Brief for GSDR 2015 Environmental Solutions via Buoyant Flake Fertilization William S. Clarke, Independent Researcher, Australia* An opportunity exists to combine three Scientific debate sustainable or waste materials, and to deploy the Several international studies (Boyd et al. 2012, resulting product in such a way that it: increases Lampitt et al. 2008, Williamson et al. 2012, Mills sustainable fish stocks; reduces surface ocean et al. 2004) have shown that fertilising ocean acidity; sequesters carbon; and cools the globe areas deficient in iron, silica or phosphate can profitably, effectively, quickly, and by means produce additional phytoplankton in similar closely matching how Nature has done this safely fashion to what dust storms and volcanic ash for millennia. blown out to sea have been doing safely and effectively for millennia. Experiments show that Introduction the ocean surface lightens for several weeks after Sustainable Development can come from such fertilization. Some experiments solutions that replace fossil fuel consumption demonstrated that the carbon flux to the deep with sustainable resources, or from solutions that sea was increased. However, it has since been address environmental threats. Some solutions do ascertained that none of these experiments were both. One such prospective solution combines monitored for a sufficient duration to measure natural and waste materials to form ultra-slow the full flux effect. Nor do they appear to allow release, buoyant flakes that provide the essential for the effects of mobile marine species evading nutrients necessary to make the nutrient- their sediment traps. Other such experiments deficient half of ocean surface waters productive. have recorded an increase in the cloud-nucleating In food production terms, this is nearly the chemical, dimethyl sulphide, (DMS), that results equivalent of having another Earth, such is the from the degradation of a chemical that plankton productivity of nutrient-rich waters. At the same emit. time, the flakes deliver four other key benefits: the dark blue of the less-productive high seas is The probable effects resulting from one rogue replaced with the milky-green hue of productive experiment indicated that salmon stocks were seas, thereby cooling the world by reflecting more massively increased in the two years following solar energy back into space; chemicals released ocean fertilization. However, all these by the additional microscopic phytoplankton experiments utilised a deficient and unsustainable contribute to marine cloud brightening, thereby method: the minerals used were fossil fuel- also increasing global albedo (reflectiveness) fairly intensive. Moreover, they were non-buoyant and evenly and hence reducing diverse regional hence disappeared from the productive surface effects; the additional photosynthetic waters within a few weeks, thereby losing phytoplankton offset ocean acidification by probably well over 90% of their nutritive value. converting the carbon dioxide dissolved in the Worse still, the human-initiated experiments used ocean surface waters (carbonic acid) into neutral fast-release minerals that caused unbalanced biomass and oxygen; and part of this biomass ecologies to develop and tended to cause a sequesters carbon in the cold ocean depths and harmful boom-bust cycle, eutrophication and sediments when it sinks, leaving the surface possibly the development of toxic species able to waters able to take up more atmospheric carbon survive in low-oxygen conditions. All these bad dioxide. effects are avoidable with the use of durable, low- cost buoyant flakes made from rice husks coated in ultra-slow-release mineral nutrients that are adhered to the silica-rich husks by sustainable 1 The views and opinions expressed are the authors’ and do not represent those of the Secretariat of the United Nations. Online publication or dissemination does not imply endorsement by the United Nations. lignin glue made from plants. The nutrient especially those with methane clathrates (slurpies minerals will typically be a mix of already finely- of methane and ice) lying on and within the ocean ground, iron-rich red mud tailings from alumina sediments and frozen tundra, are beginning to refining or plentiful laterites, from phosphatic clay emit methane at presently dangerous and wastes, and other low-grade sources of the increasingly catastrophic rates because of global nutrients that are selected to remedy the warming. Now, methanotrophs (methane eating deficiencies of a particular ocean region. The microorganisms) can convert methane into lignin ‘hot-melt glue’ dust can be made from biomass. However, to do this they require special straw or woodchips from which the cellulosic enzymes. These enzymes are formed around sugars have been gently extracted for other transition metal atoms of tungsten or purposes. molybdenum, and are complemented by copper, nickel, iron and cobalt (Light et al. 2014), all of The tiny flakes are designed to last for which are virtually absent from most polar water approximately a year on the ocean surface before columns. These necessary metals can be provided disintegrating, whereupon their residual from low-grade minerals coated onto buoyant lignocellulosic and mineral content sinks to the flakes disseminated over the water or permafrost seabed. Within a few weeks of being broadcast surface. As the nutrients from these are slowly pneumatically from a ship, the flakes become released, they permeate the water column, colonised as ideal habitat by phytoplankton and methane vents and sediments. The nutrients are their tiny predators. The phytoplankton have then available to make more methanotrophs and special means, acquisitive ligand functional thus comprise a biological control mechanism groups in their cell walls, by which to extract even that transforms methane into biomass. This notionally-insoluble nutrients from the coating biomass is reformed up the food chain until we minerals and husks. These ligands prevent most might harvest much of it for a hungry world. Note, of the valuable nutrients from being wasted. They that it is only the hazardous, emitted gaseous also mean that excessive concentrations of methane and the dissolved methane that are so dissolved nutrients are not present to harm coral transformed, the benign, frozen clathrate reefs or seagrass meadows, should the flakes ever methane is unaffected. be carried that far from the high sea sites of their typical dissemination. Buoyant, nitrogen-fixing Triple bottom line aspects blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), facilitated by As may be seen from the attachments at the presence of iron in the flakes, somewhat https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/geoengi make up for the absence of nitrogenous fertiliser neering/FUC2yTLyszE/6S8fW5MnAm8J, buoyant that is otherwise traditionally derived using fossil flake dissemination is likely to be favourable to fuels. both humanity and the environment. Flakes might be produced and disseminated for as little as Some maintain that ocean fertilization will cause USD$84 /tonne. Whilst they would notionally hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions in the deep sea sequester carbon for as little as $1.08/tonne C, a that are friendly only to a minority of life-forms. conservative estimate might lie within an order of This may well be the case in some areas. magnitude around $10/tonne C. Similarly, and However, hypoxic conditions also help to keep allowing 80% for losses, a tonne of iron in biomass locked in stable forms, thereby assisting buoyant flake fertiliser should produce some in the long-term biosequestration of carbon. The 6,000 tonnes of dry-weight fish catch for us. Now, trade-off seems fair. providing that international law (Wilson 2014, Abate & Greenlee 2010) is created so that In cryogenic or polar regions, yet another benefit reasonable revenue streams are available to may be provided by buoyant flakes, this time agencies that facilitate the additional food using a different fertiliser mix. Polar regions, production and/or carbon sequestration, the 2 The views and opinions expressed are the authors’ and do not represent those of the Secretariat of the United Nations. Online publication or dissemination does not imply endorsement by the United Nations. costs of flake production, dissemination and 3945; DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2008.0139. Published 13 monitoring would probably be borne willingly by November 2008 industry for profit. Policy-making action and funds are required only to provide the initial risk- Light M.P.R., Hensel H., Carana S., (2014). Arctic reducing R&D, to establish the governance Atmospheric Methane Warming Veil. Arctic arrangements and social licence. News. http://arctic- news.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/arctic- Issues for further consideration atmospheric-methane-global-warming-veil.html Whilst the concept is founded upon scientific principles, individual aspects require validation. Mills, M. M., Ridame, C., Davey, M., La Roche, J., These include: Geider, R. J., (2004). Iron and phosphorus co-limit Earth Systems modelling to establish the nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical North likely effects Atlantic Nature 429, 292-294 (20 May 2004) | Determination of the optimal flake doi:10.1038/nature02550. buoyancy recipe Refinement of the tailored mineral mixes Williamson, P., Wallace, D. W. R., Law, C. S., Boyd, Mesocosm trials P. W., Collos, Y., Croot, P., Denman, K., Riebesell, Governance U., Takeda, S., Vivian, C., (2012). Ocean fertilization for geoengineering: A review of effectiveness,