Background

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the mitigation of the principal cause and forecasted effects of global warming.  More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of conversion of ocean heat to productive energy and to sequestering carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water in a desert environment.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Use of the Earth's resources has resulted in global scale environmental problems including elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and rising sea levels. As a result of land use change and the burning of fossil fuels, atmospheric CO₂ levels are predicted to double in as little as 60 years. It is expected that elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases will facilitate greater storage of heat within the atmosphere leading to enhanced surface temperatures and rapid climate change. The impact of unmitigated climate change will likely be economically expensive and environmentally hazardous. One of the most threatening outcomes of unmitigated climate change predicted over the course of the next century is sea level rise of between 90 to 880 mm, with a central value of 480 mm. The water currently held in the world’s glaciers is melting and a rise in the Earth’s surface temperature is expected to accelerate the process. The melted water flows into the Earth’s oceans and, in conjunction with thermal expansion of the oceans due to the rising temperature, raises their levels.

Reducing potential risks of climate change will require sequestration of atmospheric CO₂, conversion of a portion of the increasing thermal load being taken up by the oceans to other forms of energy, and/or the terrestrial taking up of much of the water that would otherwise raise the level of the oceans and inundate populated coastal areas.

Methods proposed to capture and store atmospheric CO₂ include storage in geological formations, injection into the deep ocean, and uptake by phytoplankton via fertilization of the ocean. The limited capacity and duration, expense, and environmental outcomes of these methods are largely unresolved and may prohibit their utility.

The most economically and environmentally plausible manner to sequester atmospheric CO₂ is to enhance natural sinks. Natural options avoid the costs associated with industrial separation, capture, compression, and storage of CO₂, and reduce potential negative environmental side effects. Natural methods offer reservoirs of large capacity and the ability to replace the carbon from whence it came, the long-term carbon cycle. Enhancing forest growth is an example of a natural method of carbon sequestration that is environmentally benign and, with proper management, allows for the value-added option of sustainable forest harvesting. Many present day activities would have to be disrupted however to return farmlands to forests or wetlands which would increase carbon sequestration. For example loss of farmlands will decrease crop production for food and biofuels.

The largest natural carbon reservoirs include ocean waters and marine sediments. Dissolving CO₂ in seawater however increases the hydrogen concentration in the ocean, and thus its acidification. This acidification has negative consequences for oceanic calcifying organisms and may hamper their ability to take up CO₂.

Deserts are dry regions of the planet with sparse vegetation and equally sparse commercial activity. They take up about one third of the Earth's land surface. Roughly two thirds of this is made up of the Antarctic Desert and the Arctic, which due to their cold climate and negligible vegetation have limited capacity to sequester atmospheric CO₂. The other third are hot deserts, which can be irrigated to facilitate the production of value-added crops for food, fuel, and fibre or to produce building materials. These crops would sequester significant quantities of CO₂.

Deserts can also take up much of the water from melting glaciers that would otherwise add to sea level rise.

An effective method of CO₂ and water sequestration would be to promote the reclamation of the world’s hot deserts to arable use. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to develop methods of promoting this conversion for the purposes of CO₂ and water sequestration.

An effective method of utilizing the heat the oceans are absorbing, causing thermal expansion and sea level rise, would be to convert this heat to more productive energy forms. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to develop methods of promoting this conversion of heat to more productive forms of energy for the purpose of limiting sea level rise.

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