A Primer: Can Algae Replace Gas?

Via Nadine Freischlad from Open_Sailing
Original Post : http://www.good.is/post/a-primer-can-algae-replace-gas/
by  Cliff Kuang on March 11, 2009 at 2:01 pm PDT

Can algae, that banal scourge of the swimming pool, fuel an energy-independent America? The hype is certainly there. News reports have been flowing quick and steady about the potential of algal biofuels. Just yesterday, Treehugger proclaimed them the #1 green technology in the offing.

But you’d be excused for still being baffled. No one is answering the most basic questions: What is algae technology, and why is it so promising? Why isn’t it already available? What are the challenges that remain to be solved?

What Are Algae?
Algae are some of the planet’s simplest organisms. Comprised of just a single cell, or sometimes a few cells, they're slightly more complex than bacteria but far less complex than most plants.

But like plants, algae are loaded with chloroplasts, which lets them create energy using just carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. Algae use this energy to reproduce or to store it for leaner times. Some algae in particular store energy as lipids (aka, oils). These lipids, in turn, can be readily refined into basically any hydrocarbon you like, from biodiesel to jet fuel—and the whole process is carbon-neutral. That's the miracle of algae.

Plants can also be used to create lipids—these are the biofuel crops such as camelina being developed by companies like Targeted Growth—but they still waste a good deal of their energy on things like stems and seeds. Algae, by contrast, are simpler, with fewer outputs, and thus far more efficient. Their per-acre yields are so high that we could conceivably produce all the oil we need with a space that, at maximum, is just 1/7 the area we now use to grow corn.

Unlike many other biofuels, algae doesn’t displace food crops. That’s significant because one fundamental dilemma with biofuels is that they’ll crush our economy with rising food costs, by competing with edible crops for arable land.

The Challenges
But algae aren't great multitaskers. “Algae usually just reproduce or make oil,” says Tom Todaro, CEO of Sustainable Oils. “They don’t usually do both. Under favorable conditions they’d rather multiply than store their energy.”

So there's a dilemma: You want your algae to multiply so you have a lot of it, but if they're spending energy multiplying they won’t make any oil. That’s why companies such as Sustainable Oils are trying to engineer algae that balance the two imperatives, multiplying rapidly in the first few days of life, and making oil thereafter.

Volume is another problem: No one has ever produced as much algae as we’d need to actually start replacing gasoline at a meaningful scale. Sustainable Oils is just breaking ground on a 50,000-gallon test facility in Colorado, but industrial levels would require plants that accommodate 100 million gallons of algae.



It’s not as simple as just building bigger algae ponds. No one knows exactly how to cultivate that much algae—from how to feed them all carbon dioxide, to how they’ll behave and interact at such great quantity. Just getting them sunlight is a problem. Algae usually sits in a thin layer atop water, soaking up sunlight; Building huge, shallow ponds is way too expensive, so we’ll need to find ways to get sunlight deeper into vats. (And remember, if we use lots of electriciy in the process the whole projecct is moot).

Again, biology is being marshaled to solve these problems; some have explored creating algae with physical properties that allow sunlight to soak deeper into a pool (so algae to grow at greater depths). Others pursuing engineering solutions have created bioreactors, which churn algae during cultivation, or grow them in tubes. But bioreactors, while promising, are expensive. “You have to understand that oil is the world’s most efficient market in the world,” says Mark Tegen, CEO of Inventure, whose company refines algae into fuel compounds. “You have to wring every cost out to make it competitive, and biology is where you get your bang for the buck.”

Then comes a third problem: To release the algae's oils they have to be dried out. Companies like Inventure already do this, but again, industrial scales may require new technologies. Centrifuging isn’t practical, but algae are being bred that naturally excrete their oil, while the chemical and mechanical processes for separating the oils artificially are still being refined.

The Prospects
Despite these problems, there’s good reason for optimism. After all, money has been flowing into the sector, and it’s not just crazy bubble money—some of the savviest investors in the world are making big bets because the advances have come so quickly. “My bet is that we’ll see something in 5-10 years,” says Tegen. “The scene is like tech in 1996. We’re living in dog years and there’s mayhem. But in just the last two years alone, the advancements have been shocking.”

Photo from flickr by Steve Jurvetson

Engineers Generate Electricity by Tapping Into Algae Cells

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100413121336.htm via Rachel Amstrong

Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, near Catalina Island, California. Engineers have generated electrical current by tapping into the electron activity in individual algae cells. (Credit: iStockphoto/Todd Winner)

ScienceDaily (Apr. 19, 2010) — In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have plugged in to algae cells and harnessed a tiny electric current. They found it at the very source of energy production -- photosynthesis, a plant's method of converting sunlight to chemical energy. It may be a first step toward generating "high efficiency" bioelectricity that doesn't give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct, the researchers say.

"We believe we are the first to extract electrons out of living plant cells," said WonHyoung Ryu, the lead author of the paper published in the March issue of Nano Letters. Ryu conducted the experiments while he was a research associate for mechanical engineering professor Fritz Prinz.

The Stanford research team developed a unique, ultra-sharp nanoelectrode made of gold, specially designed for probing inside cells. They gently pushed it through the algal cell membranes, which sealed around it, and the cell stayed alive. From the photosynthesizing cells, the electrode collected electrons that had been energized by light and the researchers generated a tiny electric current.

"We're still in the scientific stages of the research," said Ryu. "We were dealing with single cells to prove we can harvest the electrons."

Plants use photosynthesis to convert light energy to chemical energy, which is stored in the bonds of sugars they use for food. The process takes place in chloroplasts, the cellular powerhouses that make sugars and give leaves and algae their green color. In the chloroplasts, water is split into oxygen, protons and electrons. Sunlight penetrates the chloroplast and zaps the electrons to a high energy level, and a protein promptly grabs them. The electrons are passed down a series of proteins, which successively capture more and more of the electrons' energy to synthesize sugars until all the electron's energy is spent.

In this experiment, the researchers intercepted the electrons just after they had been excited by light and were at their highest energy levels. They placed the gold electrodes in the chloroplasts of algae cells, and siphoned off the electrons to generate the tiny electrical current.

The result, the researchers say, is electricity production that doesn't release carbon into the atmosphere. The only byproducts of photosynthesis are protons and oxygen.

"This is potentially one of the cleanest energy sources for energy generation," Ryu said. "But the question is, is it economically feasible?"

Ryu said they were able to draw from each cell just one picoampere, an amount of electricity so tiny that they would need a trillion cells photosynthesizing for one hour just to equal the amount of energy stored in a AA battery. In addition, the cells die after an hour. Ryu said tiny leaks in the membrane around the electrode could be killing the cells, or they may be dying because they're losing out on energy they would normally use for their own life processes. One of the next steps would be to tweak the design of the electrode to extend the life of the cell, Ryu said.

Harvesting electrons this way would be more efficient than burning biofuels, as most plants that are burned for fuel ultimately store only about 3 to 6 percent of available solar energy, Ryu said. His process bypasses the need for combustion, which only harnesses a portion of a plant's stored energy. Electron harvesting in this study was about 20 percent efficient. Ryu said it could theoretically reach 100 percent efficiency one day. (Photovoltaic solar cells are currently about 20-40-percent efficient.)

Possible next steps would be to use a plant with larger chloroplasts for a larger collecting area, and a bigger electrode that could capture more electrons. With a longer-lived plant and better collecting ability, they could scale up the process, Ryu said. Ryu is now a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

Other authors of the paper are Prinz, the senior author,; Seoung-Jai Bai, Tibor Fabian, Rainer J. Fasching, Joong Sun Park, and Zubin Huang, all researchers in the Rapid Protoyping Laboratory at Stanford University; and Jeffrey Moseley and Arthur Grossman, both researchers in the Department of Plant Biology at the Carnegie Institution and Department of Biological Sciences.

Case Study Part 2: Marine Protected Areas in West Bali - Algae aquaculture as a solution

Part Two: Algae farming - method and specifications

1. Introduction

Algae farming was introduced to Sumber Kima in 2003, but the first attempts were more or less failures, as the seaweed would not thrive in their particular bay.

Different species of red algae were tested, among them Eucheuma Catonii. Finally, a species brought in from Maumere, Flores - another Rodophyte species called Kappaphycus Alpharezi - proved to be suitable for that area. (Maumere, in turn, got it from the Phillipines: the species is not native to the Indonesian seas).

Red algae are known for their high contents of the gelling agent carrageenan, which has many commercial applications in the food and cosmetics industry, for example in dairy products, pet foods, or toothpastes. Red algae high in carrageenan, as the species mentioned above, are therefore the major types of algae to be commercially cultivated in SE Asia.

"Hello, my name ist alvarezii"

[/caption]

Seaweed farming is actually not an ancient practice in Indonesia, and therefore the knowledge about suitability and adaptability of species still low. While Japan has a very ancient tradition of algae cultivation, the Philippines were pioneers in SE Asia, from where it spread to Indonesia. In Bali, the first algae culture was done in the area of Nusa Dua, South Bali, in the 90ies.

Certainly, wild seeweads have been harvested in Indonesia for decades, and used in a variety of dishes, as salads or as gelling agent (Agar).

2. The method

2.1 Planting

Algae farmers in Bali Barat employ the long-line cultivation method. The seedlings are attached to a very long sythetic rope, which floats close to the surface of the water, held up by little buoys every few meters.


this sketch is borrowed from here! Thanks!

The seedlings, which are simply cut-off branches from an older plant, are tied to the rope with a thinner rope with a loose knot, allowing for some movement with the currents, with spaces of approx. 20 cm between knots. The floaters, usually pieces of Styrofoam, plastic bottles or balls, do not only keep the line at a more or less constant depth of 30-40cm and make it easier to spot but also increase the amount of movement of each little segment.




"'field of' long lines and floaters, clearly visible from the shore"



The line itself is attached to a stong pole or frame which sits firmly in the ground on both ends. This method is suited for bays which are steep, but no too deep.

At Nusa Dua, for example, algae is grown it along the ground. The advantage of this is that it can be planted and harvested on foot at low tide. But this works only on a flat, plan coastline. The result is the same, but the environmental damage is probably higher because you walk on any existing coral. Floating method and harvest/planting by boat is pretty low impact. The only impact really are some runaway styrofoam floaties, but these are usually collected again because they are needed.

In fact the seaweed cultivation creates favorable environment for fish, and the seaweed farmers report that the fish have increased in the area of seaweed farming and are easy to catch.

2.2 Harvesting

After 35-45 days, the algae has grown enough to be harvested. For harvest, the line is lifted above the water and the algae cut off close to the knot.

The tips of some of the harvested plants are cut for use of re-planting. Planting and harvesting is thus done in a constant cycle. While harvesting the ‘field’ on one side, young seedlings are being replanted on the other.

While harvest is technically possible throughout the year, the growth rate of the algae is best during the rainy season. During the dry months, june-september, seedlings grow slowly and are more prone to deseases.

The reason for this is not known for sure, because the farmers don’t have the means to measure temperature/salinity or any other factors that might be influencing this. However, the observation implies that during hot months, the water gets too muddy/warm or salty. In other areas, it’s the other way around and it seems to depend strongly on the species. Here, the alage aquaculture could profit greatly from a scientific research partnership. Perhaps it could prove best to cultivate one species during the hot months and another during the rainy season to yield maximum profits?

2.3 Drying

After harvest, the seaweeds are spread out on flat thatched bamboo boards and these are put on top of wood or concrete stand, directly in the sun. They get sun and wind from top and sides and a little from underneath because of thatched board. They needs to be spread evenly and only one layer to avoid fouling. If it starts to rain, they need to be covered with a synthetic cloth immediately, it is simply thrown over the drying structure and held up by the wooden bar running along the middle. If it’s hot and sunny it will only take two days to dry. Hanging is also possible but is simply much more work and the results are the same.

"drying stands"




"spreading out the algae on the drying stand"



After drying, they will have lost 90% of their weight. In dried form, the algae can be stored for several months.

"wet product on the left and dried on the right"





inside the currently very empty storage room

The dried product is sold on the markets in Bali’s capital Denpasar, but the farmers don’t know much about what happens then.

3. Species, reproduction, diseases

As described in the introduction, the species cultivated in Sumber Kima, and all over SE Asia as a matter of fact, are red algae of the Kappaphycus or Eucheuma kind. Both are high in carrageenan and essentially very similar.

They are branched, have thick, fleshy thalli and are olive-brown to purplish-red in color.

Highly interesting is their capacity for vegetative regeneration, which essentially is the reason for the entirely asexual reproduction method employed by farmers in Sumber Kima (simply cutting off tips of older plants and regrowing from there, and so on). Thinking back to our visit to Kiel, this method really sets them off from the German alage farmers who were obtaining new generations of their brown algae from spores in each cycle.

Now I am not a expert (yet) but I came across this study which seems to imply that purely vegetative methods in algae farming may lead up to problems such as decrease in productivity after several ‘generations’, increased vulnerability to catch diseases and so on, which are precisely the problems Sumber Kima farmers were also reporting.

At the time of my visit, two types of diseases had been affecting the harvest: first something called Ice-Ice. The algae starts to turn white around the attachment area, and is prone to break off. It is not so fatal and can be diminished by cutting the stems above the white spot one by one and reattaching it – a lot of work, but can be done

The other disease is known as Karat (‘Rust’). It is some sort of fouling or infection of the seaweed and it spreads quickly. It does not kill the seaweed entirely but inhibits growth and results in an uglier, less-branched and rather rough-skinned plant. Karat is one of the diseases which befalls the algae during the already less productive dry season. Again, more scientific support could help in gaining a better understanding of the diseases and finding ways how to deal with them.



healthy vs. sick algae

Look out for Part 3 of my report: processing algae: candy, crackers and more

Case study: Marine Protected Areas in West Bali – algae aquaculture as a solution

< Nadine Freischlad >
I’ve been lucky to spend the past few weeks in Indonesia. Part of my trip involved visiting a program initiated by the WWF in West Bali: This region is designated as a National Park but still, the coastal ecosystem has been suffering greatly from overfishing/cyniade fishing and tourism, as local inhabitants are struggling to find sources of income.

Bali Barat National Park Region



Part of the WWF’s work was to introduce collectives of fishermen to algae farming, a practice which is NOT native to Bali, but is considered a profitable and simple alternative to fishing. It has been successfully introduced to other areas of Bali previously, including Nusa Dua and Nusa Lembongan. (Another more sustainable form of fish production are the grouper breeding sites, floating aquafarm structures locally known as Kerambah, which I will report on later.)

Since the days in the village of Sumber Kima (‘Source of Pearls’), one of the villages in the vicinity of the National Park, have been so extremely insightful, I will split up the report into several posts. The first post is dedicated to painting a picture of the complex cultural, economic and ecological system that makes up a coastal zone in Indonesia – and most likely everywhere else in the world.

The obvious conflict in the area of the National Park was the clash of interests between those wanting to preserve the natural habitat and those people in need of using the ocean’s resources for their survival. In the beginning, not enough effort was put into bringing together all interests, which resulted in the criminalization of people still using destructive fishing methods and catching ornamental fish to sell them.

In this situation, there was a need for mediation and bringing all stakeholders together in a common forum. (Which is what the WWF facilitated) Representatives of the National Park, fishermen groups, regional entrepreneurs and the local police are meeting regularly to discuss problems and to find solutions. The main pillars of work of this forum are:

1. Protecting the coastal ecosystem (Zonation of National Park: core zone vs. zones for ‘light’ tourism, research, recreation)
2. Introducing alternative sources of income for fishermen (algae farming)
3. Joint patrols to monitor
4. Fundraising

Algae aquaculture seemed especially suited as the demand is high and it has worked in other regions of Bali. It requires little investment, thus allowing fishermen with little funds to join in.

Villagers in Bali are often organized in neighborhood collectives, or groups, in which they share workload and equipment. In this specific program, effort has been made to integrate the women of the collective into to production cycle. The women help with preparing the seeds, planting and harvesting, but are also responsible for some processing of the algae. This includes baking cakes, making different sorts of candy and crackers, which are then sold at local markets.

Since the program started in 2003, after some initial difficulties, the farmers have seen some significant improvements and more groups have joined in. The amount of algae produced has risen dramatically and they report that fish are now more plentiful and easy to catch as they use the algae farming site to feed on and for shelter.

increase in yearly algae production from 1 0 tons to 750 tons since 2003 (weight before drying)"



Another interesting fact is that the fishermen-turned-algae farmers on Bali are not actually Balinese people, but from the island of Madura. The Madurese, living on a small and overpopulated island, have a long tradition of fishing. They are also known to be very skilled boat builders and are basically found inhabiting any coast of the Indonesian Archipelago, bringing their belief, Islam, with them. The Balinese themselves, as Hindus, are traditionally not fishers but farmers and prefer to populate the mountainous regions. In their belief, Demons inhabit the seas while the mountains are the domain of the gods.

Thus, the program to help the fishermen to find more sustainable, less exploitative and most of all legal uses of the ocean is not only addressing an economic dimension, but might also be part of stabilizing the social fabric. (Luckily, there is and has been NO conflict regarding differences in religion or culture in the region)



So, I am thinking that my next visit should be to Madura, to learn from the cradle of these crafty sea-faring people ☺

Look, they even make their own fishing nets… I totally believed those are machine-made these days!



Stay tuned for Part 2: The algaeculture method employed in Bali Barat (seeding, long-line planting, harvesting, replanting, drying)

< /Nadine Freischlad >

Prototype Street Lamplamp absorber of CO2

Tyca reveals lamps that could absorb CO2.
source : http://www.frenchcleantech.com/



Pierre Calleja is the talented inventor of a process that is already revolutionary : the lamp absorber of CO2. Pierre Calleja runs the innovative company named Tyca based in Libourne (Gironde) and specializing in aquaculture and aquariology. At a time when everyone is looking for solutions to counteract the pollution in our cities (especially pollution), he had the idea to develop a CO2 canister lamp.

It is equipped with a tank containing micro algae to absorb CO2, to issue in exchange for oxygen, while continuing to grow in the light. The lamp of this patent was filed by Tyca that had already been contacted not only by private customers, but also by large groups such as Vinci. The city of Libourne in turn could be one of the first laboratories of real experience of the lamp. This lamp absorber of CO2 is not yet commercially available.Car parks, tunnels, stations and buildings could develop in the future streetlights Calleja.

A revolutionary solution for its efficiency, since a lighting of 1.5 m3 can capture 1 ton of CO2 per year. Multiplied by the number of fixtures that exist in a city as Paris and it is the Amazon forest that is planted on our streets!

Some types of edible algae

Algae are an incredibly nutritious food source and contain a high concentration of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. (According to my algae cooking guide by Éric Coisel, Hijiki algae contain up to 34% minerals, Nori up to 31% proteins) However, since they also contain high levels of iodine, they should not be consumed in very large amounts. Algae do not filter water but simply absorb it, so water quality plays an important role when harvesting or cultivating algae. everyone can harvest algae. Unlike mushrooms, very few of them are dangerously poisonous. When cooking, you can use them as a vegetable (whole) or in dried and ground form as seasoning.

Some type that are commonly eaten:

Wakame (Undaria, brown algae)
Kombu / Kelp / Seekohl (Laminaria)
Meersalat (Ulva, green algae)
Nori / Laver (Porphyra, red algae)
Dulse (Palmaria Palmata, red algae)

If you're living in the city, like me, the easiest way to get algae are Asian specialty supermarkets. I've found one that has several dried types of algae, mostly from Japan and Korea. I find it pretty difficult to distinguish one type from the other, as the size and shapes seem to vary according to how they've been dried and cut up. So far, I have tried

Hijiki



Quite intense, a little bitter and 'mushroomy' when dry - needs to be soaked only 5 minutes in cold water before cooking.

Wakame



Salty and chewy when dry, needs to be soaked 30 minutes... the leaves unfold to become quite broad and greenish. Subtle taste and very very yummy! This will definitely be one of my favorites.

Mixed algae salad



Haven't even started to identify all the different algae in this wild mix. The white, straight strands become see-through and jellyfish-like when soaked. The yellow/white squirly stuff tastes pretty much of nothing but has interesting texture, as does about everything else in here. My verdict: Looks better than it tastes! (Maybe I just need the right dressing)

Nori-Snack



This thin sheet of roasted nori is served as a snack. Nori (supposedly a red algae, why is it so green here?) are what's normally used to wrap sushi... this snack is very tasty, a little bit salty and with the distinct taste of sesame oil. Will this be what we're snacking on in the evenings while watching the sunset?

It seems the sea has a lot to offer in terms of vegetables. There's so much still to discover!

Btw, I made a wonderful dish afterwards: fried ricenoodles with Wakame and Hijiki and some ginger. I forgot to take a photo :(

Next I will try to find out more about freshwater algae and other edible freshwater plants. Stay tuned.

Algae as energy...

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/24/versatile-system-by-javier-fernandez-han/

Land plants at sea

PeterVon Bartheld said :

"Yesterday and today I've been surfing the net a bit looking for some of the plants I know from the Dutch shores. The two plants I've looked up seem to be most suitable; ZEEKRAAL (fr; Salicorne) and Crambe maritima (also called seakale).

ZEEKRAAL in dry sand


ZEEKRAAL in wet sand


ZEEKRAAL in your plate, Bon apetit!

Seakale receipe

They're tough plants and very nutricious. I'm especially interested in the possibilities of creating a system in which animals and plants are balancing each other out, like the Israeli farm you see in the PDF I send you with this email.

Every time I'm looking for this subject, I bump into a collaboration project between Holland, Belgium and Portugal in which different universities did research about growing crops in salty conditions. These guys are obviously the people to talk to. Some of them actually started up little businesses, specializing in salt water farming. See the links in the PDF (3.2 mb)."

AMAZING! So we dont have to eat each other out ! There will definitely be a part of the part 1 publication dedicated to cooking with yummy pictures and happy people

Peter von Bartheld said:

And ofcourse there is Nori (Porphyra) the most commenly know eatible seaweed.

What sort of nutritive value does nori have?

Porphyra contains significant amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals. The vitamin C content of nori, or prepared Porphyra, is greater than in raw oranges. The vitamin A content is comparable to that spinach, along with fairly high amounts of vitamin B in general. The amount of free and proteinaceous amino acids in nori are roughly similar to that of vegetables. Manganese, copper and selenium are present in Porphyra and essential for the metabolic processes of organisms. Porphyra has the remarkable capacity for survival against dessication and can dry out for days without harm. The primary storage form for Porphyra isby starch.

cultivation

The farming of nori occurs in two stages. The first stage is when the Conchocelis stage is cultivated along with the production of conchospores. The second stage is when the framer focus on the cultivation of the thallus in the field.

I guess the first stage might be some what complicated, it demands indoor cultivation of the spores, regulating light and temperature, and it is usually done in autumn. But if there is a company that provides the spores ready for growing the thallus (the actual seaweed) then these months would be perfect to experiement with the cultivation of it.

Cultivation of the thallus stage of Porphyra yezoensis

After the collecting of conchospores, these spores are now ready to be seeded and grown on cultivation nets in the field. There are three commonly used cultivation methods:

* The pillar method is only used for intertidal cultivation and in places where the tidal range is between one and two meters.

* The semi-floating raft method is used in the intertidal zone. This may be the preferred method as the raft floats near the surface of the water, allowing maximal exposure to the sunlight needed for photosynthesis.

* The floating raft method is used for production of Porphyra in deep water.

Would the raft-method not be perfect?

Nice images of the Open Sailing Model

Under the photographic direction of Cereinyn, we had a very enjoyable photoshoot of the Open Sailing on a white backdrop, quite different aesthetic than the one, we had at the opening - more of a workshop! See flickr set.



Each of the module illustrate a function we were thinking about, I will now modify our all post (drawings of these systems) to link to the actual model. Prototype scale 1/1 coming soon!

6 sides, 12 pieces, 5 levels

- 6 sides
- 12 parts
- 5 levels thick

Unstable, fragile, uneven...

Download the 3d sketchup file (220kb)


http://sites.google.com/a/opensailing.net/www/labs/nomadic_ecosystem/drafts-ideas

Yes we CanDOCK !

Just looking at this amazing floating dock products :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw4MHzwsaiI

It is beautiful how a modular system can follow the movement of the waves !

You need to watch their great corporate video as well.
The basic module is simple and good :





That's a cool docking system. But it is ... EXPENSIVE !!!!

Ok, maybe that's the good time to bring it up : a long time ago, last autumn we did some test of structures :




This one was pretty, the weight keep the moving parts together, but the tension on the cable made amplified unecessarily the movement of the structure.







The simple tripod behaved pretty well.





The star-shaped structure with long arms was a real catastrophy : the waves flipped it over, the arms folded on the structure, it landed miserably violently on the beach ...



The best structure was the platform + ballast. Simple, cheap, very, stable, reliable, at one with the sea.
For the nomadic eco-system is easy to think of semi-enclosed applications as well.



So, I would advocate a ballast system under the gardens too. Cheaper and more reliable than a solid ballast. Some sand can be added in the bag too anyway.

Ocean fashion

Isn't this cute!?

Ocean farmers

As a matter fo fact we want to become "ocean farmers". Fish farms are super interesting structures to look at.
http://wwz.ifremer.fr/aquaculture/filieres
We want to grow as many things as possible, especially stuff we can eat.
We need to learn so many things, meet so many people...
Sea farming can look like this (source Kames sea farming products) :













OH! Made with tyres! Of course! Where shall we put all these tyres?

Peter von Bartheld sais:

There are quite a few companies constructing very fancy fish pens which can with stand violent storms and attacks from pretators. I would certainly be worth it to drag your fresh supply of fish along, right? One of those companies is Ocean Spar.