The Tidal Irrigation and Electrical System

In 2015 Ocean Foesters, a multidisciplinary team, began a detailed investigation into The Tidal Irrigation and Electrical System. This process revealed that developments embodied in the patent pending Tidal Irrigation and Electrcal System 2 were substationally on the right track. This means that while the basis of this website is correct the details are out of date. 

Technical details are published on the uspto.gov website under the Sustainable Ocean Community (SOC) (patent pending).

The following open letter was published on the Climate Council’s page by Ocean Foresters looking at ways to save coral reefs and help bring a carbon neutral economy into being using deep ocean water and marine plants. We are calling the project Haven Atolls.

Haven Atolls: Saving the Great Barrier Reef from Global Warming

This letter is written on behalf of the Ocean Foresters Group, as cited by Dr Tim Flannery in his 2015 book Atmosphere of Hope, to present our proposed Haven Atoll system to help save coral biodiversity as well as reduce ocean acidity. http://oceanforesters.org/

The 2016 survey of the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef found 95% of the coral is damaged or dead due to excessive ocean heat. Coral bleaching is not limited to Australia, but is occurring in every ocean around the world. The collapse of coral reefs affects the global food supply because about half of the fish that humanity eats spend part of their lives on coral reefs.

Apart from the ecological damage, loss of the world’s coral reefs would cause severe economic dislocation and food shortage for millions of people. Reefs also provide structural support and protection for coastal communities. Without living reefs, damage from erosion and sea level rise will be exacerbated.

The cause of the reef damage is excess carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere leading to global warming. In the medium term, humanity will develop the political will to implement carbon-free replacements for coal, oil and natural gas that will help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

However, the real problem we face is that emission reductions alone are just too slow to prevent catastrophic biodiversity loss. The damage is happening right now. Immediate steps are needed to reduce the heat, acidity and nutrients that are killing our reefs.

The good news is we can save reefs now by providing cooler and cleaner water in atolls.

As Australian Climate Council Chief Councillor Dr Tim Flannery argues in Atmosphere of Hope, our group, the Ocean Foresters, have presented compelling argument that large scale deployment of artificial forests of seaweeds, kelps and algae is the most promising response to fixing ocean health and removing CO2 http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/20/climate-crisis-future-brighter-tim-flannery.. summarises Dr Flannery’s citation of Ocean Foresters. Our website, oceanforesters.org, also presents peer-reviewed scientific papers describing the overall system.

Ocean Foresters’ key initial proposal is called Haven Atolls, a practical system for protecting coral by growing large amounts of marine plants for fuel, food, fertilizer, fabric and fodder. Australia has the need, expertise, resources, locations and innovative culture to lead the world on Haven Atolls, specifically targeted to the coral systems under most threat from global warming. Haven Atolls will integrate the sourcing and recycling of nutrients for plant growth, the production of fresh water, the production of electricity and algae seaweed products and the protection of local corals into a single system.

The Haven Atolls key idea is to bring deep ocean water to the surface and feed it into coral atolls. This cool nutrient-rich ocean water can support sustainable aquaculture in a coral atoll. Importantly, once the nutrients have been absorbed by the aquatic plants, deep ocean water can be stored in large volumes and used to cool coral during heat waves. The Haven Atoll will serve as a reservoir of biodiversity and its coral and biota can be used to seed the dead reefs near the haven. The system will also produce fresh water and electricity.

Haven Atolls could include Hydro-Thermal Liquefaction (HTL), a proven method to produce gas and oil from any organic material, using heat and pressure. The fastest growing plants are aquatic, so HTL technology could be cost-effective based on marine algae. HTL is one of several components we propose as part of our plan to use Haven Atolls to help save the world’s coral from extinction.

The Haven Atoll project can make significant additions to global food security and help move toward the goal of negative carbon emissions, as identified by world governments in the Paris Climate Agreement as necessary to keep warming below two degrees. Time is the enemy of the world’s ocean creatures reliant upon corals. Our magnificent reefs are already dying. We do not know how many have gone extinct or will soon. By creating shelters for reef systems to adapt we can save the reefs, while developing practical technology for sustainable energy and food supply, and beginning to remove the dangerous extra carbon that fossil fuels have added to our air and sea.

In addition to Dr Flannery’s support, Ocean Foresters’ work has been recognized by a range of scientific leaders, but we still do not have the resources to demonstrate the Haven Atoll concepts in field trials. We would like the Australian Government to get on board, including through the Blue Economy Challenge now open from the Innovation Exchange of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We want to partner with Australian universities, CSIRO, government agencies, communities and private industry to implement rapid and practical methods to save our precious coral reefs from the looming extinction. If you can assist in any way, please contact us via reply here, or at our website oceanforesters.org

Mark Capron, M.S., P.E. – California Registered Engineer and inventor with expertise in marine engineering and anaerobic digestion (USA)

Jim Stewart, PhD, former research physicist and Professor, now environmental analyst and policy expert (USA)

Martin T. Sherman,– inventor and researcher in the marine renewables sector (UK)

Graham Harris, M.B.E., IT & commercial manager, company director, ex Royal

Navy diver and biologist. (NZ)

Robert Tulip, M.A. – researcher in large scale ocean based algae production, official with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)

Mohammed Hasan, M.S., P.E. – California Registered Civil Engineer (USA)

Don Piper, M.S., M.B.A. – marine resources management consultant, entrepreneur and mentor to more than fifty projects (USA)

All participation is individual, not representing any institution.
For Oceanforesters.org