pH of almost 9.0 (the current pH of surface seawater is close to 8.0).
The yearly total dilution ratio would be about 50,000 mt of NaOH for
every 75,000,000 m3 of brine wastewater produced from desalination.
The yearly projected carbon uptake of this is presented in Table 8.
One metric ton of NaOH can sequester about 0.55 mt of CO2 or a minimum
of 0.50 mt with reaction losses. See Table 8.
Table 8: Minimum Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation
Lakes over 10 Years
Year Reservoir 1
Metric Tons
CO2 Uptake Reservoir 2
Metric tons
CO2 Uptake
01 25,300 construction
02 25,300 white pvc liner
03 NA 25,300
04 NA 25,300
05 25,300 NA
06 NaOH sold NA
07 white brine salt 25,300
08 brine salt sold NaOH sold
09 25,300 white brine salt
10 25,300 brine salt sold
Total 126,500 75,900
During the 6th and 8th years the NaOH would be sold
commercially for various carbon capture projects, etc. This would
amount to 50,000 mt of NaOH for the 6th year and 50,000 mt for the 8th
year, respectively. The total NaOH carbon uptake for Brine Lake 1
would be 126,500 mt of CO2 after 10 years while Brine Lake 2 would
sequester 75,900 mt of CO2 after 10 years also as sodium bicarbonate
(baking soda). The total would be 202,400 mt of NaOH CO2 uptake after
10 years. The evaporated lake would leave both white brine salt and a
relatively minor amount of sodium carbonate behind providing an albedo
effect for incoming solar radiation that could mimic snow and ice in
higher
latitudes.
Figure 6: Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake Visual
3. Increasing the Desert’s Albedo Effect: The albedo effect of
subtropical desert land can be increased with mirrored solar
concentrating fields, white PVC-based geosynthetic lake liners and
white brine salt/sodium bicarbonate flats in order to compensate for
losses in polar ice and snow at higher latitudes.
About 30% of the incoming solar radiation that reaches the
earth’s biosphere is reflected back into space. This is attributed to
atmospheric particles, cloud cover, ice and snow and other factors.
About 70% of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed in both the land
and oceans. Of all land areas, the earth’s subtropical deserts receive
the greatest amount of incoming solar radiation around 5.0 KWh/m2-day
between latitudes 15-33 degrees N or S and also have the greatest
potential for solar thermal offsets utilizing surfaces with high
reflectivity’s [21]. The REUS geoengineering model maximizes these
albedo effects with the parabolic mirrored 100-MW solar concentrating
field (about 2 km2), white PVC-based geosynthetic liners for the two
brine lakes (both at 25km2) and the brine salt flats leftover after
the two alternating lakes have evaporated (both at 25 km2). The white
PVC-based geosynthetic liner would increase the reflectivity under the
brine lake water enhancing photosynthesis and decreasing the amount of
heat energy captured by the lakes themselves. Once the brine salts
have been harvested for commercial purposes the white PVC liner would
be left to compensate for the albedo loss of the salt removal. See
Tables 9 and 10.
Table 9: Minimum Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a
1-Km2 Surface at a 30-Degree Latitude
Physical Surface Average
Albedo Effect Sunlight Absorption CO2 thermal offset
mt/km2 Equivalent
Offset of Ice at 60 Degrees N or S
Parabolic Solar Field 0.65 35% 54,000 3.25-km2
PVC Lake Liner 0.75 25% 62,500 3.75-km2
Brine Salt 0.60 40% 50,000 3.00-km2
Table 10: Minimum Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2
Removal Equivalencies at a 30-Degree Latitude
Year 100-MW
Parabolic Solar Field
(2-km2)
Metric Tons
CO2 Offset Brine Lake 1
(25-km2)
Metric Tons
CO2 Offset Brine Lake 2
(25-km2)
Metric tons
CO2 Offset Equivalent Displacement of Ice at
60 degrees
N or S
(Km2)
01 108,000 0 CONSTRUCTION 6.50
02 108,000 0 1,562,500 PVC 100.25
03 108,000 0 0 6.50
04 108,000 0 0 6.50
05 108,000 0 0 6.50
06 108,000 0 0 6.50
07 108,000 1,250,000 SALT 0 81.50
08 108,000 1,562,500 PVC 0 100.25
09 108,000 0 1,250,000 SALT 81.50
10 108,000 0 1,562,500 PVC 100.25
Total 1,080,000 2,812,500 4,375,000 49.63 AVG
The mirrors of the 100-MW parabolic solar concentrating field would
encompass an area of 2-km2 and would provide an albedo of 0.65-the
equivalent of displacing the thermal atmospheric heating effects of at
least 108,000 mt of CO2 a year or 1,080,000 mt of CO2 over the 10-year
cycle of the REUS geoengineering model. Brine Lakes 1 and 2 would have
a neutral effect of solar thermal CO2 offsets when filled to a maximum
of 4 meters (considering evaporative losses) due to the white
geosynthetic PVC liner under the surface. The lake albedo would be
0.50 (50% solar reflectivity and 50% absorption). During year 7, Brine
Lake 1 would evaporate leaving 25-km2 of brine salts (displacing
1,250,000 of CO2) and after commercial brine salt harvesting, the
white PVC liner would displace the equivalent of 1,562,500 mt of CO2
in year 8. The total CO2 thermal displacement of Brine Lake 1 would
amount to 2,812,500 mt of CO2 over ten years of operation. Brine Lake
2 would realize thermal CO2 offsets in year 2 after the newly
constructed PVC liner is installed. The 2nd year displacement would be
1,562,500 mt CO2. By year 9, the Brine Lake 2 will have evaporated
leaving a 25-km2 brine salt field that would thermally displace
1,250,000 mt of CO2 from the atmosphere. By year 10, the brine salt
would have been harvested and the PVC liner would, in turn, displace
1,562,500 mt of CO2. The total 10-yr thermal displacement of Brine
Lake 2 would amount to 4,375,000 mt of CO2. The total 10-yr operating
cycle of the REUS geoengineering model operating at a 30-degree
latitude (including the 2-km2 solar concentrating field and two brine
lakes for a total of 50-km2) could provide an average yearly solar
thermal offset equivalent to displacing 50-km2 of polar sea ice at a
60-degree latitude. The total thermal offset after 10 years would be
equivalent to removing 7,187,500 mt of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The last zone of albedo consideration involves the 10-km2
plot of irrigated agriculture and forestry. The albedo value would be
approximately 0.20. This suggests that the agriculture and tropical
forestry would absorb 80% of the incoming solar radiation and that it
would constitute a 50% increase over that of the surrounding desert
(at 0.40). A 50% preliminary adjustment has been made to the 10-km2
irrigated oasis in order to account for this loss of albedo effect.
The solar thermal increase would halve the net thermal offset of
photosynthetic carbon removal over 10 years. Instead of the net effect
of 225,000 mt of CO2 being removed from the atmosphere by
photosynthesis, the thermal albedo effect would be equivalent to
removing just 112,500 mt of CO2 from the atmosphere. However,
according to research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
water vapor from trees in the tropics promotes convective cloud
formation that induces a cooling effect [27]. The cloud tops reflect
incoming solar radiation on a large scale and it enhances
precipitation. For example, roughly half of the rainfall that falls on
the Amazon rainforest comes from the clouds created by the evaporative
surface area of the leaves in the forest itself. The planting of more
tropical forests could slow atmospheric warming. Convective cloud
formation would not initially be applicable to the 10-km2 irrigated
agriculture and forestry plot due to the aridity of the subtropical
desert. However, over time, evaporation from multiple brine lakes
could potentially provide convective cloud formations that reflect
incoming solar radiation in subtropical desert regions. Initially the
water vapor could act as a greenhouse gas absorbing infrared heat
radiation.
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo Offsets
The REUS utility has both cumulative photosynthetic, NaOH
and thermal albedo effect offsets that can be summarized in the table
below with albedo effect corrections. The albedo offset of the 10-km2
plot of irrigated agriculture and forestry does deduct from the total
CO2 offset. An overall summary of is provided below with both
photosynthetic and NaOH CO2 added together.
Table 11: Minimum Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets
for a 100-MW REUS Model
Year Parabolic
Solar Field
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 1
Photo-
Synthesis
+ NaOH
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 1
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 2
Photo-
Synthesis
+ NaOH
mt CO2 Brine
Lake 2
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2 10-km2 Oasis
Photo-
Synthesis
mt CO2 10-km2
Oasis
Albedo
Offset
mt CO2
01 108,000 2,095,300 - - - 18,000 -9,000
02 108,000 4,135,300 - - 1,562,500 19,440 -9,720
03 108,000 6,195,000 - 2,095,300 - 21,240 -10,620
04 108,000 6,195,000 - 4,135,300 - 21,870 -10,935
05 108,000 4,660,300 - 6,195,000 - 22,500 -11,250
06 108,000 1,545,000 - 6,195,000 - 23,130 -11,565
07 108,000 - 1,250,000 4,660,300 - 23,760 -11,880
08 108,000 - 1,562,500 1,545,000 - 24,390 -12,195
09 108,000 2,095,300 - - 1,250,000 25,020 -12,510
10 108,000 4,135,300 - - 1,562,500 25,650 -12,825
Total 1,080,000 31,056,500 2,812,500 24,825,900 4,375,000
225,000 -112,500
The REUS model will remove a total of 56,107,400 mt tons of CO2
through photosynthesis and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) removal after 10
years for an average of 5,610,700 mt CO2/yr and it will also provide a
thermal albedo offset equivalent to removing 8,155,000 mt of CO2
after 10 years for an average of 815,500 mt of CO2/yr.
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS Model
A 100-MW REUS model provides a total CO2 offset of 64,262,400 mt of
CO2 after 10 years. This is the equivalent of removing the annual
carbon emissions of twenty 500-MW fossil fuel power plants producing
320,000 mt of CO2 over the course of 10 years. Perhaps the most
appealing aspect of the REUS model is the fact that it is simply a
reconfiguration of long- established technologies that have had a
reliable industry track record of a least a quarter of a century or
more. These technologies include parabolic solar concentrators, multi-
stage desalination systems and membrane brine electrolyzers found in
the chloro-alkali industry. In addition, PVC liners used in the mining
and landfill industry have also been available for two decades.
Besides carbon offsets, the REUS model also generates a surplus of
electricity and freshwater that is available for use onsite or offsite
from the plant’s operations. This would amount to a surplus capacity
of 30,000 MWh/yr of electricity and 5 million m3 of freshwater/yr.
• Electricity: 85% of the total yearly electrical generation is
dedicated to membrane brine electrolysis or (0.85 X 200,000 MWh/
yr=170,000 MWh/yr). The remaining electricity would amount to 30,000
MWh/yr.
• Freshwater: 80% of the total yearly freshwater production would be
used directly for agriculture (0.80 X 25,000,000 m3 of water/yr =
20,000,000 m3/yr). The remaining freshwater would amount to 5,000,000
m3/yr.
The REUS utility also has a multitude of economically valuable
chemical and material goods that it generates. Sodium hydroxide can be
sold commercially for various carbon capture projects. The yearly
production of chlorine gas can also be sold commercially in symbiotic
industrial partnerships that benefit both entities. For example, the
chlorine gas can be sold commercially to a PVC manufacturing plant
that, in turn, manufactures drip irrigation systems for REUS
agriculture and forestry operations. PVC-based geosynthetic liners can
be manufactured for REUS brine lakes.
The PVC plant can utilize the surplus of carbon-free solar electricity
produced by the utility. In addition, chlorine gas can be sold to
mining companies that use Cl2 to extract titanium-bearing ores.
Titanium, with its resistance to corrosion is used in both the multi-
effect distillation chambers and in the membrane brine electrolyzer
compartments of the REUS plant.
The REUS operation also has a number of commercially valuable products
that are grown. These include bamboo, sugarcane, fruits, tropical
hardwoods and of course, most importantly the Arthrospira. Bamboo can
offer rapid carbon assimilation in addition to providing a durable and
strong building material. Sugarcane, another record holder in
photosynthesis, reached a quarter-century market high as a commodity
in August of 2009 [28]. Tropical fruits such as figs, papayas, mangos,
etc can be sold commercially. The tropical hardwoods would not be
harvested until the 33rd year of operation and would primarily derive
their value as a carbon offset. Perhaps the most important product of
the REUS model involves the cyanobacteria probably the most important
mechanism in capturing carbon. Arthrospira can also add organic
biomass and nutrients to poor desert soils or it can be used to feed a
growing world population with a full range of amino acids. Brine salts
also have commercial value after the Arthrospira has been harvested
and the lakes have evaporated. The theoretical value of brine salts is
up to six times higher than the value gained from the production of
potable water. In one Australian study, the desalination plant
generated $30 million per year for freshwater. The brine salt mineral
value of the discharged hyper saline wastewater could generate $250
million year [29]. The brine salts contain the following listing of
valuable chemicals:
• NaCl (sodium chloride)
• MgSO4 * 7H2O (Epsom salt)
• KCL (potassium chloride) and MgCl2 (magnesium chloride)
• Br (bromine) and Li (lithium salts)
A summary of commercially valuable products is divided between the
REUS utility outputs in Table 12 and 13 and the REUS geoengineering
products listed in Table 14 and 15.
Table 12: Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in Quantities
Year Total
Carbon
Credits
mt Surplus
Electricity
MWh Surplus
Fresh-
water
m3 Sodium
Hydroxide
mt Chlorine
Gas
mt
01 2,212,300 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
02 5,815,520 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
03 8,408,920 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
04 10,449,235 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
05 10,974,550 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
06 7,859,565 30,000 5,000,000 50,600 44,500
07 6,030,180 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
08 3,227,695 30,000 5,000,000 50,600 44,500
09 3,465,810 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
10 5,818,625 30,000 5,000,000 - 44,500
Total 64,262,400 300,000 50,000,000 101,200 445,000
Table 13: Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S. Dollars
Year Carbon
Credits
$10.00 mt
U.S. Dollars Surplus
Electricity
$100.00
MWh
U.S. Dollars Surplus
Freshwater
$0.50 m3
U.S. Dollars Sodium
Hydroxide
$300.00 mt
U.S. Dollars Chlorine
Gas
$50.00 mt
U.S. Dollars
01 22,123,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
02 58,155,200 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
03 84,089,200 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
04 104,492,350 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
05 109,745,500 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
06 78,595,650 3,000,000 2,500,000 15,180,000 2,225,000
07 60,301,800 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
08 32,276,950 3,000,000 2,500,000 15,180,000 2,225,000
09 34,658,100 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
10 58,186,250 3,000,000 2,500,000 - 2,225,000
Total 642,624,000 30,000,000 25,000,000 30,360,000 22,250,000
Table 14: Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in Metric
Tons
Year Bamboo
mt Sugarcane
(raw cane)
mt Fruits
mt Tropical
Hardwoods
(after 33rd yr) Arthrospira
(dry weight)
mt Brine
Salts
mt
01 - 18,750 - - 690,000 -
02 21,875 18,750 125 - 1,370,000 -
03 21,875 18,750 125 - 2,755,000 -
04 21,875 18,750 125 - 3,435,000 -
05 21,875 18,750 125 - 3,610,000 -
06 21,875 18,750 125 - 2,580,000 -
07 21,875 18,750 125 - 1,545,000 -
08 21,875 18,750 125 - 515,000 13,800,000
09 21,875 18,750 125 - 690,000 -
10 21,875 18,750 125 - 1,370,000 13,800,000
Total 196,875 187,500 1,125 93,750 18,560,000 27,600,000
Table 15: Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009
U.S. Dollars
Year Bamboo
$25.00
mt Sugarcane
(raw cane)
$10.00
mt Fruits
$100.00
mt Hardwoods
(harvested after 33rd yr) Arthrospira
(dry weight)
$100.00
mt Brine
Salts
$15.00
mt
01 - 187,500 - - 69,000,000 -
02 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 137,000,000 -
03 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 275,500,000 -
04 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 343,500,000 -
05 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 361,000,000 -
06 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 258,000,000 -
07 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 154,500,000 -
08 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 51,500,000 207,000,000
09 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 69,000,000 -
10 546,875 187,500 12,500 - 137,000,000 207,000,000
Total 4,921,875 1,875,000 112,500 NA 1,856,000,000 414,000,000
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System that Decreases the Entropy of
the Biosphere
The estimated total engineering and construction cost of a 200,000 MWh/
yr REUS geoengineering project including the 100-MW parabolic solar
concentrating field, 25 million m3/yr multi-stage desalination plant,
50,000 mt NaOH/yr membrane electrolysis facility, 10-km2 oasis plus
two 25-km2 brine lakes would approach 1 billion U.S. dollars (2009).
The total revenue generated from the project including commercially
valuable REUS utility and geoengineering products after 10 years of
operation would total 3 billion dollars (this includes all REUS
utility products: carbon credits, surplus electricity, surplus
freshwater, sodium hydroxide and chlorine gas in addition to REUS
geoengineering products; bamboo, sugarcane, fruits, arthrospira and
brine salts.) In this model the carbon credits are assumed to have a
low range market value of $10 U.S. dollars a metric ton.
The most important aspect of the REUS model is that it constitutes a
fundamental reversal in traditional economic models that increase the
entropy of the biosphere. Nearly all economic models in existence
today generate a net increase in entropy in the biosphere that are
eroding the very thermodynamic directive of the ecological systems
that sustain life [30]. An economic model that parallels the
thermodynamic directive of ecological systems should decrease the
entropy of the biosphere by reducing carbon emissions, oceanic
acidification and global snow and ice losses while promoting the
ecological diversity that fortifies the biosphere’s life support
functions. The REUS geoengineering model can arguably be considered to
be the world’s first scalable, planetary terraforming model that, if
implemented on a global basis, can slow or even reverse the increasing
trend of entropy in the biosphere.
References
[1] Climate Change 2007: “The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of
Working Group 1 to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.” Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA; 2007.
[2] EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2009. Energy Information
Administration (EIA) of the Outlook for International Energy Markets
Through 2030. EIA. Washington, DC; 2009.
[3] Environmental News Network. “Invest in Water for Farming or the
World Will Go Hungry.” Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
www.enn.com/health/article/37633 .
[4] Infoplease. “Principal Deserts of the World.” Retrieved on August
16, 2009 from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778851.html.
[5] DESERTEC. “Clean Power From Deserts.” Desertec White Book.
Hamburg, November 2007. Retrieved on August 11th, 2009 from www.desertec.org.
[6] Environmental News Network. “Food Panic Brings Call for a Second
‘Green Revolution’.” Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
www.enn.com/agriculture/article/37340/print.
[7] F. Anthoni. “The Chemical Composition of Seawater”. Retrieved on
August 10,2009 from www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm.
[8] Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry. United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved on August 19th, 2009
from www.epa.gov/sequestration/faq.html.
[9] Urban Forests and Climate Change. United States Forest Service
(USFS). Retrieved on August 17th, 2009 from http://www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/urban-forests/.
[10] Coalition for Rainforest Nations. “Recognizing Forests Role in
Climate Change.” Retrieved on August 8th, 2009 from
www.rainforestcoalition.org/eng/context/index.php.
[11] O. Phillips et al. “The Changing Amazon Rainforest” Retrieved on
August 17th, 2009 from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2374914.
[12] Research on Environmentally Sound Forest Practices to Sustain
Tropical Forests. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO). Retrieved on August 3rd, 2009 from http://www.fao.org/docrep/W3646E/.
[13] Seasonal Decrease in Arctic Sea Ice. National Snow and Ice Data
Center (NSIDC). Retrieved on July 28th, 2009 from http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.
[14] Earth from Space Larson-B Ice Shelf on Thin Ice. European Space
Agency (ESA). Retrieved on July 27th, 2009 from
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMBDIN0LYE_index_0.html.
[15] Environmental News Network. “To Slow Global Warming Install White
Roofs”. Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from http://www.enn.com/green_building/article/38145.
[16] Scientific American Frontiers. “Hot Times in Alaska.” PBS.
Retrieved on August 14th, 2009 from http://www.pbs.org/saf/1404/features/thermostat.htm.
[17] L. Ziga. “White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming.”
Physorg.com. Retrieved from http://www.physorg.com/news140875649.html.
[18] Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, & Analysis Tools. National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL). Retrieved on August 18th, 2009 from
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html.
[19] Absolute Astronomy. “Ocean Acidification.” Retrieved on August
19th, 2009 from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ocean_acidification.
[20] T. Bommaraju, et al. “Brine Electrolysis.” Electrochemistry
Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 20th, 2009 from
http://electrochem.cwru.edu/encycl/art-b01-brine.htm.
[21] V. Quasching and F. Trieb. “Solar Thermal Power Plants for
Hydrogen Production”. Hypothesis IV Symposium. 2001.
[22] Net Production and Carbon Cycling in a Bamboo Phyllostachys
pubescens stand. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products
Research Institute, Momoyama, Fushimi, Kyoto 612, Japan. SO: Plant-
Ecology. 1997, 130: 1, 41-52; 48 ref. PY: 1997.
[23] Carbon Balance of Sugarcane Bioenergy Systems. Department of
Chemical and Sugar Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of
Mauritius. 2000.
[24] R. Grant. “Investing in Tropical Timber to Offset Carbon
Emissions.” Retrieved on August 19th, 2009 from
http://www.rainforestsaver.org/latest-news-and-news-archives/no-4-teak-plantations-and-carbon-offsets/.
[25] A. Vonshack. Spirulina Platensis (Arthrospira): Physiology, Cell-
biology and Biotechnology. CRC Press, 1997.
[26] J. Decker. “Blooming Biofuel: How Algae Could Provide the
Solution”. Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/06/blooming-biofuel-how-algae-could-provide-the-solution.
[27] Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. 2007. Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2007/NR-07-04-03.html.
[28] Bloomberg. “Monsoon Rain Deficit Widens in India, Hurting Sugar
Cane, Rice.” Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aCAG7ROMnpJY
[29] Desalination with Zero Sea Discharge. Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia. Retrieved on
August 25th, 2009 from http://www.csiro.au/science/ZeroBrineDischarge.html.
[30] S. Jorgensen and Y. Svirezhev. Towards a Thermodynamic Theory
for Ecological Systems. Elselvier Ltd, 2004.
Ken Caldeira
Nov 16, 2009, 10:51:43 AM11/16/09
to sunhydr...@gmail.com, geoengineering, ad...@sunhydrosystems.com
The pasted document is attached as a pdf, which the author sent to me last week.
(My forwarding this on does not imply endorsement, etc, ...)
(My forwarding this on does not imply endorsement, etc, ...)
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Greg Rau
Nov 16, 2009, 1:18:11 PM11/16/09
to KCal...@gmail.com, ad...@sunhydrosystems.com, geoengi...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for forwarding, Ken. I haven't read this in great
detail yet, but can offer some initial concerns to Brennan.
While electrochemistry and/or NaOH addition to seawater could in
theory help the air and ocean CO2 problem (Kheshgi, 1995; House et
al., 2007), generating a base from seawater means that acid must be
removed. In addition to the discharge of protons as H2, the very
acidic environment produced around the anode will also discharge CO2
from the carbon-rich seawater: HCO3- + H+ ---> CO2 + H2O.
I see in the REUS process that (some?) alkalinity is removed from the
water prior to electrolysis - what happens to the excess seawater
carbon? Also, precipitating carbonates from seawater is never a good
thing for air CO2 unless additional alkalinity is added, because:
X(HCO3)2(aq) ---> XCO3(s) + CO2(g) + H2O i.e. an
equimolar amount of CO2 is discharged for every mole carbonate
precipitated from seawater. So be careful if carbonate
precipitation is an objective, though it would be interesting to see
how this CO2 generation compares to the albedo gain from the
precipitate on land. Much more carbon/energy efficient to make
bicarbonates: X(HCO3)2.
I see that 44,500 MT of Cl2/yr are produced. If REUS uses
this to make PVC, that's 78,000 MT PVC/year. Can the project/market
absorb that amount of PVC? I see that Greenpeace advocates
banning PVC production due to health/environmental concerns.
Anyway, please call me before flipping the switch on your first
100 MW facility.
Regards,
Greg
The pasted document is attached as a pdf, which the author sent to me last week.
(My forwarding this on does not imply endorsement, etc, ...)
On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 7:41 AM, Geo-Deserts <sunhydr...@gmail.com> wrote:
*Important note: A lot of the data tables and graphical schematics
suffered formatting problems when I tried to copy and paste this
report into this format. This initial draft was prepared for a
proposed solar desalination project/ climate trust fund in Australia
and it is written in a more digestable format for public
presentations.
TITLE: The Reverse Entropy Utility System
(REUS)
By
AUTHOR: Brennan Jorgensen
Sun Hydrosystems Research
November 2009
Copyright 2009
Table of Contents
List of Tables ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 3
List of Figures ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 3
Executive Summary ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 4
CHAPTERS
IntroductionŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 5
Sunny Subtropical DesertsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 7
Desalination in Coastal Desert RegionsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 8
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
9
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and
ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 10
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the
DesertŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 11
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine
SaltsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 12
Oceanic DeprotonationŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 14
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium HydroxideŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ..
16
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global WarmingŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
16
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
19
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
23
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering
ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 24
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo
OffsetsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 33
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.
34
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System with Decreasing
EntropyŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 38
ReferencesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 39
TABLES
TB 1 Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the
WorldŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ............................... 7
TB 2 Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and
ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 10
TB 3 Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical
PlantationsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 11
TB 4 Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface
FeaturesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 13
TB 5 Minimum REUS Utility OutputsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 23
TB 6 Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-yr Average Growth
RateŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 25
TB 7 CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture, Agriculture and
ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 27
TB 8 Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation Lakes Over 10
YearsŠŠŠŠŠ. 29
TB 9 Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a 1-km2 Surface at a 30-
Degree Latitude 30
TB 10 Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2 Removal
Equivalencies at 30-Deg.. 31
TB 11 Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets for a 100-
MW REUSŠŠŠ. 33
TB 12 Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in
QuantitiesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 36
TB 13 Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S.
DollarsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 36
TB 14 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in
QuantitiesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 37
TB 15 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009 U.S.
DollarsŠŠŠŠ 37
FIGURES
FG 1 Solar Radiation Versus Latitude at Solar
EquinoxŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 13
FG 2 Oceanic AcidificationŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 14
FG 3 Oceanic DeprotonationŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 15
FG 4 The Reverse Entropy Utility SystemŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
19
FG 5 The REUS Geoengineering ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 21
FG 6 Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake
VisualŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 29
* Increasing Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere:
Over the last century CO2 levels in the atmosphere have risen from 280
ppm to over 380 ppm with deforestation and fossil fuel burning as the
main culprits:
The REGS model would expand irrigated desert agriculture and forestry
in subtropical desert regions with renewable energy-powered
desalination in order to offset global deforestation and biodiversity
losses while capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Algae
aquacultures can be grown in brine wastewater lakes to further capture
carbon from the atmosphere. In addition, renewable energy would also
power a chloro-akali process (membrane brine electrolysis) in order to
produce sodium hydroxide for carbon capture and chlorine gas for PVC
drip irrigation systems. These two strategies for removing atmospheric
carbon dioxide can be summarized by two chemical equations:
-Photosynthesis:
6CO2(g) + 6H20(l) + Sunlight > C6H12O6 (glucose) + O2
-Sodium hydroxide carbon capture:
2NaOH(s) + CO2(g) > Na2CO3(aq) + H20(l)
* Increasing Acidity of Global Oceans:
Since the industrial revolution began, the ocean surface pH has
dropped .075 units with about a 25% increase in H+ protons.
The REGS model would once again incorporate a renewable-energy powered
chloro-akali process for purified seawater with the intent of
chemically producing sodium hydroxide while removing H+ protons
(hydrogen gas) for use in night time power generation. Carbonic acid
in brine wastewater can be slowly neutralized with sodium hydroxide
solutions.
H2CO3(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) = Na2CO3(aq) + 2H2O(l)
* Deceasing Albedo Effect of Global Snow and Ice Cover:
Warmer falls and earlier spring thaws are decreasing winter snow and
ice cover. Since 1979 the Arctic summer polar ice has decreased by
about 20% while the Wilkins Polar Ice shelf in Antarctica has shrunk
by about a third. Retreating glaciers and shortening time periods for
global snow cover are also evident around the globe that also pose a
threat to global freshwater supplies in addition to the decrease in
albedo effects available for cooling the planet.
The REGS model would increase global freshwater supplies through
desalination while utilizing brine salt fields and underlying, white
PVC-based, geosynthetic liners as a solar thermal offset in
subtropical desert regions. In addition, white sodium bicarbonate that
has already removed carbon dioxide would also be further used as an
enhanced albedo effect to offset global decreases in snow and ice
cover.
* Global Increases in Sea Levels:
* Electricity: 85% of the total yearly electrical generation is
dedicated to membrane brine electrolysis or (0.85 X 200,000 MWh/
yr=170,000 MWh/yr). The remaining electricity would amount to 30,000
MWh/yr.
* Freshwater: 80% of the total yearly freshwater production would be
* NaCl (sodium chloride)
* MgSO4 * 7H2O (Epsom salt)
* KCL (potassium chloride) and MgCl2 (magnesium chloride)
* Br (bromine) and Li (lithium salts)
[4] Infoplease. "Principal Deserts of the World." Retrieved on August
16, 2009 from http://*www.*infoplease.com/ipa/A0778851.html.
[5] DESERTEC. "Clean Power From Deserts." Desertec White Book.
Hamburg, November 2007. Retrieved on August 11th, 2009 from www.*desertec.org.
[6] Environmental News Network. "Food Panic Brings Call for a Second
'Green Revolution'." Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
[7] F. Anthoni. "The Chemical Composition of Seawater". Retrieved on
August 10,2009 from www.*seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm.
[8] Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry. United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved on August 19th, 2009
[9] Urban Forests and Climate Change. United States Forest Service
(USFS). Retrieved on August 17th, 2009 from http://*www.*fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/urban-forests/.
[10] Coalition for Rainforest Nations. "Recognizing Forests Role in
Climate Change." Retrieved on August 8th, 2009 from
[11] O. Phillips et al. "The Changing Amazon Rainforest" Retrieved on
August 17th, 2009 from http://*www.*pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2374914.
[12] Research on Environmentally Sound Forest Practices to Sustain
Tropical Forests. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO). Retrieved on August 3rd, 2009 from http://*www.*fao.org/docrep/W3646E/.
[13] Seasonal Decrease in Arctic Sea Ice. National Snow and Ice Data
Center (NSIDC). Retrieved on July 28th, 2009 from http://*nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.
[14] Earth from Space Larson-B Ice Shelf on Thin Ice. European Space
Agency (ESA). Retrieved on July 27th, 2009 from
[15] Environmental News Network. "To Slow Global Warming Install White
Roofs". Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from http://*www.*enn.com/green_building/article/38145.
[16] Scientific American Frontiers. "Hot Times in Alaska." PBS.
Retrieved on August 14th, 2009 from http://*www.*pbs.org/saf/1404/features/thermostat.htm.
[17] L. Ziga. "White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming."
Physorg.com. Retrieved from http://*www.*physorg.com/news140875649.html.
[18] Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, & Analysis Tools. National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL). Retrieved on August 18th, 2009 from
[19] Absolute Astronomy. "Ocean Acidification." Retrieved on August
19th, 2009 from http://*www.*absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ocean_acidification.
[20] T. Bommaraju, et al. "Brine Electrolysis." Electrochemistry
Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 20th, 2009 from
[21] V. Quasching and F. Trieb. "Solar Thermal Power Plants for
Hydrogen Production". Hypothesis IV Symposium. 2001.
[22] Net Production and Carbon Cycling in a Bamboo Phyllostachys
pubescens stand. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products
Research Institute, Momoyama, Fushimi, Kyoto 612, Japan. SO: Plant-
Ecology. 1997, 130: 1, 41-52; 48 ref. PY: 1997.
[23] Carbon Balance of Sugarcane Bioenergy Systems. Department of
Chemical and Sugar Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of
Mauritius. 2000.
[24] R. Grant. "Investing in Tropical Timber to Offset Carbon
Emissions." Retrieved on August 19th, 2009 from
[25] A. Vonshack. Spirulina Platensis (Arthrospira): Physiology, Cell-
biology and Biotechnology. CRC Press, 1997.
[26] J. Decker. "Blooming Biofuel: How Algae Could Provide the
Solution". Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
[27] Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. 2007. Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
[28] Bloomberg. "Monsoon Rain Deficit Widens in India, Hurting Sugar
Cane, Rice." Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
[29] Desalination with Zero Sea Discharge. Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia. Retrieved on
August 25th, 2009 from http://*www.*csiro.au/science/ZeroBrineDischarge.html.
[30] S. Jorgensen and Y. Svirezhev. Towards a Thermodynamic Theory
for Ecological Systems. Elselvier Ltd, 2004.
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Nov 16, 2009, 3:15:49 PM11/16/09
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Thank you for your input regarding this proposal,
I will try to address each of your points and concerns brought up regarding this proposal for a REUS geoengineering system:
(1) First Concern: "In addition to the discharge of protons as H2, the very acidic environment produced around the anode will also discharge CO2 from the carbon-rich seawater: HCO3- + H+ ---> CO2 + H2O." -Thank you for pointing this out.
-I am not sure if the oceanic level of dissolved CO2 content of the seawater would promote this side reaction as an overriding concern with respect to the entire process?
(2) Second Concern: "Also, precipitating carbonates from seawater is never a good thing for air CO2 unless additional alkalinity is added, because: X(HCO3)2(aq) ---> XCO3(s) + CO2(g) + H2O i.e. an equimolar amount of CO2 is discharged for every mole carbonate precipitated from seawater."
-The hope is that the CO2(g) liberated in the brine lakes would be assimilated by the photosynthetic uptake of the Athrospira cyanobacteria. I agree that it is more carbon/energy efficient to make bicarbonates. Plus the albedo effect from the white bicarbonates is at least 70%.
(3) Third Concern: I see that 44,500 MT of Cl2/yr are produced. If REUS uses this to make PVC, that's 78,000 MT PVC/year. Can the project/market absorb that amount of PVC? I see that Greenpeace advocates banning PVC production due to health/environmental concerns.
-The primary strategy with the PVC production would constitute the following:
(A) To produce the PVC from carbon free electricity.
(B) To completely eliminate and/or replace the 6 known types of phthalate plasticizers that have been banned by the European Union in 2006.
(C) The PVC would primarily be used in a symbiotic industrial partnership that would involve the manufacturing of PVC-based geosynthetic membranes used in the mining industry as a lake liner for the wastewater brine lakes.
(D) PVC-based drip irrigation systems would also be constructed for the expansion of subtropical desert agriculture and forestry.
I certainly welcome everyone's input regarding this system. I consider this to be a "work and progress" and it is by no means a final system that is going to be deployed next month. With everyone's input, this system can constructively move towards a functional model. I am glad I can offer these initial concepts for everyone's consideration.
Regards,
Brennan
On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 1:18 PM, Greg Rau <ra...@llnl.gov> wrote:
Thanks for forwarding, Ken. I haven't read this in great detail yet, but can offer some initial concerns to Brennan.While electrochemistry and/or NaOH addition to seawater could in theory help the air and ocean CO2 problem (Kheshgi, 1995; House et al., 2007), generating a base from seawater means that acid must be removed. In addition to the discharge of protons as H2, the very acidic environment produced around the anode will also discharge CO2 from the carbon-rich seawater: HCO3- + H+ ---> CO2 + H2O. I see in the REUS process that (some?) alkalinity is removed from the water prior to electrolysis - what happens to the excess seawater carbon? Also, precipitating carbonates from seawater is never a good thing for air CO2 unless additional alkalinity is added, because: X(HCO3)2(aq) ---> XCO3(s) + CO2(g) + H2O i.e. an equimolar amount of CO2 is discharged for every mole carbonate precipitated from seawater. So be careful if carbonate precipitation is an objective, though it would be interesting to see how this CO2 generation compares to the albedo gain from the precipitate on land. Much more carbon/energy efficient to make bicarbonates: X(HCO3)2.I see that 44,500 MT of Cl2/yr are produced. If REUS uses this to make PVC, that's 78,000 MT PVC/year. Can the project/market absorb that amount of PVC? I see that Greenpeace advocates banning PVC production due to health/environmental concerns.Anyway, please call me before flipping the switch on your first 100 MW facility.Regards,Greg
The pasted document is attached as a pdf, which the author sent to me last week.
(My forwarding this on does not imply endorsement, etc, ...)
On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 7:41 AM, Geo-Deserts <sunhydr...@gmail.com> wrote:
*Important note: A lot of the data tables and graphical schematics
suffered formatting problems when I tried to copy and paste this
report into this format. This initial draft was prepared for a
proposed solar desalination project/ climate trust fund in Australia
and it is written in a more digestable format for public
presentations.
TITLE: The Reverse Entropy Utility System
(REUS)
By
AUTHOR: Brennan Jorgensen
Sun Hydrosystems Research
November 2009
Copyright 2009
Table of Contents
List of Tables ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 3
List of Figures ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 3
Executive Summary ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 4
CHAPTERS
IntroductionŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 5
Sunny Subtropical DesertsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 7
Desalination in Coastal Desert RegionsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 8
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
9
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and
ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 10
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the
DesertŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 11
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine
SaltsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 12
Oceanic DeprotonationŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 14
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium HydroxideŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ..
16
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global WarmingŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
16
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
19
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
23
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering
ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 24
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo
OffsetsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 33
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.
34
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System with Decreasing
EntropyŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 38
ReferencesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 39
TABLES
TB 1 Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the
WorldŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ............................... 7
TB 2 Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and
ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 10
TB 3 Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical
PlantationsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 11
TB 4 Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface
FeaturesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 13
TB 5 Minimum REUS Utility OutputsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 23
TB 6 Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-yr Average Growth
RateŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 25
TB 7 CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture, Agriculture and
ForestryŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 27
TB 8 Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation Lakes Over 10
YearsŠŠŠŠŠ. 29
TB 9 Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a 1-km2 Surface at a 30-
Degree Latitude 30
TB 10 Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2 Removal
Equivalencies at 30-Deg.. 31
TB 11 Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets for a 100-
MW REUSŠŠŠ. 33
TB 12 Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in
QuantitiesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.. 36
TB 13 Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S.
DollarsŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 36
TB 14 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in
QuantitiesŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 37
TB 15 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009 U.S.
DollarsŠŠŠŠ 37
FIGURES
FG 1 Solar Radiation Versus Latitude at Solar
EquinoxŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 13
FG 2 Oceanic AcidificationŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 14
FG 3 Oceanic DeprotonationŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 15
FG 4 The Reverse Entropy Utility SystemŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ
19
FG 5 The REUS Geoengineering ModelŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ 21
FG 6 Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake
VisualŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ. 29
* Increasing Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere:
Over the last century CO2 levels in the atmosphere have risen from 280
ppm to over 380 ppm with deforestation and fossil fuel burning as the
main culprits:
The REGS model would expand irrigated desert agriculture and forestry
in subtropical desert regions with renewable energy-powered
desalination in order to offset global deforestation and biodiversity
losses while capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Algae
aquacultures can be grown in brine wastewater lakes to further capture
carbon from the atmosphere. In addition, renewable energy would also
power a chloro-akali process (membrane brine electrolysis) in order to
produce sodium hydroxide for carbon capture and chlorine gas for PVC
drip irrigation systems. These two strategies for removing atmospheric
carbon dioxide can be summarized by two chemical equations:
-Photosynthesis:
6CO2(g) + 6H20(l) + Sunlight > C6H12O6 (glucose) + O2
-Sodium hydroxide carbon capture:
2NaOH(s) + CO2(g) > Na2CO3(aq) + H20(l)
* Increasing Acidity of Global Oceans:
Since the industrial revolution began, the ocean surface pH has
dropped .075 units with about a 25% increase in H+ protons.
The REGS model would once again incorporate a renewable-energy powered
chloro-akali process for purified seawater with the intent of
chemically producing sodium hydroxide while removing H+ protons
(hydrogen gas) for use in night time power generation. Carbonic acid
in brine wastewater can be slowly neutralized with sodium hydroxide
solutions.
H2CO3(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) = Na2CO3(aq) + 2H2O(l)
* Deceasing Albedo Effect of Global Snow and Ice Cover:
Warmer falls and earlier spring thaws are decreasing winter snow and
ice cover. Since 1979 the Arctic summer polar ice has decreased by
about 20% while the Wilkins Polar Ice shelf in Antarctica has shrunk
by about a third. Retreating glaciers and shortening time periods for
global snow cover are also evident around the globe that also pose a
threat to global freshwater supplies in addition to the decrease in
albedo effects available for cooling the planet.
The REGS model would increase global freshwater supplies through
desalination while utilizing brine salt fields and underlying, white
PVC-based, geosynthetic liners as a solar thermal offset in
subtropical desert regions. In addition, white sodium bicarbonate that
has already removed carbon dioxide would also be further used as an
enhanced albedo effect to offset global decreases in snow and ice
cover.
* Global Increases in Sea Levels:
* Electricity: 85% of the total yearly electrical generation is
dedicated to membrane brine electrolysis or (0.85 X 200,000 MWh/
yr=170,000 MWh/yr). The remaining electricity would amount to 30,000
MWh/yr.
* Freshwater: 80% of the total yearly freshwater production would be
* NaCl (sodium chloride)
* MgSO4 * 7H2O (Epsom salt)
* KCL (potassium chloride) and MgCl2 (magnesium chloride)
* Br (bromine) and Li (lithium salts)
[4] Infoplease. "Principal Deserts of the World." Retrieved on August
16, 2009 from http://*www.*infoplease.com/ipa/A0778851.html.
[5] DESERTEC. "Clean Power From Deserts." Desertec White Book.
Hamburg, November 2007. Retrieved on August 11th, 2009 from www.*desertec.org.
[6] Environmental News Network. "Food Panic Brings Call for a Second
'Green Revolution'." Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
[7] F. Anthoni. "The Chemical Composition of Seawater". Retrieved on
August 10,2009 from www.*seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm.
[8] Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry. United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved on August 19th, 2009
[9] Urban Forests and Climate Change. United States Forest Service
(USFS). Retrieved on August 17th, 2009 from http://*www.*fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/urban-forests/.
[10] Coalition for Rainforest Nations. "Recognizing Forests Role in
Climate Change." Retrieved on August 8th, 2009 from
[11] O. Phillips et al. "The Changing Amazon Rainforest" Retrieved on
August 17th, 2009 from http://*www.*pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2374914.
[12] Research on Environmentally Sound Forest Practices to Sustain
Tropical Forests. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO). Retrieved on August 3rd, 2009 from http://*www.*fao.org/docrep/W3646E/.
[13] Seasonal Decrease in Arctic Sea Ice. National Snow and Ice Data
Center (NSIDC). Retrieved on July 28th, 2009 from http://*nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.
[14] Earth from Space Larson-B Ice Shelf on Thin Ice. European Space
Agency (ESA). Retrieved on July 27th, 2009 from
[15] Environmental News Network. "To Slow Global Warming Install White
Roofs". Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from http://*www.*enn.com/green_building/article/38145.
[16] Scientific American Frontiers. "Hot Times in Alaska." PBS.
Retrieved on August 14th, 2009 from http://*www.*pbs.org/saf/1404/features/thermostat.htm.
[17] L. Ziga. "White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming."
Physorg.com. Retrieved from http://*www.*physorg.com/news140875649.html.
[18] Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, & Analysis Tools. National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL). Retrieved on August 18th, 2009 from
[19] Absolute Astronomy. "Ocean Acidification." Retrieved on August
19th, 2009 from http://*www.*absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ocean_acidification.
[20] T. Bommaraju, et al. "Brine Electrolysis." Electrochemistry
Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 20th, 2009 from
[21] V. Quasching and F. Trieb. "Solar Thermal Power Plants for
Hydrogen Production". Hypothesis IV Symposium. 2001.
[22] Net Production and Carbon Cycling in a Bamboo Phyllostachys
pubescens stand. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products
Research Institute, Momoyama, Fushimi, Kyoto 612, Japan. SO: Plant-
Ecology. 1997, 130: 1, 41-52; 48 ref. PY: 1997.
[23] Carbon Balance of Sugarcane Bioenergy Systems. Department of
Chemical and Sugar Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of
Mauritius. 2000.
[24] R. Grant. "Investing in Tropical Timber to Offset Carbon
Emissions." Retrieved on August 19th, 2009 from
[25] A. Vonshack. Spirulina Platensis (Arthrospira): Physiology, Cell-
biology and Biotechnology. CRC Press, 1997.
[26] J. Decker. "Blooming Biofuel: How Algae Could Provide the
Solution". Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
[27] Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. 2007. Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
[28] Bloomberg. "Monsoon Rain Deficit Widens in India, Hurting Sugar
Cane, Rice." Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
[29] Desalination with Zero Sea Discharge. Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia. Retrieved on
August 25th, 2009 from http://*www.*csiro.au/science/ZeroBrineDischarge.html.
[30] S. Jorgensen and Y. Svirezhev. Towards a Thermodynamic Theory
for Ecological Systems. Elselvier Ltd, 2004.
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Greg Rau
Nov 16, 2009, 7:51:15 PM11/16/09
to General Mail, geoengi...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for the clarifications. My comments below. -
Greg
Thank you for your input regarding this proposal,
I will try to address each of your points and concerns brought up regarding this proposal for a REUS geoengineering system:
(1) First Concern: "In addition to the discharge of protons as H2, the very acidic environment produced around the anode will also discharge CO2 from the carbon-rich seawater: HCO3- + H+ ---> CO2 + H2O." -Thank you for pointing this out.
-I am not sure if the oceanic level of dissolved CO2 content of the seawater would promote this side reaction as an overriding concern with respect to the entire process?
There is approx 24 g of dissolved inorganic C per tonne of
seawater, primarily in the form of HCO3-. If fully acidified
that would release 88 g of CO2/T water. Precipitating all of the
ambient carbonate alkalinity (e.g. total electrolysis or evaporation)
would presumably release half of the preceding CO2 value and
precipitate the rest(?) Evaporating or concentrating seawater past the
point of carbonate precipitation is ultimately a source of air CO2,
unless an additional source of alkalinity is added. I would be
happy to license my electrochemical process for adding
alkalinity to seawater to allow net CO2 absorption in your process,
but this might chemically impact your other downstream activities.
We can discuss this off line.
(2) Second Concern: "Also, precipitating carbonates from seawater is never a good thing for air CO2 unless additional alkalinity is added, because: X(HCO3)2(aq) ---> XCO3(s) + CO2(g) + H2O i.e. an equimolar amount of CO2 is discharged for every mole carbonate precipitated from seawater."
-The hope is that the CO2(g) liberated in the brine lakes would be assimilated by the photosynthetic uptake of the Athrospira cyanobacteria. I agree that it is more carbon/energy efficient to make bicarbonates. Plus the albedo effect from the white bicarbonates is at least 70%.
Ditto. Before taking carbon credits you need to quantify
net (and long term) CO2 uptake/storage relative to release. The albedo
effect (and biomass storage) would need to be preserved for hundreds
to thousands of years to offset the long air residence time of
any CO2 you are trying to counter.
(3) Third Concern: I see that 44,500 MT of Cl2/yr are produced. If REUS uses this to make PVC, that's 78,000 MT PVC/year. Can the project/market absorb that amount of PVC? I see that Greenpeace advocates banning PVC production due to health/environmental concerns.
-The primary strategy with the PVC production would constitute the following:
(A) To produce the PVC from carbon free electricity.
(B) To completely eliminate and/or replace the 6 known types of phthalate plasticizers that have been banned by the European Union in 2006.
(C) The PVC would primarily be used in a symbiotic industrial partnership that would involve the manufacturing of PVC-based geosynthetic membranes used in the mining industry as a lake liner for the wastewater brine lakes.
(D) PVC-based drip irrigation systems would also be constructed for the expansion of subtropical desert agriculture and forestry.
And would consume 30,000 tonnes of oil carbon/yr per 100MW
plant, which might be an environmentally better fate than burning it,
but not as good as leaving it in the ground. How about paving the
deserts and/or the Arctic Ocean with any excess PVC to max the albedo
benefit? I'd still need to check with Greenpeace before signing
on here.
List of Tables ············································ 3
List of Figures ···········································. 3
Executive Summary ········································ 4
CHAPTERS
Introduction············································.. 5
Sunny Subtropical Deserts····································.. 7
Desalination in Coastal Desert Regions·····························. 8
Subtropical Desert Agriculture and Forestry··························
9
Carbon Uptake in Desert Agriculture and
Forestry······················.. 10
Ecological Offsets Provided by Greening the
Desert······················ 11
Solar Thermal Offsets from White Brine
Salts·························.. 12
Oceanic Deprotonation······································. 14
Atmospheric Offsets from Sodium Hydroxide·························..
16
Reversing the Four Megatrends of Global Warming······················
16
The Reverse Entropy Utility System (REUS)···························
19
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Model···························
23
A Quantitative Analysis of the REUS Geoengineering
Model·················. 24
REUS Summary of Photosynthetic, NaOH and Albedo
Offsets················. 33
A Technical and Economic Summary of the REUS Model···················.
34
The REUS Strategy: An Economic System with Decreasing
Entropy·············. 38
References············································.. 39
TABLES
TB 1 Major Subtropical Desert Regions of the
World··········............................... 7
TB 2 Brine Elements Valuable in Desert Agriculture and
Forestry·············· 10
TB 3 Potential CO2 Uptakes for Various Subtropical
Plantations··············.. 11
TB 4 Average Albedo Effects from Physical Surface
Features················.. 13
TB 5 Minimum REUS Utility Outputs······························. 23
TB 6 Potential CO2 Uptakes for a 10-yr Average Growth
Rate················ 25
TB 7 CO2 Uptakes for Aquaculture, Agriculture and
Forestry················. 27
TB 8 Potential CO2 Uptakes of NaOH in Brine Evaporation Lakes Over 10
Years·····. 29
TB 9 Albedo and Solar Thermal CO2 Offsets for a 1-km2 Surface at a 30-
Degree Latitude 30
TB 10 Albedo Offsets with Thermal Atmospheric CO2 Removal
Equivalencies at 30-Deg.. 31
TB 11 Photosynthetic, NaOH and Thermal Albedo CO2 Offsets for a 100-
MW REUS···. 33
TB 12 Commercially Valuable REUS Utility Products in
Quantities·············.. 36
TB 13 Value of REUS Utility Products in 2009 U.S.
Dollars··················. 36
TB 14 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in
Quantities········ 37
TB 15 Commercially Valuable REUS Geoengineering Products in 2009 U.S.
Dollars···· 37
FIGURES
FG 1 Solar Radiation Versus Latitude at Solar
Equinox····················. 13
FG 2 Oceanic Acidification···································· 14
FG 3 Oceanic Deprotonation··································· 15
FG 4 The Reverse Entropy Utility System····························
19
FG 5 The REUS Geoengineering Model····························· 21
FG 6 Brine Salt, Oasis and Brine Lake
Visual··························. 29
brine salts. One metric ton of sodium bicarbonate will store about a õ
[4] Infoplease. "Principal Deserts of the World." Retrieved on August
16, 2009 from http://**www.**infoplease.com/ipa/A0778851.html.
[5] DESERTEC. "Clean Power From Deserts." Desertec White Book.
Hamburg, November 2007. Retrieved on August 11th, 2009 from www.**desertec.org.
[6] Environmental News Network. "Food Panic Brings Call for a Second
'Green Revolution'." Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
[7] F. Anthoni. "The Chemical Composition of Seawater". Retrieved on
August 10,2009 from www.**seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm.
[8] Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry. United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Retrieved on August 19th, 2009
[9] Urban Forests and Climate Change. United States Forest Service
(USFS). Retrieved on August 17th, 2009 from http://**www.**fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/urban-forests/.
[10] Coalition for Rainforest Nations. "Recognizing Forests Role in
Climate Change." Retrieved on August 8th, 2009 from
[11] O. Phillips et al. "The Changing Amazon Rainforest" Retrieved on
August 17th, 2009 from http://**www.**pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2374914.
[12] Research on Environmentally Sound Forest Practices to Sustain
Tropical Forests. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO). Retrieved on August 3rd, 2009 from http://**www.**fao.org/docrep/W3646E/.
[13] Seasonal Decrease in Arctic Sea Ice. National Snow and Ice Data
Center (NSIDC). Retrieved on July 28th, 2009 from http://**nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/.
[14] Earth from Space Larson-B Ice Shelf on Thin Ice. European Space
Agency (ESA). Retrieved on July 27th, 2009 from
[15] Environmental News Network. "To Slow Global Warming Install White
Roofs". Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from http://**www.**enn.com/green_building/article/38145.
[16] Scientific American Frontiers. "Hot Times in Alaska." PBS.
Retrieved on August 14th, 2009 from http://**www.**pbs.org/saf/1404/features/thermostat.htm.
[17] L. Ziga. "White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming."
Physorg.com. Retrieved from http://**www.**physorg.com/news140875649.html.
[18] Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, & Analysis Tools. National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL). Retrieved on August 18th, 2009 from
[19] Absolute Astronomy. "Ocean Acidification." Retrieved on August
19th, 2009 from http://**www.**absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ocean_acidification.
[20] T. Bommaraju, et al. "Brine Electrolysis." Electrochemistry
Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 20th, 2009 from
[21] V. Quasching and F. Trieb. "Solar Thermal Power Plants for
Hydrogen Production". Hypothesis IV Symposium. 2001.
[22] Net Production and Carbon Cycling in a Bamboo Phyllostachys
pubescens stand. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products
Research Institute, Momoyama, Fushimi, Kyoto 612, Japan. SO: Plant-
Ecology. 1997, 130: 1, 41-52; 48 ref. PY: 1997.
[23] Carbon Balance of Sugarcane Bioenergy Systems. Department of
Chemical and Sugar Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of
Mauritius. 2000.
[24] R. Grant. "Investing in Tropical Timber to Offset Carbon
Emissions." Retrieved on August 19th, 2009 from
[25] A. Vonshack. Spirulina Platensis (Arthrospira): Physiology, Cell-
biology and Biotechnology. CRC Press, 1997.
[26] J. Decker. "Blooming Biofuel: How Algae Could Provide the
Solution". Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from
[27] Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. 2007. Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
[28] Bloomberg. "Monsoon Rain Deficit Widens in India, Hurting Sugar
Cane, Rice." Retrieved on August 24th, 2009 from
[29] Desalination with Zero Sea Discharge. Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Australia. Retrieved on
August 25th, 2009 from http://**www.**csiro.au/science/ZeroBrineDischarge.html.
[30] S. Jorgensen and Y. Svirezhev. Towards a Thermodynamic Theory
for Ecological Systems. Elselvier Ltd, 2004.
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