An idea he can stomach
Oxnard man sees kelp forests as solution to global warming
By Zeke Barlow
Ventura County Star - Sunday, September 20, 2009
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/sep/20/an-idea-he-can-stomach/

Mark Capron is fond of the expression “To have a good idea, you have to have a lot of ideas.” And he is a man of many ideas.

The Oxnard resident has come up with a way to create “soft prisons” where Nintendo Wii controllers are configured to create a hi-tech ankle bracelet of sorts. He thinks his idea to install a monitor system on cars would allow them to sense others, resulting in triple the freeway capacity while reducing accidents.

With many of his ideas, his wife merely rolls her eyes, but she thinks his latest one, which involves stopping global warming while creating energy to fuel the world, might just work. Some scientists agree.

All he needs is a giant plastic “stomach” and few million dollars to get started.

The idea dubbed PODenergy — plankton ocean digester — starts with a massive kelp forest growing on the ocean surface that sucks up vast amounts of climate-changing carbon dioxide. As any plant does, it takes in carbon dioxide while producing oxygen, but because kelp grows so fast, it takes in a lot of carbon dioxide. The kelp forest will become a large habitat for fish, which then can be harvested and sold. Another type of algae, such as seaweed, could also be used.

Later, the kelp is cut and put into a giant plastic stomach — the diameter of two football fields — that is sunk a few hundred feet below the ocean, where wave energy isn’t a factor. Inside the stomach, bacteria eat away at the kelp. Just like a human passing gas, the byproducts are carbon dioxide and methane. The carbon dioxide, which is heavier than seawater, is sequestered in separate containers on the ocean floor for eternity. The methane, which is natural gas, is pumped to shore, where it provides power. Another byproduct inside the stomach is nutrients, which are removed to create a new kelp forest, and the process starts again.

In theory, if his idea worked on a large scale, he thinks it could produce enough methane to meet half the world’s energy demands. The kelp forests — which would cover 4 percent of the ocean’s surface in different areas around the globe — would suck up enough carbon dioxide to neutralize all the climate-changing gases humanity creates. And between selling the methane and harvesting the fish, the project would turn a nifty profit, too.

This, of course, is all on paper.

Capron realizes there are all sorts of challenges, like building in the harsh environment of the ocean, working with flammable methane and dealing with the environmental implications of creating new kelp forests where there were none before and changing the makeup of the ecosystem. Exactly how the kelp forests would be planted and harvested is still under some consideration, but he thinks it could involve some sort of fake rocky floor that could float underwater, to which the kelp would attach. The mature kelp would help seed the new crop.

Still, he believes he’s onto something.

“The main thing is the whole world is going to be hurting damn quick, and this is something I can see that might prevent a lot of that hurt,” said Capron, 55, who has degrees in three kinds of engineering and is now working with the city of Thousand Oaks on ways to turn wastewater into energy.

Energy crisis needs ideas

Others are starting to notice his idea.

Capron was one of 20 people who were invited to England earlier this year to be part of the Manchester Report, a gathering of innovators with ideas on how to curb climate change. The ideas ranged from making clouds whiter to getting rid of wood-burning stoves across the world.

Harvard University Associate Professor Pete Girguis said there is a veritable gold rush going on for someone, anyone, to come up with an idea to solve the problems of a power-hungry world.

“The energy crisis is very big, and the prize is substantial and there is no smoking gun,” he said. “Anyone can give this a shot, but I think that guys like Mark have some interesting ideas.”

Girguis, who studies how energy moves through the environment, said Capron’s idea is worth exploring.

“He has a good idea and it has some very practical elements that need to be tested and see how practical they are,” he said. “If he can drum up support to fabricate a system where he can prove the concept, then he will be in a position to convince the powers that be that it has merits and is worth considering.”

‘The concept looks great’

Jim Stewart, a retired physics professor and co-chairman of the energy-climate committee for the Sierra Club California, said Capron’s idea not only has merit, but also solves climate change and energy production in one plan.

“As a scientist, I would say the concept looks great,” he said. “What blows me away on his concept is the fact that it has so many different components that are synergistically combined.”

Now all Capron needs to do is test his idea — and that requires funding. He’s trying to find some professors and researchers to partner with him to form a consortium that can get funding.

The Department of Energy recently offered an $85 million grant to anyone who can come up with a revolutionary idea on producing energy from algae. Capron’s problem is getting the $17 million in matching funds needed to get the grant.

He’s spent $14,000 to patent the idea and countless hours thinking of every detail and how to entice others to get behind it.

Girguis said Capron would do well to test his idea on a small scale first to generate some interest. His entire idea involves putting up to 100,000 of the rubber stomachs at locations around the globe.

Capron realizes there are many hurdles to jump to get the idea off the ground, but the most important one — coming up with a good idea — is cleared. Now he’s hoping others agree and he can start on making his dream a reality.

“The problem is we are creating our own asteroid,” he said. “I’m trying to alleviate that.”