Solvency
Solvency---General
OMEGA produces improved ecosystem conditions, renewable biofuels, and clean
water through the use of waste products and non-invasive algae.
Jonathan Trent, 31 August 2012, NewScientist Issue 2879, Trent studied at Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, UC-San Diego, specializing in extremophiles. He is lead scientist on the OMEGA
project.http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528797.200-even-greener-alternative-energy-fromalgae.html
Before we run out of fossil oil, we will thoroughly tap the sea floor, find and frack wells wherever they
may be, and excavate and extract the most recalcitrant of oil shales. In so doing, we will fuel our lifestyle
for a few more decades at the cost of releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide, adding to global
warming, melting ice caps, raising sea levels, acidifying oceans—and setting course for a future for which
there are few optimistic scenarios.¶ In the face of all this, scientists are racing to find alternatives.
Biofuels are my passion, but they have had rather a bad press, from complaints about displacing food
production to the inefficiency of soybeans and the carbon footprint of ethanol. Microalgae have a low
profile but they deserve a much higher one, since the fossil oil we mine mostly comes from microalgae
that lived in shallow seas millions of years ago—and they may be key to developing sustainable
alternative fuels.¶ Algae are single-celled organisms that thrive globally in aqueous environments and
convert CO2 into carbohydrates, protein, and natural oils. For some species, as much as 70 percent of
their dry weight is made up of natural oils. Through transesterification (the process of adding three
molecules of alcohol to one molecule of natural oil), the algae oils can be transformed into renewable
fuels.¶ Microalgae hold great promise because some species are among the fastest growing plants
alive and are therefore one of the best sources of biomass, while other species have been estimated to
produce between 18,700 and 46,750 liters of oil per hectare per year, nearly a hundred times more than
soybeans' 468 liters per hectare per year.¶ But there are big unsolved problems at which governments
should be throwing funds and brainpower as if we were involved in a Manhattan project. For example,
since few species of microalgae have been domesticated, we don't know how to grow them
reproducibly or economically. At what scale will algae farming be efficient? To put this in perspective,
U.S. planes use 80 billion liters of fuel per year. To supply this fuel from microalgae at the lower end of
the estimated production rate would take 4.2 million hectares—twice the area of Wales.¶ Luckily, there
may be a good way to cultivate this much algae while solving the ethical problem of producing biofuel
without competing with agriculture. Freshwater algae can be grown in wastewater (effectively, water
with fertilizer), or marine algae can be grown in a blend of seawater and wastewater. In both cases,
wastewater provides a growth medium and the algae clean the wastewater by removing nutrients and
pollutants from it. So there's no competition for fresh water needed elsewhere, no reliance on synthetic
fertilizer, and the environment benefits.¶ The United Nations estimates that the world produces around
1,500 cubic kilometers of wastewater annually, of which more than 80 percent is untreated. This means
there is an ample supply of nutrient-rich water for the algae, while algae treatment is available to
offset the environmental impact of wastewater.¶ There remains the question of how and where to
grow the algae. A few species are cultivated commercially on a small scale, in shallow channels called
raceways or in enclosures called photobioreactors (PBRs). Raceways are relatively inexpensive, but need
flat land, have lower yields than PBRs and problems with contamination and water loss from
evaporation. PBRs have no problems with contamination or evaporation, but algae need light, and
where there is light, there is heat: A sealed PBR will cook, rather than grow, algae. And mixing,
circulating, and cleaning problems send costs sky high.¶ Assuming we can fix this, the question of siting
remains. In order not to compete with agriculture, PBRs must use nonarable land reasonably close to a
wastewater treatment plant. But in most cities, wastewater plants are surrounded by infrastructure,
so installing PBRs on thousands of hectares around the plants would affect roads, buildings, and
bridges—again driving up costs prohibitively.¶ A solution occurred to me: For coastal cities, we should
try a system I call OMEGA : Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae. Some 40 to 60 percent
of Earth's population lives near a coast, most of the biggest cities are near a coast, and nearly all coastal
cities discharge wastewater offshore.¶ How does OMEGA work? It uses PBRs made from cheap, flexible
plastic tubes floating offshore, and filled with wastewater, to grow freshwater, oil-producing algae. It
would be easier to build the systems in protected bays, but breakwaters could also be constructed to
control waves and strong currents. The water need not be deep or navigable, but a few things are
crucial, including temperature, light, water clarity, frequency and severity of storms, boat traffic, nature
and wildlife conservation.¶ Beyond solving the problem of proximity to wastewater plants, there are
other advantages to being offshore. OMEGA uses buoyancy, which can be easily manipulated, to move
the system up and down, influencing exposure to surface waves and adjusting light levels. And the
overheating problem is eliminated by the heat capacity of the surrounding seawater.¶ The salt
gradient between seawater and wastewater can also be exploited to drive forward osmosis. Using a
semipermeable membrane, which allows water, but not salt, pollutants, or algae to pass through,
wastewater is drawn into the saltwater with no added energy. In the process, algae are concentrated in
preparation for harvesting and the wastewater is cleaned, first by the algae, and then by forward
osmosis. This produces water clean enough to release into the marine environment or recover for
reuse.¶ If OMEGA's freshwater algae are accidently released, they die in seawater, so no invasive
species can escape into the ecosystem. In fact, OMEGA can improve conditions by providing a large
surface for seaweed and invertebrates to colonize: part floating reef, part floating wetland. Then there
are the extra possibilities of developing wind or wave power and aquaculture, growing food such as
mussels.¶ OK, if it's so good, where is it? For the past two years, backed by NASA and the California
Energy Commission, and about $11 million, we have crawled over every aspect of OMEGA. In Santa
Cruz, Calif., we built and tested small-scale PBRs in seawater tanks. We studied OMEGA processing
wastewater in San Francisco, and we investigated biofouling and the impact on marine life at the Moss
Landing Marine Laboratories in Monterey Bay.¶ I'm now pretty confident we can deal with the biological,
engineering, and environmental issues. So will it fly economically? Of the options we tested, the OMEGA
system combined with renewable energy sources—wind, solar, and wave technologies—and
aquaculture looks most promising. Now with funds running out and NASA keen to spin off OMEGA, we
need the right half-hectare site for a scaled-up demonstration. While there is enthusiasm and great
potential sites in places ranging from Saudi Arabia to New Zealand, Australia to Norway, Guantanamo
Bay to South Korea, as yet no one has committed to the first ocean deployment.¶ We could be on the
threshold of a crucial transition in human history—from hunting and gathering our energy to growing it
sustainably. But that means getting serious about every option, from alpha to OMEGA.
AT: Hurts Environment
OMEGA is Fail Proof and Can’t damage the Environment- Uses natural process to clean
water and even the bags are ecofriendly
Ruth Dasso Marlaire, 04.22.09, Author at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/features/2009/clean_energy_042209.html. Accessed 7/15/14
It is a simple, but elegant concept. The bag will be made of semi-permeable membranes that allow
fresh water to flow out into the ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients. The membranes are
called “forward-osmosis membranes.” NASA is testing these membranes for recycling dirty water on
future long-duration space missions. They are normal membranes that allow the water to run one way.
With salt water on the outside and fresh water on the inside, the membrane prevents the salt from
diluting the fresh water. It’s a natural process, where large amounts of fresh water flow into the sea.
Floating on the ocean's surface, the inexpensive plastic bags will be collecting solar energy as the algae
inside produce oxygen by photosynthesis. The algae will feed on the nutrients in the sewage, growing
rich, fatty cells. Through osmosis, the bag will absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen
and fresh water. The temperature will be controlled by the heat capacity of the ocean, and the ocean's
waves will keep the system mixed and active. When the process is completed, biofuels will be made
and sewage will be processed. For the first time, harmful sewage will no longer be dumped into the
ocean. The algae and nutrients will be contained and collected in a bag. Not only will oil be produced,
but nutrients will no longer be lost to the sea. According to Trent, the system ideally is fail proof . Even
if the bag leaks, it won’t contaminate the local environment. The enclosed fresh water algae will die in
the ocean. The bags are expected to last two years, and will be recycled afterwards. The plastic
material may be used as plastic mulch, or possibly as a solid amendment in fields to retain moisture.
“We have to remember,” Trent said, quoting Marshall McLuhan: “we are not passengers on spaceship
Earth, we are the crew.”
Deadzones Advantage
1AC Deadzones Advantage
Deadzone prevalence is the highest its been in 300 million years---this makes mass
extinction of species inevitable without change
Harvey 10/2/2013 [Fiona Harvey, “Rate of ocean acidification due to carbon emissions is at the highest
for 300m years”, The Guardian, October 2, 2013,
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/03/ocean-acidification-carbon-dioxide-emissionslevels]
The oceans are becoming more acidic at the fastest rate in 300m years, due to carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels, and a mass extinction of key species may already be almost inevitable as
a result, leading marine scientists warned on Thursday. An international audit of the health of the oceans has found that
overfishing and pollution are also contributing to the crisis, in a deadly combination of destructive forces that are imperilling marine life, on
which billions of people depend for their nutrition and livelihood. In the starkest warning yet of the threat to ocean health, the
International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) said: "This [acidification] is unprecedented
in the Earth's known history. We are entering an unknown territory of marine ecosystem change, and
exposing organisms to intolerable evolutionary pressure. The next mass extinction may have already
begun ." It published its findings in the State of the Oceans report, collated every two years from global monitoring and other research
studies. Alex Rogers, professor of biology at Oxford University, said: "The health of the ocean is
spiralling downwards far more rapidly than we had thought. We are seeing greater change, happening faster, and the
effects are more imminent than previously anticipated. The situation should be of the gravest concern to everyone
since everyone will be affected by changes in the ability of the ocean to support life on Earth." Coral is
particularly at risk. Increased acidity dissolves the calcium carbonate skeletons that form the structure of
reefs, and increasing temperatures lead to bleaching where the corals lose symbiotic algae they rely on. The report says
that world governments' current pledges to curb carbon emissions would not go far enough or fast
enough to save many of the world's reefs . There is a time lag of several decades between the carbon being emitted and the
effects on seas, meaning that further acidification and further warming of the oceans are inevitable, even if we drastically reduce emissions
very quickly. There is as yet little sign of that, with global greenhouse gas output still rising. Corals
are vital to the health of
fisheries, because they act as nurseries to young fish and smaller species that provide food for bigger
ones. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by the seas – at least a third of the carbon that humans have released has been
dissolved in this way, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – and makes them more acidic. But IPSO found the situation
was even more dire than that laid out by the world's top climate scientists in theirlandmark report last week. In absorbing carbon and heat
from the atmosphere, the
world's oceans have shielded humans from the worst effects of global warming , the
marine scientists said. This has slowed the rate of climate change on land, but its profound effects on marine life are only
now being understood. Acidification harms marine creatures that rely on calcium carbonate to build coral reefs and shells, as well as
plankton, and the fish that rely on them. Jane Lubchenco, former director of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a
marine biologist, said the effects were already being felt in some oyster fisheries, where young larvae were failing to develop properly in areas
where the acid rates are higher, such as on the west coast of the US. "You can actually see this happening," she said. "It's not something a long
way into the future. It is a very big problem." But the chemical changes in the ocean go further, said Rogers. Marine animals use chemical
signals to perceive their environment and locate prey and predators, and there is evidence that their ability to do so is being impaired in some
species. Trevor Manuel, a South African government minister and co-chair of the Global Ocean Commission, called the report "a deafening
alarm bell on humanity's wider impacts on the global oceans". "Unless we restore the ocean's health, we will experience the consequences on
prosperity, wellbeing and development. Governments must respond as urgently as they do to national security threats – in the long run, the
impacts are just as important," he said. Current rates
of carbon release into the oceans are 10 times faster than
those before the last major species extinction, which was the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum extinction, about 55m
years ago. The IPSO scientists can tell that the current ocean acidification is the highest for 300m years from geological records. They called for
strong action by governments to limit carbon concentrations in the atmosphere to no more than 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide
equivalent. That would require urgent and deep reductions in fossil fuel use. No country in the world is properly tackling overfishing, the report
found, and almost two thirds are failing badly. At least 70 per cent of the world's fish populations are over-exploited. Giving local communities
more control over their fisheries, and favouring small-scale operators over large commercial vessels would help this, the report found. Subsidies
that drive overcapacity in fishing fleets should also be eliminated, marine conservation zones set up and destructive fishing equipment should
be banned. There should also be better governance of the areas of ocean beyond countries' national limits. The IPSO report also found the
oceans were being "deoxygenated" – their average oxygen content is likely to fall by as much as 7 per cent by 2100, partly
because of the run-off of fertilisers and sewage into the seas, and also as a side-effect of global warming. The reduction
of oxygen is a concern as areas of severe depletion become effectively dead. Rogers said: "People are just not aware of the
massive roles that the oceans play in the Earth's systems. Phytoplankton produce 40 per cent of the oxygen in the atmosphere, for example,
and 90 per cent of all life is in the oceans. Because the oceans are so vast, there are still areas we have never really seen. We have a very poor
grasp of some of the biochemical processes in the world's biggest ecosystem." The five chapters of which the State of the Oceans report is a
summary have been published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, a peer-reviewed journal.
Dead zones destroy biodiversity---only federal action can solve
Atkinson and Howarth 2000 [David R. Atkinson-Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology at
Cornell University and Robert Howarth-Ph.D., “Bringing Coastal Dead Zones Back to Life”, September
2000, http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/howarth.html]
It’s springtime, and everything seems to be blooming. Unfortunately, this isn’t good news for the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Louisiana and
Texas coasts. Each spring, the area turns into a “dead zone.” What is a “dead zone”? Agriculture
and industry produce too
much nitrogen and phosphorous. Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus — which make their way to the Gulf
from the atmosphere and via rivers polluted with agricultural runoff and municipal and industrial waste — trigger algal blooms. The
algae use up available oxygen, killing bottom-dwellers such as oysters, clams, and snails, and driving away fish, shrimp, and crabs. Excess
nitrogen is particularly harmful for marine ecosystems, and can be linked to everything from increased outbreaks
of red tides to the deaths of marine mammals and the loss of biodiversity. Dead zones are areas that
cannot sustain marine life. And it isn’t just the Gulf area that is affected by an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorus. All of our
coasts are being damaged. Of 139 U.S. coastal areas assessed recently, 44 were identified as severely affected
by high levels of these nutrients. What’s more, many scientists predict that the problem will worsen in the
coming decades unless action is taken now to reduce nutrient excesses in U.S. waters. Only national
policies can stop nutrient pollution of oceans and waterways. Who or what is responsible? State and local
governments often are responsible for identifying and dealing with nutrient pollution, and their efforts can significantly improve coastal
environmental quality. But state
and local agencies can’t do it all, and they certainly can’t do it alone. To truly
protect our coasts, rivers, and lakes, our nation needs a comprehensive strategy to prevent excessive
amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from entering our waterways. Nutrient pollution is a complex
problem that is taking on ever-larger proportions.
OMEGA solves dead zones-cleans wastewater that kills the ocean
Wiley 13 [Patrick Edward Wiley-Ph.D., Environmental Systems from UC Merced, “Microalgae Cultivation
using Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA)”, 2013,
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0586c8p5#page-62]
The OMEGA system cultivates microalgae using wastewater contained in PBR modules deployed offshore. This approach eliminates
competition with agriculture for land and nutrients, while enabling co-location with large wastewater treatment facilities
constructed in coastal urban areas. The surrounding ocean water provides structural support, temperature
regulation and could produce a “simulated reef” that enriches local species diversity. The osmotic gradient
between the PBR contents and the surrounding seawater can be used to drive forward osmosis, which is effective at concentrating nutrients,
dewatering microalgae and producing clean water. An OMEGA
coastal communities. The OMEGA
system
deployment of this scale may also have beneficial effects for
would remove nutrients from the wastewater that is currently
discharged into coastal waters and may thereby mitigate “dead-zone” formation . The infrastructure would
provide substrate, refugia, and habitat for an extensive community of sessile and associated organisms (44). It is known that
introduced surfaces in the marine environment become colonized and can form “artificial reefs” or act as “fish aggregating
devices,” which increase local species diversity and expand the food web ( 45, 46). A large-scale deployment of
OMEGA systems may also act as floating “turf scrubbers” and function to absorb anthropogenic pollutants, improving
coastal water quality (47).
Ocean dead zones cause mass extinctions-evidence from Jurassic era proves
University of Liverpool 11/25/2013 [University of Liverpool, “Oceanic ‘dead zones’ and Jurassic
extinction”, November 25, 2013 http://phys.org/news/2013-11-oceanic-dead-zones-jurassicextinction.html]
Data collected by a scientist now at the University of Liverpool has predicted a dramatic decline in the size of marine
animals used as food by humans, due to reduced oxygen levels in the oceans. Dr Bryony Caswell, from the University's
School of Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with Dr Angela Coe at the Open University, studied over 36,000 fossilised clam shells from
northern England. These clams date from a short period near the beginning of
the Jurassic
(183 million years ago) which
featured climatic change and declining oxygen levels in the seas, similar to that occurring today. Ocean
dead zones Over 7% of the world's oceans are classed as low oxygen zones or 'ocean dead zones'. This figure has grown
dramatically over the last 50 years, caused by increasing levels of pollution and accelerating climate change. Other recently published
studies have shown that low oxygen reduces organism size and have predicted that under our current emissions
scenario this will to lead to a decrease in the body size of individual marine animals of around 25% by 2050.
The fossil study, which took place in Whitby, Yorkshire, found a reduction in the size of the 183-million-year-old-clams as oxygen in the water
diminished. These changes affected ocean chemistry, which in turn affected the clams' algal food supply and the rest of the food chain –
leading to a decrease in biodiversity and the average body size of clams. This
process has important ramifications for
today's marine life, and for the humans which feed on it. Around 14% of the animal protein consumed today comes
from the oceans, and with projections from this study foreseeing a decline of mean shellfish size of up to 50%, it could mean a
significant food source for a growing population is now in decline. Declining oxygen levels Dr Caswell, said: "By
examining changes in the oceans that happened millions of years ago we are able to piece together
more of the picture of what is likely to happen in our own time as a result of declining oxygen levels."
Algae is key and status quo efforts fail
Matteo, Anna. "Killer 'Dead Zone' Grows in the Gulf of Mexico." VOA. VOA, 31 May 2014. Web. 15 July
2014. <http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/a-killer-dead-zone-growing/1925510.html>.
Coming up we hear about a dead zone in waters near the United States. This dead zone has nothing to
do with burial places, zombies or monsters or that 1983 movie called “The Dead Zone.” Christopher
Cruise tells us what a dead zone is and how some scientists are trying to bring it back to life.¶ The area
known as a dead zone develops every spring in the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the Mississippi
River. It can be as large as 13,600 square kilometers, extending all the way to the eastern Texas
shoreline. Scientists know what causes this dead zone, and a new study suggests an answer. But the
solution might be hard to accept for those who live far away from the coastline. Bayani Cardenas is a
professor of water studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He wondered why natural cleaning, or
filtration, does not remove nitrates from the Mississippi River that create the dead zone in the Gulf of
Mexico. He says rivers generally filter out materials like nitrates. "You can think of it as a spiraling flow
back around the bank of the river, where a water molecule goes into the bank, comes back out into the
river at some downstream point, and it does that repeatedly as it travels downstream." Professor
Cardenas says his recent study shows that more than 99 percent of the river’s water does pass through
the river bank material, or sediments, on its way south. But he adds that the river system is simply
overwhelmed by the amount of nitrogen it carries. This nitrogen-rich water supports the growth of
algae. As the algae dies, it sinks to the bottom where it breaks down, or decomposes, taking oxygen
from the water. This condition is called hypoxia and is deadly to fish and shrimp.¶ The Mississippi river
system carries water to the gulf from 33 states and two Canadian provinces. Along the way, chemicals
like nitrogen that are used in farming enter the river system. Farmers say the chemicals are necessary.
But Mr. Cardenas thinks that the only way to fix the dead zone problem is for farmers to use less
nitrates.
Biodiversity loss causes human extinction
Chivian 2011 [Eric Chivian-MD from Harvard Medical School and Director of Project on Global
Environmental Change and Health, “Species Extinction, Biodiversity Loss, and Human Health”, 2011,
http://www.ilo.org/oshenc/part-vii/environmental-health-hazards/item/505-species-extinctionbiodiversity-loss-and-human-health]
Human activity is causing the extinction of animal, plant and microbial species at rates that are a
thousand times greater than those which would have occurred naturally (Wilson l992), approximating the
largest extinctions in geological history. When homo sapiens evolved, some l00 thousand years ago, the number of species that
existed was the largest ever to inhabit the Earth (Wilson l989). Current rates of species loss are reducing these levels to
the lowest since the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, 65 million years ago, with estimates that onefourth of all species will become extinct in the next 50 years
(Ehrlich and Wilson l99l). In addition to the ethical issues
involved - that we have no right to kill off countless other organisms, many of which came into being tens of millions of years prior to our arrival
- this
behaviour is ultimately self-destructive, upsetting the delicate ecological balance on which all life
depends, including our own, and destroying the biological diversity that makes soils fertile, creates the
air we breathe and provides food and other life-sustaining natural products, most of which remain to be
discovered. Sharks Like bears, many species of sharks are being decimated because of the demand for shark
meat, especially in Asia, where shark fins for soup command prices as high as $l00 a pound (Stevens l992). Because sharks produce few
offspring, grow slowly and take years to mature, they are highly vulnerable to overfishing. Sharks have been around
for almost 400 million years and have evolved highly specialized organs and physiological functions that
have protected them against virtually all threats, except slaughter by humans. The wiping out of
populations and extinction of some of the 350 species may become a major disaster for human beings.
The immune systems of sharks (and of their relatives, skates and rays) seem to have evolved so that the animals are
almost invulnerable to developing cancers and infections. While tumours are often seen in other fish and molluscs (Tucker
l985), they are rare in sharks. Preliminary investigations have supported this finding. It has proved impossible, for example, to produce tumour
growth in Nurse Sharks with repeated injections of known potent carcinogenic substances (Stevens l992). And researchers at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology have isolated a substance, present in large amounts, from Basking Shark cartilage (Lee and Langer l983) that strongly
inhibits the growth of new blood vessels towards solid tumours, and thereby prevents tumour growth. Sharks
may also provide
valuable models for developing new types of medications to treat infections, especially important at the
present time when infectious agents are developing increasing resistance to currently available
antibiotics. Other models Countless other examples could be mentioned of unique plants, animals and micro-organisms
holding the secrets of billions of evolutionary experiments that are increasingly threatened by human
activity and in danger of being lost forever to medical science. The Loss of New Medicines Plant, animal and microbial
species are themselves the sources for some of today’s most important medicines and make up a significant proportion of the total
pharmacopoeia. Farnsworth (1990), for example, has found that 25% of all prescriptions dispensed from community pharmacies in the United
States from l959 to l980 contained active ingredients extracted from higher plants. A much higher percentage is found in the developing world.
As many as 80% of all
people living in developing countries, or roughly two thirds of the world’s population,
rely almost exclusively on traditional medicines using natural substances, mostly derived from plants. The
knowledge held by traditional healers, often passed down orally over centuries, has led to the discovery of many medicines that are widely
used today - quinine, physostigmine, d-tubocurarine, pilocarpine and ephedrine, to name a few (Farnsworth et al. l985). But that knowledge is
fast disappearing, particularly in the Amazon, as native healers die out and are replaced by more modern medical practitioners. Botanists and
pharmacologists are racing to learn these ancient practices, which, like the forest plants they employ, are also endangered (Farnsworth l990;
Schultes l99l; Balick l990). Scientists have analysed the chemistry of less than 1% of known rainforest plants for biologically active substances
(Gottlieb and Mors l980) - as well as a similar proportion of temperate plants (Schultes l992) and even smaller percentages of known animals,
fungi and microbes. But there may be tens of millions of species as yet undiscovered in the forests, in soils, and in lakes and oceans.
With
the massive extinctions currently in progress, we may be destroying new cures for incurable cancers,
for AIDS, for arteriosclerotic heart disease and for other illnesses that cause enormous human
suffering. Disturbing Ecosystem Equilibria Finally, the loss of species and the destruction of habitats may upset
delicate equilibria among ecosystems on which all life depends, including our own. Food supplies Food
supplies, for one, may be seriously threatened. Deforestation, for example, can result in significantly reduced rainfall in adjacent
agricultural areas and even in regions at some distance (Wilson l988; Shulka, Nobre and Sellers l990), compromising crop productivity. The loss
of topsoil from erosion, another consequence of deforestation, can have an irreversible negative impact on crops in forested regions,
particularly in areas of hilly terrain, such as in regions of Nepal, Madagascar and the Philippines. Bats and birds, among the major predators of
insects that infest or eat crops, are being lost in record numbers (Brody l99l; Terborgh 1980), with untold consequences for agriculture.
Infectious diseases Recently in Brazil, malaria has reached epidemic proportions as a consequence of massive settlement and environmental
disruption of the Amazon basin. Largely under control in Brazil during the l960s, malaria has exploded 20 years later, with 560,000 cases
reported in l988, 500,000 in Amazonia alone (Kingman l989). In large part, this epidemic was a consequence of the influx of huge numbers of
people who had little or no immunity to malaria, who lived in make-shift shelters and wore little protective clothing. But it was also an
outgrowth of their disturbing the environment of the rainforest, creating in their wake stagnant pools of water everywhere - from road
construction, from silt runoff secondary to land clearing, and from open mining - pools where Anopheles darlingi, the most important malaria
vector in the area, could multiply unchecked (Kingman l989). The
story of “emerging” viral illnesses may hold valuable
clues for understanding the effects of habitat destruction on human beings. Argentine haemorrhagic fever, for
example, a painful viral disease having a mortality of between 3 and l5% (Sanford 1991) has occurred in epidemic proportions since l958 as a
result of the widespread clearing of the pampas of central Argentina and the planting of corn (Kingman l989). Other effects But it may be the
disruption of other interrelationships among organisms, ecosystems and the global environment, about
which almost nothing is known, that may prove the most catastrophic of all for human beings. What will
happen to global climate and to the concentration of atmospheric gases, for example, when some critical threshold of deforestation has been
reached? Forests play crucial roles in the maintenance of global precipitation patterns and in the stability of atmospheric gases. What
will
be the effects on marine life if increased ultraviolet radiation causes massive ocean phytoplankton kills,
particularly in the rich seas beneath the Antarctic ozone “hole”? These organisms, which are at the base of the entire marine food chain and
which produce a significant portion of the world’s oxygen and consume a significant portion of its carbon dioxide, are highly vulnerable to
ultraviolet damage (Schneider l99l; Roberts l989; Bridigare l989). Closer to humans, marine mammals such as striped dolphins in
the Mediterranean, European harbour seals off the coast of Scandinavia and of northern Ireland, and Beluga whales in the Saint Lawrence River
are also dying in record numbers. In the case of the dolphins and the seals, some of the deaths seem to be due to
infections by morbilli viruses (the family of viruses including measles and canine distemper virus) causing pneumonias and
encephalitides (Domingo and Ferrer l990; Kennedy and Smyth l988), perhaps also the consequence of compromised immune systems. In the
case of the whales, chemical pollutants such as DDT, the insecticide Mirex, PCBs, lead and mercury seem to be involved, suppressing the
Belugas’ fertility and causing their deaths ultimately by a variety of tumours and pneumonias (Dold l992). The Beluga carcasses were often so
filled with these pollutants that they could be classified as hazardous waste. Summary Human
activity is causing the extinction
of animal, plant and microbial organisms at rates that may well eliminate one-fourth of all species on
Earth within the next 50 years. There are incalculable human health consequences from this destruction:
the loss of medical models to understand human physiology and disease the loss of new medicines that
may successfully treat incurable cancers, AIDS, arteriosclerosis and other diseases that cause great
human suffering.
1AC Deadzones Coral Module
Deadzones kill coral reefs
Mee 2006 [Laurence Mee-Ph.D. in oceanography and the director of the Marine Institute at the
University of Plymouth, “ Reviving Dead Zones”, November 2006,
http://sbc.lternet.edu/~leydecke/Al's_stuff/Articles%20of%20General%20Interest/Reviving%20Dead%2
0Zones.pdf]
oc e a n r e se a rc h e r s today link the creation of most dead zones to a phenomenon called eutrophication, the
overenrichment of the sea by nutrients (principally compounds containing nitrogen and phosphorus) that promote plant
growth. A certain amount of these “fertilizers” is essential to the health of phytoplankton—floating algae and other microscopic
photosynthesizers that form the base for most marine food chains—as well as for the well-being of the sea grasses and algae that live on the
floors of shallow, well-lit seas. But too
much of these nutrients in illuminated waters greatly accelerates plant growth,
leading to disruptive algal blooms and other unwanted effects. Plants enter the food chain when tiny seaborne
animals (zooplankton), herbivorous fish and filter-feeding bottom dwellers such as mussels and oysters graze them or when they die, decay, fall
to the seabed, undergo bacterial decomposition and are incorporated into the underlying sediments. This organic bottom matter feeds the
animals living there, including worms, shrimp and some fish. Normally the numbers of phytoplankton are limited by the availability of light and
nutrients and by grazing. But
large increases in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations enable these minute
to multiply in great profusion. The water eventually turns green or even brown as
phytoplankton populations burgeon, and the shade they cast deprives plants living below them of essential
sunlight. Sea grasses in shallow bays also become covered with small attached algae (epiphytes) and can ultimately be
smothered and die. Algae can in addition envelop coral reefs, especially where heavy fishing pressure has thinned the ranks
of resident grazers. A major upsurge in the numbers of phytoplankton and epiphytes immediately causes difficulties for nearby
sea life, but an even worse situation arises when oxygen levels in bottom waters decline. Lower oxygen concentrations appear when bacteria
photosynthetic organisms
consume oxygen to break down the masses of organic matter that result from animal wastes and the dead bodies of organisms that multiply
during eutrophication. Much of this material accumulates on the seafloor, where oxygen is relatively scarce to begin with. Oxygen finds its way
into the water from either photosynthesis or physical diffusion from the air at the sea surface. Should
an area whose bottom is
covered with dead plants also feature a strong density gradient that prevents mixing with the
overlying water column, the oxygen at the bottom can soon become exhausted, leading to the die-off
of entire animal communities. (Such gradients can stem from temperature or salinity differences in the water at various depths.)
This basic sequence—eutrophication leading to phytoplankton blooms, excess bacterial activity at the bottom, oxygen depletion, and the death
of existing plants and animals—has occurred in almost every dead zone examined by researchers. The details do vary, however, according to
the local biological and physical conditions as well as the rate of supply of plant nutrients from the land. Poorly flushed estuaries, for example,
are particularly vulnerable to the effects of eutrophication, because low water flows lead to slow replenishment of oxygen in bottom waters.
This reduction in oxygen has been a persistent problem along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., where large estuaries, such as the Chesapeake
Bay, have been affected. The excess of nitrogen and phosphorus arriving in coastal seas results in large measure from the changing habits of
people living in the areas draining into the sea. Rising fossil-fuel use (which releases nitrogen into the atmosphere), effluent from the mass
breeding of food animals and intensive farming, and the construction of sewage systems that empty into bodies of water all lead to greater
nutrient emissions into watersheds. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment released by the United Nations in 2005 reported that the supply of
nitrogen-containing compounds to the sea grew by 80 percent from 1860 to 1990. It predicted
that the overall outflow to the
oceans from human activities will increase by an additional 65 percent by midcentury. Dead zones are
thus likely to become even more widespread unless society takes prompt action to reduce plant
nutrient runoff. Watery Graveyard alt hough emergence of a dead zone is the final stage of the eutrophication process, marine systems,
especially the animal populations, undergo changes long before then. A healthy coastal marine food chain often starts with silica-shelled
phytoplankton called diatoms, which are consumed by copepods, minuscule zooplanktonic crustaceans. These animals, in turn, serve as food
for fish. Increased
nutrient concentrations affect the mix of phytoplankton species such that diatoms
often become outnumbered by smaller or less digestible types. When eutrophication produces massive
phytoplankton blooms, copepods often are unable to graze on the new, abundant phytoplankton species as well as the large quantities of
organic detritus that result from the disruption of the natural ecosystem. This change favors the growth of highly tolerant gelatinous organisms
such as Noctiluca (responsible for nighttime phosphorescence that occurs when the water surface is disturbed). Biologists sometimes call these
jellyfishlike fauna “dead-end species” because higher-level
predators have difficulty living off them. Their presence
reduces the efficiency of the food chain, leading fish stocks to wane. Such an imbalance in the food chain can be
worsened by intense commercial fishing, particularly where these efforts target high-value “top predator” species such as cod, hake, dorado or
horse mackerel. Loss of apex fish species leads to rises in the numbers of small prey fish, which results in fewer zooplankton (the food of the
small fish) and, consequently, even more phytoplankton. Scientists call this sequential process “trophic cascading.” An inefficient
food
chain engenders more organic matter on the seafloor, which enhances the risk that a dead zone will
follow . Ecosystems altered by eutrophication also become more vulnerable to invasion by foreign
species, which can arrive, for example, in the ballast discharge from transoceanic ships. In the 1980s the comb jellyfish Mnemiopsis leidyi,
which probably originated off the eastern coast of the U.S., took up residence in the Black Sea. By 1990 this voracious dead-end predator
dominated the ecosystem completely, at its maximum attaining an astounding density of up to five kilograms per square meter. Sometimes
shellfish reefs can help stave off degradation of an ecosystem. In many estuaries on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., oysters act as ecosystem
engineers by accumulating into huge reefs rising several meters from the seabed; these reefs support a diverse assemblage of organisms,
including flounder, snapper, silver perch and blue crabs. Hunter Lenihan of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Charles H. Peterson
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown, for example, that the tops of oyster reefs in North Carolina’s Neuse River became
refuges for displaced bottom-water species at the onset of dead zone formation because they projected above the deoxygenated water layer.
Mechanical oyster harvesting frequently shortens the height of these reefs, however, which helps to destroy the natural resilience of these
ecosystems.
Reef extinction ripples through the food chain making larger extinctions inevitable
Levitt 3/27/2013 [Tom Levitt, “Overfished and under-protected: Oceans on the brink of catastrophic
collapse”, March 27, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/world/oceans-overfishing-climatechange/]
At the same time fisheries and vital marine ecosystems like coral are being decimated, the oceans continue to
provide vital services, absorbing up to one third of human carbon dioxide emissions while producing 50% of all the oxygen we breathe. But
absorbing increasing quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) has come at a cost, increasing the acidity of the water. "The
two worst things
in my mind happening to oceans are global warming and ocean acidification," says O'Dor, "They're going
to have terrible effects on coral reefs. Because of acidification essentially, the coral can't grow and it's
going to dissolve away." The ocean has become 30% more acidic since the start of The Industrial
Revolution in the 18th century and is predicted to be 150% more acidic by the end of this century,
according to aUNESCO report published last year. "There's a coral reef off Norway that was discovered in 2007 and it's likely to be dead by
2020," says O'Dor. "The problem is that the acidification is worse near the Polesbecause low temperature water dissolves more acid. Starting
from the Pole and working south these reefs are going to suffer extensively." Current estimates suggest 30%
of coral reefs will be
endangered by 2050, says O'Dor, because of the effects of ocean acidification and global warming. Higher acidity also
disrupts marine organisms' ability to grow, reproduce and respire. The Census of Marine Life reported
thatphytoplankton, the microscopic plants producing most of the oxygen from the oceans, have been declining by around 1% a year since 1900.
The falling numbers of smaller, but lesser known species and plant life has significant impact further up the
marine food chain. For example, seabirds which used to visit and breed on Spitsbergen -- a Norwegian island near the Arctic -- are being
wiped out because of changes in their previously abundant food sources.
Coral is the backbone of countries economic and social structures-extinction of coral
would lead to global instability
Skoloff 3/26/2010 [Brian Skoloff-Associated Press, Death of world's coral reefs could wreak global
chaos”, March 26, 2010, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2010-03-26-coralreefs_N.htm]
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Coral reefs are dying, and scientists and governments around the world are contemplating what will
happen if they disappear altogether. The idea positively scares them. Coral reefs are part of the foundation of the ocean food chain. Nearly
half the fish the world eats make their homes around them. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide
— by some estimates, 1 billion across Asia alone — depend on them for their food and their livelihoods. If the reefs
vanished, experts say, hunger, poverty and political instability could ensue. " Whole nations will be
threatened in terms of their existence ," said Carl Gustaf Lundin of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
reefs are headed for extinction worldwide, largely because of global warming,
pollution and coastal development, but also because of damage from bottom-dragging fishing boats and the international trade
in jewelry and souvenirs made of coral. At least 19% of the world's coral reefs are already gone, including some 50%
of those in the Caribbean. An additional 15% could be dead within 20 years, according to the National Oceanic and
Numerous studies predict coral
Atmospheric Administration. Old Dominion University professor Kent Carpenter, director of a worldwide census of marine species, warned that
if global warming continues unchecked, all corals could be extinct within 100 years.
"You could argue that
a complete collapse of the marine ecosystem would be one of the consequences of losing corals ,"
going to have a tremendous cascade effect for all life in the oceans." Exotic and
colorful, coral reefs aren't lifeless rocks; they are made up of living creatures that excrete a hard
calcium carbonate exoskeleton. Once the animals die, the rocky structures erode, depriving fish of
vital spawning and feeding grounds. Experts say cutting back on carbon emissions to arrest rising sea temperatures
and acidification of the water, declaring some reefs off limits to fishing and diving, and controlling coastal development and
pollution could help reverse, or at least stall, the tide. Florida, for instance, has the largest unbroken "no-take" zone in the
Carpenter said. "You're
continental U.S. — about 140 square miles off limits to fishing in and around Dry Tortugas National Park, a cluster of islands and reefs teeming
with marine life about 70 miles off Key West.
Many fishermen oppose such restrictions. And other environmental
measures have run into resistance at the state, local, national and international level. On Sunday, during a
gathering of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, restrictions proposed by the U.S. and
Sweden on the trade of some coral species were rejected. If reefs were to disappear, commonly consumed species of grouper and snapper
could become just memories. Oysters, clams and other creatures
that are vital to many people's diets would also
suffer. And experts say commercial fisheries would fail miserably at meeting demand for seafood. "Fish will
become a luxury good," said Cassandra deYoung of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. "You already have a billion
people who are facing hunger, and this is just going to aggravate the situation," she added. " We will not
be able to maintain food security around the world ." The economic damage could be enormous .
Ocean fisheries provide direct employment to at least 38 million people worldwide, with an additional 162
million people indirectly involved in the industry, according to the U.N. Coral reefs draw scuba divers, snorkelers and other tourists to seaside
resorts in Florida, Hawaii, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean and help maintain some of the world's finest sandy beaches by absorbing energy
from waves. Without the reefs, hotels, restaurants and other businesses that cater to tourists could suffer financially. Many
Caribbean
countries get nearly half their gross national product from visitors seeking tropical underwater
experiences. People all over the world could pay the price if reefs were to disappear, since some types
of coral and marine species that rely on reefs are being used by the pharmaceutical industry to
develop possible cures for cancer, arthritis and viruses. "A world without coral reefs is unimaginable,"
said Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist who heads NOAA. "Reefs are precious sources of food, medicine and
livelihoods for hundreds of thousands around the world. They are also special places of renewal and recreation for
thousands more. Their exotic beauty and diverse bounty are global treasures."
Deadzones UQ---General
Solving dead zones depends on the federal government to manage programs
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources 10 [Committee on Environment and Natural
Resources, Scientific Assessment of Hypoxia in U.S. Coastal Waters”, September 2010,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/hypoxia-report.pdf]
The occurrence of hypoxia, or low dissolved oxygen, is increasing in coastal waters worldwide and represents
a significant threat to the health and economy of our Nation’s coasts and Great Lakes. This trend is exemplified
most dramatically off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, where the second largest eutrophicationrelated hypoxic zone in the world is associated
with the nutrient pollutant load discharged by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. Aquatic organisms require adequate dissolved oxygen to
survive. The term “dead zone” is often used in reference to the absence of life (other than bacteria) from habitats that are devoid of oxygen.
The inability to escape low oxygen areas makes immobile species, such as oysters and mussels, particularly
vulnerable to hypoxia. These organisms can become stressed and may die due to hypoxia, resulting in significant impacts
on marine food webs and the economy. Mobile organisms can flee the affected area when dissolved oxygen becomes too low.
Nevertheless, fish kills can result from hypoxia, especially when the concentration of dissolved oxygen drops rapidly. New research is clarifying
when hypoxia will cause fish kills as opposed to triggering avoidance behavior by fish. Further, new studies are better illustrating how habitat
loss associated with hypoxia avoidance can impose ecological and economic costs, such as reduced growth in commercially harvested species
and loss of biodiversity, habitat, and biomass. Transient or “diel-cycling” hypoxia, where conditions cycle from supersaturation of oxygen late in
the afternoon to hypoxia or anoxia near dawn, most often occurs in shallow, eutrophic systems (e.g., nursery ground habitats) and may have
pervasive impacts on living resources because of both its location and frequency of occurrence. Although coastal hypoxia can be caused by
natural processes, a
dramatic increase in the number of U.S. waters developing hypoxia is linked to
eutrophication due to nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and organic matter enrichment resulting from human
activities. Sources of enrichment include point source discharges of wastewaters, nonpoint source atmospheric deposition, and
nonpoint source runoff from croplands, lands used for animal agriculture, and urban and suburban areas. The incidence of
hypoxia has increased ten-fold globally in the past 50 years
and almost thirty-fold in the United States since 1960, with
more than 300 systems recently experiencing hypoxia (Diaz & Rosenberg 2008; Table 1 and Appendix III). Diffuse runoff from nonpoint sources,
such as agriculture fields, can be difficult to control, although improved production methods that reduce tillage, optimize fertilizer application,
and buffer fields from waterways can mitigate water quality impairments. Despite
the use of improved production methods
in recent years, agriculture is still a leading source of nutrient pollution in many watersheds due, in part, to the
high demand for nitrogen-intensive crops, principally corn. Furthermore, drainage practices, including tile drainage, have brought wetlands into
crop production, short-circuited pathways (such as denitrification) that could ameliorate nutrient loading, and increased the transport of
nitrogen into waterways. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition due to fossil fuel combustion has declined in many areas due to emission controls,
but it remains an important source of diffuse nutrient loading. The difficulty of reducing nutrient inputs to coastal waters results from the close
association between nutrient loading and a broad array of human activities in watersheds and explains the growth in the number and size of
hypoxic zones. Unfortunately, hypoxia is not the only stressor impacting coastal ecosystems. Overfishing, harmful algal blooms (HABs), toxic
contaminants, and physical alteration of coastal habitats associated with coastal development are several problems that co-occur with hypoxia
and interact to decrease the ecological health of coastal waters and reduce the ecological services that they can provide. Executive Summary2
Scientific Assessment of Hypoxia in U.S. Coastal Waters Executive Summary Legislative Mandates for Action The Harmful Algal Bloom and
Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA) mandated creation of this report, which serves as a thorough update to the first scientific
assessment of hypoxia released in 2003. Several other legislative drivers also influence how Federal agencies work on coastal water quality
including the Clean Water Act; the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (“Farm Bill”); the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007;
and the Coastal Zone Management Act. Responsibility
for resolving hypoxia spans several Federal agencies (U.S.
Department of Agriculture, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), which oversee research and management/control
programs (Appendix I). States play a critical role in monitoring and managing hypoxia, but their efforts are not addressed in detail here
because this report was mandated to focus on Federal efforts.
Deadzones UQ---Nature Fails
We can’t rely on nature to solve all the problems; natural solutions have only worked
in a few of the hundreds of dead zones.
University of Texas. "Hydrologists Find Mississippi River's Buffering System for Nitrates Is
Overwhelmed." Home. University of Texas at Austin, 12 May 2014. Web. 15 July 2014.
<http://www.utexas.edu/news/2014/05/12/research-mississippi-dead-zone/>.
AUSTIN, Texas — A new method of measuring the interaction of surface water and groundwater along
the length of the Mississippi River network adds fresh evidence that the network’s natural ability to
chemically filter out nitrates is being overwhelmed.¶ The research by hydrogeologists at The University
of Texas at Austin, which appears in the May 11 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience, shows for the
first time that virtually every drop of water coursing through 311,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) of
waterways in the Mississippi River network goes through a natural filtering process as it flows to the
Gulf of Mexico.¶ The analysis found that 99.6 percent of the water in the network passes through
filtering sediment along the banks of creeks, streams and rivers.¶ Such a high level of chemical filtration
might sound positive, but the unfortunate implication is that the river’s natural filtration systems for
nitrates appear to be operating at or very close to full capacity. Although further research is needed,
this would make it unlikely that natural systems can accommodate the high levels of nitrates that
have made their way from farmland and other sources into the river network’s waterways.¶ As a
result of its filtration systems being overwhelmed, the river system operates less as a buffer and more
as a conveyor belt, transporting nitrates to the Gulf of Mexico. The amount of nitrates flowing into the
gulf from the Mississippi has already created the world’s second biggest dead zone, an oxygendepleted area where fish and other aquatic life can’t survive.¶ The research, conducted by Bayani
Cardenas, associate professor of hydrogeology, and Brian Kiel, a Ph.D. candidate in geology at the
university’s Jackson School of Geosciences, provides valuable information to those who manage water
quality efforts, including the tracking of nitrogen fertilizers used to grow crops in the Midwest, in the
Mississippi River network.¶ “There’s been a lot of work to understand surface-groundwater exchange,”
said Aaron Packman, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at
Northwestern University. “This is the first work putting together a physics-based estimate on the scale
of one of these big rivers, looking at the net effect of nitrate removal in big river systems.Ӧ The
Mississippi River network includes the Ohio River watershed on the east and the Missouri River
watershed in the west as well as the Mississippi watershed in the middle.¶ Using detailed, ground-level
data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Environmental Protection Agency, Cardenas
and Kiel analyzed the waterways for sinuosity (how much they bend and curve); the texture of the
materials along the waterways; the time spent in the sediment (known as the hyporheic zone); and the
rate at which the water flows through the sediment.¶ The sediment operates as a chemical filter in that
microbes in the sand, gravel and mud gobble up compounds such as oxygen and nitrates from the water
before the water discharges back into the stream. The more time the water spends in sediment, the
more some of these compounds are transformed to potentially more environmentally benign forms.¶
One compound, nitrate, is a major component of inorganic fertilizers that has helped make the area
encompassed by the Mississippi River network the biggest producer of corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle and
hogs in the United States.¶ But too much nitrogen robs water of oxygen, resulting in algal blooms and
dead zones.¶ Although the biggest sources of nitrates in the Mississippi River network are industrial
fertilizers, nitrates also come from animal manure, urban areas, wastewater treatment and other
sources, according to USGS.¶ Cardenas and Kiel found that despite an image of water flowing freely
downstream, nearly each drop gets caught up within the bank at one time or another. But not much
of the water — only 24 percent — lingers long enough for nitrate to be chemically extracted.¶ The
“residence times” when water entered the hyporheic zones ranged from less than an hour in the river
system’s headwaters to more than a month in larger, meandering channels. A previous, unrelated study
of hyporheic zones found that a residence time of about seven hours is required to extract nitrogen
from the water.¶ Cardenas said the research provides a large-scale, holistic view of the river network’s
natural buffering mechanism and how it is failing to operate effectively.¶ “Clearly for all this nitrate to
make it downstream tells us that this system is very overwhelmed,” Cardenas said.¶ The new model, he
added, can be a first step to enable a wider analysis of the river system.¶ When a river system gets totally
overwhelmed, “You lose the chemical functions, the chemical buffering,” said Cardenas. “I don’t know
whether we’re there already, but we are one big step closer to the answer now.”
Deadzones UQ---Squo Efforts Fail
Dead zones are caused by nutrients that overtake the ecosystem, and clean up efforts
other than OMEGA have proven to be ineffective in the Gulf of Mexico in the past 15
years
Paine, Victor. "What Causes Ocean "Dead Zones"?" Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American,
25 Sept. 2012. Web. 14 July 2014.
So-called dead zones are areas of large bodies of water—typically in the ocean but also occasionally in
lakes and even rivers—that do not have enough oxygen to support marine life. The cause of such
“hypoxic” (lacking oxygen) conditions is usually eutrophication, an increase in chemical nutrients in the
water, leading to excessive blooms of algae that deplete underwater oxygen levels. Nitrogen and
phosphorous from agricultural runoff are the primary culprits, but sewage, vehicular and industrial
emissions and even natural factors also play a role in the development of dead zones.¶ Dead zones
occur around the world, but primarily near areas where heavy agricultural and industrial activity spill
nutrients into the water and compromise its quality accordingly. Some dead zones do occur naturally,
but the prevalence of them since the 1970s—when dead zones were detected in Chesapeake Bay off
Maryland as well as in Scandinavia’s Kattegat Strait, the mouth of the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the
northern Adriatic—hints at mankind’s impact. A 2008 study found more than 400 dead zones
worldwide, including in South America, China, Japan, southeast Australia and elsewhere.¶ Perhaps the
most infamous U.S. dead zone is an 8,500 square mile swath (about the size of New Jersey) of the Gulf
of Mexico, not far from where the nutrient-laden Mississippi River, which drains farms up and down the
Midwest, lets out. Besides decimating the region’s once teeming shrimp industry, low oxygen levels in
the water there have led to reproductive problems for fish, leading to lack of spawning and low egg
counts. Other notable U.S. dead zones today occur off the coasts of Oregon and Virginia.¶ Fortunately,
dead zones are reversible if their causes are reduced or eliminated. For example, a huge dead zone in
the Black Sea largely disappeared in the 1990s following the fall of the Soviet Union, after which there
was a huge spike in the cost of chemical fertilizers throughout the region. And while this situation was
largely unintentional, the lessons learned have not been lost on scientists, policymakers and the United
Nations, which has been pushing to reduce industrial emissions in other areas around the globe where
dead zones are a problem. To wit, efforts by countries along the Rhine River to reduce sewage and
industrial emissions have reduced nitrogen levels in the North Sea’s dead zone by upwards of 35
percent.¶ In the U.S., dead zones have also been reduced in the Hudson River and San Francisco Bay
following clean-up efforts. Hypoxic conditions continue to plague the Gulf of Mexico, however, with
matters made worse by pollution unleashed by Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill, as well as by a
federal push to increase Midwest corn production, which effectively loads even more algae-inducing
nutrients into the already overloaded system. The Mississippi Basin/Gulf of Mexico Water Nutrient Task
Force, a coalition of federal, state and tribal agencies, has been busy monitoring the dead zone and
recommending ways to reduce it since its formation in 1997. But with industrial and agricultural
activity throughout Gulf and Midwestern states only increasing—and Mother Nature not making the job
any easier—the task force has an uphill battle on its hands to say the least.
The dead zones around the US are getting worse and current efforts to stop it are all
failing
Alexander, Heather. "New $1M Prize Seeks to Reduce 'dead Zone' in Gulf."Houston Chronicle.
Houston Chronicle, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 July 2014.
Tulane University is offering a $1 million prize to anyone who can come up with an effective way to
reduce the size of the annual dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, where water quality deteriorates and
marine life disappears each year.¶ The dead zone is caused by nutrient runoff in the form of fertilizer
from farming and sewage processing all along the Mississippi River. Nutrients cause hypoxia, a condition
where oxygen levels in the water drop dramatically, decimating the marine population.¶ Despite efforts
on a state and federal level, the problem is getting consistently worse.¶ "There are a lot of people
frustrated," said Nancy Rabalais, executive director and professor of the Louisiana univerisities marine
consortium laboratory. "Since 1985, when we started monitoring it, there has been no improvement in
the dead zone. It is getting worse."¶ Last year, the dead zone measured 5,840 square miles, an area
bigger than Puerto Rico. Two years ago, flooding in Memphis caused the level to rise even higher to
almost 7,000 square miles. It can stretch all along the coast of Louisiana and into Texas and peaks in July
and August.¶ "Normally where we see hundreds of fish, we'll see hardly any fish," said Jerry Mambretti,
Sabine Lake Ecosystem leader. "We'll see exoskeletons (shell remains) of crabs, that's about it."¶ Tulane
University said the $1 million prize is to motivate someone to come up with a solution. ¶ "This is a big
issue, it has a huge economic impact on us and it's increasing all around the world," said Tulane
President Scott Cowan. "The initial reaction has been extremely good."¶ The $1 million prize is coming
from philanthropist Phyllis Taylor. The federal Office of Science and Technology plus agencies on a state
level are working on the parameters for success, then Tulane will adminster the competition. ¶ "We need
to get grounded in the specifics of what defines success here, then the process of finding a winner could
take two to four years," Cowan said.¶ The hope is that the contest will inspire scientists and
entreprenuers to accelerate programs they're already working on or come up with new better ideas to
curb nutrient runoff. ¶ With millions of dollars already being pumped into this issue and little or no
impact being seen, the fear is another million will be a drop in the ocean.¶ Central to the issue is the
fact that the problem is caused many hundreds of miles from where the effects are felt. Plus there are
political forces at work, according to Nancy Rabalais.¶ "We have a social and political situation that
supports continued supplements for farming and we have a global economy that's demanding more
and more corn and soy beans," said Rabalais.¶ Corn and soy bean production accounts for 52 percent of
the nitrogen flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The majority of
the other main culprit, phosphorous, comes from pasture and range farming.¶ Producers in up-river
states like Iowa have to be persuaded to change their ways and specific rules over nutrient levels have
not been forthcoming. Even in states that are directly affected, like Florida, the U.S. e nvironmental
p rotection a gency has failed to enforce them.¶ In 2011, Pinellas County, Fla., sued the EPA saying that
restrictions would cost them millions of dollars to implement.¶ Rabalais would not comment on the
Tulane competition specifically but said in the current climate it's highly unlikely the goal of a dead zone
reduced to 200 square miles will ever be met.
Nutrient-caused dead zones around the US are proven to be harmful to aquaculture
and local economies, and all solutions have failed thus far.
NOAA, (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). "NOAA, Partners Predict Possible Recordsetting Dead Zone for Gulf of Mexico." NOAA, Partners Predict Possible Record-setting Deadzone for
Gulf of Mexico. NOAA, 18 June 2013. Web. 15 July 2014.
<http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20130618_deadzone.html>.
Scientists are expecting a very large “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico and a smaller than average hypoxic level in the Chesapeake Bay this year,
based on several NOAA-supported forecast models.¶ NOAA-supported
modelers at the University of Michigan,
Louisiana State University, and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium are forecasting that this
year’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxic “dead” zone will be between 7,286 and 8,561 square miles which could place it among
the ten largest recorded. That would range from an area the size of Connecticut, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia combined
on the low end to the New Jersey on the upper end. The high estimate would exceed the largest ever reported 8,481 square miles in 2002 .¶
Hypoxic (very low oxygen) and anoxic (no oxygen) zones are caused by excessive nutrient pollution,
often from human activities such as agriculture, which results in insufficient oxygen to support most
marine life in near-bottom waters. Aspects of weather, including wind speed, wind direction, precipitation and temperature, also
impact the size of dead zones.¶ The Gulf estimate is based on the assumption of no significant tropical storms in the two weeks preceding or
during the official measurement survey cruise scheduled from July 25-August 3 2013. If a storm does occur the size estimate could drop to a
low of 5344 square miles, slightly smaller than the size of Connecticut.¶ This year’s prediction for the Gulf reflect flood conditions in the
Midwest that caused large amounts of nutrients to be transported from the Mississippi watershed to the Gulf. Last year’s dead zone in the Gulf
of Mexico was the fourth smallest on record due to drought conditions, covering an area of approximately 2,889 square miles, an area slightly
larger than the state of Delaware. The overall average between 1995-2012 is 5,960 square miles, an area about the size of Connecticut.¶ A
second NOAA-funded forecast, for the Chesapeake Bay, calls for a smaller than average dead zone in the nation's largest estuary. The forecasts
from researchers at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the University of Michigan has three parts: a prediction
for the mid-summer volume of the low-oxygen hypoxic zone, one for the mid-summer oxygen-free anoxic zone, and a third that is an average
value for the entire summer season.¶ The forecasts call for a mid-summer hypoxic zone of 1.46 cubic miles, a mid-summer anoxic zone of 0.26
to 0.38 cubic miles, and a summer average hypoxia of 1.108 cubic miles, all at the low end of previously recorded zones. Last year the final midsummer hypoxic zone was 1.45 cubic miles.¶ This is the seventh year for the Bay outlook which, because of the shallow nature of large areas of
the estuary, focuses on water volume or cubic miles, instead of square mileage as used in the Gulf. The history of hypoxia in the Chesapeake
Bay since 1985 can be found at the EcoCheck website.¶ Both
forecasts are based on nutrient run-off and river stream
data from the U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ), with the Chesapeake data funded with a cooperative
agreement between USGS and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Those numbers are
then inserted into models developed by funding from the National Ocean Service’s National Centers
for Coastal Ocean Science ( NCCOS ).¶ "Monitoring the health and vitality of our nation’s oceans, waterways, and watersheds is
critical as we work to preserve and protect coastal ecosystems,” said Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., acting under secretary of commerce for oceans
and atmosphere and acting NOAA administrator. “These ecological forecasts are good examples of the critical environmental intelligence
products and tools that help shape a healthier coast, one that is so inextricably linked to the vitality of our communities and our livelihoods.” ¶
The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico affects nationally important commercial and recreational
fisheries, and threatens the region’s economy. The Chesapeake dead zones, which have been highly
variable in recent years, threaten a multi-year effort to restore the Bay’s water quality and enhance
its production of crabs, oysters, and other important fisheries.¶ During May 2013, stream flows in the Mississippi and
Atchafalaya rivers were above normal resulting in more nutrients flowing into the Gulf. According to USGS estimates, 153,000 metric tons of
nutrients flowed down the rivers to the northern Gulf of Mexico in May, an increase of 94,900 metric tons over last year’s 58,100 metric tons,
when the region was suffering through drought. The 2013 input is an increase of 16 percent above the average nutrient load estimated over the
past 34 years.¶ For the Chesapeake Bay, USGS estimates 36,600 metric tons of nutrients entered the estuary from the Susquehanna and
Potomac rivers between January and May, which is 30 percent below the average loads estimated from1990 to 2013.¶ “Long-term nutrient
monitoring and modeling is key to tracking how nutrient conditions are changing in response to floods and droughts and nutrient management
actions,” said Lori Caramanian, deputy assistant secretary of the interior for water and science. “Understanding the sources and transport of
nutrients is key to developing effective nutrient management strategies needed to reduce the size of hypoxia zones in the Gulf, Bay and other
U.S. waters where hypoxia is an on-going problem.”¶ “Coastal hypoxia is proliferating around the world,” said Donald Boesch, Ph.D., president
of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “It is important that we have excellent abilities to predict and control the
largest dead zones in the United States. The whole world is watching.Ӧ The confirmed size of the 2013 Gulf hypoxic zone will be released in
August, following a monitoring survey led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium beginning in late July, and the result will be used to
improve future forecasts. The final measurement in the Chesapeake will come in October following surveys by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s
partners from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.¶ Despite
the
Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Nutrient Task Force’s goal to reduce the dead zone to less than 2,000
square miles, it has averaged 5,600 square miles over the last five years. Demonstrating the link
between the dead zone and nutrients from the Mississippi River, this annual forecast continues to provide guidance to federal
and state agencies as they work on the 11 implementation actions outlined by the Task Force in 2008 for mitigating nutrient pollution.¶ NOAA’s
National Ocean Service has been funding investigations and forecast development for the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico since 1990, and
oversees national hypoxia research programs which include the Chesapeake Bay and other affected bodies of water.¶ USGS operates more than
3,000 real-time stream gages and collects water quality data at numerous long-term stations throughout the Mississippi River basin and the
Chesapeake Bay to track how nutrient loads are changing over time.
Solvency---General
OMEGA are controlled algae blooms-prevents dead zones
Trent 4/20-22/09 [Dr. Jonathon Trent- OMEGA Global Initiative, NASA Ames Research Center, UC Santa
Cruz, “Wind Sea Algae Workshop Report”, April 20-22, 2009,
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~ychisti/WSA09.pdf]
It was in the process of considering ways to remediate dead zones that I thought of “Offshore Membrane
Enclosures for Growing Algae” (OMEGA). The idea for OMEGA emerged by analogy in contemplating the process by which people use algae
to scavenge CO2 from the flue gas of power plants, which they do by bubbling the gas through cultures of algae. I reasoned that nutrients could
be removed from polluted rivers by passing their water through cultures of algae enclosed in nutrient-permeable plastic bags. Using the system
in rivers required freshwater algae, and by combining the idea of freshwater in containers with semi-permeable membranes, and water flowing
into the ocean, I realized that by floating the OMEGA downstream into the ocean, the salt gradient between the freshwater inside the OMEGA
and the saltwater outside could be used to dewater the algae by forward osmosis. The basic idea for
remediating dead zones is to
use the algae contained in the OMEGA bags to “filter” the nutrients out of the polluted river water, the same
way Wind, Sea, Algae Workshop, Lolland, Denmark, April 2009 Page 203 that algae filter the CO2 out of flue gas. In the case of OMEGA, we have
the advantage of being able to facilitate the harvesting of the algae by floating the OMEGAs downstream into the ocean and use osmosis to
remove most of the water. In addition to providing biofuels and other algal products, the OMEGA
system is designed to improve
the situation in coastal areas where municipal waste is currently causing blooms of wild algae that are
contributing to the formation of hypoxic or dead zones. The OMEGA is a controlled and contained algal
bloom that enables us to bring the algae back on land to be use for biofuels and fertilizer, and etc., and prevents the
wild algae from blooming and causing problems in our coastal zones. In other words, OMEGA transforms what is currently
considered a waste-stream into a resource for growing algae, which captures the significant amount
of nutrients we are currently losing in the ocean, and allows the ocean to resume its more natural
cycles of algal blooms
New technology solves previous challenges-creates a system to effectively cultivate
algae
Trent 6/10/10 [Dr. Jonathon Trent- OMEGA Global Initiative, NASA Ames Research Center, UC Santa
Cruz, “Algae bioreactor using submerged enclosures with semi-permeable membranes”, June 10, 2010,
http://www.google.com/patents/WO2010065862A1?cl=en]
Various species of algae are known to produce valuable products ranging from food to fertilizer to biofuels.
The large-scale commercial production of these algae however, particularly for commodity products like
biofuels , has been limited by the unfavorable economics of the current cultivation and harvesting
methods . The two dominant cultivation methods are (1) open raceways and (2) closed bioreactors and two of the dominant harvesting
methods are (1) centrifugation and (2) tangential-flow filtration. These cultivation approaches have problems with high associated operating
costs, high land costs, uncontrolled evaporation, contamination and/or limited flexibility. What is needed is a relatively low cost, low
maintenance approach for cultivation of the algae and separation of the algae and/or other microorganisms from other substances. Preferably,
the approach should have little or no evaporation or contamination problems and should allow flexibility in throughput, algae choice and other
These needs are met by the invention, which
provides a system for cultivating microorganisms, such as algae, some of which are products in themselves and others
produce useful byproducts, including oil, food additives, fertilizers, nutriceuticals, and
pharmaceuticals. This new cultivating system is an enclosure consisting of plastic or similar bags with patches of inflatable, semiparameters that affect the resulting product(s). Summary of the Invention.
permeable membranes incorporated into their surfaces. These bags are used in aquatic environments where the water provides infrastructural
support through flotation and temperature regulation, the water motion provides mixing within the bag from currents and wave action, and in
some locations (e.g., "dead zones") the water chemistry in the surrounding water provides the required nutrients for growing algae or other
microorganisms. In addition, by cultivating freshwater organisms in bags deployed in a marine or brackish environment, the surrounding salt
water provides a means of dewatering the contents of the bag using patches of membranes that permit forward osmosis (FO). This invention
solves many of the current problems associated with cultivating algae in open pond raceways or closed bioreactors on land. These problems
include competing land-uses and environmental impact, water requirements, evaporation control, contamination control, temperature
regulation, provision of energy for mixing and harvesting, and invasion by "weed" species. The
invention also contributes to the
remediation of dead zones by removing polluting nutrients and reduces global warming by
sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This new system can also be used for cultivating aquatic organisms,
including algae and/or other micro-organisms, provided there is a chemical gradient between the growth conditions inside the enclosure and
the surrounding environment. The system can also be used for dewatering. Brief Description of the Drawings.
OMEGA solves for contamination by withdrawing and repurposing harmful nutrients
that cause dead zones.
Soderman, Teague. 12 Senior Technical Writer for NASA, writing in scientific community for
over 7 years. "Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA)." Solar System
Exploration Research Virtual Institute. NASA, May 2012. Web. 14 July 2014.
The NLSI recorded this video of PI Jonathan Trent presenting the OMEGA project at NASA Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field California. You can view the video by double clicking on the image
above or you can download the file directly to your computer here. [324.2 MB .mp4 file; 0:58:10 run
time]¶ The OMEGA system consists of large plastic bags with inserts of forward-osmosis membranes
that grow freshwater algae in processed wastewater by photosynthesis. Using energy from the sun, the
algae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nutrients from the wastewater to produce
biomass and oxygen. As the algae grow, the nutrients are contained in the enclosures, while the
cleansed freshwater is released into the surrounding ocean through the forward-osmosis membranes.¶
“The OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can convert sewage and carbon dioxide into
abundant and inexpensive fuels,” said Matthew Atwood, president and founder of Algae Systems. “The
technology is simple and scalable enough to create an inexpensive, local energy supply that also creates
jobs to sustain it.”¶ When deployed in contaminated and “dead zone” coastal areas, this system may
help remediate these zones by removing and utilizing the nutrients that cause them. The forwardosmosis membranes use relatively small amounts of external energy compared to the conventional
methods of harvesting algae, which have an energy intensive de-watering process.¶ Potential benefits
include oil production from the harvested algae, and conversion of municipal wastewater into clean
water before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is extracted from the algae, the algal remains can
be used to make fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, or other valuable products. This successful spinoff of
NASA-derived technology will help support the commercial development of a new algae-based biofuels
industry and wastewater treatment.¶ “The reason why algae are so interesting is because some of them
produce lots of oil,” said Jonathan Trent, the lead research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, Calif. “In fact, most of the oil we are now getting out of the ground comes from algae that
lived millions of years ago. Algae are still the best source of oil we know.Ӧ Algae are similar to other
plants in that they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, produce oxygen as a by-product of
photosynthesis, and use phosphates, nitrogen, and trace elements to grow and flourish. Unlike many
plants, they produce fatty, lipid cells loaded with oil that can be used as fuel.¶ “The inspiration I had was
to use offshore membrane enclosures to grow algae. We’re going to deploy a large plastic bag in the
ocean, and fill it with sewage. The algae use sewage to grow, and in the process of growing they clean
up the sewage,” said Trent.¶ It is a simple, but elegant concept. The bag will be made of semi-permeable
membranes that allow fresh water to flow out into the ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients.
The membranes are called “forward-osmosis membranes.” NASA is testing these membranes for
recycling dirty water on future long-duration space missions. They are normal membranes that allow
the water to run one way. With salt water on the outside and fresh water on the inside, the membrane
prevents the salt from diluting the fresh water. It’s a natural process, where large amounts of fresh
water flow into the sea.¶ Floating on the ocean’s surface, the inexpensive plastic bags will be collecting
solar energy as the algae inside produce oxygen by photosynthesis. The algae will feed on the nutrients
in the sewage, growing rich, fatty cells. Through osmosis, the bag will absorb carbon dioxide from the
air, and release oxygen and fresh water. The temperature will be controlled by the heat capacity of the
ocean, and the ocean’s waves will keep the system mixed and active.¶ When the process is completed,
biofuels will be made and sewage will be processed. For the first time, harmful sewage will no longer
be dumped into the ocean. The algae and nutrients will be contained and collected in a bag. Not only
will oil be produced, but nutrients will no longer be lost to the sea. According to Trent, the system
ideally is fail proof. Even if the bag leaks, it won’t contaminate the local environment. The enclosed
fresh water algae will die in the ocean.¶ The bags are expected to last two years, and will be recycled
afterwards. The plastic material may be used as plastic mulch, or possibly as a solid amendment in fields
to retain moisture.¶ When astronauts go into space, they must bring everything they need to survive.
Living quarters on a spaceship require careful planning and management of limited resources.¶ “We
have to remember,” Trent said, quoting Marshall McLuhan: “we are not passengers on spaceship Earth,
we are the crew.Ӧ Teague Soderman of the NASA Lunar Science Institute had the opportunity to talk
with Trent about the OMEGA project in the context of NASA space exploration. Listen to a short audio
podcast here [11:53 min-- 120 MB .wav file].¶
OMEGA can be used on a large scale; it holds the capacity of being able to replace
current fuel sources.
Hoppin, Jason. "A Green Future: NASA's $10 Million Project Explores Algae of as Fuel Source."
Santacruzsentinel.com. Santa Cruz Sentinel, 18 May 2012. Web. 14 July 2014.
SANTA CRUZ - Near the end of a line of windswept buildings, on Santa Cruz's Westside, sits a lab that
may hold the key to everything from galactic space travel to peace in the Middle East.¶ For two years, a
team of NASA researchers have been using a borrowed state Department of Fish and Game lab to test a
potential new energy source by using treated wastewater to grow algae, which can produce a fuel that
has already been tested on jets and may one day be used for spaceships.¶ Called the OMEGA Project,
the $10 million study is being headed by Santa Cruz resident Jonathan Trent, a NASA scientist who has
assembled a team of 20 researchers to explore the one of the most talked-about potential sources of
biofuels.¶ Trent said his research shows promise, and because it uses treated human wastewater to
feed the algae and grow fuel - a process which also leaves the water even cleaner - and could provide
a sustainable solution to the problem of scarce resources as humans push deeper into space.¶ "That's a
fundamental problem that NASA's been working on for decades. And that fundamental concept is at the
heart of the OMEGA Project," Trent said.¶ But the research also could have earthbound benefits as well.
What Trent is trying to develop is a system of large-scale offshore algae cultivation. He envisions it
becoming a primary alternative to fossil fuels, saying the technology has already drawn international
interest.¶ "We've got to move quickly because we don't have much time to figure out how this is going
to work," Trent said, citing problems with the country's reliance of foreign energy sources.
OMEGA can solve dead zone formation on a large scale because of nutrient absorbing
qualities.
P. Wiley et. al, L. Harris, S. Reinsch, S. Tozzi, T. Embaye, K. Clark, B. McKuin, Z. Kolber, R. Adams, H.
Kagawa, T. Richardson, J. Malinowski, C. Beal, M. Claxton, E. Geiger, J. Rask, J. Campbell and J. Trent,
"Microalgae Cultivation Using Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA)," Journal of
Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, Vol. 3 No. 1, 2013, pp. 18-32. doi: 10.4236/jsbs.2013.31003.
The proposed OMEGA system is designed to grow microalgae in wastewater contained in a flexible,
clear, plastic PBRs attached to a floating infrastructure anchored offshore in protected bays. The
offshore placement allows the system to be in close proximity to wastewater treatment plants and
sources of flue gas, eliminating the need to pump these wastes long distances to remote locations
where land resources for algae cultivation may he available. By using wastewater for water and
nutrients and by not using arable land the OMEGA system avoids competing with agriculture or
disrupting urban infrastructure in the vicinity of waste-water treatment plant. On a scale relevant to
biofuels, OMEGA will be intrusive in the maritime environment, although it Is possible that a Iarge
flotilla of PBRs may have beneficial effects in coastal areas. The OMEGA system would remove
nutrients from wastewater that is currently discharged into coastal waters and may there-by mitigate
“dead-zone " formation. The infrastructure would provide substrate, refugia, and habitat for an
extensive community of sessile and associated organisms. It is known that introduced surfaces in the
marine environment become colonized and can form “artificial reefs” or act as “fish aggregating
devices,” which increase local species diversity and expand the food web. A large-scale deployment
of Omega systems may also act as floating “turf scrubbers” and function to absorb anthropogenic
pollutants, improving coastal water quality.
Solvency—OMEGA reduces the Carbon footprint—Recycles waste, absorbs CO2, and
acts as farm fertilizer
Bob Yirka 2012 (Bob Yirka, April 16, 2012 “NASA shows off new algae farming technique for making
biofuel” Phys.org http://phys.org/news/2012-04-nasa-algae-farming-technique-biofuel.html
NASA is clearly looking far into the future for a way to handle both human waste and a need for fuel
on either long space flights or when attempting to colonize another planet. To that end, they’ve
assigned life support engineer Jonathan Trent the task of coming up with a way to use algae to solve
both problems at once. His solution is to use plastic bags floating in seawater as small bioreactors,
containing wastewater, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow algae that can be used as a means to create
biofuel The whole thing is called Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae or more concisely,
OMEGA, and will be demonstrated to reporters at one of San Francisco’s public utilities water pollution
control plants tomorrow and is the culmination of $10 million worth of research. The idea is more
practical than revolutionary says Trent, who has spoken to reporters already about the project. The
idea was to figure out a way to create an algae farm that could be placed close to a waste treatment
facility, without taking up a bunch of land. That’s when he came up with idea of using plastic bags
floating in the ocean. Conventional systems use large pools of water set up on dry land. In the test
facility, each bag is four meters long and has been seeded with wastewater and carbon dioxide. Sunlight
makes its way through the clear plastic as the bags float on seawater, which not only serves as a place
for the bags to reside, but also help keep the algae cool, which must be done mechanically in other
facilities. The algae eat the wastewater and grow until the bag is filled, at which point it is removed to be
used for making biofuel. Reports thus far show that algae farms set up in this manner would be capable
of producing over two and a half million gallons of fuel annually in an area just under two square
miles. Trent says with a real farm, the carbon dioxide could come from nearby power plants, helping to
reduce the carbon footprint of the whole process. Not helping, on the other hand, is that the whole
scheme is based on petroleum based plastic bags, which in addition to their inherent carbon footprint
would also have to be disposed of once a year as they degrade in saltwater. Trent suggests that
California farmer’s could use them (the Algae bags) as field cover instead of the large tarps they
currently use.
Solvency---Reversible
Dead Zones can be reveres- empirics from the Black Sea prove
Biello, David. "Oceanic Dead Zones Continue to Spread." Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific
American, 15 Aug. 2008. Web. 16 July 2014. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oceanic-deadzones-spread/>.
"More than 212,000 metric tons [235,000 tons] of food is lost to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico," says
marine biologist Robert Diaz of The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., who surveyed the
dead zones along with marine ecologist Rutger Rosenberg of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
"That's enough to feed 75 percent of the average brown shrimp harvest from the Louisiana gulf. If there
was no hypoxia and there was that much more food, don't you think the shrimp and crabs would be
happier? They would certainly be fatter."¶ Only a few dead zones have ever recovered, such as the
Black Sea, which rebounded quickly in the 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union and a massive
reduction in fertilizer runoff from fields in Russia and Ukraine. Fertilizer contains large amounts of
nitrogen, and it runs off of agricultural fields in water and into rivers, and eventually into oceans.¶ This
fertilizer runoff, instead of contributing to more corn or wheat, feeds massive algae blooms in the
coastal oceans. This algae, in turn, dies and sinks to the bottom where it is consumed by microbes,
which consume oxygen in the process. More algae means more oxygen-burning, and thereby less
oxygen in the water, resulting in a massive flight by those fish, crustaceans and other ocean-dwellers
able to relocate as well as the mass death of immobile creatures, such as clams or other bottomdwellers. And that's when the microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments take over, forming vast
bacterial mats that produce hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas.¶ "The primary culprit in marine environments
is nitrogen and, nowadays, the biggest contributor of nitrogen to marine systems is agriculture. It's the
same scenario all over the world," Diaz says. "Farmers are not doing it on purpose. They'd prefer to have
it stick on the land."
And- San Francisco bay also proves- it can be reversed through removal of nutrients
through natural processes or OMEGA
Perlman, David. "Scientists Alarmed by Ocean Dead-zone Growth." SFGate. SFGate, 15 Aug. 2008.
Web. 13 July 2014. <http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Scientists-alarmed-by-ocean-dead-zonegrowth-3200041.php>.
Hypoxia is caused by tons of nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizers that run from farms and spill into the
seas from rivers and streams as well as by fallout from power plants that burn fossil fuels.¶ The chemicals
become prime nutrients that fertilize rich blooms of microscopic algae near the surface layers of coastal
waters. The algae eventually die, sink to the bottom layers of the ocean and become food for masses of
bacteria that decompose and consume the oxygen around them. The result is the dead zone, devoid of
most marine life forms.¶ The largest dead zone on Earth is in the Baltic Sea, according to the survey, and
the largest in the United States lies at the mouth of the Mississippi River, where the water is "hypoxic"
over an area of 8,500 square miles - roughly the size of New Jersey.¶ The scientists found only a few
small dead zones along the California coast and none in San Francisco Bay now, an improvement over
previous eras when conditions made it impossible for marine life to thrive there.¶ That was during the
1950s through the 1970s, said James E. Cloern , a marine biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in
Menlo Park who has been monitoring the bay's health for more than 30 years.¶ The problem then,
Cloern said, was the result of continuous discharges of poorly treated sewage from communities
surrounding the bay and wastes from many cannery plants. But the issues were resolved when waste
treatment facilities were updated all around the bay, he said.¶ San Francisco Bay also benefits from
"strong tidal action" that mixes the water and also supports active communities of clams and mussels
that help keep anything like a dead zone from developing, Cloern said.¶ "But things can change, and
there's no guarantee that we won't be seeing blooms of algae in the future here, too, so we need to
be really vigilant," he said.¶ According to Diaz's survey, the few dead spots along the California coast
develop only periodically where water circulation is limited. They include the inland portion of Elkhorn
Slough near Moss Landing in Monterey County and Alamitos Bay at the mouth of the San Gabriel River
near Long Beach.¶ Diaz's institute is part of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and he
has been surveying the world's dead zones, starting with nearby Chesapeake Bay, for more than 20
years.¶ Jane Lubchenco, former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
and a leading marine biologist on ocean ecology at Oregon State University, said by e-mail that the
report is "a sobering documentation of the growing threat of nutrient pollution in coastal waters around
the world."¶ "The conclusion is inescapable that dead zones are now a key stressor in coastal waters,"
she said.¶ But she added that the problem is solvable.¶ "The evidence suggests that if the spigot of
nutrients can be turned off, coastal systems can recover," she said. "Doing it can be accomplished by
using fertilizers more efficiently, preventing human and animal sewage from entering rivers, and
replanting vegetation (along riverbanks) to absorb excess nutrients."¶ Diaz and Rosenberg cited the
Black Sea as an example of the improvements that can be made when solutions are applied. Until the
1990s, the shallow northwest continental shelf there was a major dead zone, but then nutrients
declined as fertilizer use diminished for several years.
Solvency---US Key
US coasts are being harmed by dead zones, and inaction only leads to further harm
Howarth, Robert. "What Is a “dead Zone”?" Actionbioscience. ActionBioscience, Sept. 2000. Web. 15
July 2014.
Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus — which make their way to the Gulf from the
atmosphere and via rivers polluted with agricultural runoff and municipal and industrial waste — trigger
algal blooms.¶ ¶ The algae use up available oxygen, killing bottom-dwellers such as oysters, clams, and
snails, and driving away fish, shrimp, and crabs.¶ ¶ Excess nitrogen is particularly harmful for marine
ecosystems, and can be linked to everything from increased outbreaks of red tides to the deaths of
marine mammals and the loss of biodiversity. And it isn’t just the Gulf area that is affected by an
overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorus. All of our coasts are being damaged. Of 139 U.S. coastal
areas assessed recently, 44 were identified as severely affected by high levels of these nutrients.
What’s more, many scientists predict that the problem will worsen in the coming decades unless
action is taken now to reduce nutrient excesses in U.S. waters.
Biodiversity I/L
Dead zones kill biodiversity through making harsh conditions, and cause harm to
surrounding ecosystems by putting increased pressure on their resources.
Bomstein, Ellie. "Dead Zones: Effects." Dead Zones: Effects. University of Michigan, n.d.
Web. 14 July 2014.
A dead zone has many negative effects. The first is loss of habitat for organisms living in the hypoxic
area. If the dead zone is large enough, the organisms that are forced to move out of it might place
extra strain on the surrounding, healthier ecosystems. Secondly, dead zones can lead to loss of
biodiversity because they cause a sort of “un-natural” selection, and kill off organisms that cannot get
out of the area before it becomes hypoxic. Another major problem associated with dead zones is the
loss of income to the industries dependent on the ecosystem. Fishing and crabbing industries suffer
greatly when the coastal waters are hypoxic. Many coastal, recreational areas are deemed unsafe when
the water is hypoxic, which can hurt a tourism-based economy
Dead zones are key stressors on the ocean because of loss of livable conditions.
Diaz RJ and Rosenberg R, professor at Virginia Institute of Marine Science (2008) Spreading dead
zones and consequences for marine ecosystems. Science 321: 926–929.
Dead zones in the coastal oceans have spread exponentially since the 1960s and have serious
consequences for ecosystem functioning. The formation of dead zones has been exacerbated by the
increase in primary production and consequent worldwide coastal eutrophication fueled by riverine
runoff of fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. Enhanced primary production results in an
accumulation of particulate organic matter, which encourages microbial activity and the consumption of
dissolved oxygen in bottom waters. Dead zones have now been reported from more than 400 systems,
affecting a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers, and are probably a key stressor on
marine ecosystems.
Nutrients that cause dead zones, if not contained, can cause massive biodiversity loss
and ecosystem collapse by settling on the seabed.
BISE, (Biodiversity Information System for Europe). "Pollution." Biodiversity Information
System for Europe. High-Level Conference on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem and Their
Services (MAES) in Europe, 22 May 2014. Web. 15 July 2014.
<http://biodiversity.europa.eu/topics/pollution>.
All forms of pollution pose a serious threat to biodiversity, but in particular nutrient loading, primarily
of nitrogen and phosphorus, which is a major and increasing cause of biodiversity loss and ecosystem
dysfunction. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition represents a major threat to European biodiversity and a
serious challenge for the conservation of natural habitats and species. In addition, nitrogen
compounds can lead to eutrophication of ecosystems. The main pollution sources are from transport
and agriculture. It is the only air pollutant for which concentrations have not decreased in Europe
following the implementation of legislation.¶ For many European ecosystem types, studies have
concluded that nitrogen deposition results in loss of species richness. Peatland ecosystems provide an
example of how species replacement, resulting from nitrogen deposition, may alter ecosystems
functionality. For example, the carbon sequestration capacity of rain fed (ombrotrophic) bog
ecosystems decreases when subjected to elevated nitrogen inputs. The critical load of nutrient nitrogen
is exceeded by more than 1 200 equivalents nitrogen per ha and year in western France, some parts of
Belgium and the Netherlands, and the North of Italy.¶ Pollution continues to be a major problem
affecting most of the European seas, in spite of the reduction in point sources (e.g. sewage outfall pipes
or fish farm effluents) of nutrients in some areas. Nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment can result in a
chain of undesirable effects, starting with excessive growth of planktonic algae, which increases the
amount of organic matter settling to the seabed. This accumulation may be associated with changes
in species composition and altered functioning of the food web.
Dead zones are increasing-causes species extinction
American Chemical Society 4/3/06 [American Chemical Society- the world’s largest scientific society and a
nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress, “Ocean ‘Dead Zones’ Triggers Sex Changes In Fish, Posing
Extinction Threat”, April 3, 2006, “http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060402220803.htm]
Oxygen depletion in the world’s oceans, primarily caused by agricultural run-off and pollution, could spark the development of far more male
fish than female, thereby threatening some species with extinction, according to a study published on the Web site of the American Chemical
Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology. The study is scheduled to appear in the May 1 print issue of the journal. The
by Rudolf Wu, Ph.D., and colleagues at the City University of Hong Kong, raises
finding,
new concerns about vast areas of the
world’s oceans, known as "dead zones," that lack sufficient oxygen to sustain most sea life. Fish and other creatures trapped in
these zones often die. Those that escape may be more vulnerable to predators and other stresses. This new study, Wu says, suggests these
zones potentially pose a third threat to these species — an inability of their offspring to find mates and reproduce. The
researchers found that low levels of dissolved oxygen, also known as hypoxia, can induce sex changes in embryonic fish, leading to an
overabundance of males. As these predominately male fish mature, it is unlikely they will be able to reproduce in sufficient numbers to
maintain sustainable populations, Wu says. Low oxygen levels also might reduce the quantity and quality of the eggs produced by female fish,
diminishing their fertility, he adds. In their experiments, Wu and his colleagues found low levels of dissolved oxygen — less than 2 parts per
million — down-regulated the activity of certain genes that control the production of sex hormones and sexual differentiation in embryonic
zebra fish. As a result, 75 percent of the fish developed male characteristics. In contrast, 61 percent of the zebra fish spawn raised under normal
oxygen conditions — more than 5 parts per million — developed into males. The normal sex ratio of zebra fish is about 60 percent male and 40
percent female, Wu says. "Reproductive
success is the single most important factor in the sustainability of
species," Dr. Wu says. "In many places, the areas affected by hypoxia are usually larger than the spawning and nursery grounds of fish. Even
though some tolerant species can survive in hypoxic zones, they may not be able to migrate out of the zone and their reproduction will be
impaired."
Hypoxia is considered one of the most serious threats to marine life and genetic diversity , Wu
says. It occurs when excessive amounts of plant nutrients, particularly nitrogen, accumulate in oceans, freshwater lakes and other waterways.
These nutrients trigger the growth of huge algae and phytoplankton blooms. As these blooms die, they sink to the ocean floor where they are
decomposed by bacteria and other microorganisms. Decomposition depletes most of the oxygen in the surrounding water, making it difficult
for marine life to survive. Although some hypoxic areas — dead zones — develop naturally, scientific evidence
suggests in many coastal
is primarily caused by agricultural run-off (particularly fertilizers) and discharge of
domestic and industrial wastewaters. Dead zones are developing along the coasts of the major
areas and inland waters, hypoxia
continents, and they are spreading over larger areas of the sea floor , Wu says. The United Nations Environmental
Programme estimates nearly 150 permanent and recurring dead zones exist worldwide, including 43 in U.S.
coastal waters. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, a dead zone the size of New Jersey, some 7,000
square miles, develops each summer. Other affected areas of the United States include coastal Florida and California, the
Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound.
Decreased oceanic oxygen levels destroy biodiversity
Villarante-Tonido 3/18/2012 [Karen Villarante-Tonido, “Climate Emergency Institute Climate Science
Library” March 18, 2012, http://www.climateemergencyinstitute.com/ocean_oxy_karen_vt.html]
I. Introduction The rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) due to unabated carbon emissions have been given much attention in
recent years because of its major impact on global temperatures, climate, ocean chemistry, etc. Recently, it has also been reported to affect the
level of oxygen (O2) in the atmosphere. Dr. Ralph Keeling estimated that about three O2 molecules are lost every time a single CO2 molecule is
produced by fossil fuel combustion (Johnston, 2007). A 0.0317% decline in atmospheric oxygen has been recorded thus far (for the period 1990
to 2008) (Klusinske, 2010). Fortunately, the world’s oceans (which cover 70% of the Earth’s surface) function as an efficient carbon sink. They
absorb about half of the anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere (Sabine et al., 2004), thereby buffering the effects of excess atmospheric CO2.
Unfortunately however, this is not without consequence to ocean chemistry. Elevated atmospheric CO2 have been reported to cause
ocean warming, acidification and recently, the decline in ocean oxygen levels. III. Causes Global warming and
consequently, ocean warming causes a decline in dissolved oxygen for two reasons. First is that the solubility of oxygen
decreases as the ocean waters get warmer. In fact, zones of low oxygen in the ocean were found to be contracted in cold periods and expanded
in warm periods based on geological records (Conners, 2011). Second, warm ocean waters are more stable, thereby slowing down the “ocean’s
thermohaline ‘conveyor belt’ circulation system that…overturns surface layers of the water into the deep and vice versa…” The result is less
oxygen carried from the surface layers of the water (which is in intimate contact with air) into the deeper layers (NASA, 2009). This leads to
further oxygen depletion of the region between the surface and the deep ocean, the oxygen-minimum zone or OMZ (Chameides, 2010). In
addition, the slowing down of the ocean’s circulation system also brings fewer nutrients from the deep layers into the ocean surface. With
fewer nutrients available in the surface layers, oxygen-producing phytoplankton that drift in the ocean surface may be grossly affected. In fact,
the declining numbers of phytoplankton species (which dropped by 40 percent from 1950 to 2010) noted in a study published July 29 in Nature
was attributed to this nutrient deprivation (Morello, 2010). Phytoplankton organisms produce half of the world’s oxygen output (the other half
is produced by plants on land). Hence, with decreasing numbers of these oxygen producers, the level of oxygen in the ocean (and the
atmosphere as well) is bound to decline further. Another reason for the reduced oxygen levels in the deep ocean mentioned by Stramma et al.
(2008) is the reduced production of oxygen-rich deep water in polar regions. Furthermore, pollution has also been cited as one reason for the
decline in ocean oxygen. Pollutants
such as discharged sewage and industrial waste, farm fertilizer run-off, etc. trigger
oxygen-depleting algal blooms. However, this only explains oxygen reduction in some coastal waters. In contrast, global warming
justifies (at least partly) ocean oxygen decline across the globe. IV. Implications Oxygen is the most important constraint or limiting factor on
the growth of many marine organisms according to Daniel Pauly, a Fisheries Biologist at the University of British Columbia (Zimmer, 2010).
When ocean oxygen levels run low, it is harder for aerobic marine animals to respire (extract oxygen from seawater for use in respiration). This
in turn, makes it more difficult for these animals “to find food, avoid predators, and reproduce” (NASA, 2009). Hence, decreased
ocean
oxygen levels can have devastating effects on marine life. Many marine organisms are stressed or cannot survive under
hypoxic conditions (between 60 to 120 m mol/kg depending on the species) (Ho, 2009). For instance, during the Permian-Triassic extinction
event about 252 million years ago, extremely low oxygen conditions led to the loss of approximately 90% of marine animal taxa (Conners,
2011). To
avoid the risk of local extinction, many organisms move to non-hypoxic areas. Therefore as oxygenare less and less suitable areas for aerobic marine organisms to thrive and enter into
in search of food. The result is habitat compression for these hypoxia-intolerant species, decreases in biodiversity,
shifts in animal distributions and changes in ecosystem structure (Stramma et al., 2010). V. Summary and
Conclusions Ocean oxygen levels are declining and this is partly due to climate change. Compounded by the effects of
ocean warming and acidification, ocean oxygen decline is bound to worsen the negative impact on the ocean’s biogeochemical cycles
and ecosystems. This could lead to more ocean dead zones (NASA, 2009) and consequently, decreases in the
ocean’s biodiversity and productivity. Pauly and his colleagues predicted that the synergy between low ocean oxygen levels and
poor regions expand, there
pH will decrease the world’s fish catch by 20 to 30 percent by Year 2050 (Zimmer, 2010).
Dead zones caused by algal blooms and hypoxia kills critical species
NOAA 11/8/2013 [National Oceanic and Atmospheic Administration, “Harmful Algal Blooms and
Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico”, November 8, 2013,
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecoforecasting/gulf_of_mexico_factsheet.pdf]
Dead fish or dolphins lining a beach - respiratory problems- shellfish harvesting closures. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia
(severe oxygen depletion) are harming an increasing number of coastal and Great Lakes communities, economies, and
ecosystems. Virtually every coastal state has reported recurring blooms and over half of our Nation’s estuaries experience hypoxic
conditions. Impacts include massive fish kills, devastation of critical coastal habitats, loss of commercially
valuable and culturally vital shellfish resources, illness and death in populations of protected marine
species, and threats to human health. HAB outbreaks pose an immediate and long-term challenge to the tourism industry, which
underpins the economies of many coastal communities. Just one harmful algal bloom event can impose millions of
dollars in losses upon local coastal economies. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is leading the
nation in to understanding, predicting, and mitigating HAB and hypoxic events and their impacts to ecosystems and coastal communities. The
Problem The types and extent of HABs and their impacts has expanded in the Gulf of Mexico. Some blooms produce toxins that cause illness in
humans and marine life, including respiratory distress in beachgoers. Other blooms reach such a large size that the decay of the algae robs the
water of all oxygen, resulting in hypoxic “dead zones” in the bottom of estuaries and coastal environments and subsequent death of marine
animals. The annual Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River is perhaps best known. Sporadic events can also be
devastating, such as the hypoxia on the west Florida coast in 2005, triggered by a toxic HAB, that killed
reefs, benthic organisms, and fish.
large expanses of coral
Biodiversity Crabs I/L
Hypoxic conditions are harmful to blue crab, a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay
Johnson, Eric G. "Crab Species Team Background and Issue Briefs." (n.d.): n. pag. Sea Grant Maryland.
Sea Grant Maryland, 2010. Web. 16 July 2014.
<http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/EBFM-Blue-Crab-Briefs.pdf>.
One of the most widespread threats to estuarine and marine ecosystems is caused by low DO; ¶ anoxia
(0 mg O2 L-1) and hypoxia (< 2 mg O2 L-1), which has occurred with increasing frequency ¶ and aerial
cover historically in Chesapeake Bay (Diaz and Rosenberg 2008). Low DO events can ¶ arise daily (diel
cycling due to nighttime respiration of autotrophs, particularly algae; Tyler et al. ¶ 2009), seasonally
(after the spring phytoplankton bloom through autumn) or periodically (in ¶ relation to weather events
or spring-neap tidal cycles; Diaz and Rosenberg 2008). Typically, ¶ hypoxic and anoxic zones of the
Chesapeake Bay mainstem and major tributaries are associated ¶ with areas deeper than 10 m (Pihl et al.
1991). ¶ ¶ Responses by blue crabs to low DO are determined in part by the severity of such events and ¶
their tolerances to low oxygen levels. Blue crabs circumvent anoxic areas and readily detect and ¶ avoid
hypoxic waters < 4 mg O2 L-1 (Das and Stickle 1994; Bell et al. 2003). Thus, crab densities ¶ are zero in
anoxic waters and are greatly diminished in hypoxic areas. Typically, blue crabs ¶ move out of deeper
water affected by low DO and into shallow areas during hypoxia or anoxia. ¶ In doing so, they become
more concentrated in the shallows and are more susceptible to fishing ¶ gear, density-dependent
predation and agonistic interactions. ¶
Blue crab is a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay, loss of the species would be
harmful to the entire region
NOAA. "Chesapeake Bay Program." Bay Blog RSS. NOAA, 2012. Web. 16 July 2014.
<http://www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/issue/blue_crabs>.
As both predator and prey, blue crabs are a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay food web. Blue
crabs also support the most productive commercial and recreational fisheries in the Bay.¶ Blue crabs
are an important link in the Chesapeake Bay food web¶ Blue crabs are both predators and prey in the
Bay’s food web.¶ Blue crab larvae are part of the Bay’s planktonic community, and serve as food for
menhaden, oysters and other filter feeders.¶ Juvenile and adult blue crabs serve as food for fish, birds
and even other blue crabs. Striped bass, red drum, catfish and some sharks depend on blue crabs as part
of their diet. Soft shell crabs that have just molted are particularly vulnerable to predators.¶ Blue crabs
are among the top consumers of bottom-dwelling organisms, or benthos. Blue crabs are opportunistic
feeders that eat thin-shelled bivalves, smaller crustaceans, freshly dead fish, plant and animal detritus,
and almost anything else they can find.¶ Because blue crabs feed on marsh periwinkles, they help
regulate periwinkle populations. Scientists are concerned that a drop in blue crab populations could
harm salt marsh habitat, as periwinkle populations rise and the snails over-feed on marshgrass.
Biodiversity Impact
Dead zones lead to hydrogen sulfide production, which has been seen as the cause of
multiple mass extinctions on earth.
Simmons, Amy. "Scientists Fear Mass Extinction as Oceans Choke." ABC News. ABC, 1 Dec. 2010. Web.
16 July 2014. <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-30/scientists-fear-mass-extinction-as-oceanschoke/2357322>.
Australian scientists fear the planet is on the brink of another mass extinction as ocean dead zones
continue to grow in size and number.¶ More than 400 ocean dead zones - areas so low in oxygen that
sea life cannot survive - have been reported by oceanographers around the world between 2000 and
2008.¶ That is compared with 300 in the 1990s and 120 in the 1980s.¶ Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, of
the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoeCRS) and from the University of Queensland,
says there is growing evidence that declining oxygen levels in the ocean have played a major role in at
least four of the planet's five mass extinctions.¶ "Until recently the best hypothesis for them was a
meteor strike," he said.¶ "So 65 million years ago they've got very good evidence of the cretaceous
exctinction event.¶ "But with the four other mass extinction events, one of the best explanations now is
that these periods were preceded by an increase of volcanic activity, and that volcanic activity caused
a change in ocean circulation.¶ "Just as we are seeing at a smaller scale today, huge parts of the ocean
became anoxic at depth.¶ "The consequence of that is that you had increased amounts of rotten egg
gas, hydrogen sulfide, going up into the atmosphere, and that is thought to be what may have caused
some of these other extinction events."¶ Professor Hoegh-Guldberg says up to 90 per cent of life has
perished in previous mass extinctions and that a similar loss of life could occur in the next 100 years. ¶
"We're already having another mass extinction due to humans wiping out life and so on, but it looks like
it could get as high as those previous events," he said.¶ "So it's the combination of this alteration to
coastlines, climate change and everything, that has a lot of us worried we are going to drive the sixth
extinction event and it will happen over the next 100 years because we are interfering with the things
that keep species alive.¶ "Ocean ecosystems are in a lot of trouble and it all bears the hallmarks of
human interference.¶ "We are changing the way the Earth's oceans work, shifting them to entirely new
states, which we have not seen before."¶ He says while it is impossible to predict the future, in a century
from now the world will be vastly different.¶ "A world without the Great Barrier Reef, where you don't
have the pleasure of going to see wild places any more," he said.¶ "We might be able to struggle on with
much lower population densities, but ultimately it won't be the world we have today.¶ "The idea of
walking in the Daintree will be a forgotten concept because these changes have occurred."
The status quo makes mass extinctions inevitable absent change
Shah 1/19/2014 [Anup Shah, “Loss of Biodiversity and Exinctions”, January 19, 2014,
http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-andextinctions#MassiveExtinctionsFromHumanActivity]
Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity has been causing
massive extinctions. As the Environment New Service, reported back in August 1999 (previous link): “the current extinction
rate is now approaching 1,000 times the background rate and may climb to 10,000 times the
background rate during the next century, if present trends continue [resulting in] a loss that would easily
equal those of past extinctions.” (Emphasis added) A major report, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, released in March 2005
highlighted a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth, with some 10-30% of
the mammal, bird and amphibian species threatened with extinction, due to human actions. The World Wide
Fund for Nature (WWF) added thatEarth is unable to keep up in the struggle to regenerate from the demands we place on it. The International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) notes in a video that many species are threatened with extinction. In
addition, At threat of
extinction are 1 out of 8 birds 1 out of 4 mammals 1 out of 4 conifers 1 out of 3 amphibians 6 out of 7
marine turtles 75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost 75% of the world’s fisheries
are fully or over exploited Up to 70% of the world’s known species risk extinction if the global temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C
1/3rd of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction Over 350 million people
suffer from severe water scarcity Is this the kind of world we want, it asks? After all, the short video concludes, our lives are
inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our very survival: In different parts of the world, species face
different levels and types of threats. But overall patterns show a downward trend in most cases. The reasons vary from overuse of resource by
humans, climate change, fragmented habitats, habitat destruction, ocean acidification and more. Research of long term trends in the fossil
record suggests that natural speed limits constrain how quickly biodiversity can rebound after waves of extinction. Hence, the
rapid
extinction rates mean that it could take a long time for nature to recover. Consider the following observations and
conclusions from established experts and institutions summarized by Jaan Suurkula, M.D. and chairman of Physicians and Scientists for
Responsible Application of Science and Technology (PSRAST), noting the impact that global warming will have on ecosystems and biodiversity:
The world environmental situation is likely to be further aggravated by the increasingly rapid, large scale
global extinction of species. It occurred in the 20th century at a rate that was a thousand times higher than the average rate during
the preceding 65 million years. This is likely to destabilize various ecosystems including agricultural systems. …In a
slow extinction, various balancing mechanisms can develop. Noone knows what will be the result of this extremely rapid extinction rate. What
is known, for sure, is that the world ecological system has been kept in balance through a very complex and multifaceted interaction between a
huge number of species. This
rapid extinction is therefore likely to precipitate collapses of ecosystems at a
global scale. This is predicted to create large-scale agricultural problems, threatening food supplies to
hundreds of millions of people. This ecological prediction does not take into consideration the effects of global warming which
will further aggravate the situation. Industrialized fishing has contributed importantly to mass extinction
due to repeatedly failed attempts at limiting the fishing. A new global study concludes that 90 percent of all large
fishes have disappeared from the world’s oceans in the past half century, the devastating result of industrial fishing. The
study, which took 10 years to complete and was published in the international journal Nature, paints a grim picture of the Earth’s current
populations of such species as sharks, swordfish, tuna and marlin. …The loss of predatory fishes is likely to cause multiple complex imbalances
in marine ecology. Another
cause for extensive fish extinction is the destruction of coral reefs. This is caused by a
of oceans, damage from fishing tools and a harmful infection of coral organisms
promoted by ocean pollution. It will take hundreds of thousands of years to restore what is now being
destroyed in a few decades. …According to the most comprehensive study done so far in this field, over a million species
will be lost in the coming 50 years. The most important cause was found to be climate change. As explained in the UN’s 3rd Global
combination of causes, including warming
Biodiversity Outlook, the rate of biodiversity loss has not been reduced because the 5 principle pressures on biodiversity are persistent, even
intensifying: Habitat loss and degradation Climate change Excessive nutrient load and other forms of pollution Over-exploitation and
unsustainable use Invasive alien species Most governments report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that these pressures are
affecting biodiversity in their country (see p. 55 of the report). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the Red
List to assess the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale. Extinction
risks
out pace any conservation successes. Amphibians are the most at risk, while corals have had a dramatic increase in risk of
extinction in recent years. The UN’s 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook report, mentioned earlier, notes that, About 80 percent of the
world marine fish stocks for which assessment information is available are fully exploited or overexploited. Fish stocks
assessed since 1977 have experienced an 11% decline in total biomass globally, with considerable regional variation. The average maximum size
of fish caught declined by 22% since 1959 globally for all assessed communities. There is also an increasing trend of stock collapses over time,
with 14% of assessed stocks collapsed in 2007. — Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010), Global Biodiversity Outlook 3,
May, 2010, p.48 IPS reports that fish catches are expected to decline dramatically in the world’s tropical regions because of climate change.
Furthermore, “in 2006, aquaculture consumed 57 percent of fish meal and 87 percent of fish oil” as industrial fisheries operating in tropical
regions have been “scooping up enormous amounts of fish anchovies, herring, mackerel and other small pelagic forage fish to feed to farmed
salmon or turn into animal feed or pet food.” This has resulted in higher prices for fish, hitting the poorest the most. As Suurkula mentioned
above, mass extinctions of marine life due to industrialized fishing has been a concern for many years. Yet, it rarely makes mainstream
headlines. However, a report warning of marine species loss becoming a threat to the entire global fishing industry did gain media attention.
At the current rate of loss, it is feared the oceans may never recover. Extensive coastal pollution, climate change,
over-fishing and the enormously wasteful practice of deep-sea trawling are all contributing to the problem, as Inter Press Service (IPS)
summarized. As also explained on this site’s biodiversity importance section, ecosystems are incredibly productive and efficient—when there is
sufficient biodiversity. Each form of life works together with the surrounding environment to help recycle waste, maintain the ecosystem, and
provide services that others—including humans—use and benefit from. With massive
species loss, the report warns,
at current rates, in less than 50 years, the ecosystems could reach the point of no return, where they
would not be able to regenerate themselves. Dr. Boris Worm, one of the paper’s authors, and a world leader in
ocean research, commented that: Whether we looked at tide pools or studies over the entire world’s
ocean, we saw the same picture emerging. In losing species we lose the productivity and stability of
entire ecosystems. I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are—beyond anything
we suspected. — Dr. Boris Worm, Losing species, Dalhousie University, November 3, 2006 “Current” is an important word, implying that
while things look dire, there are solutions and it is not too late yet. The above report and the IPS article noted that protected areas show that
biodiversity can be restored quickly. Unfortunately, “less
than 1% of the global ocean is effectively protected right
now” and “where [recovery has been observed] we see immediate economic benefits,” says Dr. Worm . Time is therefore of the
essence . Declining Ocean Biodiversity It is not just fish in the oceans that may be struggling, but most biodiversity in the seas. This includes
mammals (e.g. whales, dolphins, polar bears), birds (e.g. penguins), and other creatures (e.g. krill). Ocean degradation has been
feared to be faster than previously thought. The health of the ocean is spiraling downwards far more rapidly
than we had thought. We are seeing greater change, happening faster, and the effects are more imminent than previously anticipated. The
situation should be of the gravest concern to everyone since everyone will be affected by changes in the
ability of the ocean to support life on Earth. — Professor Alex Rogers of Somerville College, Oxford, and Scientific
Director of IPSO, Latest Review of Science Reveals Ocean in Critical State From Cumulative Impacts
, The International Programme
on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), October 3, 2013 The factors affecting the ocean’s health includes: De-oxygenation Acidification
Warming These impacts will have cascading consequences for marine biology, including altered food web
dynamics and the expansion of pathogens, the IPSO also notes. These factors are also looked at in further detail on this site’s
article on climate change and biodiversity as well as covered in more depth by IPSO’s report, State of the Ocean. The Census was able to
determine, however, that over-fishing
was reported to be the greatest threat to marine biodiversity in all regions
followed by habitat loss and pollution. One of the summary reports also added that “the fact that these threats were reported in
all regions indicates their global nature.” A collection of regional and overview reports were also published on the Public Library of Science web
site The report also notes that “The
number of observed ‘dead zones’, coastal sea areas where water oxygen levels have dropped
too low to support most marine life, has roughly doubled each decade since the 1960s. Many are concentrated near the
estuaries of major rivers, and result from the buildup of nutrients, largely carried from inland agricultural areas where fertilizers are washed
into watercourses. The nutrients promote the growth of algae that die and decompose on the seabed, depleting the water of oxygen and
threatening fisheries, livelihoods and tourism.” (p. 60) If
ecosystems deteriorates to an unsustainable level, then the
problems resulting can be very expensive, economically, to reverse. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
(TEEB) is an organization — backed by the UN and various European governments — attempting to compile, build and make a compelling
economics case for the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Environment destruction destroys potential economic growth, destabilizes countries,
and increases military vulnerabilities
Perkins 5/6/2013 [Skylar Perkins, “The Creation of Weath: Economics and the Environment”, May 6,
2013, http://www.izilwane.org/the-creation-of-wealth-an-inevitable-paradigm-shift-in-economics.html]
It is difficult to imagine any real solutions coming out of Congress right now. There is an ideological divide, a rift, a lack of understanding on
critical issues and the power of big money. But there is a larger question: Is the system we have in place capable of solving the problems we
currently face? Our economic and global circumstances are changing rapidly with globalization, climate change, resource depletion, and a
rapidly evolving economic system. For elected officials it seems impossible to adapt when we have crises of debt and unemployment. Yet based
purely on the health of our ecosystems, it seems we are left with two choices: make these changes ourselves or have large scale changes
inflicted upon us. Economic growth has become synonymous with success, with freedom, with improvement, with the American dream. Yet,
endless economic growth could ultimately be our downfall. Currently, we operate under a model designed for infinite
economic growth. Our monetary system, our progress indicators, our investment structures; these are all based on the idea that our economy
will grow forever. When there is no growth, there is unemployment, banks don't lend money, the economy does not innovate and we move
toward collapse. Changing this foundation of our economy would be a leap from a cultural standpoint and a policy standpoint. Economic
growth is based on one central assumption: The economy is a closed system. This is a fundamental concept that comes from physics. A closed
system is self-contained, having no inputs or outputs. This
conventional model of the economy has a gaping hole: the
ecosystem. In modern economic flow charts, we never see the input of resources or the output of
detrimental factors such as pollution. In other words, there is no value on the ozone and no cost of
species extinctions. The Reality In the 18th century, moral philosopher Adam Smith theorized on the free-market in the context of what
economists call an empty worldin which there were fewer people and nature was vast and plentiful. In that time period, the ecosystem could
be entirely ignored and assumed to be infinitely abundant. Now, however, we
are in a full world – a world in which population
has increased ten-fold and consumption levels have skyrocketed. Though the economy has never been a closed
system, this scientific fact has been historically ignored because natural resources were not yet
scarce.ii Many of today's economists continue to assume that our economy is a closed system that
contains an ever-substitutable supply of resources and pollution sinks. While times are changing fast, the
fundamental basis of our economy was born 200 years ago during the Industrial Revolution. During this time, the wealth of ecosystems was
basically ignored, and economists considered man-made wealth to be the primary focus.
As we destroy our natural resource
base, we are destroying collective wealth and the resiliency of our economy for short-term private
gain . By assuming the economy is the whole and the ecosystem is merely a part, we are applying false economic precepts to the natural
world. For example, in an ecosystem, not all parts and functions are substitutable; each segment has a unique niche that makes the system as a
whole operate effectively. Through outright ignoring the physical dimensions of value, we are, in many cases, assigning value where we should
not and neglecting to assign value where we should. We are calling losses profits and profits losses. Our
economy does not
completely reflect the values of the people, and therefore neither does the construction and destruction
of the world around us. Here is an updated model of the economy The conventional economic model does not include the biosphere,
natural recycling, wastes and pollution, industrial recycling, energy and natural resources, or solar energy. However, our economic system,
based on this flow, interacts with our ecosystem on an inextricable level. Our Debt in Natural Capital In a paper published in Scientific
American in 2005, ex-World
Bank senior economist Herman Daly explains, When the economy's expansion
encroaches too much on its surrounding ecosystem, we will begin to sacrifice natural capital (such as
fish, minerals and fossil fuels) that is worth more than the man-made capital (such as roads, factories and
appliances) added by the growth.iii The more we inhibit the environment, the less our economy benefits from
these services.
Despite its limitations, putting a monetary value on nature can be highly useful and informative for both macroeconomic
policy and conservation efforts. The
Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) has estimated that each New
Year, economic activity costs the world approximately 6.6 trillion dollars in environmental benefits.
Expanding economic growth and inhibiting nature growth is actually quite costly, given that our entire
economy depends not only on services nature provides – outdoor recreation, education, and health, to name a few, each of
which provides significant income for both local and national economies – but also on stocks of natural capital such as timber and fossil fuels.
Pollution has created 246,048 square kilometers of dead zones in the ocean throughout the world.
According to the Global Partnership for Oceans, approximately 35 percent of mangrove habitats have been lost in the last 30 years, which has
had dramatic effects on the stability of coastal areas and increased negative impacts from storms on both local communities and ecosystems.
This coastal wetland destruction may account for more than two percent of global CO2 emissions. Our
current economy does not
account for the benefits of healthy oceans, the services provided by mangroves or the economic benefits of a stable climate. It
therefore cannot estimate the true cost of pollution. We have seen the tragic effects of rising ocean temperatures and
climate change from Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast of the United States. From an economic growth perspective, Inger Andersen,
vice president of sustainable development at the World Bank, notes that "without taking care of the
environment we are shaving digits off GDP and, therefore, limiting our very potential for the future."iv Of
course, protecting nature not only has the potential to save dollars from national expenditures; it also seems to be a key
component in creating a fair and just society. For instance, while many conventional economists have used the trickle-down
logic to promote unrestricted free enterprise internationally, reports can now put economic values on the unequal
distribution of costs caused by waste and resource extraction in economic activity. While ecosystem
services may provide directly for two-15 percent of a nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), TEEB has
found that this often affects the poor disproportionately. Internationally, the poor are more directly tied
to the ecosystem, depending more on local resources and food for income while being less protected
from the consequences of climate change and pollution. The societal neglect for natural capital may
cost them as much as 50 percent of their wealth .v Putting a monetary value on many basic ecosystem services illustrates
the ecosystem service entitlements that corporations have been receiving. To a large extent, corporations have had the rights to destroy
ecosystem services, pollute air and water, deplete resources, and harm the ecosystem at the expense of ecological flows and services for other
producers and for present and future generations. A
global calculation by Trucost for the United Nations Principles for
Responsible Investment estimated that the top 3,000 companies in the world, which account for 33
percent of global profits, cost the global public 2.25 trillion dollars per year. That's 2,250,000,000,000 U.S. dollars
each year in externalities. Externalities
are consequences of economic exchanges not captured by the economy.
economy is not
a purely economic issue, as the ecosystem is not a purely ecological issue. Climate change, rising sea levels,
extreme weather conditions, droughts, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, desertification; these are potential threats to
life around the earth and potential threats to peace internationally. The U.S. military understands this,
noting in their 2010 Defense Department review that climate change is an "accelerant of instability and
conflict"; they identify climate change and energy security as "prominent military vulnerabilities."vii There is
For example, the negative effects of acid rain not paid for by a pollution emitter are externalities.vi National Security The
ample evidence that climate patterns such as El Nino are as much of a factor in civil conflicts as any other geopolitical or economic
factor.viii Despite evidence from our own military, recent presidential candidates neglected to make the connection between national security
and the environment in any of the 2012 election's three debates.
Oceans are suffering worldwide-biodiversity loss, climate change, and dead zones will
only get worse
Tirado 2008 [Reyes Tirado-Ph.D University of Exeter, UK, “Dead zones How Agricultural Fertilizers Kill
our Rivers, Lakes and Oceans”, 2008, http://www.greenpeace.to/publications/dead-zones.pdf]
Fertilizer run-off from industrial agriculture is choking the planet’s oceans, rivers and lakes. Nitrogen and
phosphorus pollution feed explosive algal blooms that suck the oxygen from the water as they grow.
These algal blooms result in dead zones that have become a recurrent feature in every ocean and on
every continent from the Gulf of Mexico to the Black Sea, from Canada’s Lake Winnipeg to China’s Yangtze Delta. As global
warming heats our oceans, these problems will only worsen. Unless measures are put in place to control
fertilizer usage, losses to biodiversity will continue to mount, coastal and inland fisheries will suffer and
summer beaches could become toxic no-go zones devoid of life. Global warming could potentially
exacerbate the occurrence of harmful algal blooms in future years, since higher temperatures tend to
stimulate algal growth and favour toxic algal species (Chu et al. 2007). Other physical factors affected by climate change
could stimulate nutrient flows and eutrophication. For example, referring to the Gulf of Mexico, a group of scientists recently stated: “Future
climate change, within the range likely to occur in the 21st century, could have profound consequences to
hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. If changes result in increased precipitation, river discharge and nitrogen loading,
hypoxia is expected to be more extensive, persistent and severe” (Rabalais et al. 2007). Dead zones in the ocean
form when the millions of minute floating plants and animals (phytoplankton and zooplankton) that are associated with algal blooms die and
sink to the deep sea floor where they are consumed by microbes. In turn, these microbes also grow dramatically, and consequently use up the
oxygen in bottom waters. The oxygen content in fully oxygenated seawater levels is about 10 parts per million (ppm); once water oxygen levels
fall to 5 ppm, fish and other marine animals have trouble breathing (Diaz 2001, Dodds 2006). Hypoxic zones are defined as areas where the
oxygen level has fallen below 2 ppm. While fish swim away when levels fall below 2 ppm, other less mobile animals cannot escape and they
begin to die at around 1.5 ppm oxygen (Diaz et al. 2004). Biodiversity is thus diminished on the seabed as many animals cannot survive, even
though closer to the water surface there is still sufficient oxygen to support animal life. Oxygen depletion around the world The worldwide
distribution of coastal oxygen depletion is either centred on major population concentrations, or closely associated with developed river basins
that deliver large quantities of nutrients (Diaz et al. 2004). In
some regions, dead zones extend across vast areas, and
the problem is growing worldwide. The number of dead zones has doubled every decade since the 1960s. The United Nations
Environmental Programme estimated in 2006 that the number of dead zones has increased worldwide from 150 in 2004 to 200 in 2006—a 30%
increase in just two years (UNEP 2006). The largest dead zones are found in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea (84,000–100,000 km2 ), northern
Gulf of Mexico (21,000 km2 ), and until recently, the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea (40,000 km2 ). Smaller and less frequently occurring
areas of hypoxia occur in the northern Adriatic Sea, the south North Sea and in many US coastal and estuarine areas (Rabalais et al. 2002).
Recent research shows that hypoxic areas are now also occurring off South America, China, Japan,
southeast Australia and New Zealand. Some of the more recent registered sites appear to be in the Archipelago Sea in Finland,
the Fosu Lagoon in Ghana, the Pearl River estuary and the Yangtze River in China, and the western Indian shelf (see Figure 4) (UNEP 2006). The
UNEP map above (Figure 5) shows dead zones in the oceans as of 2003, distinguishing between persistent and temporary dead zones. For
example, some of the dead zones in the northern Gulf of Mexico are dominant from spring through to late summer, but rare in the autumn and
winter, while the dead zones in the Baltic are permanent year-around (Rabalais et al. 2002). Dead zones and fertilizers Accelerated growth of
the hypoxia zone in the Gulf of Mexico follows the exponential growth of fertilizer use beginning in the 1950s (Rabalais et al. 2002). In the
Baltic, there is clear evidence that excess use of fertilizers is associated with dead zones in bottom waters (Karlson et al. 2002). The dead zone
in the northwestern Black Sea in the 1970s and 1980s covered up to 40,000 km2 ; since then there has been some recovery, most likely due to
the reduction in use of agricultural fertilizers. This occurred as a result of the economic collapse of the former Soviet Union and declining
subsidies for fertilizers. Less fertilizer input to the Danube River was accompanied by signs of recovery of both open-water and seafloor
ecosystems of the Black Sea. By 1999, the hypoxic area receded to less than 1000 km2 . However, according to a study published in 2001, there
has been no recovery of seaweed beds and most fish stocks are still depleted (Rabalais et al. 2002). Dead zones in the Baltic and Black Sea led to
the disappearance of bottom fisheries in these areas (Diaz 2001). Biodiversity loss and jellyfish invasions Besides
the increased
frequency and severity of HABs and dead zones, nutrient overloading has been also blamed for the
disappearance of seagrass habitats and massive loss in coastal biodiversity (Diaz et al. 2004). Jellyfish invasions in coastal waters,
like recent recurrent events in the Mediterranean, Chinese river estuaries and Japan coasts, are the result of a number of factors, but nutrient
loading and eutrophication are at the root cause of the problem (Purcell et al. 2007). The consequences
of overfishing can
further exacerbate eutrophication impacts (Maranger et al. 2008). As humans continue to unsustainably exploit fisheries,
jellyfish and plankton do not have to face their usual predators and competitors, which would usually regulate their population growth.
Species extinction snowballs-jeopardizes entire planet
Center for Biological Diversity 2008 [Center for Biological Diversity, “The Extinction Crisis”,
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/]
It’s frightening but true: Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals — the
sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years. We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of
species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a natural
phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists
estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens
going extinct every day [1]. It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly
heading toward extinction by mid-century [2]. Unlike past mass extinctions, caused by events like
asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climate shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused
by us — humans. In fact, 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities,
primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, and global warming [3]. Because the rate of
change in our biosphere is increasing, and because every species’ extinction potentially leads to the extinction of
others bound to that species in a complex ecological web, numbers of extinctions are likely to
snowball in the coming decades as ecosystems unravel. Species diversity ensures ecosystem
resilience, giving ecological communities the scope they need to withstand stress. Thus while conservationists often justifiably focus their
efforts on species-rich ecosystems like rainforests and coral reefs — which have a lot to lose — a comprehensive strategy for saving
biodiversity must also include habitat types with fewer species, like grasslands, tundra, and polar seas — for which any loss could be irreversibly
devastating. And while much concern over extinction focuses on globally lost species, most of biodiversity’s benefits take place at a local level,
and conserving local populations is the only way to ensure genetic diversity critical for a species’ long-term survival. In the past 500 years, we
know of approximately 1,000 species that have gone extinct, from the woodland bison of West Virginia and Arizona’s Merriam’s elk to the
Rocky Mountain grasshopper, passenger pigeon and Puerto Rico’s Culebra parrot — but this doesn’t account for thousands of species that
disappeared before scientists had a chance to describe them [4]. Nobody really knows how many species are in danger of becoming extinct.
Noted conservation scientist David Wilcove estimates that there are 14,000 to 35,000 endangered species in the United States, which is 7 to 18
percent of U.S. flora and fauna. The IUCN has assessed roughly 3 percent of described species and identified 16,928 species worldwide as being
threatened with extinction, or roughly 38 percent of those assessed. In its latest four-year endangered species assessment, the IUCN reports
that the world won’t meet a goal of reversing the extinction trend toward species depletion by 2010 [5]. What’s
clear is that many
thousands of species are at risk of disappearing forever in the coming decades FISH Increasing demand
for water, the damming of rivers throughout the world, the dumping and accumulation of various pollutants, and
invasive species make aquatic ecosystems some of the most threatened on the planet; thus, it’s not surprising
that there are many fish species that are endangered in both freshwater and marine habitats. The American Fisheries Society identified 700
species of freshwater or anadromous fish in North America as being imperiled, amounting to 39 percent of all such fish on the continent [9]. In
North American marine waters, at least 82 fish species are imperiled. Across the globe, 1,851 species of fish — 21 percent of all fish species
evaluated — were deemed at risk of extinction by the IUCN in 2010, including more than a third of sharks and rays. INVERTEBRATES
Invertebrates, from butterflies to mollusks to earthworms to corals, are vastly diverse — and though no one knows just
how many invertebrate species exist, they’re estimated to account for about 97 percent of the total species of
animals on Earth [10]. Of the 1.3 million known invertebrate species, the IUCN has evaluated about 9,526 species, with about 30 percent
of the species evaluated at risk of extinction. Freshwater invertebrates are severely threatened by water pollution, groundwater withdrawal,
and water projects, while a large number of invertebrates of notable scientific significance have become either endangered or extinct due to
deforestation, especially because of the rapid destruction of tropical rainforests. In the ocean, reef-building corals are declining at an alarming
rate: 2008’s first-ever comprehensive global assessment of these animals revealed that a third of reef-building corals are threatened.
MAMMALS Perhaps one of the most striking elements of the present extinction crisis is the fact that the majority of our closest relatives — the
primates — are severely endangered. About 90 percent of primates — the group that contains monkeys, lemurs, lorids, galagos, tarsiers, and
apes (as well as humans) — live in tropical forests, which are fast disappearing. The IUCN estimates that almost 50 percent of the world’s
primate species are at risk of extinction. Overall, the IUCN estimates that half the globe’s 5,491 known mammals are declining in population
and a fifth are clearly at risk of disappearing forever with no less than 1,131 mammals across the globe classified as endangered, threatened, or
vulnerable. In addition to primates, marine
mammals — including several species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises — are among
those mammals slipping most quickly toward extinction.
Loss of ocean biodiversity threatens fish supply-jeopardizes millions of people around
the world
UNEP 2/16/2009 [United Nations Environment Programme, “THE ENVIRONMENTAL
FOOD CRISIS-THE ENVIRONMENT’S ROLE IN AVERTING FUTURE FOOD CRISES”, February 16, 2009,
http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/food-crisis/page/3558.aspx]
Aquaculture, freshwater and marine fisheries supply about 10% of world human calorie intake – but this is likely to decline or at
best stabilize in the future, and might have already reached the maximum. At present, marine capture fisheries
yield 110–130 million tonnes of seafood annually. Of this, 70 million tonnes are directly consumed by humans, 30 million tonnes are discarded
and 30 million tonnes converted to fishmeal. The world’s
fisheries have steadily declined since the 1980s, its magnitude
masked by the expansion of fishing into deeper and more offshore waters (Figure 10) (UNEP, 2008). Over half
of the world’s catches are caught in less than 7% of the oceans, in areas characterized by an increasing
amount of habitat damage from bottom trawling, pollution and dead zones, invasive species infestations and
vulnerability to climate change (UNEP, 2008). Eutrophication from excessive inputs of phosphorous and nitrogen through sewage and
agricultural run-off is a major threat to both freshwater and coastal marine fisheries (Anderson et al., 2008; UNEP, 2008).
Areas of the coasts that are periodically starved of oxygen, so-called ‘dead zones’, often coincide with
both high agricultural run-off (Anderson et al., 2008) and the primary fishing grounds for commercial and artisanal fisheries.
Eutrophication combined with unsustainable fishing leads to the loss or depletion of these food resources, as occurs
in the Gulf of Mexico, coastal China, the Pacific Northwest and many parts of the Atlantic, to mention a few.
FOOD FROM FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE37 Current projections for aquaculture suggest that previous growth is unlikely to be sustained in
the future as a result of limits to the availability of wild marine fish for aquaculture feed (FAO, 2008). Small pelagic fish make up 37% of the total
marine capture fisheries landings. Of this, 90% (or 27% of total landings) are processed into fishmeal and fish oil with the remaining 10% used
directly for animal feed (Alder et al., 2008). In some regions, such as in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, increase in fisheries and expansion of
cropland area have been the primary factors in increasing food supply. Indeed, fisheries are a major source of energy and protein for
impoverished coastal populations, in particular in West Africa and Southeast Asia (UNEP, 2008). Here, a
decline in fisheries will
have a major impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of hundreds of millions of people (UNEP, 2008).
Global warming dooms genetic diversity-one-third of species are at risk
Romm 9/20/2011 [Joe Romm- Senior Fellow at American Progress, holds a Ph.D. in physics from MIT,
and an Assistant Secretary of Energy, “Global Warming May Cause Far Higher Extinction of Biodiversity
Than Previously Thought”, September 20, 2011,
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/09/20/323639/global-warming-extinction-of-biodiversity/]
If global warming continues as expected, it is estimated that almost a third of all flora and fauna
species worldwide could become extinct. Scientists … discovered that the proportion of actual biodiversity loss should quite
clearly be revised upwards: by 2080, more than 80% of genetic diversity within species may disappear in certain
groups of organisms, according to researchers in the title story of the journal Nature Climate Change. The study is the first world-wide to
quantify the loss of biological diversity on the basis of genetic diversity. That’s from the news release of a study, “Cryptic biodiversity loss linked
to global climate change” (subs. req’d). The recent scientific literature continues to paint a bleak picture of what Homo ‘sapiens’ is doing to the
other species on the planet. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that “as global average temperature increase
exceeds about 3.5°C [relative to 1980 to 1999], model projections suggest significant extinctions (40-70% of species assessed) around the
globe.” That is a temperature rise over pre-industrial levels of a bit more than 4.0°C. So the 5°C rise we are facingon our current emissions
path would likely put extinctions beyond the high end of that range. Last fall, the Royal Society ran a special issue on “Biological diversity in a
changing world,” concluding “There
are very strong indications that the current rate of species extinctions far
exceeds anything in the fossil record.” I realize that the mass extinction of non-human life on this planet isn’t going to be a great
driver for human action. Most people simply don’t get that the mass extinctions we are causing could directly harm our children and
Such extinctions threaten the entire fabric of life on which we depend for
food, among other things. This may be clearest in the case of marine life — see “Geological Society
grandchildren as much as sea level rise.
(8/10): Acidifying
oceans spell marine biological meltdown “by end of century.” And then there’s the worst-case
warming blamed for 40% decline in the ocean’s
phytoplankton”:“Microscopic life crucial to the marine food chain is dying out. The consequences
scenario in Nature Stunner — “Global
could be catastrophic .” Life matters.
Here’s more from the release: Most common models on the effects of climate change on flora
and fauna concentrate on “classically” described species, in other words groups of organisms that are clearly separate from each other
morphologically. Until now, however, so-called cryptic diversity has not been taken into account. It encompasses the diversity of genetic
variations and deviations within described species, and can only be researched fully since the development of molecular-genetic methods. As
well as the diversity of ecosystems and species, these genetic variations are a central part of global biodiversity. In a pioneering study, scientists
from the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturkunde have now examined the influence
of global warming on genetic diversity within species. Over 80 percent of genetic variations may become extinct The distribution of nine
European aquatic insect species, which still exist in the headwaters of streams in many high mountain areas in Central and Northern Europe,
was modelled. They have already been widely researched, which means that the regional distribution of the inner-species diversity and the
existence of morphologically cryptic, evolutionary lines are already known. If global warming does take place in the range that is predicted by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), these creatures will be pushed back to only a few small refugia, e.g. in Scandinavia and
the Alps, by 2080, according to model calculations. If Europe’s climate warms up by up to two degrees only, eight of the species examined will
survive, at least in some areas; with an increase in temperature of 4 degrees, six species will probably survive in some areas by 2080. However,
due to the extinction of local populations, genetic diversity will decline to a much more dramatic extent. According to the most pessimistic
projections, 84 percent of all genetic variations would die out by 2080; in the “best case,” two-thirds of all genetic variations would disappear.
The aquatic insects that were examined are representative for many species of mountainous regions of Central Europe. Slim chances in the long
term for the emergence of new species and species survival Carsten Nowak of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) and the
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturkunde, explains: “Our models of future distribution show that the “species” as such will usually survive.
However, the
majority of the genetic variations, which in each case exist only in certain places, will not
survive. This means that self-contained evolutionary lineages in other regions such as the Carpathians, Pyrenees or the German Central
Uplands will be lost. Many of these lines are currently in the process of developing into separate species, but will become extinct before this is
achieved, if our model calculations are accurate.” Genetic
variation within a species is also important for adaptability
to changing habitats and climatic conditions. Their loss therefore also reduces the chances for species
survival in the long term. New approach for conservation So the extinction of species hides an ever greater loss, in the form of the
massive disappearance of genetic diversity. “The loss of biodiversity that can be expected in the course of global
warming has probably been greatly underestimated in previous studies, which have only referred to species
numbers,” says Steffen Pauls, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), of the findings. However, there is also an opportunity to use
genetic diversity in order to make conservation and environmental protection more efficient. A topic that is subject to much discussion at
present is how to deal with conservation areas under the conditions of climate change. The authors of the study urge that conservation areas
should also be oriented to places where both a suitable habitat for the species and a high degree of inner-species genetic diversity can be
preserved in the future. “It
is high time,” says Nowak, “that we see biodiversity not only as a static accumulation
of species, but rather as a variety of evolutionary lines that are in a constant state of change. The loss of one such
line, irrespective of whether it is defined today as a “species” in itself, could potentially mean a massive loss in
biodiversity in the future.”
Ocean biodiversity loss is happening at an unprecedented rates-sets the stage for
mass extinctions
Burke and Selman 6/22/2011 [Lauretta Burke and Mindy Selman, “Shocking” New Report Confirms
Threats to World’s Oceans and Reefs”, World Resource Institute, June 22, 2011,
http://www.wri.org/blog/2011/06/shocking-new-report-confirms-threats-worlds-oceans-and-reefs]
A new report on the state of the world’s oceans is gaining considerable attention this week. The report by the International
Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
warns that combined threats to oceans are creating conditions where there is “a high risk of entering
a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history.” Dr. Alex Rogers, scientific director of
the IPSO, calls the new findings “shocking.” While to some this language may seem extreme, the reality is that an unprecedented
range of threats are coming together to challenge the health of oceans and underwater life. The report identifies
the main drivers of these threats, including: climate change, overexploitation, pollution and habitat
loss. The report also finds increasing hypoxia (low oxygen levels) and anoxia (absence of oxygen, known as ocean dead
zones) along with warming oceans and increasing acidification are creating multiple stessors on the
world’s oceans – and multiple stressors are, in their words, a precondition for other mass extinction events in the
Earth’s history. The bottom line is that these combined threats– much of it caused by human activity— are
undermining the sustainability of our fragile ocean ecosystems, sea life and the value they hold. The World Resources
Institute has been working on these issues over its 30 year history— particularly focused on the threats to coral reefs and issues
around eutrophication and hypoxia (commonly referred to as “dead zones”). Coral Reefs Coral
reefs are an essential part of
ocean ecosystems – home to over 25 percent of all known species of marine life. The new IPSO report finds
that in the past 50 years, activities related to “overfishing, pollution, and unsustainable practices” have led to severe declines in
many marine species and an unprecedented level of degradation and loss of critically important habitat types such as
mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. These pressures are being compounded by global warming, which leads to coral bleaching and
related threats from ocean acidification. These findings echo themes from WRI’s recent report, Reefs at Risk Revisited, which finds that 75
percent of the world’s reefs are already at risk. WRI found that the main local pressures include overfishing, destructive
fishing and pollution are leading threats to coral reefs. Like the IPSO, WRI looked at global pressures as well, namely global warming, coral
bleaching and ocean acidification. WRI found that
unless these combined threats are turned back, more than 90
percent of coral reefs will at risk by 2030 and all the world’s reefs will be threatened by 2050 . In addition,
WRI found that in the past 10 years, threats to coral reefs increased by 30 percent – showing that the threats to
reefs are increasing both in speed and intensity. Dead Zones The new IPSO report identifies hypoxia as one of the factors
which is threatening ocean life. Last year, WRI worked with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to identify and map areas around
there world that are showing signs of eutrophication and hypoxia. The new research identified 535 low-oxygen “dead zones,” only 56 of which
can be classified as improving; an additional 248 sites worldwide were identified as areas of concern that currently exhibit signs of marine
eutrophication and are at risk of developing hypoxia. According to our analysis, the
number of eutrophic or hypoxic areas
have increased from 42 known hypoxic or eutrophic sites in 1950 to the 783 sites we’ve identified today.
This represents an 1800% increase in eutrophic and hypoxic areas over the past 60 years. Dead zones are
the result of over-fertilization of our coastal areas from sources such as runoff from agriculture, discharges from industry, and human sewage.
When a dead zone forms, oxygen in the water is severely depleted– threatening animals, plants, and other sea life with it. A
combination
of stressors from climate change, fisheries, pollution and habitat destruction are leading to more dead
zones, further comprising our oceans, including the fragile world of coral reefs.
Economy I/L
Anthropogenic dead zones causes losses of billions of dollars-hurts local economies
United Nations Development Programme 13 [United Nations Development Programme, “OCEAN
HYPOXIA – ‘DEAD ZONES’”, May 2013,
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Environment%20and%20Energy/Water%20and%20Oc
ean%20Governance/Oceans%20and%20Coastal%20Area%20Governance/OCEAN%20HYPOXIA%20ISSUE
%20BRIEF.pdf]
Its Impacts on Ecosystems and Economies During the last few decades, anthropogenic inputs of excess nutrients into the
coastal environment, from agricultural activities and wastewater, have dramatically increased the
occurrence of coastal eutrophication and hypoxia. Worldwide there are now more than 500 ‘dead
zones’ covering 250,000 km 2 with the number doubling every ten years since the 1960s. The economic costs
to fisheries, tourism and other coastal livelihoods are already in the many tens of billions of dollars annually and
will only continue to increase in the ‘business as usual’ scenario
phosphorus, fuels
phytoplankton growth
water with the warmer less salty estuarine water forms a lens above the denser, more salty, colder water on the bottom layers of the ocean,
reducing the circulation of oxygen-rich surface water to lower levels. Effects: Hypoxia
Has Caused Major Changes in
Structure and Functions of Ecosystems
trophic rela
Decrease in biodiversity and species richness
Increase in harmful and noxious algal blooms
Dead zones hurt the both the environment and the economy
Boyd and Pierce 10 [Christopher A. Boyd-Assistant Extension Professor, Coastal Research and Extension
Center, Troy Pierce, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Program Office, “The Hypoxic
Zone in the Gulf of Mexico “, 2010, http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2583.pdf]
The Hypoxic Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and What It Means to You. Since at least the 1950s, a zone of low dissolved oxygen has been forming in
the northern Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Occurring primarily in the summer, this zone stretches from the Birdfoot
Delta in Louisiana westward to the upper Texas coastline (Figure 1). This zone of low oxygen is called the hypoxic zone, or more commonly, the
“dead zone.” “Hypoxic” means there are extremely low levels of oxygen in the water that can harm ocean animals. When the water is hypoxic,
ocean animals cannot breathe. Shrimp, crabs, and bottom-dwelling fish are most at risk of oxygen depletion and possible death because low
oxygen levels are usually closer to the bottom. This
dead zone creates both environmental and economic
consequences, including reduced commercial and recreational fish harvest; increased fuel costs for boats having
to travel outside of the low-oxygen zone to find fish, shrimp, and crabs; and changes in species composition. The hypoxic zone
varies in size each year; it has been as large as the state of Massachusetts (more than 8,000 square miles). The northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic
zone is the second largest in the world. Hypoxic zones have been measured worldwide since the 1980s. The hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf
of Mexico is located in the most productive commercial and recreational fishery in the contiguous United States. According to the National
Ocean Economics Program, the commercial
domestic landings for the Gulf of Mexico weighed in at more than 1.4 billion
pounds valued at greater than $689 million in 2007. The hypoxic zone is created when nutrients such as nitrogen,
phosphorous, and organic carbon enter the Gulf of Mexico in amounts too great for the normal food chain to use or break down. The nutrients
enter with freshwater inflow from the Mississippi River watershed (Figure 2). The Mississippi River watershed includes 31 states and two
Canadian provinces. The runoff from the watershed is essential for maintaining productive fisheries, marshes, and barrier islands. However,
excessive nutrients and organic matter can potentially decrease the biological diversity of this region. The principal
human contributing factor that increases nutrient supply is stormwater runoff from cities and lawns, sewer treatment facilities, industry, and
agriculture. Figure 4. Low oxygen event along the shores of Mobile Bay, Alabama.Sources of Pollution There are two main types of pollution
that enter the Mississippi River watershed: point and nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution is well-defined effluent discharged by
way of a pipe, channel, or conduit (Figure 5). The major point source contributors are municipal sewage plants, power plants, paper mills, feed
lots, textile mills, and mineral mining areas. Non-point source pollution is storm water runoff that accumulates pollution from a broad area.
Nonpoint source pollution is caused by urban, agricultural, and construction runoff, and air pollution (Figure 6). Increased levels
of
nitrogen and phosphorus from point and non-point pollution can produce algae blooms. Soil erosion into streams
and rivers increases turbidity (cloudy water), reduces water depth, and smothers benthic species. Increased amounts of organic matter from
leaf particles and dead plant material will increase microbial activity, which can further increase demand for oxygen. Point sources of pollution
are regulated through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). A permit is required, and the water often must be treated
in order for its quality to comply with NPDES permit limitations before it is discharged. Nonpoint source pollution is harder to regulate because
it is difficult to define its source and to improve regulations on parties responsible for it. Best management practices tend to be incorporated
into agricultural, construction, and other sectors’ business plans. The best way to work with homeowners is through environmental education
to assure they understand the possible environmental impacts of products they use in their lawns and gardens. Figure 5. Point source pollution.
Figure 6. Non-point source pollution.
Fisheries I/L
Dead Zones threaten to kill fisheries in populated areas because of the oxygen
depletion
Clayton, Mark. "'Dead Zones' Threaten Fisheries." Questia Trusted Online Research. Questia, 27 May
2004. Web. 15 July 2014.
In midsummer, the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi River empties into it, may shimmer
like any other swath of sea. But a few score feet below, bottom-dwelling fish and other creatures
struggle just to breathe.¶ This area - one of the world's biggest coastal "dead zones" - is rapidly being
joined by a growing number of "hypoxic," or oxygen- depleted areas around the world. At least 146
such zones have been documented through 2000 - from the northern Adriatic Sea to the Gulf of
Thailand to the Yellow Sea, according to a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report released
in March. And their number has been doubling every decade since 1960, it adds. At risk: coastal
fisheries near the most populous regions.¶ A handful of efforts are under way that could mitigate the
effects. But because of lag times involved, the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better.¶ "I'm
convinced this is going to be the biggest environmental issue in the aquatic marine realm in the 21st
century," says Robert Diaz, a marine biologist and professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science,
who coauthored the study undergirding the UNEP report. "It won't take too much for these annual
lower-oxygen events to expand throughout the year and actually eliminate fisheries."¶ Dead zones
often grow where populations grow. But the real driver is the spread of nitrogen, many observers say,
caused by runoff of nitrogen-based fertilizers, sewage outflows, and nitrogen deposits from burning
fossil fuels. Some waters remain oxygen-depleted year- around. In other waters, the problem appears
periodically.¶ In the northern Gulf of Mexico, one of the best-known and best- studied dead zones,
hypoxia occurs seasonally from April to September. The zone's size depends on the weather and how
much flow the Mississippi brings each year. Its waters are laden with fertilizer runoff from farms and
lawns across the Midwest. Sewage and fossil-fuel emissions exhaust (from power plants and autos) are
also factors, says a 1999 University of Alabama study sponsored by the fertilizer industry.
Fisheries are necessary for 16% of the world’s food; loss of fisheries would be
disastrous.
Reichert, Joshua S. "A World without Fisheries?" Seattlepi.com. Seattle Pi, 22 Jan. 2002. Web. 15 July
2014.
For decades, the operating assumption among marine biologists, fishery managers and policymakers has
been that the world's catch of ocean fish has been rising, and that fisheries were keeping pace with
increased demand from a growing global population.¶ The assumption was based entirely on statistics
gathered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the international agency that tracks
such numbers. It now appears the assumption is wrong.¶ In fact, as was recently reported in the science
publication Nature, the opposite has been true. Since the late 1980s the world's fish catch actually has
been declining by about 800 million pounds per year rather than increasing by 700 million pounds as
was previously reported. Not only are we exceeding the ocean's capacity to provide fish, but if current
trends continue, within two or three decades many of the world's commercial fisheries will be
extinguished.¶ To compile its annual list of the world's fish catch, the FAO relies on numbers provided by
individual countries. For years these numbers showed that the world's catch was rising slowly. What
authors of the Nature study found, however, was that China was significantly overreporting the size of
its annual catch.¶ In China, the centralized socialist system rewards officials with promotions on the basis
of reported production increases, thereby providing an incentive to report ever higher catch levels. Once
the Chinese catch statistics were adjusted for accuracy, it turns out that the global catch is actually
declining, and that for years we have been catching more fish than the oceans can replace.¶ Earlier in
this century, the bulk of the world's fishing focused on species high in the food chain -- tuna, cod,
swordfish, hake and salmon. Many of these fisheries, such as North Atlantic cod, are severely depleted.
The loss of the cod fishery in New England and the maritime provinces of Canada provides a textbook
example of fishery mismanagement. The decline of this fishery, which resulted in the loss of thousands
of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, was due to the unwillingness of both the U.S. and
Canadian governments to reduce fishing quotas in the face of scientific evidence that stocks were
collapsing.¶ As cod and other species have declined, fishing fleets around the world have turned their
attention to the more abundant species lower on the food chain. Boats have targeted the enormous
populations of schooling forage fish such as capelin and menhaden, which are primarily used for
fishmeal to feed chickens, pigs and other domestic animals. Now, however, even these populations of
smaller fish, which are critical to the marine food web, are declining.¶ The collapse of the world's
fisheries is more than an environmental disaster. At present, more than 54 million people worldwide
earn their living directly from fishing. Unless steps are taken soon to address the problem of
overfishing, a great many of these people will lose the livelihood upon which they and their families
depend.¶ The implications for global food security are even more serious. Fish provide 16 percent of
the animal protein consumed by people worldwide. In many developing countries, the percentage is
higher. In Asia, for example, fish represent 26 percent of the continent's animal protein intake. In Africa,
the figure is 17 percent. (In North and Central America, by contrast, the figure is just 7 percent.) At
present rates, scientists project that by 2020 the per-capita consumption of ocean fish will be half of
what it was in 1988. Significant reductions of such a crucial protein source from the diet of billions of
people worldwide will exacerbate problems of malnutrition, disease and political unrest.¶
AT: Artificial Wastelands CP
Artificial wastelands are unsuccessful in replicating the processes of natural wetlandsmaking them failures for performing necessary runoff filtration.
Schneider, Keith. "Michigan Land Use Institute." Guess What! Fake Wetlands Don't Work :. Michigan
Land Use Institute, 1 Aug. 2001. Web. 15 July 2014. <http://www.mlui.org/mlui/news-views/articlesfrom-1995-to-2012.html?archive_id=45#.U8XVjo1dXVs>.
Destroy a natural wetland for a new shopping center? Don’t worry, developers say. State law can require builders to construct an artificial
wetland somewhere else that will work just as well.¶ According to a remarkably candid internal audit, however,
the Department of
Environmental Quality says artificial wetlands don’t work and the state program for overseeing them is a mess. The
DEQ’s conclusions about the shortcomings of artificial wetlands are consistent with many other
studies that have found manmade wetlands simply do not replace the biological and ecological values
of natural wetlands. Rarely, though, has a state agency been as straightforward in assessing the weaknesses of its practices and
procedures for wetland protection.¶ Don’t count on it¶ The internal audit, by DEQ water quality specialist Robert Zibciak, revealed how far
Michigan’s wetland protection program has strayed from its mission of keeping Michigan’s wetlands — nature’s kidneys — functioning. Mr.
Zibciak reviewed 78 permit applications and resulting state orders to build 158 artificial wetlands in 33 counties. His investigation found:¶ • 71
percent of the artificial wetlands were biological failures.¶ • 14 percent of the artificial wetlands the state ordered never
were built.¶ • One in five artificial wetlands were so poorly constructed that they actually caused more erosion than they prevented. ¶ • Only a
third of the companies required to monitor their artificial wetlands actually did.¶ • State
inspectors consider just one in five of
the artificial wetlands to be “successful.”¶ In response to the report’s findings, the DEQ released a statement citing
improvements in its wetland program and blaming previous administrations for weaknesses in enforcing the wetlands law, as well as belowaverage precipitation during the study period. The report’s author, however, said the agency’s new steps did not work and that the program’s
weaknesses were due largely to the DEQ’s overall goal of encouraging economic development at the expense of environmental protection.¶
Campaign promise¶ The rush to satisfy permit applicants comes at the expense of wetland protection, according to the report. “The emphasis is
to issue the permits as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Zibciak’s report. Taking the time to gather all the facts “would be very unpopular with the
regulated community and unlikely to be acceptable to MDEQ management.Ӧ The 1979 wetland law requires the state to issue permits within
90 days. Before Governor John Engler took office in 1991, according to the report, state regulators interpreted the law to mean that the clock
began ticking only after they had received a complete application — one with all relevant information from developers. Builders grew
frustrated, and complaints about the slow pace of wetland permitting escalated. Mr. Engler campaigned on a message of making government
more responsive to its constituents and speeding up the permitting process. Russell Harding, the DEQ’s director, took the campaign promise to
heart.¶ Enforcement nightmare¶ According to a September 2000 draft of the internal audit that the Michigan Environmental Council obtained,
the DEQ’s front office advised staff members to issue wetland development permits within 90 days irrespective of whether the applicant had
submitted all necessary information. The DEQ generally issues such permits on condition that the applicant provide the missing information
later, typically within 90 more days.¶ But the state never follows up in most cases on those conditions, Mr. Zibciak reports. The result is a
“department-created” enforcement nightmare. “Permit violators that receive no follow-up contact from the MDEQ regulatory staff are sent a
clear message by this inaction,” the draft report reads. “That message being that the MDEQ
will not follow up on their project,
and compliance with their MDEQ permit can be a low priority item or ignored altogether.”
AT: Fertilizer Regulation CP
Runoff regulation won’t solve- enforcement is too expensive and imprecise, and
farmers can easily circumvent restrictions through unregistered trading.
American Farmland Trust. [Organization that has issued agricultural studies and reports since
1980] "Controlling Nutrient Runoff on Farms." (n.d.): n. pag. Farmland.org. American Farmland Trust,
Aug. 2013. Web. 16 July 2014. <http://www.farmland.org/documents/FINALControllingNutrientRunoffonFarms.pdf>.
Direct regulation of agricultural water pollution is difficult, if not impossible ¶ The possibility of
directly regulating farms and ranches to reduce NPS has been ¶ proposed numerous times, but social,
geographic, economic and political factors make ¶ that difficult, if not impossible. Perhaps the most famous example of the
failure of ¶ regulations to control agricultural NPS at a national level was the 1987 attempt in The ¶ Netherlands to regulate and set standards for agricultural nutrient usage (Haskell 2007). ¶ They
mandated that all farms maintain government-approved nutrient management ¶ plans and included
recordkeeping requirements, taxes on excess manure production ¶ and manure banks. It failed for a number of reasons.
They focused on livestock ¶ operations but left cropland virtually unaffected. The restrictions on manure were ¶ unenforceable because
transactions would often go unreported. Informal black-markets¶ facilitated the purchase of manure
from nearby farms. And it was too expensive to ¶ observe manure application and measuring nutrient
loss on a farm-by-farm basis was ¶ too imprecise to legally justify penalties. On the other hand, Denmark also enacted ¶ nutrient
management legislation in the 1980s and apparently got the mix right. By ¶ coupling regulatory requirements with incentives, from 1980 to 2006, they decreased ¶ their national surpluses of N and P by 41 percent and 62 percent
respectively. Total N ¶ concentrations in 48 streams draining agricultural watersheds decreased significantly ¶ but total P concentrations did not (attributed to legacy P and its resilience in water ¶ bodies) (Maguire et al. 2009). ¶
Direct regulation of nutrient runoff from farms is highly
unlikely in the U nited S tates ¶ (Williams 2002). The geographic dimensions make “federally designed, nationally ¶
uniform technology based performance and emissions standards” difficult to implement ¶ without a
marked increase in budgeting for individual farm permitting, monitoring and ¶ enforcement. Local
variations in weather, soil salinity, and soil erosion potential, ¶ leaching potential, and freshwater availability present further challenges to an effective ¶
national regulatory regime. Variations in crop type, production practices, livestock type ¶ and
concentration, use of irrigation, tillage practices, sediment runoff and fertilizer runoff ¶ all contribute
to the difficulty of “one size fits all” regulation. Social factors like proximity ¶ to metropolitan area, and surrounding land use also influence farm practices. EPA
has ¶ noted that a program of this breadth would make it very difficult to implement and ¶ enforce
regulations. ¶ ¶ The economic dimensions of agriculture also pose barriers to regulation. Agriculture in ¶ the United States has vast economic value, yet is dispersed widely across the country ¶ and by landowner.
Faced with the rising costs of inputs and equipment, the farm ¶ industry is quickly consolidating.
Increased environmental regulation of farms may ¶ reduce their economic viability due to compliance
costs. And the political dimensions, ¶ mentioned earlier, that make regulation of agriculture difficult include a
consolidated ¶ voting block, strong lobbying and political pressure.
¶ Geography, economics and politics make direct regulation of agricultural nutrient ¶ runoff unlikely ¶
Discontinuing use of fertilizers would be disastrous- necessary for food production
IFDC. "How Have Fertilizers Benefited the World?" Fertilizer FAQs. IFDC, n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.
<http://www.ifdc.org/media_center/fertilizer_faqs/>.
About half of the world’s population is alive today because of increased food production fueled by
mineral fertilizers. Fertilizers and other inputs (improved seed and crop protection products) give the
industrialized countries inexpensive food. For example, the average U.S. farm feeds about 150
Americans for a year, with a balance to export worldwide. U.S. citizens spend only about 10 cents of
each dollar on food, so they have 90 cents for other things. Most rural families in Africa spend as much
as three-fourths of their income on food. Little is left for necessities such as education of children and
health care.¶ The Green Revolution – which generated dramatic increases in food production in Asia
and Latin America – occurred because of higher crop yields. These yields were made possible through
the use of improved seeds and inputs, particularly mineral fertilizers. The Green Revolution is credited
with feeding more than one billion people in Asia alone. The far lower increases in food production in
Africa have been gained primarily by bringing marginal land into production. That further threatens
Africa’s endangered wildlife and ecosystems.¶ The late Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, often called
the “father of the Green Revolution,” has called improved seeds the “catalysts that ignited the Green
Revolution” and mineral fertilizer [is] the “fuel” that powers [the Green Revolution] it.
AT: Oxygen Pumps CP
Oxygen pumps increase carbon emissions by preventing carbon sequestration.
Carlyle, Ryan. "Have There Ever Been Attempts To Oxygenate Ocean Waters Considered Dead
Zones?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 July 2014.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/12/12/have-there-ever-been-attempts-to-oxygenateocean-waters-considered-dead-zones/>.
Marine life does tend to avoid the hypoxic zones, but it’s not a straightforward effect. Dead zones
directly decrease Texas shrimp catches, but much less so for Louisiana shrimp catches. The difference is
thought to be because the different shrimping seasons catch shrimp at different points in the lifecycle —
Louisiana juvenile shrimp move closer to land avoid the hypoxic zone, thus increasing the concentration
in shallow trawling regions and therefore fishing yields. On net, dead zones are bad for commercial
fishing, but in complex ways.¶ “Dead” zones are arguably better than open ocean, which is nearly
lifeless due to lack of nutrients and thus has the opposite problem. If we could transport the excess
nutrients away from the coast and to the open ocean, they would be good for the environment. The
main issue with eutrophication is that human activity has expanded it beyond the natural level. It tends
to encroach into productive fisheries and affect high-productivity shelf zones.¶ Deeper water tends to be
less productive anyway, so reducing seafloor oxygen is kind of a mixed bag. Deposition of organic
matter onto the seafloor in anoxic conditions is a major natural form of carbon sequestration — it is
the source of the majority of the world’s oil deposits. So injecting oxygen to prevent dead zones could
have unintended consequences by releasing additional carbon back into the environment.¶ So, it’s a
complex subject. We don’t entirely know what will happen if we inject oxygen into dead zones. It could
dramatically increase ecosystem productivity, or it could have far-reaching unintended consequences.
I’m glad it’s being studied on a small scale for now.
Water Wars Advantage
1AC Water Wars Advantage
There’s a global water crisis now---shortages will only get worse
William Wheeler, DECEMBER 2, 2012 Global water crisis: too little, too much, or lack of a plan? The Christian science monitor.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2012/1202/Global-water-crisis-too-little-too-much-or-lack-of-a-plan. Accessed 7/15/14
Contributor
Water is a part of everything we do: It feeds crops, powers cities, cools computer servers, and is key to
the manufacturing of everything from clothes to cars. The billion more people expected on the planet
by 2025 will increase water demand for all of those functions. And just to feed those people, water
withdrawals for agriculture are expected to increase by about half. But it's not only about the
additional mouths to feed; it's also the growth of new appetites. Much of the growth in demand will
emerge from the swelling sprawl of bustling, slum-pocked metropolises across the developing world.
For the first time in history, the share of the global population living in cities recently surpassed 50
percent – on its way to 75 percent expected by 2050. With each step up the economic ladder, people
demand more water for sanitation, industry, hydroelectric power, and water-intensive diets – such as
preferring beef to wheat, a shift that requires 10 times as much water per kilogram to produce. Urbanrural competition for water has already pushed countries to import grains – "virtual water" – or, in the
case of wealthier countries like China, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, to lease land in developing
countries. By 2030, the Water Resources Group forecasts, global water requirements may outstrip
sustainable use by 40 percent. And almost half the world's people will be living under severe water
stress, predicts the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Already, water
stress – where the reliable water supply is being used up more quickly than it can be replenished – is
widespread and is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead, particularly in North Africa,
theMiddle East, and Asia. By 2050, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, 1 in 5
developing countries will face water shortages.
Algae is key to effective desal
Algae Biodiesel An Interactive Qualifying Project Report submitted to the Faculty of WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Submitted by: Lauren
D’Elia, Andrew Keyser, Craig Young, Date:
2010
October 14,
https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-101610-134209/unrestricted/AlgaeIQP10-11-2010[all][final].pdf accessed 7/14/14
Algenol Biofuels uses technology that produces fuel from algae without killing or harvesting the
creatures which allows for a shorter turnaround time to make fuel. They claim that they have the
potential to produce 1 billion gallons of ethanol per year by 2012 with a gallon costing about 85 cents
[18] . According to a corporate presentation on the company’s website, their method, know as Direct to
EthanolTM Technology, uses photosynthesis to initiate the natural enzymes found in blue-green algae
that convert sugars directly to ethanol (Figure 3) [19] . The method involves a marine strain of algae
and therefore can use seawater, recycles CO2 from industrial plants, and can be built on non-arable
land that cannot be used for anything else needed for the US economy. Plus, for every 2 gallons of
seawater consumed through the process, 1 gallon of fuel is produced along with 1 gallon of
freshwater which could in effect help the global clean water crisis though distillation of the ethanol
from water would be an added expense for the new company.
Desalination provides virtually inexhaustible sources of water
Suzanne Taylor MuzzinAugust 4, 2011Better Desalination Technology Would Help Solve World's
Water Shortage Yale News. http://news.yale.edu/2011/08/04/better-desalination-technology-wouldhelp-solve-worlds-water-shortage. Accessed 7/15/14. Yale Spokeswoman
Over one-third of the world’s population already lives in areas struggling to keep up with the demand
for fresh water. By 2025, that number will nearly double. Some countries have met the challenge by
tapping into natural sources of fresh water, but as many examples – such as the much-depleted Jordan
River – have demonstrated, many of these practices are far from sustainable. A new Yale University
study argues that seawater desalination should play an important role in helping combat worldwide
fresh water shortages once conservation, reuse and other methods have been exhausted. The study
also provides insights into how desalination technology can be made more affordable and energy
efficient. “The globe’s oceans are a virtually inexhaustible source of water, but the process of removing
its salt is expensive and energy intensive,” said Menachem Elimelech, a professor of chemical and
environmental engineering at Yale and lead author of the study, which appears in the Aug. 5 issue of the
journal Science. Reverse osmosis – forcing seawater through a membrane that filters out the salt – is the
leading method for seawater desalination in the world today. For years, scientists have focused on
increasing the membrane’s water flux using novel materials, such as carbon nanotubes, to reduce the
amount of energy required to push water through it. In the new study, Elimelech and William Phillip,
now at the University of Notre Dame, demonstrate that reverse osmosis requires a minimum amount
of energy that cannot be overcome, and that current technology is already starting to approach that
limit. Instead of higher water flux membranes, Elimelech and Phillip suggest that the real gains in
efficiency can be made during the pre- and post-treatment stages of desalination. Seawater contains
naturally occurring organic and particulate matter that must be filtered out before it passes through the
membrane that removes the salt. Chemical agents are added to the water to clean it and help coagulate
this matter for easier removal during a pre-treatment stage. But if a membrane didn’t build up organic
matter on its surface, most if not all pre-treatment could be avoided, according to the scientist’s
findings. In addition, Elimelech and Phillip calculate that a membrane capable of filtering out boron and
chloride would result in substantial energy and cost savings. Seventy percent of the world’s water is
used in agriculture, but water containing even low levels of boron and chloride – minerals that naturally
occur in seawater – cannot be used for these purposes. Instead of removing them during a separate
post-treatment stage, the scientists believe a membrane could be developed that would filter them
more efficiently at the same time as the salt is removed. Elimelech cautions that desalination should
only be considered a last resort in the effort to provide fresh water to the world’s populations and
suggests that long-term research is needed to determine the impact of seawater desalination on the
aquatic environment, but believes that desalination has a major role to play now and in the future. “All
of this will require new materials and new chemistry, but we believe this is where we should focus our
efforts going forward,” Elimelech said. “The problem of water shortage is only going to get worse, and
we need to be ready to meet the challenge with improved, sustainable technology.”
Water shortages cause global resource wars
Ramussen 11 (Erik Rasmussen is the founder of Sustainia and CEO of Monday Morning –Scandinavia’s leading independent think tank. “Prepare for the Next Conflict: Water Wars” 04/12/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erik-rasmussen/water-wars_b_844101.html)
We are terrifyingly fast consuming one of the most important and perishable resources of the planet - our water. Global water use has tripled over the last 50 years. The World Bank reports that 80
countries now have water shortages with more than 2.8 billion people living in areas of high water
stress. This is expected to rise to 3.9 billion -- more than half of the world's population -- by 2030 in a
'business as usual'-scenario. The status as of today is sobering: the planet is facing a 'water bankruptcy' and we
are facing a gloomy future where the fight for the 'blue gold' is king .For years experts have set out warnings of how
the earth will be affected by the water crises, with millions dying and increasing conflicts over dwindling resources.
They have proclaimed -- in line with the report from the US Senate -- that the water scarcity is a security
issue, and that it will yield political stress with a risk of international water wars. This has been reflected in the
oft-repeated observation that water will likely replace oil as a future cause of war between nations .¶ Today the first
glimpses of the coming water wars are emerging. Many countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia - e.g. Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Kenya, Egypt, and India -- are already feeling the direct
consequences of the water scarcity -- with the competition for water leading to social unrest, conflict
and migration. This month the escalating concerns about the possibility of water wars triggered calls
by Zafar Adeel, chair of UN-Water, for the UN to promote "hydro-diplomacy" in the Middle East and
North Africa in order to avoid or at least manage emerging tensions over access to water. ¶ The gloomy
outlook of our global fresh water resources points in the direction that the current conflicts and
instability in these countries are only glimpses of the water wars expected to unfold in the future. Thus
we need to address the water crisis that can quickly escalate and become a great humanitarian crisis and also a global safety problem.
1AC Water Wars California Module
California is having a water crisis now---the current drought is crushing its economy
Howard, Brian Clark. "California Report Warns of Worsening Economic Impacts of Drought." National
Geographic. National Geographic Society, 15 July 2014. Web. 18 July 2014.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140715-california-drought-economic-impacts/>.
A new scientific and economic report commissioned by California's state government warns that the
ongoing drought crisis will cost billions in lost farm revenue and thousands of jobs , although wider impacts on
the national food system are unlikely. The report also outlines ways officials could act now to avoid the worst effects of the drought.
California's drought is now in its third year and is expected to worsen, thanks to record high
temperatures and a low snowpack in the state's mountains. Nearly 80 percent of the state is now in
what scientists call "extreme or exceptional" drought, which has caused the state water control board to call for
mandatory water restrictions in urban areas and for some holders of agricultural water rights. (See "Storms Get Headlines, but Drought Is a
Sneaky, Devastating Game-Changer.")¶ In the midst of this drought crisis, California's Department of Food and Agriculture commissioned a
report from scientists and economists at the University of California, Davis. In a press event announcing the report Tuesday, co-author Richard
Howitt warned that
the state is "running down our bank account [of stored water]."¶ Howitt, a UC Davis professor
economy is expected to lose a total of $2.2
billion this year as a result of the drought.¶ "What really hurts is we're losing 17,100 jobs," said Howitt. Most
emeritus of agricultural and natural resource economics, said California's
of those jobs are seasonal and part-time work in the Central and San Joaquin Valleys.¶ "They are mostly from the sector of society that is least
able to roll with the punches," Howitt added. "There
are pockets of extreme deprivation where they are out of
water and out of jobs... There are going to be more pockets of pain and poverty."¶ According to the UC Davis
report, the state's agricultural sector faces a net water shortage of 1.6 million acre-feet this year, which
will cause losses of $810 million in crop revenue and $203 million in lost dairy and other livestock
value, plus additional groundwater pumping costs of $454 million. These direct costs to agriculture
total $1.5 billion. When the job losses are factored in, the total economic impact to the state economy
is estimated to be $2.2 billion.¶ Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said at the press
briefing that the purpose of the report is to "figure out how to survive droughts better." She said the state government had been surprised by
the impact a smaller drought in 2009 had on seasonal farm workers in Fresno County, when food banks were overwhelmed by those seeking
assistance.¶ Which Crops Are Affected?¶ Despite the California drought, Howitt said most consumers around the country aren't likely to notice
any significant impacts on food prices or availability this year. Many of California's important vegetable crops will continue to be watered by
groundwater, although he notes that there is growing concern about the long-term viability of that arrangement.¶ Citrus crops are likely to be
affected but, Howitt added, "don't worry, your Napa wines will be just fine, as will Monterey wines."¶ Ross said California's growers have been
able to increase their productivity by 80 percent over the past five decades in part because they had been ramping up their water efficiency.
About half of the state's producers already use some kind of precision water technology, either drip irrigation or targeting sprinklers.¶ Even so,
Ross says, "I think we will continue to see a tradeoff that farmers and ranchers are making, with more
people giving up annual
crops like cotton, feed grains, and oilseed crops because they are trying to put their water into the
highest value crops."¶ Those crops include perennials that grow on trees like almonds, walnuts, and pomegranates, which yield
particularly high values per unit of water. About a third of the state's land is currently devoted to such "permanent" tree crops, and Howitt said
he expects that percentage will increase as a result of the drought.¶ At the other end of the spectrum, prices for alfalfa hay have shot up 40
percent because of the drought. The increase hasn't affected consumer prices for milk because grain prices have been low, says Howitt, and
dairy cows eat more grains than hay. Still, the dairy industry is expected to take a hit, as reflected by the report's numbers. (See "Exporting the
Colorado River to Asia, Through Hay.")¶ Drought Solutions?¶ Report co-author Jay Lund said chances
are good that the drought
may continue into next year. While some people have looked to this year's El Niño as a potential savior, "it's probably not relevant
to northern California for this drought," says Lund, "and that's where most of our water comes from."¶ Lund, who serves as director of the UC
Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, said drought in California "is inevitable." According to him, what's needed is a "portfolio approach of
solutions." Those solutions must include short-term relief, not just massive projects that would take years to come online, such as desalination
plants or new pipelines from far-off places.¶ In response to the crisis, California's government is taking a number of steps, said Ross, including
pushing conservation, increasing efficiency, investing in new infrastructure to safely recycle used water, and increasing storage capacity. (See "5
Dramatic Ways California Is Tackling Drought.")¶ Currently two bills before the state legislature would reform how groundwater use is
regulated. Right now, property owners can take as much water as they can extract. The
agricultural sector is making up 75
percent of its water shortage by increasing groundwater pumping.¶ Howitt said the state needs to
start tracking groundwater use, as its Western neighbors already do. He noted that in areas where
farmers can practically sell water to each other, prices have tripled over the past few years,
contributing to some hard choices.¶ Peter Gleick, a water expert at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, has publicly called recent water
actions too little, too late. He told National Geographic in May, "It is the third year of the drought, and we did not act in the first two years as
though anything was abnormal."¶
The fundamental problem remains that California's water has been
overcommitted, says Gleick, while the state's population continues to rise and the economy continues
to grow.
Desalination Can solve California’s Water Crisis
Bryan Walsh .Feb. 14, 2014, California’s Farmers Need Water. Is Desalination the Answer?. Time. http://time.com/7357/californiadrought-debate-over-desalination/. Accessed 7/16/14. Qual: I'm a senior writer for TIME magazine, covering energy and the environment—and
also, occasionally, scary diseases. Previously I was the Tokyo bureau chief for TIME, and reported from Hong Kong on health, the environment
and the arts. I live in Brooklyn @bryanrwalsh
As it happens, California sits next to the biggest source of water in the world: the Pacific Ocean. The
problem, of course, is that seawater is far too salty to drink or use for irrigation. Desalination plants
can get around that, using large amounts of electricity to force seawater through a membrane filter,
which removes the salt and other impurities, producing fresh water. There are already half a dozen
desalination plants in California, and around 300 in the U.S., but the technology has been held back by
cost and by environmental concerns. A $1 billion desalination plant capable of producing 50 million
gallons of water a day is being built in the California town of Carlsbad, but San Diego will be buying
water from the facility for about $2,000 per acre-foot, twice as much as the city generally pays for
imported water, while producing enough water for 112,000 households. Desalination can have a major
carbon footprint—the Carlsbad plant will use about 5,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to produce an
acre-foot of water. And because desalination plants in general needs about 2 gallons of seawater to
produce a gallon of fresh water, there’s a lot of highly salty brine left over, which has to be disposed of
in the ocean, where it can pose a threat to marine life. Still, while efficiency and conservation will always
be lower cost and lower impacts solutions to any water crisis, it’s hard not to see desalination playing a
bigger and bigger role in California’s efforts to deal with lingering drought. The process of desalination
is improving—the Carlsbad plant uses reverse osmosis technology, which is more energy efficient and
environmentally friendly than older methods —and it has the advantage of being completely droughtproof. In a world where water is more valuable and more valued, desalination can begin to make
more sense. “Desalination needs to be judged fairly against the other alternatives,” says Avshalom
Felber, the CEO of IDE Technologies, an Israeli company that is helping to construct the Carlsbad plant. If
desalination could be powered by renewable energy, some of those environmental concerns would melt
away. And that’s what a startup called WaterFX is trying to do in the parched Central Valley. While
farmers in the valley generally depend on irrigated water brought in from hundreds of miles away, the
land itself isn’t short of groundwater. But most of that water is far too salty for use in farming.
WaterFX’s technology uses a solar thermal trough—curved mirrors that concentrate the power of the
sun—to evaporate salty water. The condensate that’s later collected and cooled becomes freshwater,
leaving salt and other impurities behind. “Solar stills are an old technology, but this has a new twist that
makes it very efficient and very cost effective,” says Aaron Mandell, the CEO of WaterFX. Because it uses
solar power, WaterFX’s desalination has virtually no carbon footprint, and the company says that it has a
93% recovery rate, much higher than conventional desalination. But its biggest advantage might be its
modularity—Water FX’s solar stills can be set up locally, allowing farms to recycle their own runoff,
rather than having freshwater pumped in from afar. That saves energy and money. “You can create a
closed loop where the water is reused over and over again,” says Mandell. Right now the company is
working on a pilot with the Panoche Water District in the Central Valley, producing almost 500 gallons of
clean water a day. WaterFX has plans to expand to a commercial plant with a 2 million gallon capacity.
Of course, the technology would have to be scaled up massively to even make a dent in California’s
irrigation needs, given that the state sends billions and billions of gallons of water to farms each year.
But if California really is on the edge of a great dry, every drop will help .
California’s economy is key to the US economy
Sabloff, Nicholas. "California's Ailing Economy Could Prolong US
Recession." Associatedpress.com. Associated Press, 29 June 2009. Web. 19 July 2014.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California faces a $24 billion budget shortfall, an eye-popping amount that dwarfs many states' entire annual spending
plans.¶ Beyond California's borders, why should anyone care that the home of Google and the Walt Disney Co. might stop paying its bills this
week?¶ Virtually
all states are suffering in the recession, some worse than California. But none has the
economic horsepower of the world's eighth-largest economy, home to one in eight Americans.¶
California accounts for 12 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and the largest share of
retail sales of any state. It also sends far more in tax revenue to the federal government than it
receives _ giving a dollar for every 80 cents it gets back _ which means Californians are keeping social programs afloat
across the country.¶ While the deficit only affects the state, California's deepening economic malaise could make it harder for the entire
nation's economy to recover.¶ When the state stumbles, its sheer size _ 38.3 million people _ creates fallout for businesses from Texas to
Michigan.¶ "California
is the key catalyst for U.S. retail sales, and if California falls further you will see the
U.S. economy suffer significantly," said retail consultant Burt P. Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group. He
warned of more bankruptcies of national retail chains and brand suppliers.¶ Even if California lawmakers solve the deficit
quickly, there will likely be more government furloughs and layoffs and tens of billions of dollars in
spending cuts. That will ripple through the state economy, sowing fear of even more job losses.¶ Californians have
already been scaling back for months as the state's unemployment rate has climbed to a record 11.5 percent in May. Increases to the income,
sales and vehicle license taxes approved by lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in February acted as a further drag on spending.¶
Personal income declined in California in 2008 for the first time since the Great Depression, and income tax revenue fell by 34 percent during
the first five months of this year.¶ The decrease in spending is especially evident in automobiles. California is the nation's largest single auto
market, and sales are down 40 percent from last year. Auto dealers see little hope of a quick turnaround, especially after a 1 percentage point
increase in the state sales tax and hike of the vehicle license fee.¶ State agencies also canceled contracts for hundreds of new vehicles,
retroactive to March, said Brian Maas, director of government affairs for the California New Car Dealers Association.¶ Because
California's
$1.7 trillion annual economy is so important, the state's treasurer has asked for federal help _ in the form of a guarantee that
would allow California and other states to take out short-term loans at lower interest rates.¶ A federal guarantee would cut the interest rate on
the state's borrowing by as much as half, saving California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.¶ "It's not that California got itself into
trouble and wants the federal government to bail it out," said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Los Angeles. "California wants the federal government to
do for a fee that which Wall Street would do for a fee if Wall Street wasn't broken."¶ But some members of Congress worry about setting a
precedent for bailing out local governments.¶ "You've got many states throughout this country, you've got many cities that are in tough
financial problems, so they will all come for help," explained Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield.¶ Any extra federal assistance is sure to be a
hard sell in Washington and elsewhere because of California's free-spending image.¶ That may have been true before the recession, but the
state cut $15 billion in government spending in February and plans to solve most of the $24 billion deficit through even more cuts.¶
Government workers face the possibility of three-day-a-month furloughs, teachers are being laid off, lower-income college students stand to
lose their grants and hundreds of thousands of poor children could go without health care.¶ The recession is behind this fiscal turmoil. Some 1
million jobs are expected to be lost in California in two years and unemployment is estimated to peak at 12.3 percent in early 2010, said Jeff
Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.¶ Schwarzenegger has repeatedly stressed that
he hasn't asked for a bailout and doesn't want any special treatment for California _ though he likely wouldn't reject more stimulus funding if it
came his way.¶ Economist Stephen Levy, director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto, has argued for
another nationwide stimulus package to help all states avoid further cuts to social programs intended to help vulnerable people.¶ "If we are the
bellwether, I would have Californians reach out to other states and really make a plea for national assistance," Levy said. "The recession is not
our fault."
US economic collapse causes global war
Conway, Alvin. "Economic Collapse and a Subtle March to World War III." Utopia. Utopia, 12 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 July 2014.
<http://utopiathecollapse.com/2014/04/12/economic-collapse-and-a-subtle-march-to-world-war-iii/>.
April 2014 – ECONOMIC – Earlier this week economic strategist Marc Faber warned that some time in the next 12 months the U.S. stock market
will experience a crash worse than the massive drop seen in 1987. He’s not alone. Many contrarian economists seem to agree. And given the
state of economic and geo-political affairs they could well be right, much to our detriment. On the domestic front, the much touted economic
recovery is in significant danger of being revealed for the illusion that it really is. Nationwide home sales, for example, have dropped off in
record numbers in the last few months and a report released this morning indicates that mortgage originations are as bad today as they were
just before the Lehman crisis of 2007. Couple that with a jobs market that is at best stagnating and at worst completely falling apart, and you
can probably deduce that if there is any economic growth at all taking place it is about to come to a standstill. Internationally, the world is fed
up with The Fed and the U.S. government’s unabashed debt growth. China,
Russia, Iran, India and a host of other
countries are establishing trade relationships that are bypassing the U.S. dollar altogether, a move
that will soon see the world’s reserve currency lose purchasing power and status. In anticipation of this
imminent collapse gold is being hoarded by private and public entities from Berlin to Beijing in an effort to
preserve wealth before the Tsunami hits.¶ In light of these developments, former Undersecretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts
suggests that there are only two possible outcomes given our dilemma –World War Or The End Of The Dollar – neither of which bodes well for
global economic, financial, social and political stability. China
and Russia protested but accepted Libya’s destruction
even though it was to their own detriment. But Iran became a red line. Washington was blocked, so
Washington decided to cause major problems for Russia in Ukraine in order to distract Russia from
Washington’s agenda elsewhere. China has been uncertain about the trade-offs between its trade surpluses with the US and
Washington’s growing encirclement of China with naval and air bases. China has come to the conclusion that China has the
same enemy as Russia has–Washington. One of two things is likely: Either the US dollar will be abandoned and collapse in value,
thus ending Washington’s superpower status and Washington’s threat to world peace, or Washington
will lead its puppets into military conflict with Russia and China. The outcome of such a war would be
far more devastating than the collapse of the US dollar. –ETF
1AC Water Wars Middle East Module
Specifically, there’s water scarcity in the Middle East
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 2009, Fighting water scarcity in the Arab countries,
http://www.ifad.org/operations/projects/regions/pn/factsheets/WWF_factsheet.pdf. Accessed 7/16/14. The International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) (is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries.
The Arab countries account for more than 5 per cent of the world’s population, but less than 1 per
cent of global water resources. And as a consequence of the phenomena associated with climate
change, the region is facing an even greater water shortage. For 30 years now, IFAD and its partners in
the region have worked to develop effective, replicable solutions to help poor rural communities
manage their scarce water resources. More than half of IFAD’s programmes and projects in the region
include a focus on water. IFAD’s integrated approach supports water infrastructure development,
rational use of available surface water and groundwater resources, whether fresh, brackish or saline,
and promotes recycling grey water in marginal areas. Improved small-scale irrigation technologies,
effective rain harvesting techniques, appropriate conservation infrastructure and improved varieties of
drought-resistant seeds also help poor rural people cope with increasing water scarcity. Current
situation Water supplies in the Arab countries are under severe stress. Demographic growth (2.6 per
cent), economic growth, urbanization, industrialization and the expansion of irrigated agricultural
lands have all contributed to a dramatic and unsustainable increase in water consumption over the
past few decades. Frequent droughts, in conjunction with an overuse of groundwater and major
aquifers, have greatly reduced the availability of both renewable and non-renewable water
resources.2 Most of the Arab countries are consequently heading towards a severe water scarcity. A
close look at the current status of the water supply shows that it is continuing to decline. By 2025, the
per capita water supply will be approximately 500 m3 /cap/yr, or 15 per cent of what it used to be in
1960, when it stood at 3,300 m3 /cap/yr.
Water scarcity causes Middle East conflict
COMMANDER STEVEN J. BOWSER
30 MAR 2010 THE JORDAN RIVER: SOURCE OF LIFE AND SOURCE OF CONFLICT.
Strategy Resource Project. USAWC CLASS OF 2010 http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a519857.pdf. Accessed 7/16/14
Few regions of the world offer a more varied physical geography or a richer mix of ethnicities,
religions, languages, societies, cultures and politics than the Middle East. At the same time, no
segment of the globe presents its diverse aspects in such a mixture of conflicts and complexities. From
this, one issue emerges as the most conspicuous, cross-cutting and problematic - fresh water. Its
scarcity and rapid diminution happen to occur in some of the driest parts of an area where there are
also some of the fiercest national animosities. Water in the Middle East is thus a conflictladen
determinant of both the domestic and external policies of the region's principal actors. In an already
over-heated atmosphere of political hostility, insufficient water to satisfy human, developmental and
security needs among all nations of the Middle East heightens the ambient tensions.10 Since at least
the mid-1980s through present day, numerous world leaders and many authors (e.g. Bulloch, Darwish
and Starr)11 and other subject matter experts, as well as most lay persons with whom this author
discussed the topic during the writing of this essay, have opined or currently hold the opinion that
“water wars” in this region of the world are imminent. In the particularly dry summer of 1990, King
Hussein of Jordan stated that the only reason which might bring Jordan to war again was water.12
Then later in the mid-1990s, former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
repeatedly said that the next war in the Middle East would be about water not politics.13 To some,
such statements are "exaggerated and misleading".14 The region contains three major river systems –
the Tigris-Euphrates, the Nile and the Jordan. Each has unique characteristics and attributes. One aspect
of the Jordan River system that makes it unique among those three is the ongoing Arab-Israeli tension
in that region. The five political entities (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Occupied Palestinian
Territories of West Bank and Gaza Strip) that comprise the Jordan River basin depend, to varying
degrees, on the use of its surface and ground waters to Nonetheless, they do draw attention to an
important problem. Though Boutros-Ghali's prediction did not come to pass, a future war over water is
not out of the question. Conflicts are still generally determined by deep political differences and the
danger of another war in the Middle East has not yet been averted despite the best efforts of many
well-intentioned people. Yet, this region clearly remains one of the tensest areas of the world where
hydrological matters undeniably infuse an additional dimension to that conflict.
Middle East conflict goes nuclear
Russell 2009 James A., senior lecturer in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval
Postgraduate School, “Strategic Stability Reconsidered: Prospects for Escalation and Nuclear War in the
Middle East,” Institut Français des Relations Internationales, Spring, http://www.analystnetwork.com/articles/141/StrategicStabilityReconsideredProspectsforEscalationandNuclearWarintheMi
ddleEast.pdf
Strategic stability in the region is thus undermined by various factors: (1) asymmetric interests in the
bargaining framework that can introduce unpredictable behavior from actors; (2) the presence of nonstate actors that introduce unpredictability into relationships between the antagonists; (3)
incompatible assumptions about the structure of the deterrent relationship that makes the bargaining
framework strategically unstable; (4) perceptions by Israel and the United States that its window of
opportunity for military action is closing, which could prompt a preventive attack; (5) the prospect
that Iran’s response to pre-emptive attacks could involve unconventional weapons, which could
prompt escalation by Israel and/or the United States; (6) the lack of a communications framework to
build trust and cooperation among framework participants. These systemic weaknesses in the
coercive bargaining framework all suggest that escalation by any the parties could happen either on
purpose or as a result of miscalculation or the pressures of wartime circumstance. Given these factors,
it is disturbingly easy to imagine scenarios under which a conflict could quickly escalate in which the
regional antagonists would consider the use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. It would be a
mistake to believe the nuclear taboo can somehow magically keep nuclear weapons from being used
in the context of an unstable strategic framework. Systemic asymmetries between actors in fact suggest
a certain increase in the probability of war – a war in which escalation could happen quickly and from
a variety of participants. Once such a war starts, events would likely develop a momentum all their
own and decision-making would consequently be shaped in unpredictable ways. The international
community must take this possibility seriously, and muster every tool at its disposal to prevent such an
outcome, which would be an unprecedented disaster for the peoples of the region, with substantial risk
for the entire world.
Water UQ---General
Global Water Crisis Now
William Wheeler, DECEMBER 2, 2012 Global water crisis: too little, too much, or lack of a plan? The Christian science monitor.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2012/1202/Global-water-crisis-too-little-too-much-or-lack-of-a-plan. Accessed 7/15/14
Contributor
Water is a part of everything we do: It feeds crops, powers cities, cools computer servers, and is key to
the manufacturing of everything from clothes to cars. The billion more people expected on the planet
by 2025 will increase water demand for all of those functions. And just to feed those people, water
withdrawals for agriculture are expected to increase by about half. But it's not only about the
additional mouths to feed; it's also the growth of new appetites. Much of the growth in demand will
emerge from the swelling sprawl of bustling, slum-pocked metropolises across the developing world.
For the first time in history, the share of the global population living in cities recently surpassed 50
percent – on its way to 75 percent expected by 2050. With each step up the economic ladder, people
demand more water for sanitation, industry, hydroelectric power, and water-intensive diets – such as
preferring beef to wheat, a shift that requires 10 times as much water per kilogram to produce. Urbanrural competition for water has already pushed countries to import grains – "virtual water" – or, in the
case of wealthier countries like China, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, to lease land in developing
countries. By 2030, the Water Resources Group forecasts, global water requirements may outstrip
sustainable use by 40 percent. And almost half the world's people will be living under severe water
stress, predicts the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Already, water
stress – where the reliable water supply is being used up more quickly than it can be replenished – is
widespread and is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead, particularly in North Africa,
theMiddle East, and Asia. By 2050, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, 1 in 5
developing countries will face water shortages.
There is a freshwater crisis in the world Now
National Geographic, No date, Freshwater Crisis, National Geographic,
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-crisis/. Accessed
7/15/14
A Clean Water Crisis The water you drink today has likely been around in one form or another since
dinosaurs roamed the Earth, hundreds of millions of years ago. While the amount of freshwater on the
planet has remained fairly constant over time—continually recycled through the atmosphere and back
into our cups—the population has exploded. This means that every year competition for a clean,
copious supply of water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sustaining life intensifies. Water scarcity is
an abstract concept to many and a stark reality for others. It is the result of myriad environmental,
political, economic, and social forces. Freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the
planet. While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. The
rest is saline and ocean-based. Even then, just 1 percent of our freshwater is easily accessible, with
much of it trapped in glaciers and snowfields. In essence, only 0.007 percent of the planet's water is
available to fuel and feed its 6.8 billion people. Due to geography, climate, engineering, regulation, and
competition for resources, some regions seem relatively flush with freshwater, while others face
drought and debilitating pollution. In much of the developing world, clean water is either hard to
come by or a commodity that requires laborious work or significant currency to obtain. Water Is Life
Wherever they are, people need water to survive. Not only is the human body 60 percent water, the
resource is also essential for producing food, clothing, and computers, moving our waste stream, and
keeping us and the environment healthy. Unfortunately, humans have proved to be inefficient water
users. (The average hamburger takes 2,400 liters, or 630 gallons, of water to produce, and many waterintensive crops, such as cotton, are grown in arid regions.) According to the United Nations, water use
has grown at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. By 2025, an
estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's
population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change. The
challenge we face now is how to effectively conserve, manage, and distribute the water we have.
National Geographic's Freshwater Web siteencourages you to explore the local stories and global trends
defining the world's water crisis. Learn where freshwater resources exist; how they are used; and how
climate, technology, policy, and people play a role in both creating obstacles and finding solutions.
Peruse the site to learn how you can make a difference by reducing your water footprint and getting
involved with local and global water conservation and advocacy efforts.
Global Water Shortages Now
Lester R. Brown,2008, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Earth Policy Institute. http://www.earthpolicy.org/images/uploads/book_files/pb3book.pdf. Accessed 7/16/14“Lester Brown tells us how to build a more just world and save the
planet . . . in a practical, straightforward way. We should all heed his advice.” —President Bill Clinton. Lester Russel Brown (born March 28,
1934) is a United States environmental analyst, founder of theWorldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a
nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day calls him "one of the great
pioneerenvironmentalists."
While falling water tables are largely hidden, rivers that are drained dry or reduced to a trickle before
they reach the sea are highly visible. Two rivers where this phenomenon can be seen are the Colorado,
the major river in the southwestern United States, and the Yellow, the largest river in northern China.
Other large rivers that either run dry or come close to doing so during the dry season are the Nile, the
lifeline of Egypt; the Indus, which supplies most of Pakistan’s irrigation water; and the Ganges in
India’s densely populated Gangetic basin. Many smaller rivers have disappeared entirely.31 As the
world’s demand for water has tripled over the last half-century and as the demand for hydroelectric
power has grown even faster, dams and diversions of river water have drained many rivers dry. As
water tables have fallen, the springs that feed rivers have gone dry, reducing river flows.32 Since 1950,
the number of large dams, those over 15 meters high, has increased from 5,000 to 45,000. Each dam
deprives a river of some of its flow. Engineers like to say that dams built to generate electricity do not
take water from the river, only its energy, but this is not entirely true since reservoirs increase
evaporation. The annual loss of water from a reservoir in arid or semiarid regions, where evaporation
rates are high, is typically equal to 10 percent of its storage capacity.33 The Colorado River now rarely
makes it to the sea. With the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California depending
heavily on the Colorado’s water, there is little, if any, water left when it reaches the Gulf of California.
This excessive demand for water is destroying the river’s ecosystem, including its fisheries.34 A similar
situation exists in Central Asia. The Amu Darya— which, along with the Syr Darya, feeds the Aral Sea—is
now drained dry by Uzbek and Turkmen cotton farmers upstream. With the flow of the Amu Darya cut
off, only the diminished flow of the Syr Darya keeps the Aral Sea from disappearing entirely.35
Water UQ---Middle East
Water Scarcity in the Middle East Now
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 2009, Fighting water scarcity in the Arab countries,
http://www.ifad.org/operations/projects/regions/pn/factsheets/WWF_factsheet.pdf. Accessed 7/16/14. The International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) (is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries.
The Arab countries account for more than 5 per cent of the world’s population, but less than 1 per
cent of global water resources. And as a consequence of the phenomena associated with climate
change, the region is facing an even greater water shortage. For 30 years now, IFAD and its partners in
the region have worked to develop effective, replicable solutions to help poor rural communities
manage their scarce water resources. More than half of IFAD’s programmes and projects in the region
include a focus on water. IFAD’s integrated approach supports water infrastructure development,
rational use of available surface water and groundwater resources, whether fresh, brackish or saline,
and promotes recycling grey water in marginal areas. Improved small-scale irrigation technologies,
effective rain harvesting techniques, appropriate conservation infrastructure and improved varieties of
drought-resistant seeds also help poor rural people cope with increasing water scarcity. Current
situation Water supplies in the Arab countries are under severe stress. Demographic growth (2.6 per
cent), economic growth, urbanization, industrialization and the expansion of irrigated agricultural
lands have all contributed to a dramatic and unsustainable increase in water consumption over the
past few decades. Frequent droughts, in conjunction with an overuse of groundwater and major
aquifers, have greatly reduced the availability of both renewable and non-renewable water
resources.2 Most of the Arab countries are consequently heading towards a severe water scarcity. A
close look at the current status of the water supply shows that it is continuing to decline. By 2025, the
per capita water supply will be approximately 500 m3 /cap/yr, or 15 per cent of what it used to be in
1960, when it stood at 3,300 m3 /cap/yr.
Water Crisis Hurts Environment
Water Crisis kills the environment
Don Hinrichsen and Henrylito Tacio 2002 The Coming Freshwater Crisis is Already
Herehttp://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/popwawa2.pdf Accessed 7/18/14 Don Hinrichsenis an award-winning writer and former
journalist who is based in Europe and the United States. He currently works as a writer/media consultant for the UN system. He has also written
five books over the past decade on topics ranging from coastal resources to an atlas of the environment. Henrylito D. Tacio is a multi-awarded
Filipino journalist who specializes on reporting on science and technology, environment, and agriculture. Tacio currently works as information
officer of the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation.
Homo sapiens, of course, is not the only species that needs nature’s supply of fresh water. A
substantial portion of the total fresh water available in the hydrological cycle is needed to sustain
natural aquatic ecosystems—marshes, rivers, coastal wetlands—and the millions of species they
contain. Thus, as humankind uses a growing share of all water, less remains to maintain vital
ecosystems. Of the world’s 734 species of endangered fish in 1996, 84 percent are found in freshwater
environments. Globally, over 20 percent of all freshwater fishes are endangered, vulnerable, or
recently extinct (Brautigam, 1999). Natural, healthy ecosystems are indispensable regulators of water
quality and quantity. Flood-plain wetlands store water when rivers flood their banks, reducing
downstream damage. The value of these services can be considerable. New York City, for example,
recently invested several billion dollars to conserve and protect water catchment areas in upstate New
York—the source of the city’s drinking water. The alternative was to spend $7 billion on water treatment
facilities (Revkin, 1997). The world has few examples of successful ecosystem management. Instead,
careless overuse of water resources is harming the environment in virtually all regions of the world: •
Diverting water from the Nile River, along with build-up of sediments trapped behind dams and
barrages, has caused the fertile Nile Delta in Egypt to shrink. Some 30 out of 47 commercial species of
the river’s fish have either become extinct or virtually extinct. Delta fisheries that once supported over
a million people have been wiped out (Abramovitz, 1996). • Lake Chad, in Africa’s Sahel region, has
shrunk in area by 75 percent—from 25,000 square km to just 2,000 square km—in the last three
decades, not only because of periodic droughts but also because of massive diversions of water for
irrigated agriculture. The lake’s once rich fisheries have collapsed entirely (Abramovitz, 1996). •
Despite cleanup efforts, the Rhine River, which runs through the industrial heartland of Western
Europe, has lost 8 of its 44 species of fish. Another 25 are rare or endangered (Abramovitz, 1996). • In
Colombia, fish production in the Magdalena River has plunged from 72,000 metric tons in 1977 to
23,000 metric tons by 1992—a two-thirds drop in 15 years. The main causes have been pollution from
agriculture and urban and industrial development, plus deforestation in the river’s watershed
(Abramovitz, 1996). • Southeast Asia’s Mekong River has had a two-thirds drop in fisheries production
due to dams, deforestation, and conversion of 1,000 square kilometers of mangrove swamps into rice
paddies and fish ponds (Abramovitz, 1996). • In the United States, California has lost over 90 percent of
its wetlands, and nearly two-thirds of the state’s native fish are extinct, endangered, threatened, or in
decline. Also, in most years the Colorado River completely dries up before reaching its once rich and
thriving delta in the Gulf of California. The delta that once supported thousands ofFreshwater Crisis 15
wetland species of plants and animals is now desiccated and dead (Postel, 1997)
Water UQ---US
California Already experiencing water shortage
Goldenberg
2014.
Suzanne
, Saturday 8 February
Why global water shortages pose threat of terror and war The Observer, The
Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/09/global-water-shortages-threat-terror-war. Accessed 7/16/14. Suzanne
Goldenberg is the US environment correspondent of the Guardian and is based in Washington DC. She has won several awards for her work in
the Middle East, and in 2003 covered the US invasion of Iraq from Baghdad. She is author of Madam President, about Hillary Clinton's historic
run for White House
On 17 January, scientists downloaded fresh data from a pair of Nasa satellites and distributed the
findings among the small group of researchers who track the world's water reserves. At the University of
California, Irvine, hydrologist James Famiglietti looked over the data from the gravity-sensing Grace
satellites with a rising sense of dread. The data, released last week, showed California on the verge of
an epic drought, with its backup systems of groundwater reserves so run down that the losses could
be picked up by satellites orbiting 400km above the Earth's surface. "It was definitely an 'oh my gosh
moment'," Famiglietti said. "The groundwater is our strategic reserve. It's our backup, and so where do
you go when the backup is gone?" That same day, the state governor, Jerry Brown, declared a drought
emergency and appealed to Californians to cut their water use by 20%. "Every day this drought goes
on we are going to have to tighten the screws on what people are doing," he said. Seventeen rural
communities are in danger of running out of water within 60 days and that number is expected to rise,
after the main municipal water distribution system announced it did not have enough supplies and
would have to turn off the taps to local agencies. There are other shock moments ahead – and not just
for California – in a world where water is increasingly in short supply because of growing demands
from agriculture, an expanding population, energy production and climate change.
Early signs of Water Shortage in US Now
Snyder, No Date
Shannyn
, Water Scarcity - The U.S. Connection, The Water Project.
http://thewaterproject.org/water_scarcity_in_us. Accessed 7/16/14. Shannyn Snyder received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and
Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Anthropology and Global Health, both through George Mason University. Her previous research includes
the study of access to clean water and healthcare in vulnerable populations and illness and mortality due to inadequate sanitation. Her current
work focuses on socioeconomic status and basic needs, as well as environmental and social justice issues both domestic and international. She
developed Water Health Educator as a means to connect college students and public health professionals, as well as the general public, with
news of community, regional, and global issues concerning water. She is a member of the Society for Applied Anthropology and the American
Public Health Association.
It seems impossible that a powerful river, like the Colorado River, is beginning to run dry in places. It
seems farfetched that a huge body of water like Lake Mead in Arizona might become obsolete, but
these and other dramatic changes are facing the United States. Some of our local neighbors are quickly
finding it easier to understand the problems facing the driest and poorest geographic areas of the third
world. Some researchers claim that Lake Mead, which currently supplies water to 22 million people,
may be dry by 2021. Water scarcity is not just an issue for those who "never had." It is a problem that
faces people where water seemed abundant. Pollution, demand and other factors are ushering in these
new problems. Because of current water scarcity concerns, hundreds of homeowners who are today
illegally drawing water from the Colorado River may soon be forced to cease pumping. As the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation works to preserve local waters, meet demand and prevent future shortages,
these people will face the enforcement of fines. Climate warming is thought to be decreasing water
containment in the Colorado basins such as Lake Powell. Some of the Colorado River's lower course
near Baja, California, is now actually running dry. Populations, especially along the arid Southwest
bends of the river face a realistic threat to their drinking and irrigation water supply.
Environmentalists suggest low-cost but immediate solutions for managing drying waters, such as digging
ponds or underwater receptacles. These low-tech fixes already help farmers in China. Still, water
conservation and volume promotion needs to be a joint partnership effort and governmental
agencies, land-owners, environmentalists and conversationalists. Outdated damming and gauges
result in billions of gallons of lost water, but a quick fix for one local population might harm another
downstream. One agency's priorities could harm another's. These facts highlight the need for shared
information and cooperative effort. Water scarcity within the U.S. is not just an environmental
problem. Our current daily demand for water also affects its future availability. Wasteful flush toilets,
non-insulated pipes and generous showerheads are all culprits to the water crisis. The Southwestern
United States is already this emerging reality. A crisis may soon spread into other areas of the U.S.
when local waterways can no longer replenish their resources to meet our growing demand. Many
may "thirst" for more.
Solvency---Algae Desal
Algae farms effectively create freshwater and Ethanol- 1 gallon each for every 2
saltwater gallons.
Algae Biodiesel An Interactive Qualifying Project Report submitted to the Faculty of WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Submitted by: Lauren
D’Elia, Andrew Keyser, Craig Young, Date:
2010
October 14,
https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-101610-134209/unrestricted/AlgaeIQP10-11-2010[all][final].pdf accessed 7/14/14
Algenol Biofuels uses technology that produces fuel from algae without killing or harvesting the
creatures which allows for a shorter turnaround time to make fuel. They claim that they have the
potential to produce 1 billion gallons of ethanol per year by 2012 with a gallon costing about 85 cents
[18] . According to a corporate presentation on the company’s website, their method, know as Direct to
EthanolTM Technology, uses photosynthesis to initiate the natural enzymes found in blue-green algae
that convert sugars directly to ethanol (Figure 3) [19] . The method involves a marine strain of algae
and therefore can use seawater, recycles CO2 from industrial plants, and can be built on non-arable
land that cannot be used for anything else needed for the US economy. Plus, for every 2 gallons of
seawater consumed through the process, 1 gallon of fuel is produced along with 1 gallon of
freshwater which could in effect help the global clean water crisis though distillation of the ethanol
from water would be an added expense for the new company.
Solvency---Desal Works
Desalination Can provide a virtually inexhaustible source of water
Suzanne Taylor MuzzinAugust 4, 2011Better Desalination Technology Would Help Solve World's
Water Shortage Yale News. http://news.yale.edu/2011/08/04/better-desalination-technology-wouldhelp-solve-worlds-water-shortage. Accessed 7/15/14. Yale Spokeswoman
Over one-third of the world’s population already lives in areas struggling to keep up with the demand
for fresh water. By 2025, that number will nearly double. Some countries have met the challenge by
tapping into natural sources of fresh water, but as many examples – such as the much-depleted Jordan
River – have demonstrated, many of these practices are far from sustainable. A new Yale University
study argues that seawater desalination should play an important role in helping combat worldwide
fresh water shortages once conservation, reuse and other methods have been exhausted. The study
also provides insights into how desalination technology can be made more affordable and energy
efficient. “The globe’s oceans are a virtually inexhaustible source of water, but the process of removing
its salt is expensive and energy intensive,” said Menachem Elimelech, a professor of chemical and
environmental engineering at Yale and lead author of the study, which appears in the Aug. 5 issue of the
journal Science. Reverse osmosis – forcing seawater through a membrane that filters out the salt – is the
leading method for seawater desalination in the world today. For years, scientists have focused on
increasing the membrane’s water flux using novel materials, such as carbon nanotubes, to reduce the
amount of energy required to push water through it. In the new study, Elimelech and William Phillip,
now at the University of Notre Dame, demonstrate that reverse osmosis requires a minimum amount
of energy that cannot be overcome, and that current technology is already starting to approach that
limit. Instead of higher water flux membranes, Elimelech and Phillip suggest that the real gains in
efficiency can be made during the pre- and post-treatment stages of desalination. Seawater contains
naturally occurring organic and particulate matter that must be filtered out before it passes through the
membrane that removes the salt. Chemical agents are added to the water to clean it and help coagulate
this matter for easier removal during a pre-treatment stage. But if a membrane didn’t build up organic
matter on its surface, most if not all pre-treatment could be avoided, according to the scientist’s
findings. In addition, Elimelech and Phillip calculate that a membrane capable of filtering out boron and
chloride would result in substantial energy and cost savings. Seventy percent of the world’s water is
used in agriculture, but water containing even low levels of boron and chloride – minerals that naturally
occur in seawater – cannot be used for these purposes. Instead of removing them during a separate
post-treatment stage, the scientists believe a membrane could be developed that would filter them
more efficiently at the same time as the salt is removed. Elimelech cautions that desalination should
only be considered a last resort in the effort to provide fresh water to the world’s populations and
suggests that long-term research is needed to determine the impact of seawater desalination on the
aquatic environment, but believes that desalination has a major role to play now and in the future. “All
of this will require new materials and new chemistry, but we believe this is where we should focus our
efforts going forward,” Elimelech said. “The problem of water shortage is only going to get worse, and
we need to be ready to meet the challenge with improved, sustainable technology.”
California I/L
Desalination Helps California
Brandon Griggs, Wed July 16, 2014 How oceans can solve our freshwater crisis. CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/26/tech/city-tomorrow-desalination/. Accessed 7/16/14. Editor, writer,
online content producer.
Within the United States, the water crisis is especially severe in California, which has been stricken by
drought over the last three years. California's biggest source of freshwater is the snow that falls in the
Sierras and other mountains, where it slowly melts into creeks and makes its way into aquifers and
reservoirs. But if the planet continues to grow warmer, snow will increasingly fall as rain and will be
harder to collect because it will swell creeks faster and create more flooding, said Bowles of the Water
Education Foundation. Seventeen desalination plants are being built or planned along the state's 840mile coastline. City officials in Santa Barbara recentlyvoted to reactivate their desalination plant, which
was built in 1991 but shut after heavy rains filled nearby reservoirs in the early 1990s. Another $200
million facility has been proposed for the Bay Area, although construction won't likely begin for several
years. "The key question with ocean desalination is how much are you willing to pay for it? The amount
of energy required to desalt ocean water can be daunting," said Bowles, adding that operating costs at
the Santa Barbara plant alone are estimated at $5 million per year. But advocates believe the price of
desalination will continue to decrease as the process improves. This will be true of the massive Carlsbad
plant, said Bob Yamada, water resources manager with the San Diego County Water Authority. "The cost
for this water will be about double what it costs us to import water into San Diego," Yamada said.
"However, over time we expect that the cost of desalinated water will equal, and be less than, the cost
of imported water. That may take 15 or 20 years, but we expect that to occur." Ultimately, experts say,
municipalities will need to balance desalination projects with conservation and water from more
traditional sources, such as rivers, reservoirs and recycled wastewater. "You can't get all your water
from one source and have that source be hundreds of miles away," said Peter MacLaggan, senior vice
president at Poseidon Resources Corporation, which is leading development of the Carlsbad plant.
"When and if the drought does come, and you don't have enough snowpack in the Sierras -- after 12 dry
years the Rockies are seeing the impact of that today -- you've got (water) sources here within the
boundaries of San Diego County," he said. "We have a $190 billion economy in this region. It's
dependent on water to sustain that economy. So the question you need to consider, is 'What's the
cost of not having enough water?'" Drought-ravaged California turns to tech for help
Economy I/L
Water Shortages More Pressing than Climate Change/ Water Shortages Hurt the
Financial Sector
Pilita Clark, July 14, 2014, Nestlé warns water scarcity ‘more urgent’ than climate change, Financial Times,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c8d19bc6-0b49-11e4-ae6b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz37eqOovlH. Accessed 7/16/14. Pilita Clark was appointed
Environment Correspondent in May 2011, having previously been the Aerospace Correspondent and Deputy News Editor on the main news
desk at the Financial Times, and then Deputy Editor of the FT Magazine. In her current role Ms Clark covers all environmental issues, from
climate change to wildlife and renewable energy, but has a particular focus on the impact of low carbon policies on businesses and investors.
Before joining the FT in 2003 as a Commissioning Editor on the FT Magazine, Ms Clark was a Senior Writer for the Sydney Morning Herald,
where she was a Political Reporter in Washington DC and Canberra. She was also Managing Editor of The Eye news magazine in Sydney, and a
Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
World leaders must make water scarcity a bigger priority than climate change because the problem is
far more urgent than global warming, the chairman of one of the world’s biggest food companies has
warned. “Today, you cannot have a political discussion anywhere without talking about climate change,”
Nestlé chairman Peter Brabeck told the Financial Times in an interview. “Nobody talks about the water
situation in this sense. And this water problem is much more urgent. “I am not saying climate change is
not important. What I am saying is even without climate change we are running out of water and I
think this has to become the first priority,” he said, adding that global warming got more attention
because it had “better ambassadors” such as Nobel Prize-winning scientists and Hollywood film
makers. Mr Brabeck’s comments come as businesses are having to adapt to rising water costs around
the world and rivalries mount over poorly managed supplies of a resource long taken for granted. In
the past three years, companies have committed more than $84bn to improving the way they
conserve, manage or obtain water, according to FT research and data from Global Water Intelligence, a
market analysis firm. “Until now, companies have been able to treat water as if it was a free raw
material,” said Christopher Gasson, Global Water Intelligence’s publisher. “Now, the marginal cost of
water is rising around the world as governments enforce rules on its use and businesses are
discovering they need to invest in equipment to protect everything from their brand to their credit
rating.” In the past year alone, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, two of the world’s biggest miners, agreed to
spend $3bn on a desalination plant for a copper mine in Chile, curbing their use of fragile local water
supplies. Nestlé set aside SFr38m ($43m) for water-saving and treatment equipment at its plants around
the world while other companies, from the Ford motor company to Google, have invested in measures
to stem their use of fresh water, an issue Google’s data centre head, Joe Kava, has warned is “the big
elephant in the room” for water-hungry data companies. Coca-Cola and its bottlers have spent nearly
$2bn on water conservation measures since 2003, according to the company’s head of global water
stewardship, Greg Koch, including more than $1bn treating discharged wastewater. “Water scarcity is
finally starting to bite financially,” said Andrew Metcalf, an investment analyst. In a report last year for
Moody’s, the credit rating agency, Mr Metcalf said the problem already had “credit-negative
implications” for the mining industry. Climate change may be playing a role. Energy company EDF spent
€20m shifting a water intake tunnel for a hydropower project in the French Alps because the glacier
feeding the plant’s meltwater had retreated so much the old tunnel no longer worked. Mr Brabeck said
it was wrong to blame global warming for water scarcity, however. “We have a water crisis because
we make wrong water management decisions,” he said, explaining that water was so undervalued it
was wasted and overused. The politics of water have also become volatile. Green groups have criticised
Mr Brabeck and Nestlé in the past over the company’s bottled water business and what activists see as
an effort to privatise access to drinking water, a basic human right. Other companies including
carmakers, power generators and miners have also faced protests, especially in areas where the world’s
largest water users – farmers – face tighter supplies.
Middle East I/L
Water Shortage’s threaten Middle Eastern Stability
Suzanne Goldenberg , Saturday 8 February 2014. Why global water shortages pose threat of terror and war The Observer, The
Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/09/global-water-shortages-threat-terror-war. Accessed 7/16/14. Suzanne
Goldenberg is the US environment correspondent of the Guardian and is based in Washington DC. She has won several awards for her work in
the Middle East, and in 2003 covered the US invasion of Iraq from Baghdad. She is author of Madam President, about Hillary Clinton's historic
run for White House
The US security establishment is already warning of potential conflicts – including terror attacks – over
water. In a 2012 report, the US director of national intelligence warned that overuse of water – as in
India and other countries – was a source of conflict that could potentially compromise US national
security. The report focused on water basins critical to the US security regime – the Nile, TigrisEuphrates, Mekong, Jordan, Indus, Brahmaputra and Amu Darya. It concluded: "During the next 10
years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems – shortages,
poor water quality, or floods – that will risk instability and state failure, increase regional tensions, and
distract them from working with the United States." Water, on its own, was unlikely to bring down
governments. But the report warned that shortages could threaten food production and energy supply
and put additional stress on governments struggling with poverty and social tensions. Some of those
tensions are already apparent on the ground. The Pacific Institute, which studies issues of water and
global security, found a fourfold increase in violent confrontations over water over the last decade. "I
think the risk of conflicts over water is growing – not shrinking – because of increased competition,
because of bad management and, ultimately, because of the impacts of climate change," said Peter
Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute. There are dozens of potential flashpoints, spanning the globe.
In the Middle East, Iranian officials are making contingency plans for water rationing in the greater
Tehran area, home to 22 million people. Egypt has demanded Ethiopia stop construction of a megadam on the Nile, vowing to protect its historical rights to the river at "any cost". The Egyptian
authorities have called for a study into whether the project would reduce the river's flow. Jordan, which
has the third lowest reserves in the region, is struggling with an influx of Syrian refugees. The country
is undergoing power cuts because of water shortages. Last week, Prince Hassan, the uncle of King
Abdullah, warned that a war over water and energy could be even bloodier than the Arab spring. The
United Arab Emirates, faced with a growing population, has invested in desalination projects and is
harvesting rainwater. At an international water conference in Abu Dhabi last year, Crown Prince
General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan said: "For us, water is [now] more important than
oil."
Desalination is key to Palestine
by E. Weinthal1, A. Vengosh2, A. Marei3, A. Gutierrez4, and W. Kloppmann4 2005 The Water Crisis in
the Gaza Strip: Prospects for Resolution Vol. 43, No. 5—GROUND WATER
https://info.ngwa.org/GWOL/pdf/060981168.pdf. Accessed 7/18/14. Department of Political Science,
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Another way in which the Palestinian Authority could increase the supply of external water is to
introduce desalination either of brackish ground water or sea water. Indeed, the Palestinian Water
Authority and foreign donors have channeled substantial resources into planning and building
desalination plants in the Gaza Strip. Currently, five small reverse-osmosis desalination plants operate
in the Gaza Strip and use brackish ground water to supply ~2.8 MCM/year desalinated water. The
overall maximum capacity of these plants is 3.9 MCM/year (data calculated from Assaf 2001). In
addition, the donor community is committed to building larger desalination plants that will use sea
water as a source for desalination. One of these initiatives is a large-scale desalination plant with a
capacity of ~55 MCM/year that is being planned with support from the U.S. Agency for International
Development (UNEP 2003; Assaf 2001). The large-scale building of desalination plants is a major
infrastructure challenge and requires substantial international investment and a long-term
commitment on the part of the donor community. Recent developments in reverse-osmosis technology
have, moreover, reduced the cost of sea water desalination. For example, in Israel the cost of
desalinated sea water that will be produced in the planned desalination plant in Ashkelon is $0.55/m3.
As much as large-scale desalination will reduce the pumping from the aquifer and improve significantly
the quality of supplied water and the quality of the inorganic constituents of the generated sewage, it
will not resolve the water crisis entirely. By 2010, a largescale desalination plant will produce only half of
the estimated domestic demand (110 MCM/year). Pumping from the aquifer will continue in order to
meet increasing demands of the domestic and agricultural sectors. Thus, in this scenario where the
Palestinian Authority carries out water management policies irrespective of Israel, the quality of the
ground water will continue to deteriorate and eventually become unsuitable for domestic
consumption. Over time, the water supply in the Gaza Strip will become totally dependent upon
external sources of water.
Continued Water crisis causes conflict in Yemen
Nicole Glass June 2010) The Water Crisis in Yemen: Causes, Consequences and Solutions. Global Majority E-Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1.
http://www.american.edu/cas/economics/ejournal/upload/global_majority_e_journal_1-1_glass.pdf. Accessed 7/18/14
Kasinof (2009) wrote that Yemen’s water crisis has the potential to contribute to the country’s
instability and potential trajectory toward failure. According to Kasinof (2009), Abdulrahman Al Eryani,
Yemen’s Minister of Water and Environment, said that much of the country’s rising militancy is a
conflict over resources. “They manifest themselves in very different ways: tribal conflicts, sectarian
conflicts, political conflicts. (…) Really they are all about sharing and participating in the resources of
the country, either oil, or water and land.” Current conflicts include a widening armed rebellion in the
north and a violent separatist movement in the south. These are intensified by the water crisis, and
further prevent the government from entering the regions to try to solve the crisis in an organized
manner. Many regions are too dangerous for government engineers or hydrologists to go to. A study by
Sana’a University researchers found that between 70-80 percent of all rural conflicts in Yemen are
related to water. A geology professor at the university estimates that Sana’as wells – one of its primary
water sources – will run dry by 2015, based on the current water-usage rates. In Taiz, Yemen’s thirdlargest city, residents are only allowed to access public water tanks once every 45 days. In Sana’a,
there were 180 wells ten years ago. Today there are only 80. “We have a water shortage that reflects
itself in fighting between the people,” Deputy Planning Minister Hisham Sharaf said.5 According to Lyon
(2009), on August 24, 2009, one person was shot dead and three were wounded during water protests
in the southern city of Aden. People fear that if the crisis is not solved, more serious conflicts could
break out in Yemen to add to the ones that already exist. The link between Yemen’s water crisis and
conflict is not new. Sultan (2004) wrote an article for Asia Times that stated that most of the conflict is
between a Shiite Muslim rebel group called Houthis and the Yemeni government. The Houthis are a
militant organization from Zaydi Shia who believe they are fighting to defend their community from the
government and discrimination. The government believes they are trying to take over and bring Shia
religious law to the country. According to Sultan (2004), they are also said to be stirring anti-American
sentiment. Sporadic warfare has occurred in the region for several years, but the conflict has recently
intensified. The ongoing conflict has escalated to a war in the Saada province, where the country’s
army has launched several offensives against the Houthis. This conflict is restraining the Yemeni
government from focusing on the water crisis. In areas where the rebels are present, water usage
cannot be regulated. The government needs to use its money and resources to fight the rebels –
money that could otherwise be used to reduce the effects of the water crisis. Before a country can
focus on sustainability, it needs to maintain peace – at least on its own grounds.
Energy dependence Advantage
1AC
OMEGA is the solution to renewable energy- the only problem is funding
Jonathan Trent 12’
“Grow Your Own Energy “ Jonathan Trent studied at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC-San Diego,
specializing in extremophiles. He is lead scientist on the OMEGA project at NASA's Ames Research
Center in California.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2012/09/algae_for_biofuel_omega_
project_has_success_in_california_ready_to_scale_up_.html
A solution occurred to me: For coastal cities, we should try a system I call OMEGA: Offshore
Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae. Some 40 to 60 percent of Earth's population lives near a
coast, most of the biggest cities are near a coast, and nearly all coastal cities discharge wastewater
offshore.¶ How does OMEGA work? It uses PBRs made from cheap, flexible plastic tubes floating
offshore, and filled with wastewater, to grow freshwater, oil-producing algae. It would be easier to
build the systems in protected bays, but breakwaters could also be constructed to control waves and
strong currents. The water need not be deep or navigable, but a few things are crucial, including
temperature, light, water clarity, frequency and severity of storms, boat traffic, nature and wildlife
conservation.¶ Beyond solving the problem of proximity to wastewater plants, there are other
advantages to being offshore. OMEGA uses buoyancy, which can be easily manipulated, to move the
system up and down, influencing exposure to surface waves and adjusting light levels. And the
overheating problem is eliminated by the heat capacity of the surrounding seawater.¶ The salt gradient
between seawater and wastewater can also be exploited to drive forward osmosis. Using a
semipermeable membrane, which allows water, but not salt, pollutants, or algae to pass through,
wastewater is drawn into the saltwater with no added energy. In the process, algae are concentrated
in preparation for harvesting and the wastewater is cleaned, first by the algae, and then by forward
osmosis. This produces water clean enough to release into the marine environment or recover for
reuse.¶ If OMEGA's freshwater algae are accidently released, they die in seawater, so no invasive
species can escape into the ecosystem. In fact, OMEGA can improve conditions by providing a large
surface for seaweed and invertebrates to colonize: part floating reef, part floating wetland. Then
there are the extra possibilities of developing wind or wave power and aquaculture, growing food
such as mussels.¶ OK, if it's so good, where is it? For the past two years, backed by NASA and the
California Energy Commission, and about $11 million, we have crawled over every aspect of OMEGA.
In Santa Cruz, Calif., we built and tested small-scale PBRs in seawater tanks. We studied OMEGA
processing wastewater in San Francisco, and we investigated biofouling and the impact on marine life
at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Monterey Bay.¶ I'm now pretty confident we can deal
with the biological, engineering, and environmental issues. So will it fly economically? Of the options
we tested, the OMEGA system combined with renewable energy sources—wind, solar, and wave
technologies—and aquaculture looks most promising. Now with funds running out and NASA keen to
spin off OMEGA, we need the right half-hectare site for a scaled-up demonstration. While there is
enthusiasm and great potential sites in places ranging from Saudi Arabia to New Zealand, Australia to
Norway, Guantanamo Bay to South Korea, as yet no one has committed to the first ocean deployment.¶
We could be on the threshold of a crucial transition in human history —from hunting and gathering
our energy to growing it sustainably . But that means getting serious about every option, from alpha
to OMEGA .
US energy independence allows us to distance ourselves from the Middle East,
preventing intervention
Pedro Mielgo et al 13 ( President, Nereo GreenCapital, Florentino Portero, Lecturer of Contemporary
History, UNED, Gerardo del Caz Esteso,Mechanical Engineer. Specialist in Energy Policy, 6/9/13,
GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES' ENERGY INDEPENDENCE,
http://www.fundacionfaes.org/file_upload/publication/pdf/20130926105628geopolitical_implications_
of_the_united_states__energy_independence.pdf )
Faced with a difficult economic situation, significant budget constraints and modest results in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington has chosen to
avoid participating in distant conflicts and favors temporary alliances with regional leaders that do not involve significant deployments to
minimize the risk of being drawn into persistent and costly conflicts. This is the so-called withdrawal strategy to minimize influence in distant
geopolitical areas and which focuses instead on addressing internal problems, especially economic ones. Particularly, on not increasing a
massive debt that leaves no budget margin to invest more in security or defense. The claim on self-sufficiency perfectly fits the current strategy
of the Obama Administration. Scenarios such as the Caucasus, Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf will not be as decisive for
power supply as they are now. For example, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 35% of global supplies of oil and 20% of liquefied gas flows,
and the conflicts that arise there, will not become in the future a direct danger to Western economy.¶ The United States and Europe will be
able to carry out their relations with the countries of the Middle East area according to political affinity criteria and values such as freedom and
democracy, thus altering existing partnerships in the region.¶ The
U.S. energy independence is one of the most
important changes, economically speaking, of the century and could have a profound global impact.
As happens with many countries now exporting gas and oil, the economy will internationalize further
but, as has happened with other oil exporting countries, it could turn, politically speaking, into an
element to isolate itself and relinquish their presence in international forums or work in trade
agreements17. The United States would have a new engine of economic growth in the energy sector that would bring significant benefits
but also the risks carried by economies with energy resources18.¶ However, as is clearly shown by history, forgoing a capacity to influence
implies losing it at the expense of another power that, hypothetically, would be China. The turbulent situation in the Middle East, nuclear
proliferation risks, the permanent threat of Islamist terrorism and the conflict with Israel, will be a constant reminder to the United States that
with great power comes great responsibility and will require it to stay in the region, but without the mortgage entailed by being energydependent on certain countries as is happening today.¶ Without
taking it as an excuse to give up current global
involvement and presence, the increase in hydrocarbon production will provide greater flexibility and
maneuverability in policies that the United States and Europe may assume with regard to producing
countries. It will be a dividend in terms of safety since, in order for hydrocarbon supply shocks to have
an impact on markets, these disturbances would have to be increased and would therefore become
less likely19. With respect to energy and its supply, America will have in the future an advantage over any other country. Apart from its
undoubted political ability to influence, it will become the first gas producer in the world, one of the largest oil producers and will have more
economic resources than other countries to supply itself from international markets. It is located next to Canada, with its vast unconventional
reserves yet untapped. It will have the most advanced and innovative extraction industry with regard to hydrocarbons with competitive
companies and almost exclusive technology. It also has huge coal reserves and is still committed to tap other generation sources such as
nuclear or renewable energy and to develop programs to improve the efficiency of energy consumption, particularly for transport and domestic
use.¶ Given all the political and economic uncertainties that may exist, the U.S. ability to respond to potential energy shortage crises worldwide
is unquestionable.¶ Conclusions¶ For
several decades, in sight of geopolitical instability in oil-producing
countries, energy independence and control of supply have been a strategic objective for the US.
Today, thanks to unconventional hydrocarbon reserves and technological advances that have enabled
their exploitation, the goal seems attainable and their exploitation will increase U.S. production and
make it less oil-dependent on the Middle East or countries such as Venezuela or Russia.¶ Given the
technological advances and a higher return in terms of energy and economy by the exploitation of such deposits, it is expected that other
countries will follow suit. Even considering the increased demand, mainly from Asian countries, it is possible to anticipate that oil supply
capacity will grow faster than global demand, therefore the
current system of cartelized oil producing countries will
lose relevance and the first to be damaged will be those that now have an economic dependence on
their energy exports. These countries will witness the disappearance of what, in practice, is an almost
exclusive supply of hydrocarbons: the OPEC and particularly producing countries like Saudi Arabia,
Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria.¶ An increased oil production will have its effect on international markets, which will witness a
downward pressure on oil and gas prices. Prices will not only decrease but will also become less sensitive to
political instability in certain geographic areas allowing for a greater certainty of supply, a particularly
positive thing for very energy-intensive countries in the developing world.¶ At a political level, a
consequence will be that U.S. strategic interests will give less importance to energy resources.
Scenarios like the Strait of Hormuz and the Caucasus are not vital to the global supply of oil and this
will allow the West to distance itself from the affairs of the region. All this would be convergent with the U.S.
strategy and would fit the strategy of the current Administration of President Obama, who has chosen to reduce U.S. involvement in distant
conflicts.¶ With regard to the Middle East, although its reserves and production do not have today such a degree of criticality regarding the
many geopolitical risks, the constant threat on Israel, the risk of nuclear proliferation and potential existing religious conflicts, the American
presence as a deterrent seems necessary. In any case, the
United States will have more freedom to choose its allies,
as the criterion of energy supply will lose weight under other factors of political affinity.¶ American energy
independence will be good news for consumer countries in general and Europe in particular due to the economic benefits to be gained from
greater diversification of supply. Some
producing countries will lose influence and the relationship with them
will not be conditioned by strategic weakness, which creates an imbalance in favor of the producer,
but it could be based instead on mutual interest agreements.¶ However, it is not very convenient to take overly
optimistic views regarding the future of global energy. The growing energy needs of large emerging economies and regions will require an
economic and technological effort unparalleled in history and international relations will not be without tension and conflict for these reasons.
However, in the energy field, technological advances in the field of hydrocarbons and their consequences can provide the world with a period
of lower stress that should be used to join forces and define a horizon of new technologies yet to be specified.
US policies to gain oil from Middle Eastern countries can cause instibility
John Deutch and James R. Schlesinger 06 (Deutch: Institute Professor at the¶ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
served as Chairman¶ of the Department of Chemistry, Dean of Science, Schlesinger: s Chairman of the¶ MITRE Corporation and a Senior Adviser
at Lehman Brothers. He¶ is also a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense ,national security¶ consequences of¶ u.s. oil dependency,
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEcQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cfr.org%2Fcontent%2Fpu
blications%2Fattachments%2FEnergyTFR.pdf&ei=D8rGU9yrBY2YyASI9YLgDw&usg=AFQjCNEPZOz_ew2eHRY0SY6oJG8Na4GFA&sig2=6BZozuaUbhs2NO2KHm7xRA&bvm=bv.71126742,d.aWw2eHRY0SY6oJG8Na4GFA&sig2=6BZozuaUbhs2NO2KHm
7xRA&bvm=bv.71126742,d.aWw )
Fourth, revenues from oil and gas exports can undermine local¶ governance. The United States has an
interest in promoting good¶ governance both for its own sake and because it encourages investment¶
that can increase the level and security of supply. States that are politically¶ unstable and poorly
governed often struggle with the task of responsibly¶ managing the large revenues that come from
their oil and gas exports.¶ The elements of good governance include democratic accountability,¶ low
corruption, and fiscal transparency. Production in fragile democracies, such as in Nigeria, can be
undermined when politicians or local¶ warlords focus on ways to seize oil and gas rents rather than
on the¶ longer-term task of governance. Totalitarian governments that have¶ control over those
revenue flows can entrench their rule.¶ When markets are tight, large oil consumers have tended to
become¶ especially focused on securing supply and ignore the effects of their¶ investments on
corruption and mismanagement. In Sudan, for example,¶ despite civil war and widespread human
rights abuses, the Chinese¶ government and its oil enterprises are funding extensive oil supply and
infrastructure projects. China has used its threat of a veto in the UN¶ Security Council to thwart
collective efforts by other countries to¶ manage the Darfur crisis in Sudan. Similarly, China, India, and
several¶ Western European countries continue to invest in Iran despite the need¶ to contain its
nuclear aspirations.
The Middle East the world’s most unstable region, and nothing is set to change
VOV 14 (The Voice of Vietnam, Middle East: 2013’s most unstable region, 1/10/2014,
http://english.vov.vn/Opinion/Middle-East-2013s-most-unstable-region/272115.vov )
In 2013, the Middle East topped the list of the world’s most unstable regions due to clashes between
Israel and Palestine, Syria’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear program. The instability has brought the
Middle East to the verge of explosion. Territorial disputes, uranium enrichment, and internal conflicts
caused instability, conflicts and civil war in the end. These conflicts have continued for a long time
with no solution. Middle East picture is shadowed In 2013, Syria might be the hottest place in the
region. The long-lasting civil war has resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and made millions of
people homeless. Famine has reached an alarming level, especially in war ravaged areas. While Syria
was threatened by military intervention by the West, but on September 15, Russia and the US reached a
surprising agreement under which Syria would allow the UN to inspect all of its chemical weapons
stockpiles and would sign the international treaty prohibiting chemical weapons. This agreement barred
the West from automatically imposing sanctions on Syria for failing to abide by UN resolutions. But
ridding Syria of chemical weapons was not enough to end the civil war. Fire fights between the Syrian
army and the rebels continue. Many analysts say destroying the chemical weapons has not
significantly impacted the rebels. Despite diplomatic efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry,
Middle East peace prospects didn’t improve much in 2013. Dialogues between Israel and Palestine
failed once again. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proceeded with the construction of
more Jewish resettlements in Palestinian territory. Egypt experienced many changes in 2013. Egyptian
President Mohamad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted one year after taking power. This
sparked a series of demonstrations by Morsi loyalists. Growing protests, and violence have pushed Egypt
into a grave serious political crisis. An interim government, backed by the army, has struggled to revise
the Constitution and prepare for elections that might bring Egypt back to democracy and stability. The
situation in Iraq in 2013 was the worst in the last several years. Some 9,500 people died in bombings
and attacks across the country, the most since 2008. The most positive sign in the Middle East in 2013
was an historic agreement between the P5+1 Group and Iran signed in Geneva on November 24. Though
it is just a short-term agreement with temporary provisions, it was highly praised because for 3 decades
nuclear disagreements between P5+1 and Iran have been intractable. Analysts say the agreement has
reduced the inflexibility of the parties. Prospects for 2014 Observers agree that the world’s hot spots
won’t cool down overnight. British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that violence and
instability in the Middle East are likely to continue in the next few years. Syria’s civil war shows no
signs of ending. The international conference on Syria, known as the Geneva II conference, scheduled
for January 22, is predicted to be very difficult as the opposition wants a government without Bashar
Al Assad while Assad vows he will run for a new term in 2014. Iran’s nuclear program still worries the
public. Though the Iranian President tries to demonstrate his moderate stance, it has been difficult for
him to gain trust from the West and suppress reactions from opposition groups within Iran. Terrorists in
Iran are seeking ways to increase their influence and set up relations with Muslim groups in the
Middle East making terrorism a security horror in the region
US oil interests draws us into middle east conflicts
Thanassis Cambanis 12 (teaches at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
and at the New School’s Graduate Program, The Carter Doctrine: A Middle East strategy past its prime.
Our creaky, 30-year-old vision of America’s role is ripe for an overhaul from the next president,
http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/10/13/the-carter-doctrine-middle-east-strategy-past-itsprime-the-carter-doctrine-middle-east-strategy-past-its-prime/xkDcRIPaE68mFbpnsUoARI/story.html ,
10/4/12 )
President Jimmy Carter confronted another time of great turmoil in the region. The US-supported Shah
had fallen in Iran, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, and anti-Americanism was flaring, with US
embassies attacked and burned. His new doctrine declared a fundamental shift. Because of the
importance of oil, security in the Persian Gulf would henceforth be considered a fundamental
American interest. The United States committed itself to using any means, including military force, to
prevent other powers from establishing hegemony over the Gulf. In the same way that the Truman
Doctrine and NATO bound America’s security to Europe’s after World War II, the Carter Doctrine
elevated a crowded and contested Middle Eastern shipping lane to nearly the same status as American
territory.¶ The consequences have been profound. Every conflict in the Gulf since (and there has been a
constant supply) has involved the United States. Our Navy patrols its waters, in constant tension with
Iran; our need for bases there has persuaded us to support otherwise noxious leaders. The Carter
Doctrine has driven the US fixation on stability among Arab regimes and Washington’s
micromanagement of Israel’s relations with its neighbors. The entire world enjoys the same oil prices
when they’re low and stable, but the United States carries almost all of the increasingly unsustainable
cost of securing the Gulf.
Small US action will be perceived as a large attack causing escalation
W Andrew Terril 09 (Research Professor of National Security Affairs, ESCALATION AND INTRAWAR
DETERRENCE¶ DURING LIMITED WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST,
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub941.pdf , September 2009)
U.S. policymakers need to remain cognizant that limited military attacks may not appear limited to
those nations under attack. In 1973, some intelligent and experienced Israeli leaders believed that
they faced an existential threat, although most Israeli and other historians with the benefit of time
and study no longer support this view. In contemporary times, large-scale attacks can start to look like
an effort at regime change. The temptation for foreign nations to respond to perceived regime
changing attacks with every resource available will be serious. While escalation was avoided in the
1973 and 1991 wars, reasons for this restraint might not always be present. The Israeli government,
drawing upon its democratic principles, engaged in an open and rigorous debate on escalation issues in
which a moderate majority swayed the Prime Minister into a better understanding of the military
situation and helped to neutralize the unrelenting pessimism attributed to Defense Minister Dayan. As
noted, countries such as Iran also have a tradition of governmental debate, but it does not rise to the
Israeli standard. A limited U.S. attack against Iran or North Korea could be viewed as the beginnings of
an existential challenge to these regimes, although this interpretation may be more likely with
Pyongyang than Tehran since that regime is by far the most insulated and paranoid of the two.
Nevertheless, even an Israeli attack against Iran could be viewed as the beginning of a U.S.-Israeli
campaign to destroy the Islamic Republic, and it could provoke an overwhelming response
2AC Energy ADV
AT:OMEGA Can’t Solve Dependence
OMEGA extracts bio-oil from algae and solves energy dependence
NASA Ames Research Center 12’
“Energy Research and Development Division FINAL PROJECT REPORT” NASA report prepared for the
California Energy Commission. http://www.energy.ca.gov/2013publications/CEC-500-2013-143/CEC500-2013-143.pdf
Collocating OMEGA with a municipal wastewater treatment plant provides nitrogen and phosphorus
from wastewater as well as carbon from combustion of biogas. In turn, the algae provide biological
nutrient removal and contaminant remediation for the wastewater. The floating docks supported
aquaculture of mussel production and also provided power for the OMEGA system by providing surfaces
for solar panels and access to vertical-axis wind turbines as well as power buoys. The locally generated
power supported cultivation, harvesting, and bio-oil production with surplus electricity exported to
the grid. Bio-oil production used traditional solvent extraction methods, but hydrothermal
liquefaction could reduce the uncertainty of cost estimates. Using this “industrial symbiosis” system,
and assuming a 10 percent return on investment, the cost of renewable diesel fell from $6.67/L (without
symbiosis) to $5.80/L (13 percent reduction) with wastewater treatment, to $4.20/L (24 percent
reduction) with the addition of renewable electricity sources, and to $1.43/L (41 percent reduction) with
revenue from aquaculture. The economic impact of the integrated system represents a 78 percent
reduction in costs (Fig. 8).¶ Sensitivity analysis: The financial results indicate key variables for both capital
and operating costs are influenced by assumptions about currents and wave forces, lipid content of
cells, the unit cost of the OMEGA PBR modules, the lifetime of the modules, and the cost of obtaining
CO2. The sensitivity analysis.¶ • An increase in PBR support and mooring capital costs by 50 percent,
which could be caused by a 50 percent increase in the current and wave forces experienced by the
system, decreases the NPV by 27 percent. This result implies that siting away from strong currents and
waves will be a major concern for OMEGA.¶ • Doubling the unit costs of OMEGA PBR modules decreases
the NPV by 26 percent, whereas halving the unit cost of plastic decreases the NPV by 13 percent.¶ • A
PBR module lifetime of 1.5 years instead of the assumed 3-years decreases the NPV by 26 percent.¶ • If
CO2 can be obtained from an existing carbon capture system (i.e., zero cost), NPV increases by 18
percent¶ • Increasing the lipid concentration from 25 percent to 50 percent increases the NPV by 42
percent.¶ 8.4 Conclusions and Next Steps¶ Results from the economic and financial analyses suggest that
biofuel produced by OMEGA may be a reasonable proposition if OMEGA is combined with
complementary activities, but the integrated system warrants further research. OMEGA has a negligible
land footprint and it may provide improved treatment of wastewater, significant CCS, and remediation
of algal blooms caused by wastewater runoff. Future research at the pilot-scale of a hectare, will help¶
149¶ address technical issues, external drivers, and biological, engineering, environmental, and economic
challenges. Specific studies include analyses of GHG emissions, LCA, EROI, and risk. These analyses will
broaden the foundation that supports further OMEGA development, while mitigating risks for any
specific location. The identification and resolution of regulatory or environmental issues and the
completion of an Environmental/Permitting Fatal Flaw Analysis will be important for developing OMEGA
in California.¶ OMEGA converts wastewater into fertilizer and GHG into biomass. In addition to solar,
wind, and wave energy, OMEGA uses the chemical energy between wastewater and seawater for
forward osmosis. Environmentally, OMEGA remediates wastewater pollutants in coastal ecosystems
and its floating infrastructure enhances local biodiversity . After a three-year feasibility study,
OMEGA is ready for deployment in protected bays near cities with offshore sewage outfalls and a
ready source of CO2 that is currently polluting the atmosphere. An integrated OMEGA system that
produces biofuels, treats wastewater, produces renewable electricity, and supports mussel aquaculture
is predicted to be financially viable and a step forward on the path beyond fossil-carbon energy.¶ Triple
Bottom Line¶ • Environmental: OMEGA produces biofuels to replace fossil fuels, cleans and reuses
wastewater, captures carbon to reduce global warming, and increases coastal biodiversity.¶ • Social:
OMEGA provides a means for biofuel production that does not compete with agriculture and a
platform for aquaculture for expanded food production and alternative energy generation (solar, wind,
and wave) to augment non-fossil-fuel energy. The OMEGA system with all the associated industries will
support thousands of jobs.¶ • Economic: On the basis of a techno-feasibility analysis, the OMEGA
integrated system creates an “ecology of technologies” that supports both energy production and
economic returns on investments .
Algae is the best source for oil- OMEGA allows extraction without environmental cost
NASA No Date “Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA)”
http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/omega/
Potential benefits include oil production from the harvested algae, and conversion of municipal
wastewater into clean water before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is extracted from the
algae, the algal remains can be used to make fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, or other valuable
products. This successful spinoff of NASA-derived technology will help support the commercial
development of a new algae-based biofuels industry and wastewater treatment.¶ “The reason why
algae are so interesting is because some of them produce lots of oil,” said Jonathan Trent, the lead
research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. “In fact, most of the oil we are
now getting out of the ground comes from algae that lived millions of years ago. Algae are still the
best source of oil we know .Ӧ Algae are similar to other plants in that they remove carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere, produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, and use phosphates,
nitrogen, and trace elements to grow and flourish. Unlike many plants, they produce fatty, lipid cells
loaded with oil that can be used as fuel.¶ “The inspiration I had was to use offshore membrane
enclosures to grow algae. We’re going to deploy a large plastic bag in the ocean, and fill it with sewage.
The algae use sewage to grow, and in the process of growing they clean up the sewage,” said Trent.¶ It is
a simple, but elegant concept. The bag will be made of semi-permeable membranes that allow fresh
water to flow out into the ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients. The membranes are called
“forward-osmosis membranes.” NASA is testing these membranes for recycling dirty water on future
long-duration space missions. They are normal membranes that allow the water to run one way. With
salt water on the outside and fresh water on the inside, the membrane prevents the salt from diluting
the fresh water. It’s a natural process, where large amounts of fresh water flow into the sea.
Oil from algae is sufficient to reduce dependency, but more systems are needed
Algae Industry Magazine 12/1/13
“CEC issues final report on OMEGA System” Algae Industry Magazine, algae fuel and innovation related
news, citing the California Energy Commission report. http://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/cecissues-final-report-omega-system/
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has just issued their “final” report on the Offshore Membrane Enclosures
for Growing Algae (OMEGA) approach to algae cultivation and wastewater remediation. Outlining the research findings for the multi-year
OMEGA project, the report is available for download on the CEC’s website.¶ According to the report’s Primary Author, Dr. Jonathon Trent, “The
report summarizes most of the work we did over the last few years, although it does not include our more detailed techno-economic analysis,
nor does it include our research on wastewater recovery as potable water (Desalgae). These latter two results will be published soon…”¶ The
goal of the OMEGA project was to demonstrate that an ocean deployed, floating PBR inoculated with
freshwater algae can produce sufficient lipids for conversion to fuel to be economically feasible and
appropriately scalable so the technology may be transferred to commercial or other government
sectors.¶ OMEGA photobioreactor tubes with swirl vanes¶ The researchers in this study took the position that, at least for coastal cities, the
most plausible answer to the question of how to make the massive amounts of biofuels needed to
displace significant quantities of fossil fuels without competing with agriculture will be to 1) use microalgae as
the feedstock, 2) grow the microalgae on domestic wastewater, and 3) locate the cultivation system
offshore in the vicinity of existing wastewater outfalls.¶ The feasibility of an enormous offshore algae cultivation system
will depend on overcoming major challenges inherent in algae cultivation, in finding appropriate sites and engineering offshore systems that
can cope with extreme conditions at these sites, and in many countries, navigating the environmental and political bureaucracies, which may
pose the greatest difficulty in testing the new technology. It is well established that the economic challenges for biofuels are daunting if not
impossible to overcome.¶ In the OMEGA system, oil-producing freshwater algae are grown in flexible, clear plastic PBRs attached to a floating
infrastructure anchored offshore in a protected bay. Wastewater and CO2 from coastal facilities provide water and nutrients. The
surrounding seawater controls the temperature inside the PBRs and kills algae that escape from the
system.¶ The salt gradient between seawater and wastewater drives forward osmosis, to concentrate
nutrients and facilitate algae harvesting. The OMEGA infrastructure also supports aquaculture and provides
surfaces for solar panels and access to offshore wave generators and wind turbines. Integrating algae
cultivation with wastewater treatment, CO2 sequestration, aquaculture, and other forms of alternative energy creates an ecology of
technologies in which the wastes from one part of the system are resources for another.¶ The OMEGA team consisted of scientists and
engineers from a variety of public and private organizations. The team attempted to maintain an “open source” model in the dissemination of
their results and welcomed contributions from colleagues and collaborators with interests in marine biology, ecology, engineering,
environmental studies, economics, and public policy.¶ The project was divided into three phases. In the first phase, ideas about possible
OMEGA materials and designs, deployment and operation, as well as environmental constraints and concerns, were considered and discussed,
which led to technical memoranda assembled into a report.¶ In the second phase, a functional floating 110-liter prototype system was
developed in a seawater tank at a research facility in Santa Cruz and then scaled up to 1,600 liters in seawater tanks at a wastewater treatment
plant in San Francisco. In the third phase, the results were evaluated and reported in a series of technical papers based on experiments and
analyses in phases I & II.¶ According
to the researchers, economic and financial evaluations, based on the
limited data available, show that OMEGA compares favorably with other algae production systems . The
advantage of OMEGA is that it eliminates land use, provides convenient access to wastewater and advanced
wastewater treatment, contributes to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and creates a
multifunctional offshore platform.
Algae solves fossil fuel dependence and is cheaper than oil
Bisk 12’
(Tsvi, Center for Strategic Futurist Thinking director “No Limits to Growth”,
https://www.wfs.org/Upload/PDFWFR/WFR_Spring2012_Bisk.pdf)
The Promise of Algae¶ Biofuels produced from algae could eventually provide a substantial portion of
our transportation fuel. Algae has a much higher productivity potential than crop-based biofuels
because it grows faster, uses less land and requires only sun and CO2 plus nutrients that can be
provided from gray sewage water. It is the primo CO2 sequesterer because it works for free (by way of
photosynthesis), and in doing so produces biodiesel and ethanol in much higher volumes per acre than
corn or other crops.¶ Production costs are the biggest remaining challenge. One Defense Department
estimate pins them at more than $20 a gallon.42 But once commercialized in industrial scale facilities,
production cost could go as low as $2 a gallon (the equiv- alent of $88 per barrel of oil) according to
Jennifer Holmgren, director of renewable fuels at an energy subsidiary of Honeywell International.43
Since algae uses waste water and CO2 as its pri- mary feedstock, its use to produce transportation fuel
or feedstock for product would actually improve the environment.
OMEGA provides sufficient biofuel to replace fossil fuels
Trent et al. 10’
Jonathan Trent1*, Tsegereda Embaye2, Patrick Buckwalter3, Tra-My Richardson3, Hiromi Kagawa2,
Sigrid Reinsch1, and Mary Martis4. Jonathan Trent studied at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSan Diego, specializing in extremophiles. He is lead scientist on the OMEGA project at NASA's Ames
Research Center in California. “OFFSHORE MEMBRANE ENCLOSURES FOR GROWING ALGAE (OMEGA):
A SYSTEM FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION, WASTEWATER TREATMENT, AND CO2 SEQUESTRATION”
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20100039342.pdf
With the limits of fossil fuels on the horizon and ample evidence that their continued use will have
catastrophic environmental consequences, the OMEGA project is an opportunity to be part of an
international team to co- develop this alternative fuels technology. OMEGA is a novel approach to
growing oil-producing, freshwater algae in offshore enclosures, using municipal wastewater that is
currently discharged into the ocean. The technology is meant to produce sufficient quantities of algae
to significantly contribute to the production of sustainable and carbon-neutral biofuels without
competing with agriculture for land, water, of fertilizer. The OMEGA system uses solar energy, wave
energy, the¶ ¶ heat capacity of water, and the salt gradient between seawater and wastewater for
forward osmosis. FO concentrates nutrients and stimulate algal growth, while facilitating the harvesting
of the microalgae. OMEGA provides biofuels, as well as food, fertilizer, and other useful products,
while processing wastewater released into the environment and removing carbon dioxide from the air.
OMEGA was inspired by NASA’s closed-loop life support systems and it represents an “ecology of
technologies” in which waste products from one part of a system become resources for another. Like
natural ecosystems, technology ecology is efficient, effective, and sustainable.
AT: US Doesn’t Leave Middle East
Oil independence would decrease U.S. need to engage with the middle east
Hanson 12 (Victor Davis Hanson, historian, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, “The Second Oil
Revolution,” NATIONAL REVIEW, , http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/294693/second-oilrevolution-victor-davis-hanson, 3/29/12 )
Take the Middle East. The United States currently devotes about $50 billion of its military budget to
patrolling the Persian Gulf and stationing thousands of troops in the region.¶ America was the target
of a crippling oil embargo following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Ever since, it has often hedged its
support of democratic Israel in fear of oil cutoffs or price hikes from the Middle East. Just as often, the
United States finds itself hypocritically calling for democracy while supporting medieval sheikdoms
and monarchies in the oil-exporting gulf. Likewise, Western petrodollars seem to find a way into the
coffers of terrorists bent on killing Americans and their allies.¶ But at a time of shrinking defense
budgets, an oil-rich America might not need to protect Middle Eastern oil fields and shipping lanes.
U.S. foreign policy really could be predicated on the principle of supporting those nations that
embrace constitutional government and human rights, without worry that offended dictators,
theocrats, and kings would turn off the spigots.
The US would not be shackled to the Middle East after energy independance
Daniel Pipes 12 (President, Middle Eastern Forum, The Geopolitics of US energy Independence,
http://www.international-economy.com/TIE_Su12_GeopoliticsEnergySymp.pdf Summer 2012 )
An energy self-sufficient Unites State will have a particularly dramatic impact on the Middle East.
First, Washington will be largely freed from having to kowtow to the oil and gas pashas. Second, a loss
of control over the price of energy will weaken the perceived strength of the oil-exporting countries.
Third, they will probably experience lowered income. In all, one of the core reasons that makes the
Middle East so prominent in world affairs will diminish and with it the outsized presence of the region
on the world scene. As it is a region suffering from deep maladies – extremist ideologies, conspiracy
theories, tyranny, a culture of cruelty, a tribal social order, and more – that lesser role will be a healthy
change. No longer quite so buoyed by energy revenue power and money, perhaps a more sincere
confrontation with modernity will take place
US interests in the Middle East would change, and wouldn’t play the role of military
protector
Moisés Naím 1/17/14 ( senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where
his research focuses on international economics and global politics , Shale gas revolution reshaping
international relations, http://www.abo.net/oilportal/topic/view.do?contentId=2188725 )
The Middle East will be one of the first regions directly affected by America’s new energy situation.
While Saudi Arabia and other Middle East producers will continue to be important players in the
global energy market, their dominance, enjoyed for most of the past century, will no longer be the
central feature of this market. The implications of this trend are enormous, ranging from the military
to the commercial and perhaps even the social. As the supply of oil and gas coming from a variety of
sources increases, prices will face downward pressures. Middle East producers are thus likely to face
dwindling export revenues, which will naturally constrain what they can do at home and abroad. Fiscal
adjustment and other belt-tightening measures that have never been needed will become necessary.
And, as we have seen everywhere else, governments forced to impose fiscal adjustment inevitably face
popular discontent. Domestic political instability among Middle East oil exporters can in turn trigger
changes in their foreign policies, which may in turn trigger changes in U.S. policy. It is unclear, for
example, what belt-adjusting measures will do to the financial support that Arab oil exporters give to
militant groups and allies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia and other countries with large Muslim
populations. Or the consequences for their behavior towards regional rivals like Iran, a country poised to
launch a major expansion of its own oil production if international sanctions are lifted. ¶ As the
geopolitics of energy change, so will the web of international alliances of oil-producing countries in the
Middle East. For example, it’s distinctly possible that they may seek closer alliances with Russia and
distance themselves from traditional allies like the United States. And a United States that is no longer
critically dependent on energy imports from the Middle East will be able to recalibrate its role as the
provider of the military umbrella that ensures the safe passage in the sea lanes through which middle
eastern oil reaches global markets. Ensuring that the Suez Canal or the Strait of Ormuz are open and
safe to pass will continue to be an American priority, although not as much as it was at the height of
U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil. ¶ Analyst Nikolas K. Gvosdev argues that America’s newfound
energy capacity means that "a robust U.S. military presence abroad will no longer be seen as essential
for prosperity at home&hellip; the Carter Doctrine and the Reagan Corollary, which commit the United
States to defend the countries of the Persian Gulf against outside aggression and internal subversion
because this region and its energy resources are deemed invaluable to U.S. interests, [could] go the
way of other now-irrelevant U.S. foreign policy doctrines."¶ The consequences of the shale gas
revolution on the Middle East are as varied and enormous as they are hard to anticipate with precision.
Deutch
Schlesinger 06
John
and James R.
(Deutch: Institute Professor at the¶ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
served as Chairman¶ of the Department of Chemistry, Dean of Science, Schlesinger: s Chairman of the¶ MITRE Corporation and a Senior Adviser
at Lehman Brothers. He¶ is also a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense ,national security¶ consequences of¶ u.s. oil dependency,
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEcQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cfr.org%2Fcontent%2Fpu
blications%2Fattachments%2FEnergyTFR.pdf&ei=D8rGU9yrBY2YyASI9YLgDw&usg=AFQjCNEPZOz_ew2eHRY0SY6oJG8Na4GFA&sig2=6BZozuaUbhs2NO2KHm7xRA&bvm=bv.71126742,d.aWw2eHRY0SY6oJG8Na4GFA&sig2=6BZozuaUbhs2NO2KHm
7xRA&bvm=bv.71126742,d.aWw )
Sixth, some observers see a direct relationship between the dependence of the United States on oil,
especially from the Persian Gulf,¶ and the size of the U.S. defense budget. Such a relationship invites the¶
inference that if it were not dependent on this oil, the United States¶ and its allies would have no
interest in the region, and hence it would¶ be possible to achieve significant reductions in the U.S.
military posture. In the extreme this argument says that if the nation reduced its dependence, then the
defense budget could be reduced aswell. U.S. strategic interests in reliable oil supplies from the Persian
Gulf¶ are not proportional with the percent of oil consumption that is imported¶ by the United States
from the region. Until very low levels of dependency are reached, the United States and all other
consumers of oil¶ will depend on the Persian Gulf. Such low levels will certainly not be¶ reached during
the twenty-year time frame of this study.
AT-ME Dependence Good
The aff lets the U.S. maintain a presence in the Middle East without unwanted
alliances
ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ 6/27/12 The Wallstreet Journal: “Expanded Oil Drilling Helps U.S. Wean Itself From
Mideast.” http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304441404577480952719124264
U.S. officials stress that the Middle East will remain important to American foreign policy partly because of
the region's continuing influence on global oil prices. "We need to continue to pay attention to how global markets function, because we have a
fundamental interest that those markets are stable," Mr. Pascual said.¶ That means the U.S.
military will keep guarding the
region's oil shipping lanes, as it has done for decades. "Nobody else can protect it and if it were no longer available, U.S.
oil prices would go up," said Michael O'Hanlon, a national security expert with the Brookings Institution, who says the U.S. spends $50 billion a
year protecting oil shipments. But China, a growing consumer of Middle Eastern crude, is seeking a larger presence in the region, with its navy
joining antipiracy efforts near Somalia.¶ Canada's Role¶ Canada's oil-sands deposits hold the world's third largest reserves of crude oil, behind
Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Canada, meanwhile, is the largest exporter of oil into the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer. That's promising
to make Canadian-U.S. energy cooperation as important as it's ever been.¶ Still, growing
domestic energy production could
allow the U.S. to lessen its focus on the unpredictable region over time. Dependence on Middle East
oil has shaped American foreign, national-security and defense policies for most of the last half
century. It helped drive the U.S. into active participation in the search for Arab-Israeli peace; drove
Washington into close alignments with the monarchies of the Persian Gulf states; compelled it to side
with Iraq during its war with Iran; prompted it to then turn against Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait,
bringing about the first Persian Gulf war; and prompted Washington to then build up and sustain its
military presence in the region.¶ Whatever the success such strategies had in ensuring American influence in the region, all also
came at a price. Involvement in the Arab-Israeli peace process brought the U.S. the enmity of many of the
region's most radical forces upset at the failure to create a Palestinian state. The decision to build up an
American military presence in the region was used as a rationale for anti-American agitation and attacks by al Qaeda and other extremist
forces.¶ The shift away from Middle Eastern oil means closer ties with Canada, which is emerging as the top U.S. energy ally, but also with Latin
neighbors that are strong trading partners. A dollar spent buying oil from these countries is more likely to end up back in the U.S. than a dollar
spent buying Iraqi or Saudi crude. Economies buoyed by petrodollars also lessen the appeal of northward migration for Latin America's poor,
says Jeremy Martin, director of the energy program at the Institute of the Americas in La Jolla, Calif.
AT: ME Stable
The Middle East is inherently unstable due to religious conflicts
CENTER FOR REDUCTION OF RELIGIOUS-BASED CONFLICT no date (Hotspots-Middle East,
http://www.center2000.org/hotspots-middle-east/ )
This area of the world is sizzling. And, there appears to be no end in sight. While religious-based
conflict may not be the core reason for the conflicts there in every instance, it surely is, at the very
least, a basic influence and a major underpinning. The Middle East region of the world is a good
example of why religious tolerance alone cannot and will not reduce religious-based conflict. To the
contrary, it gives the paramount support for the Center’s approach, going beyond tolerance to attack
this problem. So, the world must go forward by, among other things, emphasizing education in the
direction of teaching the value of finding and emphasizing those common threads of similarity of
religions rather than emphasizing the differences – though they certainly exist. Judaism versus Islam
Conflict, in which the Jews as a religious group were involved, in this part of the world, goes back
more than 3,000 years, and is historically documented in the Jewish and Christian Old Testaments,
among other records. History reveals that this conflict among these Semite neighbors in the Middle
East has had at its heart the overemphasis of religious differences between Islam and Judaism. Even
though, until the advent of the modern country of Israel as a de jure Jewish nation in 1948, the Jews, as
many other religions, had not escaped conflict and violence throughout the world from other sources as
well. The establishment of Israel, however, focused back – for the first time in centuries – their conflict
almost exclusively in the Middle East. And, the cost was high for both sides. After the 1948 War, more
than 700,000 Jews in 8 Arab countries were forced flee for their lives, their property ransacked, and
their schools, hospitals, synagogues and cemeteries expropriated or destroyed. On the other hand,
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were either forced from their lands after the UN founding of the
state of Israel, or tragically, have remained quarantined in squalid camps sustained by UN and Arab
countries’ aid. Of all those countries, only one country, Jordan, has extended citizenship to the
Palestinians. While many might argue that the Arab-Israeli Wars of the latter part of the 20th century,
and the subsequent unstable and violent situation have not been religious-based in nature, it appears
the genesis of these conflicts was. Not seldom do initially religious-based conflicts subsequently take
on a separate life of their own. Though no major Arab-Israeli wars have erupted in the last decade,
there remains in the Middle East a tinder-box tension. This is particularly true since the renewal of
the Israel/Palestine fighting in 2000. Lives are lost almost daily – on one side, or both – and billions of
dollars are spent in support of military establishments and their adventures which could otherwise have
been focused on the immediate and humanitarian needs of those peoples. For instance, on the Jewish
side, the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz reported that the Moslem Intifada begun in 2000 had cost Israel
more than $2.4 billion in lost revenue between the period October 2000 and December 2001. Besides
lost tourism, a substantial amount of this money was lost because of the number of Palestinian workers
in Israel dropped from an average of 124,000 in the 3rd quarter of 2000 to only 4,000 in the final 2
quarters of 2001, likewise increasing the burden of lost income on the Moslem side. However, the
Jewish/Islamic conflict is not limited to the Middle East. In late December, 2000, two Islamic men
stopped a school bus carrying 50 Jewish children between the ages of 8 and 10 at gunpoint near Paris,
France, and residents of the mainly Arab suburb stoned the vehicle. It was believed that the incident
was related to some 200 attacks against Jews or Jewish property by Moslems in France earlier that year
in October. In fact, according to a French government report issued in early 2002, acts of violence
against the Jews increased from one in 1998 to nine in 1999 to 116 in 2000. If one includes other antiSemitic incidents, ranging from threats to arson, the numbers went from 74 in 1998 to 603 in 2000. In
early 2002 the conflict between the Jews and Moslems outside of the Middle East took a new turn for
the worst. On March 30th 15 young masked Moslem immigrants in Lyons, France rammed stolen cars
through a Jewish synagogue’s front gate, crashing into the temple’s front doors. The security guard was
punched in the face and kicked in the ribs. It was one of more than 300 anti-Jewish incidents in France,
home of 6 million Moslems, in a 3 week period, compared with 200 in all of 2001. Sharp increases in
attacks on Jews were reported in Britain, Russia and Belgium as well. Some called this a new wave of
anti-Semitism in Europe. Later in 2002 and into 2003 the violence in the Middle East escalated sharply.
There were attacks and counter attacks between the Palestinians and Israelis. Innocent men, women
and children died by the hundreds on both sides. In June, 2003 at the urging of the U.S. President
George W. Bush, the two sides again sat together to attempt to bring peace to the area. While this
attempt showed initial short-term success, it quickly diminished again into violence. In late 2003,
suicide car bombers attacked two synagogues in downtown Istanbul, Turkey killing 23 people and
injuring more than 80. One explosion went off outside the Neve Shalom Synagogue, the city’s largest.
The other severely damaged the Beth Israel Synagogue in the affluent district of Sisli, three miles away.
This was not the first time the Neve Shalom Synagogue had been attacked. In 1986 gunmen had killed
22 worshippers and wounded 6 others during a Sabbath service there. 2012 and early 2013 have not
been substantially different. Continuing pressure against (not only) Israel from Iran via its surrogates
Hamas and Hezbollah shows no end. The conflict Israel and the world have over the constructing new
Israeli settlements on land both Israel and Palestine claim as their own remains complex and
dangerous. The now more than two-year internal conflict in Syria poses potential danger to the entire
Middle East area should it explode across Syrian borders. The change in governments in Egypt, Libya,
Tunisia and well as the ongoing conflict in Bahrain between the Sunni-led government and the
majority Shiite citizens sees no immediate solution. These and more not only threaten general
stability in the area but the existence of the state of Israel as well. These trends, both within and
without the Middle East, have not changed in recent years.
ISIS causing instability in Iraq and Syria – growing through ex iraqi soldiers
World Review 6/26/14(ISIS advance in Iraq poses threat to regional instability,
http://www.worldreview.info/content/isis-advance-iraq-poses-threat-regional-instability )
ISIS, the al-Qaeda affiliated extremist group sweeping through Iraq on its way to the capital, Bagdhad, is
a coalition of the willing, writes a World Review guest expert. They are ideologically-dominated Islamist
extremists and disgruntled former Sunni Iraqi army officers who lost their jobs and privileges when
they were disbanded by the United States. These Saddam-era forces are highly trained, very
experienced, battle-hardened and thoroughly disciplined. It was a grave error to dismiss ISIS - the
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - as a mere al-Qaeda affiliate or another local manifestation of a
global terrorist group which could be contained locally. The military men in ISIS are not necessarily
fanatic religionists, but are generally Arab nationalists in ideology and strongly Sunni Muslim in
sentiment and religion, imbibed with the spirit of pan Arab unity and pride. The former Sunni Iraqi army
officers lost their jobs after the American Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq the de facto head of state post-occupation in 2003-2004 - disbanded the Iraqi Armed Forces. Their
coalition with extreme jihadist terrorists will last for as long as Iraq has no effective and inclusive
government, and for as long as Iraq’s government - and regional and Western powers - continue to
pretend that ignoring the wishes of Iraq's Sunni population will have little impact on regional security
and stability. The underlying cause for ISIS's strength lies, to some degree, in the fact that this
disgruntled group has found no meaningful role in the post-2003 political life in Iraq. They have been
marginalised and sought any incubator which allowed them to martial such resentment into organised
armed action. Short of real and effective political power-sharing in Iraq, this group is unlikely to be
pacified. Continued political sectarianism by the Shia government will only exasperate the extremist
threat with the possibility that Iraq will splinter into three regions. ISIS and Sunni militant forces have
seized a series of towns and cities in the north and west, including border crossings, since an offensive
took control of Iraq’s second city, Mosul, on June 4, 2014. The capture of key border crossings could
help ISIS transport weapons and equipment into Iraq. More than 1,000 people, most of them civilians,
have died in the violence in June 2014, according to United Nations monitors. ISIS took control of Iraq’s
main oil refinery at Baiji on June 24, 2014. It is Iraq’s largest refinery producing a third of its oil. ISIS aims
to establish an Islamic caliphate across Iraq and the Levant. Its capture of a swathe of territory seems
unstoppable. ISIS has effectively created a cohesive and continuous territorial arc from the IraqiSyrian-Turkish border to the north of Iraq to the Iraqi-Syrian-Jordanian border to the west. Whether
ISIS will be able to push towards the great prize of Kirkuk, where a good deal of Iraq's oil and refining
capacity exists, is unlikely.
Israel-Palestine conflict continuing to escalate, causing instability
Lyndon LaRouche 7/12/14 (founder of the LaRouche political movement, Israel's Action in Gaza: 'Is
This Not a War Crime?' , http://larouchepac.com/node/31286 , July 12, 2014 )
Netanyahu has made it clear that if rocket (not guided missile) fire out of Gaza does not end, there
will be a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. In my opinion this will be a large search and destroy
operation employing a lot of infantry-supported armor that will be heavily provided with artillery and air
support. In my opinion a decision to conduct such an operation in an area that contains 1.6 million
people, most of them civilians, is a decision to inflict mass casualties on that population. In my opinion
that decision is motivated by a desire to destroy the unity government now in effect in the Palestinian
Authority. Is this not a war crime?"¶ More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in four days,
with more than 600 injured. The Israeli operation is following the same lines as the 2008-2009
Operation Cast Lead that failed to destroy Hamas and killed thousands of Palestinians, and the 2012 8day operation against Gaza which also failed to destroy Hamas.¶ The U.S. is "offering" to mediate, but
neither side is interested in anything Obama and Kerry are saying. For Netanyahu, who is carrying out
the British perpetual war strategy, there are no constraints on what Israel can do, and that was clear
when Obama shut down the peace talks in April 2014, when the Israelis walked out after the PLO and
Hamas reached a unity agreement.¶ Intelligence sources with high-level channels to several Palestinian
leaders, and Israeli sources told LaRouchePAC that they are extremely worried that traditional backchannels — not very strong to begin with — that had functioned to end previous military
engagements, are not functional at all. With the countries that surround Israel and Palestine either in
a state of instability or outright war, there are no ready ways to mediate.¶ The Palestinian Authority,
meanwhile, presented a fact sheet to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah on July 10th
that asserts that the Israeli campaign really began on June 13, the day after three Jewish settler youth
had been kidnapped on the West Bank. Fourteen Palestinians had been killed by Israelis, either security
forces or settlers, before this week's bombing campaign had even begun, and 900 Palestinians were
arrested, including minors and elected members of the Palestinian legislative council.¶ The fact sheet
says:¶ "Israeli occupation forces have conducted incursions in nearly all Palestinian cities, resulting in
confrontations with the Palestinian civilian population. During said incursions, Israeli occupation forces
invaded hundreds of Palestinian homes, raided university campuses, attacked media and civil society
institutions."¶ It also includes names of those killed (82 of them, including many children and women), as
well as prominent figures who have been arrested.¶ The fighting escalated, Friday, with the first rocket
fire coming from Lebanon, to which Israel immediately responded with rocket and artillery fire.
Netanyahu is — without evidence — blaming the northern attack on Hezbollah, while an account in the
Israeli media quotes the Lebanese military saying they had found and dismantled rocket launchers that
had been used by other radical Islamic fighters.¶ Iron Dome Enables Israeli Genocide Against
Palestinians¶ Ha'aretz blogger Uri Misgav posted an extraordinary article early Friday morning, Israeli
time, in which he argues that the Iron Dome anti-rocket system may protect Israelis from rockets fired
by militants in Gaza, but it also buys something much more pernicious.¶ "It enables Israelis to feel
protected while continuing their life almost without a hitch," Misgav writes. "They can blow up their
feelings of victimization and misery to new heights, while going on about their business relatively
comfortably."¶ He characterizes the Iron Dome as "Israel's doomsday weapon" which enables Israeli
governments¶ "to launch a 'limited operation' once every two years, to refill the hatred and
demonization reserves and renew the confidence of their obedient subjects, who only a day or two
ago began to realize that their government was deceiving them."¶ Misgav ridicules the Israeli
government's claim that it is exercising "restraint" in its bombing campaign against the Palestinians.¶
"Restraint? I'd like to see how Israelis would act and speak if just once an F-16 squadron swooped down
on a residential neighborhood and dropped a ton of smart bombs on it."¶ The Iron Dome, Misgav writes,
not only intercepts missiles,¶ "Apparently it intercepts free thought as well. It dooms its users to
blindness, deafness and dementia," he writes. "If our leaders really want them [that is, the people who
live within rocket range of Gaza] to have quiet, they must strive courageously and creatively for an
overall solution," Misgav concludes.¶ "They must install above us all the iron dome of a negotiated
political settlement. But apparently it doesn't pay to manufacture such an item."
AT: No US Intervention
ISIS will attack Jordan-draws in US and Israel
Eli Lake 6/27/14 (Eli Lake is a senior national-security correspondent . He previously covered national
security and intelligence for The Washington Times and covered diplomacy, intelligence, and the military
for the late New York Sun, Israel Could Get Dragged Into ISIS’s War, Obama Admin Warns,
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/27/israel-could-get-dragged-into-isis-s-war-obamaadmin-warns.html )
The terror group that’s taken over major portions of Iraq and Syria won’t be content with roiling those
two countries, senior Obama administration officials told Senators in a classified briefing this week. The
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) also has its eyes on Jordan; in fact, its jihadists are already
Tweeting out photos and messages claiming a key southern town in Jordan already belongs to them.
An ISIS attack on Jordan could make an already complex conflict nightmarishly tangled, the officials
added in their briefing. If the Jordanians are seriously threatened by ISIS, they would almost certainly
try to enlist Israel and the United States into the war now engulfing the Middle East. “The concern
was that Jordan could not repel a full assault from ISIS on its own at this point,” said one senator, who
spoke on condition of anonymity. Another Senate staff member said the U.S. officials who briefed the
members responded to the question of what Jordan’s leaders would do if they faced a military
onslaught from ISIS by saying: “They will ask Israel and the United States for as much help as they can
get.” If ISIS were to draw Israel into the regional conflict it would make the region’s strange politics
even stranger. In Iraq and Syria, Israel’s arch nemesis, Iran, is fighting ISIS. Israel, on the other hand,
has used its air force from time to time to bomb Hezbollah positions in Syria and Lebanon, the
Lebanese militia aligned with Iran. If Israel were to fight against ISIS in Jordan, it would become a de
facto ally of Iran, a regime dedicated to its destruction. But Jordan is also an important ally for Israel.
It is one of two countries (along with Egypt) to have a peace treaty with the Jewish state. Jordanian
security forces help patrol the east bank of the Jordan River that borders Israel and both countries
share intelligence about terrorist groups in the region. Thomas Sanderson, the co-director for
transnational threats at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Israel and the United
States view the survival of the Jordanian monarchy as a paramount national security objective. “I think
Israel and the United States would identify a substantial threat to Jordan as a threat to themselves
and would offer all appropriate assets to the Jordanians,” he said. Sanderson, who is a former
contractor for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said those assets would include air power and
intelligence resources, but he stressed that whatever Israel and the United States offered Jordan would
be tailored to the kind of threat ISIS posed. “It’s impossible to rule out boots on the ground from Israel
or the United States, but that is the least likely scenario. Amman would have to be under siege for that
to happen,” he said. While the U.S. intelligence community estimates that ISIS only has 3,000 to 5,000
fighters who are full members of the organization, the group is nonetheless a potent force. In its
military campaigns in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has seized millions of dollars worth of cash and advanced
military equipment from bases abandoned by the Iraqi and Syrian armies.
US will provide much greater support for Jordan than Iraq- risks escalation
Eli Lake 6/27/14 (Eli Lake is a senior national-security correspondent . He previously covered national
security and intelligence for The Washington Times and covered diplomacy, intelligence, and the military
for the late New York Sun, Israel Could Get Dragged Into ISIS’s War, Obama Admin Warns,
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/27/israel-could-get-dragged-into-isis-s-war-obamaadmin-warns.html )
Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
and is a co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Jordan Caucus, said in an interview that the threat from
ISIS could draw the United States into the conflict. But he also said he had more confidence in Jordan’s
military than he did in Iraq’s. “I don’t think there is any sense that the rank and file Jordanian forces will
melt away the way the Iraqis did,” he said. “It’s a different context in Jordan. If the need arises, they will
provide more than a match for ISIS.” In the last two decades Jordan has made a strategic decision to ally
closely with America. Today the country is one of America’s closest partners in counter-terrorism. After
U.S. forces lost access to Iraqi military bases in 2011, Jordan emerged as the most important base for
the CIA in the region. The CIA, for example, trains Syrian rebels from positions inside Jordan. On
Thursday, the White House asked Congress to authorize an additional $500 million for military training
and equipment for those opposition forces. At times, the close partnership with Jordan has resulted in
tragedy. A triple agent provided to the CIA by Jordanian intelligence ended up detonating himself and
seven other CIA operatives at one of the agency’s outpost in Khost, Afghanistan in 2009. In the last year,
the U.S. military has also positioned batteries of Patriot missiles and a fleet of F-16s inside Jordan along
with a contingency of U.S. soldiers known as Centcom-Forward Jordan. That group is led Brig. General
Dennis McKean, one of whose missions is to help plan for Jordan’s defense in the midst of the chaos
that has enflamed the region. “Jordan is a very close partner to the United States, and we have shared
their concerns about violence spilling across the border for some time,” said Commander Bill Speaks, a
spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “We are committed to supporting Jordan’s
security and continually assess the situation and how best to support our friends in the region.” One
of those threats today is coming from the southern Jordanian city of Ma’an. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi,
a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum who specializes in jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq,
said, “Jordan is a part of the Sham, the Levant states that also include Lebanon, that ISIS aims to
control as part of its near-term ambitions. But Jordan is a more viable target for them than Lebanon at
the moment and the signs of local support, like in Ma’an, will embolden them.” Even before the ISIS
offensive in Iraq, supporters of the group had tweeted maps showing the city of Ma’an in southern
Jordan, as part of a regional Caliphate. Last week, a photo from Ma’an showed ISIS supporters holding
a banner declaring the city "the Fallujah of Jordan," comparing it to the city in western Iraq that fell to
ISIS in January. With the threat to Jordan rising, Secretary of State John Kerry met Thursday with
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Paris in a group that also included Saudi Foreign Minister Saud
al-Faisal and Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed. “The reason that he pulled them together is
because, one, the threat of [ISIS] is not just to Iraq. It’s to the region,” said a senior administration
official. But Kerry and the Arab foreign ministers didn’t discuss any specifics of how to work together
to fight against ISIS, the official added. They talked generally about the situation on the ground, the
formation of the new Iraqi government, and their shared frustration with Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri alMaliki, but not about direct security cooperation. “As a sort of front-line state in the fight against [ISIS],
Jordan is certainly one of the countries that we are directly referencing when we talk about the
potential of a threat,” the official said. “That said, the current focus of [ISIS] activity is inside Iraq, is
inside Syria, and to the extent that [ISIS] has sort of designs on other places, that was not directly
discussed today.” The threat to Jordan is on the minds of many lawmakers though in Washington. Schiff
said that if the Kingdom of Jordan were in danger of falling, “We would be prepared to provide a whole
different level of material support than anything we are talking about in Iraq.” He added, “I still don’t
think there are many foreseeable circumstances for American boots on the ground, nor do I think the
Jordanians would ask for them. But the willingness to provide greater material support, greater
intelligence support, and the willingness to stand behind the Jordanian government is an order of
magnitude greater than what we have done for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the
senators who emerged from this week’s briefing on ISIS were so grim. “We have to be concerned no
longer simply about what’s happening in Iraq, but the risk it poses to Jordan and other countries in the
region as well,” he said. “We need to work closely with our allies in the region, particularly Jordan, to
protect them from the growing risk that this poses.”
ISIS caused instability is spilling over, draws in US
Wanda Carruthers 6/16/14(staff writing citing Max Boot foreign policy analyst, and senior fellow on
CFR, Analyst Boot: Iraq Instability 'Spilling Over Into Other Countries',
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Iraq-ISIS-insurgents-military/2014/06/16/id/577293/ )
The instability in Iraq caused by Islamic militant insurgents is "spilling over" into neighboring countries
such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Max Boot, foreign policy analyst and senior fellow with the Council on
Foreign Relations, said Monday on MSNBC. According to Boot, the United States has a "real dog in this
fight" due to oil interests in Iraq. He said the Iraqi conflict, where al-Qaida-inspired militants have
overtaken huge chunks of the country, was "not just something which is happening on the other side
of the world that we can afford to ignore." "That is a disaster for American interests in the region, and
it's been spilling over into other countries," Boot told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday. "It's going to
spill over into other states, including places like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, other [Persian] Gulf states."
Because of the crisis, the United States has an "an opportunity right now to get rid of [Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-] Maliki's disastrous leadership," Boot said. He maintained President Barack Obama
needed to "roll up his sleeves" and "get involved in Iraqi politics" among the rivaling tribal factions. Paul
Bremer, former U.S. ambassador under President Ronald Reagan, led the occupational authority of Iraq
following the U.S. invasion in 2003. He told the "Morning Joe" panel on Monday it would be a "major
catastrophe for American interests" if the Middle East's political structure collapsed. "There is a
broader problem, which is the collapse of the 100-year-old political structure in the entire ex-Ottoman
empire area here, from Lebanon through Syria, Iraq, and over into Jordan, and even as far as Saudi
Arabia," he said. Bremer said he could foresee American troops in Iraq and doubted the United States
could plan air missions without intelligence on the ground. "I can well imagine that we would have to
have some troops on the ground. For example, collecting intelligence, some special operators helping
the fire control, and identifying targets for air strikes," he said. "I don't see how those military
objectives could be achieved without having us have some people on the ground.”
AT: No Escalation
Middle East escalation likely-narrowly avoided in the past
W Andrew Terril 09 (Research Professor of National Security Affairs, ESCALATION AND INTRAWAR
DETERRENCE¶ DURING LIMITED WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST,
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub941.pdf , September 2009)
The case studies of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the 1991 Gulf War provide valuable examples of the
processes of escalation and intrawar deterrence that can occur in a regional conflict environment. It is
important to understand how events unfolded during these conflicts to consider ways in which intrawar
deterrent strategies might go well or poorly in future conflicts. It is also especially important to realize
that any case study is limited in value by the special circumstances under which it occurred. Actions that
occurred during these wars are important because they display a range of problems that can develop
under similar circumstances or conflicts. Sweeping generalizations cannot be drawn from case studies
such as these, although ways to think about future conflicts may be informed by these studies. It might
also be noted that these cases must be understood in all their depth and nuance. Any effort to draw
simple conclusions from a shallow understanding of these wars or to apply their lessons mechanistically
is likely to lead to some flawed conclusions and results. Analogies have been consistently overused in
the formation of U.S. policy often to the deep regret of the policymakers. In both of the conflicts under
examination, the combatants did not use WMD, but in neither conflict was this restraint an inevitable
result and some luck was involved in the outcomes. If the various journalistic and academic accounts
can be believed, Israel may have come close to using nuclear weapons, but pulled back from this
option because of the solid judgment of most of the Israeli top leadership and also because of the vast
improvement of Israel’s battlefield situation after October 14. Conversely, Saddam Hussein may have
shown restraint because he had faith in his strategy to achieve his strategic objectives by conventional
means. Saddam was deterred by US threats and probable belief that the US was likely to follow through
on those threats but a more desperate leader may have responded in a different way. Thus, Saddam
was prevented from using CBW by coalition threats but also by his own confidence in Iraq’s
conventional capabilities and a belief that the United States could not accept the type of prolonged
ground war that he saw as required to oust the Iraqi regime. Saddam thus feared that the use of
chemical or biological weapons would become a way to escalate the conflict from a level where he could
remain in power to a new level where he could not. In the future, it is at least possible that the United
States will find itself in armed conflict against weaker nations that nevertheless possess WMD,
perhaps including nuclear weapons. It is also possible that regional states using WMD will wage war
against each other (for example, in South Asia). Some such conflicts may have a greater bearing on
U.S. interests than others, but any nuclear exchange anywhere is of concern to global security. The use
of biological weapons in combat would present its own special kind of nightmare should such actions
serve as an example for other countries, and perhaps open a new and more hideous chapter in the
history of warfare. Under these circumstances, wars involving vital U.S. interests (such as the 1991 Gulf
War) may include an effort to engage in intrawar deterrence, but the confidence in this approach will
have to be limited by the knowledge that escalation may become uncontrollable.
AT-Not Cost Competitive
Prices are competitive- algae biofuel prices are dropping but fossil fuels’ are rising
Praiwan, Yuthana 9/4/12
McClatchy - Tribune Business News Author “PTT pins hopes on algae-based biofuel”
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1037685639/5390BAAC80A448FPQ/5?accountid=35968
Sept. 04--National oil conglomerate PTT Plc expects algae-based biofuel will be commercially viable by
2017 at the price of US$150 per barrel, says chief executive Pailin Chuchottaworn.¶ Within that date algae-based petrol
could be able to compete with fossil oil, which is expected to hit $150 per barrel, up from this year's average of
$110, Dr Pailin told a forum of the second Asia-Oceania Algae Innovation Summit held in Bangkok yesterday.¶ "Although the price of algae
biofuel is two to three times higher than fossil fuels, in the future we are going to have economy-of-scale production and appropriate strains for
biofuel production," said Dr Pailin.¶ PTT has teamed up with leading universities, the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technology Research
(TISTR) and the National Science and Technology Development Agency developing algae biofuel since 2008.¶ That year saw the global oil price
skyrocketing above $140 a barrel, prompting PTT to come up with a milestone in the developing algae plantations and facilities under the socalled Think Algae Project in league with leading universities and scientific organisations.¶ In 2010, the
alliance selected more
than 1,000 algae strains from domestic fresh water sources as well as the sea. The selection has been
shortlisted to only 14 appropriate strains for further development.¶ Dr Pailin said last year PTT allocated 250 million
baht for an algae plantation in Rangsit with targeted production of 100,000 litres. The site is intended to be a regional centre for algae
cultivation.¶ Oil
extracted from algae in the lab is around 20-30% of its total dry weight, he said, adding that
research will focus not only on biofuel but also on by-products such as animal feed, food supplements, antioxidants and pigments.¶ "We
are
more than half way through searching for the good potential of algae strains," said Dr Pailin.¶ He said algae
is the best choice for developing alternative fuels in the future and will be the next generation
alternative fuel due to the small size of the plantations and non-expropriable to food cultivation
areas.¶ PTT's algae biofuel research and development project has been allocated a budget of 20 billion baht between 2012 and 2016. The
R&D budget accounts for 3% of the group's capital expenditure of 720 billion baht during the five-year period.
Algae is affordable and key to national defense
Associated Press 7’
The Associated Press, “Oil from Algae? Scientists seek green gold”
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22027663/ns/business-going_green/t/oil-algae-scientists-seek-greengold/#.U8bJZhb39G4
The federal government halted its main algae research program nearly a decade ago, but technology
has advanced and oil prices have climbed since then, and an Energy Department lab announced in late October that it was
partnering with Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, in the hunt for better strains of algae.¶ "It's not backyard
inventors at this point at all," said George Douglas, a spokesman for the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
"It's folks with experience to move it forward."¶ Advertise¶ A New Zealand company demonstrated a Range Rover powered
by an algae biodiesel blend last year, but experts say it will be many years before algae is commercially viable. Ruan expects some
demonstration plants to be built within a few years.¶ Converting algae oil into biodiesel uses the same process that turns vegetable oils into
biodiesel. But the cost of producing algae oil is hard to pin down because nobody's running the process start to finish other than in a laboratory,
Douglas said. One Pentagon estimate puts it at more than $20 per gallon, but other experts say it's not clear cut.¶ If
it can be brought
down, algae's advantages include growing much faster and in less space than conventional energy
crops. An acre of corn can produce about 20 gallons of oil per year, Ruan said, compared with a possible 15,000 gallons of oil per acre of
algae. An algae farm could be located almost anywhere. It wouldn't require converting cropland from food production to energy production. It
could use sea water. And
algae can gobble up pollutants from sewage and power plants.¶ The Pentagon's
research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is funding research into producing jet
fuel from plants, including algae. DARPA is already working with Honeywell's UOP, General Electric Inc. and the University of
North Dakota. In November, it requested additional research proposals.¶ As the single largest energy consumer in the world, the Defense
Department needs new, affordable sources of jet fuel, said Douglas Kirkpatrick, DARPA's biofuels
program manager.¶ "Our definition of affordable is less than $5 per gallon, and what we're really
looking for is less than $3 per gallon, and we believe that can be done," he said.¶ Des Plaines, Ill.-based UOP —
which has developed a "green diesel" process that converts vegetable oils into fuels that are more like conventional petroleum products than
standard biodiesel — already has successfully converted soybean oil into jet fuel, Holmgren said. And the company has partnered with Arizona
State University to obtain algae oil to test for the DARPA project, she said.
OMEGA is cost effective and replaces fossil fuels
Sidonie Sawyer 07/30/2013
The Huffington Post, Newspaper editor, French-American Sidonie Sawyer worked as a writer for a
decade at the Miami Herald, and as an Editor for several news ventures after that. Her more recent
position as an Editor-in-chief for a small local newspaper finds her now in North Florida. “Is (Yucky)
Algae the Future of Biofuels?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sidonie-sawyer/is-yucky-algae-thefuture_b_3673050.html
The world's algae can provide a reliable and efficient source of power and energy, without the side
effects that other fuels have on our environment , and on our wallet .¶ After one more disaster in the Gulf of
Mexico, leading to more oil leaks on our shores, scientists are insisting again that we finally accept other sources of energy and use what comes
naturally to us: algae.
It's plentiful, organic, cheap and always there. A hope for a cleaner future.¶ NASA
scientist Dr. Jonathan Trent has created the OMEGA Method to grow algae specifically for biofuel (OMEGA stands
for Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae). Several countries are already spending big budget monies on biofuels, as their
governments believe this is a way and a target for the only cleaner future they can foresee, and the way to shrinking dependency on oil and oilproducing countries.¶ Dr. Trent states that "Biofuels could be a long term sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, but only if they are produced in
sufficient quantities to meet the demand, with a price at the pump that people will tolerate, and without competing with agriculture for water,
fertilizer, or land."¶ So why is our space agency interested in algae? NASA has spent a lot of time and money on life-support systems that would
allow humans to go places totally inhospitable, such as outer-space, the Moon or the planet Mars. In case we ever need to go there, and stay.¶
The
OMEGA system is made of flexible tubes, looking like giant plastic straws floating in seawater,
using energy from the sun. The fuel the algae produces could someday in the near future reduce the
emission of green house gas, replace fossil fuels, and increasing national security in the process. A vast
and uplifting challenge.¶ And by the way, these microscopic algae are among the fastest growing
plants on the planet . OMEGA farms could be the answer .
AT-Shale Solves Dependence
Shale doesn’t solve- it’s expensive and finite
MATTHEW L. WALD 11/12/13 New York Times reporter, B.A. in urban studies from Brown University
“Shale’s Effect on Oil Supply Is Forecast to Be Brief”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/business/energy-environment/shales-effect-on-oil-supply-is-notexpected-to-last.html?_r=0
WASHINGTON — The boom in oil from shale formations in recent years has generated a lot of
discussion that the United States could eventually return to energy self-sufficiency, but according to a
report released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency, production of such oil in the United
States and worldwide will provide only a temporary respite from reliance on the Middle East.¶ Enlarge
This Image¶ ¶ Andrew Burton/Getty Images¶ Workers with Raven Drilling in Watford City, N.D., in what is
known as the Bakken shale formation.¶ The agency’s annual World Energy Outlook, released in London,
said the world oil picture was being remade by oil from shale, known as light tight oil, along with new
sources like Canadian oil sands, deepwater production off Brazil and the liquids that are produced
with new supplies of natural gas.¶ “But, by the mid-2020s, non-OPEC production starts to fall back and
countries from the Middle East provide most of the increase in global supply,” the report said. A high
market price for oil will help stimulate drilling for light tight oil, the report said, but the resource is
finite, and the low-cost suppliers are in the Middle East.¶ “There is a huge growth in light tight oil, that it
will peak around 2020, and then it will plateau,” said Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the
International Energy Agency. The agency was founded in response to the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74,
by oil-importing nations.¶ The agency’s assessment of world supplies is consistent with an estimate by
the United States Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration, which forecasts higher
levels of American oil production from shale to continue until the late teens, and then slow rapidly.¶
“We expect the Middle East will come back and be a very important producer and exporter of oil, just
because there are huge resources of low-cost light oil,” Ms. van der Hoeven said. “Light tight oil is not
low-cost oil.Ӧ
Current oil boom doesn’t solve dependence- alt energy is key
Will Rogers 5/8/12
Center for a New American Security: “Read This Now: The New American Oil Boom – Implications for
Energy Security” http://www.cnas.org/blog/read-this-now-the-new-american-oil-boom-implications-forenergy-security-7350#.U8cXGBb39G5
A new report from Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) debunks the myth about America’s oil boom
leading to energy independence.¶ The SAFE study, The New American Oil Boom: Implications for Energy Security, comes on the
heels of recent reports that increased domestic petroleum production – made possible through technological innovations such as hydraulic
fracturing, enhanced oil recovery and improvements in offshore oil production – could make the United States energy independent over the
next few decades. “The nature and meaning of energy independence, however, is widely misunderstood,” the authors of the SAFE report state.
“Although increased
domestic oil production will have clear positive effects on the U.S. economy, it
alone will not insulate America from the risks of oil dependence. This can only be accomplished by
reducing the role of oil in our economy.Ӧ The report correctly notes that while increased U.S. domestic petroleum production
will have positive benefits for the U.S. economy (e.g., narrowing the U.S. trade deficit), the United States will still be vulnerable to oil price
spikes since oil is a globally traded commodity with prices set by the international market. Consequently, while
the United States
continues to reduce its reliance on Middle East oil, U.S. security will still be tethered to developments
in the Middle East given that events in the region can have immediate and lasting impacts on the price
of oil, which has implications for the United States. The only solution, the authors note, is to move away from
reliance on oil – that is, diversify our liquid fuel sources, particularly in the transportation sector.¶
AT-Causes Narcotics Trafficking
Drug trafficking in the Middle East is high and increasing- Latin American cartels
Julieta Pelcastre 4/11/14
Los Angeles Post, writer. “Sinaloa Cartel and the FARC traffic drugs to the Middle East” http://dialogoamericas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2014/04/11/narcotrafico-nuevas-rutas
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas, and other Latin
American transnational criminal organizations are trafficking large amounts of drugs in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries in the Middle East, according to Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamin, deputy chief of
the Dubai Police Force.¶ Latin American drug trafficking groups are also laundering millions of dollars in
profits in Middle Eastern countries, said Nestor Rosanía, director of the director of the Center for Studies in Security, Defense,
and International Affairs (CESDAI) of Colombia.¶ Drug traffickers from Mexico, Colombia, and other countries are
looking for new drug markets, said Raul Benítez, a security analyst at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).¶
Drug cartels seek new markets¶ To maximize their profits, South American and Mexican drug
traffickers are always looking for new markets, Benítez said.¶ “The Colombian criminal organizations
are looking for safe markets and routes because Mexican cartels are no longer reliable as
intermediaries ever since the Mexican government has dealt them heavy blows,” the security analyst
said.¶ Latin American drug traffickers have forged alliances with organized crime groups in the Middle
East, Benítez said.¶ The FARC, the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas and other transnational criminal organizations
are using the UAE as a strategic center for trafficking drugs and money laundering, Johan Obdola, president of
the International Organization for Security and Intelligence, told the Khaleej Times. Obdola advises governments in the Middle East how to fight
drug trafficking.¶ South American and Mexican transnational criminal organizations have increased their operations in the Middle East over
time, Obdola said. During
the last 10 years, drug cartels have increased their operations in West Africa.
From that region, drug traffickers have been transporting large amounts of drugs to the Middle East,
Obdola said.¶ The zero taxation policy of member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) makes
those countries attractive to drug traffickers who are looking for locations to launder their drug
profits. The GCC is comprised of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.¶ Organized crime groups based in Brazil, Uruguay,
El Salvador, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago are also looking for new drug trafficking routes in the GCC region, authorities said.¶ Large drug
seizures¶ Authorities in the Middle East have made a series of significant drug seizures in recent months.¶ For example, security
services
in Lebanon seized 13 kilos of cocaine from a commercial airplane which departed from Brazil . The plane
stopped in Qatar before it landed in Lebanon.¶ Saudi Arabian security forces seized a parcel sent from South America which contained 152
grams of cocaine, according to the 2013 Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).¶ UAE
security forces seized 11
tons of drugs in 2013, according to officials with the Federal Anti-Narcotics Agency of the United Arab
Emirates.¶ In 2013, security forces in Iran, Pakistan, Oman and the UAE each made drug seizures of more than 10 tons from large ships,
according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).¶ Latin American drug traffickers “not only break drug laws, but also laws
that govern financial institutions,” Lt. Gen. Tamin, deputy chief of the Dubai Police Force, told the website Flarenetwork.org.¶ About
75
percent of the drugs seized in the Middle East were sent from Brazil, according to published reports.¶
Big profits¶ Organized crime groups can make large profits by trafficking drugs to the Middle East. One
kilo of cocaine can sell for up to $90,000 (USD) in the Middle East. By comparison, the same amount of
cocaine would sell for $30,000 (USD) in the United States, La Nación reported.¶ The increase in drug trafficking in
the Middle East has led to greater numbers of arrests for that activity, authorities said.¶ For example, almost 90 percent of the inmates in the
UAE were arrested for drug-related crimes, according to a recent survey by the Detainee Organization of the United Kingdom in Dubai.¶ “The
drug cartels in Latin America are increasingly decentralizing their activities. The atomization of drug trafficking bands has become more
dynamic. There are mini cartels operating independently,” said Rosania, the security analyst from CESDAI.¶ Higher levels of drug trafficking in
the Middle East could lead to organized crime violence, according to Rosanía.¶ “The Middle East is becoming a strategic route for transnational
criminal groups to move drugs; whoever has control of distribution points, locations, and the purchase and sell of drugs is going to have power
and generate violence,” Rosanía said.
Middle East drug trafficking is high now but there are international efforts to curb it
INTERPOL 2/28/14
“Tackling drug trafficking across Middle East and North Africa focus of INTERPOL meeting”
http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-032
LYON, France – Increased information exchange and enhanced coordination were identified as key
areas to more effectively tackle drug trafficking during the first INTERPOL meeting of Heads of Drugs
Units in the Middle East and North Africa.¶ Bringing together 59 drug investigation specialists and
heads of INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) from 21 countries in the Middle East and North
Africa, Europe and the Americas. The two-day (25 and 26 February) meeting saw participants address
issues relating to the criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and emerging smuggling routes.¶
Special focus was given to the most commonly abused drug substances in the region, in particular
captagon, tramadol and Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS), as well as the increasing frequency of
large scale heroin interceptions.¶ Jointly organized by INTERPOL’s Middle East and North Africa (MNA)
and Drugs and Criminal Organizations (DCO) units, the meeting also saw delegates updated on
INTERPOL’s global tools and services which can assist in national, regional and international
investigations, including its drug alerts and Notices system.¶ Representatives from other international
organizations and bodies including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, International
Narcotics Control Board, World Customs Organization, Arab Interior Minister’s Council, Europol and the
Pompidou Group also addressed the meeting to share their experiences and good practice.
Trafficking exists now and manipulates oil markets
National Security Council 10’
“Transnational Organized Crime: A Growing Threat to National and International Security”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc/transnational-crime/threat
Threats to the Economy, U.S. Competitiveness, and Strategic Markets. TOC threatens U.S. economic
interests and can cause significant damage to the world financial system through its subversion,
exploi-tation, and distortion of legitimate markets and economic activity. U.S. business leaders worry
that U.S. firms are being put at a competitive disadvantage by TOC and corruption, particularly in
emerging markets where many perceive that rule of law is less reliable. The World Bank estimates
about $1 trillion is spent each year to bribe public officials, causing an array of economic distortions
and damage to legitimate economic activity. The price of doing business in countries affected by TOC is
also rising as companies budget for additional security costs, adversely impacting foreign direct
investment in many parts of the world. TOC activities can lead to disruption of the global supply chain,
which in turn dimin-ishes economic competitiveness and impacts the ability of U.S. industry and
transportation sectors to be resilient in the face of such disruption. Further, transnational criminal
organizations, leveraging their relationships with state-owned entities, industries, or state-allied
actors, could gain influence over key commodities markets such as gas, oil, aluminum, and precious
metals, along with potential exploitation of the transportation sector.
AT-Saudi Flood
No Saudi flood- they’re already pursuing alt energy themselves
Dania Saadi 1/18/14 The National Business: “Saudi leads the way as Arabian Gulf countries embrace
renewable energy” http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/saudi-leads-the-way-as-arabian-gulfcountries-embrace-renewable-energy
The UAE’s Arabian Gulf neighbours have announced various renewable energy plans aimed at reducing
their reliance on oil and gas for power and water generation, with Saudi Arabia leading the way with an
ambitious programme, as the drop in solar energy prices encourages governments.¶ “Governments are well
aware that our oil and gas resources are not infinite and require careful management,” said Gus Schellekens, Middle East sustainability leader,
and Hannes Reinisch, senior manager for sustainability and renewables, at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “There
is a crossover point
where our own domestic economies will use more of the hydrocarbon production than is exported,
reducing the revenues we can derive from international markets.¶ “Prices have dropped dramatically over the past
year for certain renewable technologies, most notably solar photovoltaic. The business case for pursuing solar projects is
now stronger than ever.’’¶ For example, Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, plans to generate 54,000 megawatts (MW)
from renewable energy by 2032, with 41,000MW coming from solar, 9,000MW from wind, 3,000MW from waste-to-energy and 1,000MW from
geothermal power.¶ The kingdom is expected to spend more than US$100 billion to reach these figures over the next two decades and has
indicated that it will favour local producers.¶ “Solar enables the governments to not only diversify their fuel mix, but to introduce a new sector
for job creation and therefore it is doubly attractive and we are seeing more governments introduce local requirements so that they do not
import the energy by importing the solar panel, they are instead manufacturing the energy domestically,’’ said Vahid Fotuhi, the head of
strategic advisory at the consultancy Access Advisory.¶
Saudi Electricity, a state-owned utility, has invited companies
to build, own and operate Saudi Arabia’s first fossil-fuel fired power plant to use solar energy to cut
carbon emissions. The utility’s plan is for the 550MW integrated solar combined cycle plant to run on natural gas, but rely on solar
thermal energy to boost fuel efficiency.¶ “Having announced ambitious generation targets for solar and wind in Saudi Arabia, it will be
important that a number of pilot projects are delivered successfully at the start,’’ Mr Schellekens and Mr Reinisch said. “This
will both
help to develop the local skills and experience needed to deliver the larger projects, and reassure
international players that the procurement and delivery of new capacity is proceeding in line with
international standards and expectations.’’¶
Saudi reserves are greatly overstated- production increases are unsustainable
Wall Street Journal 6/23/14 “Saudi Arabia's Ability to Plug Oil Gap May Be Limited”
http://online.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabias-ability-to-plug-oil-gap-may-be-limited-1403517159
LONDON—Saudi Arabia may be willing to use less than half of its declared oil-producing spare capacity to
make up for any possible supply shortfalls in Iraq, according to several Gulf officials, meaning its ability to act as a supplier of last
resort could be restricted.¶ The Gulf producer, the only country with a significant base of idle capacity, has often said it could
ramp up its production to 12.5 million barrels a day in the event of unexpected disruption to oil supplies elsewhere. But
Gulf oil officials say that pumping anywhere near that level and sustaining it is only possible on
paper.¶ "Saudi Arabia is now producing around 9.7 million barrels a day. Our best case scenario is
seeing its output rising by another 1 million barrels a day or 1.3 million if the oil market is in a disastrous state," one Gulf
official at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries told The Wall Street Journal.¶ "Going above that is very difficult to sustain and
will require producing quite heavy crudes, which buyers wouldn't want or need," the official said.¶ Any indication that Saudi spare capacity
could be lower than expected will do little to calm nerves in global oil markets. Oil prices
have been rising in recent weeks as
concerns grow about Iraq's 2.6 million barrels a day of exports amid unrest in that country, adding to existing supply issues in
Libya and Nigeria.¶ A person familiar with the operations of the kingdom's state-owned giant Saudi Aramco said it could produce up
to 11.5 million barrels a day but only for a very short period.¶ "In reality, producers including Saudi
Arabia have maintenance schedules and there is always about 10% of one country's production down.
You have to remember Saudi also has a spare capacity buffer it likes to maintain," the source said.¶ Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi often
said that the Gulf state seeks to maintain spare output capacity of 1.5-2 million barrels a day at all times to cope with emergency shortfalls.¶
Saudi Arabia has never held production over 10 million barrels a day for a long period. Its output of 10.19 million barrels a day in August last
year was the highest level since at least 1980, when the country opened the taps to make up for a sharp fall in Iran's output after that country's
1979 revolution.¶
Saudi production "even at 11 million barrels a day, it is untested. We don't know if they
can do it," another Gulf oil official said.
Saudi Arabia can no longer influence the oil market- Chinese demand
Brad Plumer 4/4/12
Brad Plumer is a reporter at the Washington Post writing about domestic policy, particularly energy and
environmental issues.
“Why Saudi Arabia is losing its power to calm the oil markets”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/why-saudi-arabia-is-losing-its-power-to-calmthe-oil-markets/2012/04/04/gIQABRklvS_blog.html
In the old days, whenever oil prices got bumpy, the United States could ask Saudi Arabia to pump out
more crude and calm the markets. But that’s increasingly no longer the case. Saudi production is
struggling to keep up with rising demand in places like China. What’s more, as Jim Krane reports today,
Saudi Arabia is growing so fast that it’s consuming its own oil at a shocking rate:¶ With domestic
electricity demand rising 10% per year in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom now devours more than a quarter
of its oil production—nearly three million barrels per day. International Energy Agency figures show
that Saudi Arabia now consumes more oil than Germany, an industrialized country with triple the
population and an economy nearly five times as large.¶ Worries about Saudi excess capacity are one
reason why Iran-related tensions have driven crude prices up so high. By one estimate, this spare
capacity could vanish entirely by 2020 . If that happens, oil prices will get seriously volatile.
AT-Oil Dependence Checks Terror
Oil dependence effectively funds state-sponsored terror
Erick Stakelbeck 08’
CBN Terror Analyst Export, author, reporter “How America Is Funding Terrorism”
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2008/July/How-America-Is-Funding-Terrorism-/
In the recent, Academy Award-winning film There Will Be Blood, one man's lust for oil - and the power and wealth that comes with it eventually drives him mad.¶ The timing of the film is ironic, as the United States' increasing reliance on foreign oil has some Americans
questioning their government's sanity. President Bush says America is "addicted to oil"--and that it's time for a change.¶ "America has got to
change its habits," he told an audience at the International Renewable Energy Conference in March. "We've got to get off oil...that dependency
presents a challenge to our national security. In 1985, 20 percent of America's oil came from abroad. Today that number is nearly 60 percent."¶
Big Oil, Big Terror¶ Much
of that imported oil comes from OPEC, a group made up of 13 of the world's most
petroleum-rich nations: Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Nigeria, Qatar
Venezuela and Ecuador.¶ While these nations may have an abundance of oil, most of them lack democracy
and human rights. Worse yet, some of them are state sponsors of terrorism -- and sworn enemies of
the United States.¶ "With only one or two exceptions, OPEC is effectively dictatorships and autocratic kingdoms,"
former C.I.A. director James Woolsey tells CBN News.¶ Woolsey is a member of the Set America Free Coalition. The group highlights the
national security and economic implications of America's dependence on foreign oil.¶ "Ninety seven percent of our transportation is fueled by
oil products of one sort or another," says Woolsey. "And two thirds of the world's proven reserves of conventional oil are in the Middle East,
and about that share is also in the hands of OPEC."¶ Gas and oil prices are currently at an all-time high - OPEC sets the market price.
Woolsey says Saudi Arabia is using a chunk of its oil wealth to spread its brand of radical Wahhabi
Islam worldwide.¶ "The Saudis control about 90 percent of the world's Islamic institutions," he says. "And
oil is the reason for that."¶ Iran's big oil profits mean big money for that country's nuclear program
and its terrorist proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas.¶ Lately, Iranian Pesident Mahmoud Ahmadenijad has been
joined by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in threatening to help drive oil prices up even further.
American oil demand is fueling terrorism now- alternative energy is key to reverse
that trend
IAGS 5’
Institute for the Analysis of Global Terror “Fueling Terror” http://www.iags.org/fuelingterror.html
It is no coincidence that so much of the cash filling terrorists' coffers come from the oil monarchies in
the Persian Gulf. It is also no coincidence that those countries holding the world's largest oil reserves and those
generating most of their income from oil exports, are also those with the strongest support for radical
Islam. In fact, oil and terrorism are entangled. If not for the West's oil money, most Gulf states would not
have had the wealth that allowed them to invest so much in arms procurement and sponsor terrorists
organizations. ¶ Consider Saudi Arabia. Oil revenues make up around 90-95% of total Saudi export earnings,
70%-80% of state revenues, and around 40% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). In 2002 alone, Saudi Arabia
earned nearly $55 billion in crude oil export revenues. Most wealthy Saudis who sponsor charities and educational foundations that preach
religious intolerance and hate toward the Western values have made their money from the petroleum industry or its subsidiaries. Osama bin
Laden's wealth comes from the family's construction company that made its fortune from government contracts financed by oil money. It is
also oil money that enables Saudi Arabia to invest approximately 40% of its income on weapons
procurement. In July 2005 undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey testifying in the Senate noted “Wealthy Saudi financiers and
charities have funded terrorist organizations and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the terrorists' agenda. Even today,
we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist financing, including for the insurgency in Iraq." ¶ If
Saudi Arabia
is the financial engine of radical Sunni Islam, its neighbor Iran is the powerhouse behind the
proliferation of radical Shiite Islam. Iran, OPEC’s second largest oil producer, is holder of 10 percent of the world’s proven oil
reserves and has the world’s second largest natural gas reserve. With oil and gas revenues constituting over 80 percent of its total export
earning and 50 percent of its gross domestic product, Iran is heavily dependent on petrodollars. It is a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism and
supporter of some of the world’s most radical Islamic movements such as the Lebanese Hizballah. Iran’s mullahs are fully aware of the power of
their oil. Its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in 2002: “If the West did not receive oil, their factories would grind to a halt. This
will shake the world!” As
the world’s demand for oil increases, Iran grows richer --Iran’s oil revenues have
jumped 25 percent in 2005—and more than able to snub the U.S. and its allies in their efforts to
prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. ¶ The line between the barrel and the bomb is clear. It is oil wealth that
enables dictatorial regimes to sustain themselves, resisting openness, progress and power sharing. Some semi-feudal royal families in the Gulf
buy their legitimacy from the Muslim religious establishment. This
establishment uses oil money to globally propagate
hostility to the West, modernity, non-Muslims, and women. ¶ This trend is likely to continue. Both the
International Energy Agency and the Energy Information Agency of the U.S. Department of Energy
currently project a steady increase in world demand for oil through at least 2020. This means further
enrichment of the oil-producing countries and continued access of terrorist groups to a viable financial network which allow then remain a
lethal threat to the U.S. and its allies. ¶ Drying the swamp¶ There
are many strategies proposed by counter-terrorism
experts to obstruct terrorist financing. Many of them are effective and, indeed, some of the steps that have been taken since
September 11, such as freezing bank accounts and improving the scrutiny over international monetary transfers, contributed to a reduction in
Al-Qaeda's financial maneuverability. But the only way to deal with the problem strategically is to reduce the disposable income and wealth
generation capacity of terrorist supporters. ¶ Hence, America's
best weapon against terrorism is to decrease its
dependency on foreign oil by increasing its fuel efficiency and introducing next-generation fuels. If the
U.S. bought less oil, the global oil market would shrink and price per-barrel would decline. This would invalidate the social
contract between the leaders and their people and stem the flow of resources to the religious
establishment. It will likely increase popular pressure for political participation, modernity and reformed
political and social institutions. ¶ Reducing demand for Middle East oil would force the petroleum-rich regimes to invest their funds
domestically, seek ways to diversify their economies and rethink their support for America's enemies. Only then financial support
for terrorism could radically diminish.
AT-Low Prices Bad (Russia)
Oil prices set to fall in the status quo- Libya production, harsh winter, and higher
exports
Lior Cohen 5/13/14
The Street: Lior Cohen earned an MA in Economics at Tel Aviv University. After working for several years
in a variety of economic related positions, which include economic consultant and chief economist
“Three Reasons Oil Prices Will Fall” http://www.thestreet.com/story/12706026/1/three-reasons-oilprices-will-fall.html
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The oil market has heated up the during the past several months as the price of oil
remained above the $100 mark. It should cool down. Here are three reasons the price of oil should drop to the mid $90s.¶
1. OPEC oil production could start to rise¶ According to the recent Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' monthly
report, OPEC oil production during March dropped by 626 thousands of barrels a day mainly because of
lower production in Libya, Angola, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Libya has yet to reach its full oil
production capacity, which stood on 1.6 million bbl/day back in 2010. The country's oil production is now only 243,000 of bbl/day. But
analysts expect Libya's oil exports will pick up in the coming weeks.¶ In total, OPEC's daily production was 29.6
million, which was slightly lower than its 30 million bbl/day quota. Conversely, the oil production of non-OPEC countries
more than offset the lower production volume in the past month, according to the latest monthly update by the
International Energy Agency.¶ Based on the above, the expected rise in Libya's oil production and steady growth in
non-OPEC oil production is likely to pressure the price of oil.¶ 2. Natural gas market slowly cools down¶
Due to the harsh winter conditions, the demand for natural gas strengthened. As a result, the price of
natural gas reached high levels during the winter, up 35% during the first quarter from a year earlier.
Because one of the purposes of oil is for heating, the rise in demand for natural gas also increases the demand for its
alternative energy source -- crude oil.¶ The chart below shows the ratio between the price of oil and the price of natural gas
during 2013-2014.¶ Source: Energy Information Administration¶ As you can see, the ratio between oil and natural gas tumbled down during
February to around 16-17; this low level demonstrates how high the price of natural gas reached. During the summer this ratio tends to rise as
the price of natural gas falls. In such a case, the natural gas market is likely to loosen, which will also reduce the pressure on the oil market.¶
The elevated prices of natural gas and oil benefited oil and gas producers such as Exxon Mobil (XOM_) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK_) during
the first quarter. The companies are likely to improve their profit margin, because the price of oil was 4.4% higher year over year and the price
of natural gas was more than 35% higher than the price in the first quarter of 2013.¶ The harsh winter conditions reduced the oil production
during January 2014, according to the U.S Energy Information Administration estimates. But since early February, oil production has picked up,
and as the weather gets clearer, the oil production is likely to further rise.¶ 3. High imports
and production¶ According to the
latest EIA weekly update, since March oil supply has improved by 2.6% mainly due to the 4% gain in
oil imports and 1.4% increase in oil production. As a result, the total supply (comprising of imports
and production) has reached 15.736 million barrels per day. Thus, the gap between the supply and demand for oil
(refinery inputs) has widened in recent weeks, as indicated in the chart below.¶ Source: Energy Information Administration¶ These recent
developments suggest the U.S oil market has loosened in the past several weeks. If this trend persists, it could further drag down the price of oil
to reach the mid $90's.¶ Conclusion¶ The oil market is likely to further loosen in the coming weeks on account of stronger local production,
reduced pressure from the natural gas market and potential rise in global production mainly from OPEC, which could pressure down global oil
prices. Therefore, oil prices are also likely to slowly come down to the mid-$90s.
Russia’s economy is no longer dependent on oil- increases in manufacturing
RT 12/10/13 RT- citing Dmitry Medvedev “Russia pivots towards industry, not reliant on oil –
Medvedev” http://rt.com/business/medvedev-oil-russia-industry-996/
There is more to the Russian economy besides oil and mineral exports, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said
Tuesday. He also promised productivity will grow 50 percent in the next five years, which followed a severe bout of
stagnation in industrial output.¶ Russia’s Prime Minister lauded state plans to boost industrial production, and
refutes accusations the economy is running on petrodollars.¶ “There is a widespread belief that Russia’s only strength is
oil and gas, that we live off of oil export revenues and produce nothing. Actually, this statement doesn’t reflect the real
picture of our economy, which is based on manufacturing and where industrial production plays a
very important role,” Medvedev said on his video blog Tuesday.¶ Oil prices, which have reached historic highs, are
liking to fall as sharp supply increases from the Gulf of Mexico, the US, and South America are slated
to send prices down in 2014. Russian oil output, the largest in the world, reached 10.61 million bpd (barrels per day) in November.¶
January’s WTI crude future was $98.54 per barrel and Brent Crude was $110.23 at the time of publication.¶ Oil and gas revenues account for
more than half of Russia’s budget revenue, which makes the economy sensitive to price volatility. Russia
has amended its budget
to prepare for a dip in benchmark oil prices, planning scenarios for crude prices below $80, even $60
per barrel. Russia has signaled it is ready for prices below $95 per barrel.¶ The IEA says the US will overtake Russia as the biggest oil
producer next year, citing the "shale revolution" that has reshaped the global energy market and threatens Russia’s budget. Some experts
believe this will give Russia the push it needs to develop industry and shake its heavy oil commodity dependence.¶ The current gulf between
consumption and productivity is dangerous, as Russia’s future generations can’t live off high oil prices in the long-term.¶ Boosting industry¶
Medvedev said in the next five years his government will prioritize increasing the number of factories
and plants to modernize Russia’s innovation potential. By 2020 this should create and modernize 25
million industrial jobs.¶ Food, meat, milk, canned goods, construction, mining, metals, and auto
industry are some of the top "break-through" industries that dominated domestic production in 2013.¶ In November Russia’s
industrial production fell for the tenth consecutive month, according to data from Rosstat, the state statistics bureau. Industrial output hasn’t
grown since the fourth quarter of 2012.¶
Turn-Low Prices Good - Russia
Turn- A drop in oil prices ends Russian expansion and avoids war
Zbigniew Mazurak 3/3/14
Defense and budget analyst, author of “In Defense of US Defense Spending” : “What Western powers
should do in response to Russia’s aggression” http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2014/03/whatwestern-powers-should-do-in-response-to-russias-aggression/
The Russian economy is terribly dependent on raw minerals exports; 66% of the Kremlin’s revenue
comes from these exports, while manufactured goods exports account for only about 10%. Moreover, Putin’s invasion of
Ukraine has already caused significant unrest at the Moscow stock exchange, whose main index has seen a 10%
fall (and a 20% decline in the Russian currency’s value to the dollar) just today (as of 8:24AM ET, 18:24 Moscow time).¶ Moreover, Putin’s
totally incompetent interference in the affairs of Gazprom, the Russian gas producing and exporting company, has driven it into a debt of $50
billion – equalling its turnover of one year.¶ This
invasion, and Vladimir Putin’s entire buildup of the Russian
military, would NOT have been possible absent the boon provided by high oil and gas prices (oil now
stands at $105/barrel) and Russia’s stranglehold on their supplies to Europe. If that stranglehold is broken,
and if these prices decline dramatically and soon, Putin will have no choice but to withdraw his troops ,
and his wannabe Evil Empire Redux will fall like a deck of cards.¶ Those who advocated the ridiculous policy of appeasement and unilateral
disarmament that brought us into this mess in the first place now falsely claim that the only alternative to dialogue with Russia is war with that
country. That is completely false.¶ No
one wants war with Moscow. And since the Russian military is already more than strong
enough to defeat the US military easily, it would be ill-advised.¶ But as stated above, Russia has one great glaring weakness –
its economy – and as Sun Tzu wisely counseled, the right way to defeat your opponent is to strike his
weaknesses, not his strengths.¶ Just as Ronald Reagan (who was vilified as a warmonger who would cause nuclear war) won the Cold War
without firing a shot, the West, if it applies the right policies, can defeat Russia today, also without firing a shot, by pulling the economic lever. It
absolutely can do so. The question is whether Western leaders will now have the intellectual courage to acknowledge the utter failure of their
appeasement policy.
Status quo oil prices fuel Russian aggression- lower prices are key
Stan Green 4/3/14
Control The Gov- policy advocacy and think tank “High Gas Prices!” http://controlthegov.com/high-gasprices/
The Russians are invading their neighbors and Obama is pretending that he doesn’t like it. Putin and
Obama are accusing each other. Both of them are liars. Obama is probably the worst liar in history.¶ Obama’s lame energy policy causes high
gas prices. Prices
below $90 a barrel mean that Putin does not have money for an invasion. Obama is
funding Russian aggression with high oil prices.¶ Disregard all of Obama’s lies. His true intentions are revealed by what he
does with the price of oil. If he keeps it the same or raises it he supports Russian aggression .¶ If Obama were to stop
blocking the Keystone pipeline, oil prices would be on the way down. If oil leases on public lands were available as in the past, oil prices would
normalize.¶ Normal oil prices would create an economic boon for us and put a stop to many wars. Obama’s
dismal job performance would get him fired anywhere. He is downgrading our defenses and has announced plans to give away the internet.
The Net is not his to give away and those are our defenses.¶ The people need to fire Obama, and it needs to happen right away.¶ The people
can intimidate Obama into resigning by applying more pressure than he can tolerate. Remember Richard Nixon?¶ The next time you fuel your
vehicle or pay the electric bill, be sure to curse Obama’s soul for the gouge he just put on you and your family.¶ More on getting rid of Obama
next time.
A drop in oil prices would show Russian weakness and oust Putin from power
Dmitry Travin 6/25/12
The Moscow Times“Only Low Oil Prices Will Oust Putin”
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/only-low-oil-prices-will-oust-putin/462567.html
The most common question these days among independent analysts is how long President Vladimir
Putin can hold onto power.¶ The circumstances that led to the Soviet collapse in 1991 may provide
some clues. First, the most intelligent, educated and energetic members of Soviet society had grown
tired of the obtuse and stagnant leadership that offered no prospects for the future. They were sick of
Soviet authority in the same way that a person could go crazy from being forced to wear an ugly and
hole-ridden pair of shoes year after year, even while being told that they were the best shoes on Earth.¶
Second, a split occurred within the Soviet elite that thrust Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to
prominence. He might not have intended to break apart the Soviet Union, but his perestroika program
was clearly intended to reorganize the structure that Vladimir Lenin had originally built.¶ Third, the
economic crisis resulting from a sharp drop in oil prices in the second half of the 1980s turned a major
segment of the population against the ruling regime. This opposition movement was far broader than
the liberal, educated intelligentsia.¶ Today, the protests that began in December indicate that the
active and educated segment of society is tired of the Putin regime. They understand that the
economic prosperity of recent years was due not to Putin's genius but to high global oil prices. They
also understand that the Russian economy could just as easily collapse if prices drop. Many people
rightfully conclude that because Putin has done little to develop the economy since he came to power in
1999, it is unlikely he will do anything in the future.¶ As for a split within Putin's ruling elite, the situation
now is more complicated. Soviet leaders saw that their own privileges, while large compared with
those of Soviet citizens, still paled in comparison with the average standard of living achieved in
Western consumer societies. Now, however, the members of Putin's ruling elite live like kings. Unlike
the Soviet elite, today's elite can buy expensive real estate in the West and travel there at will. The Putin
elites are far less tied to their own country than Soviet rulers were.¶ At the same time, Putin actually has
few staunch supporters among the political elite. Those officials are loyal to the regime only to the
extent that it allows them to get wealthy. But they will betray Putin the moment his political system
shows serious signs of weakness. They will not oppose Putin while he is strong, but they will also not
hesitate to trample him underfoot if his political fortunes shift.¶ What's more, many politicians,
businessmen and cultural figures are ashamed of the way Putin has transformed Russia. They are tired
of blushing when answering questions from their Western colleagues about rampant corruption or the
personality cult surrounding Putin that increasingly resembles the cult around aging Soviet leaders.¶ The
third contributing factor is the economic crisis. When oil prices fell drastically in 2009, Russia's gross
domestic product dropped by 8 percent. Had the crisis continued at this pace for a few more years, it
would have been disastrous for the Putin regime. The standard of living would have plummeted, and
we would have probably seen the same level of discontent that we witnessed in the late 1980s.¶ But oil
prices started to rise again in 2010, stabilizing the Russian economy as a whole. Today's oil prices
translate into annual growth rates of 3 to 4 percent and enable Putin to provide the people with at
least a small increase in their real incomes, which is enough to keep most Russians from joining the
protest movement.¶ This is the main reason why the demonstrations of recent months have not
reached a level that would cause the regime to collapse. There is a large segment of society that does
not think about the future and is largely content with a bottle of beer, bread and butter and cheap
television serials. Putin's main constituency among the masses is less concerned about freedom,
human rights protections, free elections and civil society.¶ Although the country's intellectuals have
openly turned their backs on Putin, the average Russian remains the last and best hope of the current
regime. For his part, Putin cultivates the common people's support with patriotic speeches, an ongoing
campaign against the United States, talk about saving the country from internal and external enemies
and his harsh criticism of the democratic opposition.¶ But the state of the economy is the primary factor
determining how long the Putin regime can endure. If oil prices remain high, the regime could survive
for years, but if a serious global economic crisis hits , its chances of survival are negligible . If, at the
peak of such a crisis, Putin's blue-collar electorate were to ask, "Where is our bread and butter?" the
elites and intellectuals would not come to his rescue, as they once did for former President Boris
Yeltsin.¶ If the intellectuals and a good portion of Putin's traditional constituency join forces to arise en
masse against Putin, the political elites would either take a neutral position or, more likely, turn against
Putin completely. If this ever happens, Putin would have no chance of remaining in power.
Renewables K/T Security
OMEGA is uniquely key to national security and air force
NASA No Date
“Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae”
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/pdf/638200main_OMEGA_FactSheet_final.pdf
Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA) is an innovative method to grow algae,
clean wastewater, capture carbon dioxide and ultimately produce biofuel. Using treated sewage as a
growth medium, OMEGA would not compete with agriculture for water, fertilizer or land.¶ NASA’s
OMEGA system consists of large flexible plastic tubes, called photobioreactors. Floating in seawater, the
photobioreactors contain freshwater algae growing in wastewater. These algae are among the fastest
growing plants on Earth.¶ The algae use energy from the sun, nutrients from wastewater and carbon
dioxide to make oil-rich biomass that can be converted into biofuels. In addition to biofuels, the algae
can produce fertilizer and a variety of other useful products.¶ The OMEGA system was investigated by
NASA as a way to introduce an alternative way to produce aviation fuels . Potential implications of
replacing fossil fuels include addressing the release of greenhouse gases, ocean acidification, and
national security.
AT- Military CP
Military research on biofuels diverts resources and threatens national security
John E. Gay 4/1/14
National Defense University Press: “Green Peace: Can Biofuels Accelerate Energy Security?”
http://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/NewsArticleView/tabid/7849/Article/8465/jfq-73-green-peacecan-biofuels-accelerate-energy-security.aspx
For the United States to achieve energy security, it must reduce its dependence on foreign oil.
However, should the military—the branch of government responsible for national security—be
responsible for investing its limited resources as a venture capitalist to jumpstart a biofuels industry
and be forced to purchase fuels at 10 times the cost of readily available petroleum-based fuels? Not
only does this not make good economic sense, but it also puts our national security at risk. Biofuels
mandates divert scarce military resources away from critical programs such as weapons
modernization, maintenance, training, and readiness. America’s military is the largest consumer of
liquid fuels in the world, but it still only accounts for 3.6 percent of annual U.S. consumption. This low
percentage is not enough to spark a biofuels industry and affect overall fuel prices.¶
AT-States CP
Secretary of the Interior can issue permits – avoids state coordination failure
Adam Vann 10/17/12
Congressional Research Service, Adam Vann - Legislative Attorney, “Wind Energy: Offshore Permitting”
http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40175.pdf
Prior to enactment of EPAct in 2005, the Army Corp of Engineers (Corps) took the lead role in the
federal offshore wind energy permitting process, claiming jurisdiction pursuant to Section 10 of the
Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA),28 as amended by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).29 The
Corps has jurisdiction under these laws to permit obstructions to navigation within the “navigable
waters of the United States” and on the OCS.30 The Corps’ jurisdiction over potential offshore wind
projects had never been made explicit, however.¶ Section 388 of EPAct sought to address some of the
uncertainty related to federal jurisdiction over offshore wind energy development by amending the
OCSLA to specifically establish legal authority for federal review and approval of various offshore
energy-related projects. The provision amended the OCSLA by adding a new subsection that authorizes
the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with other federal agencies, to grant leases, easements,
or rights-of-way on the OCS for certain activities—wind energy development among them—not
authorized by other OCSLA provisions, the Deepwater Port Act, the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
Act, or “other applicable law.”31 A memorandum of understanding between the Department of the
Interior and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) signed in April of 2009 confirmed the
exclusive jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, exercised through the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEM),32 an agency within DOI, over “the production,
transportation, or transmission of energy from non-hydrokinetic renewable energy projects on the
OCS.”
AT: Ethanol
Food prices
Ethanol drives up food prices
Weise 2/14/11, Elizabeth is a reporter for the USA Today, “Ethanol pumping up food prices”
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-02-09-corn-low_N.htm
A combination of natural calamities and congressional mandates has come together to drive world food prices to
levels that make some governments in developing nations nervous, because higher costs can mean
political instability. The toll on American grocery carts thus far is low, but analysts say price increases are coming.¶ CHINA DROUGHT:
China prepares for 'severe, long-lasting drought'¶ The immediate causes of the rise are clear: bad harvests due to drought in Russia, China and
Argentina and floods in Australia, among other things. But a
longer-term cause may come as a surprise:— 24% of the
U.S. corn crop is now mandated to go to ethanol, taking slack out of the world food market and making price shocks more
likely, agricultural economists say.¶ PRICES RISING: Prices starting to creep higher¶ Add lower-than-expected corn yields last year
and, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures out Wednesday, U.S. reserves of field corn are at their lowest levels
in 15 years. The demand for corn for ethanol is now at 4.9 billion bushels per year. Corn prices have
almost doubled, from $3.49 a bushel in July to $6.10 in January. Corn futures, contracts to buy corn at a given price in
the future, as of Wednesday were $6.90 a bushel.¶ INFLATION AHEAD?: Bernanke's not worried¶ "We're going to be going into next year's
harvest with really no surplus inventory at all, so the size of next year's crop becomes critical," says Darrel Good, an agricultural economist at
the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.¶ A threat to the poor¶ However, foreign production of corn and projected stocks this year are
higher than in the past two years, buffering the global situation somewhat, says Heather Lutman, a corn analyst with USDA.¶ For
the 1.2
billion people who make $1.25 or less a day and spend 50% to 80% of their income on food, price rises
mean hunger and less money for education and health care, says Gawain Kripke of Oxfam America, an anti-poverty
charity.¶ For Americans, there are "definitely indications that point to higher prices, but we've yet to see a major impact," says Ephraim Leibtag,
a USDA food economist. Meat, dairy and eggs, primarily dependent on feed prices, are "less shielded from surges in commodity prices," he
says. USDA
is predicting rises in the food price index for 2011 of 3.5% to 4.5% for pork, 2.5% to 3.5% for
beef, 2.5% to 3.5% for eggs and 4.5% to 5.5% for dairy.¶ But corn, because it's made into high-fructose corn syrup, our
most commonly used sweetener, is in many other items Americans buy as well.¶ Companies likely to raise prices¶ Thus far it's
been "kind of stealth," but consumers will see the effects soon, says Joseph Saluzzi, co-founder of Themis Trading, a
brokerage firm in Chatham, N.J. Companies don't want to increase prices, so they've cut expenses and even made packages smaller, he says.
But as earnings statements came out this quarter "a bunch of companies have said they're going to raise prices," he says.¶ The U.S. is the
world's largest producer of field corn, at 13 billion bushels a year. Sweet corn, the kind we eat on the cob, is less than 1% of total corn grown.¶
Since 2005, more and more of the nation's field corn crop has gone to create ethanol. Fuel blenders are obliged under the 2007 Energy
Independence and Security Act to mix a certain amount of eligible biofuels into the gasoline they sell. The blenders receive a tax credit of 45
cents per gallon of ethanol.¶ "For corn-based biofuels such as ethanol, the current mandate (under EISA) is 12.6 billion gallons, which increases
to 15 billion in 2015 and remains at that level," says Tom Capehart, a USDA biofuels expert.¶ At this year's level, 39% of U.S. field corn is used to
produce the gasoline substitute. A third of that comes back into the food supply as distillers' grains, a by-product of ethanol production, which
can be added to animal feed, bringing the total down to 24%.¶ Corn farmers dispute the connection between high prices and ethanol. More
corn is being grown per acre "thanks to technology in the seed and practices on the farm," says Bart Schott, president of the National Corn
Growers Association. Instead, he points at "speculation in commodity markets, corrupt foreign regimes, currency fluctuation, hoarding by other
countries and, of course, the weather" for rising prices.
Wetlands
Ethanol trades off with food, causes food price rise and kills wetlands
Faber 4/2/13, Scott Faber is the Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the
Environmental Working Group (EWG) and was a senior director for public policy for American
Rivers, J.D. From Georgetown University Law Center “Corn Ethanol: Bad For Farmers,
Consumers And The Environment” http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2013/02/corn-ethanol-badfarmers-consumers-and-environment
By driving up the price of food and gas and causing costly engine damage, corn
ethanol has been bad news for consumers.¶ And by driving up the price of food, corn
ethanol is also costing all of us money – by increasing the cost of federal programs like food stamps and
school lunches.¶ But corn ethanol has not just been a disaster for consumers, most farmers, and taxpayers; it’s also been a
disaster for the environment – worse, in fact, than Canadian tar sands.¶ That’s
according to the Swiss Federal Laboratories, which concluded that biofuels “often
shift environmental burdens toward land-use related impacts.Ӧ By dramatically
raising the price of corn, the federal corn ethanol mandate has, in just the last four
years, contributed to the conversion of 23 million acres from wetland and
grassland – an area the size of Indiana – to cropland. In fact, thanks to the corn ethanol mandate,
we have lost more than wetlands and grasslands in the last four years than in the
previous 40.¶ By encouraging farmers to plow up wetlands and grasslands, the mandate is causing more carbon to be
released into the atmosphere, consuming more water to irrigate crops, causing more fertilizer to wash off farm fields and destroying
more habitat that supports wildlife – and millions of jobs.¶ What’s more, burning corn ethanol in gasoline releases more benzene, a
known carcinogen, and other toxic air pollutants that have been linked to asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory ailments. ¶
Thanks to new fuel efficiency standards, the rationale for the corn ethanol mandate created in 2005, and expanded in 2007, has
evaporated.¶ So why is Congress continuing to force consumers to use a fuel that increases food and gas prices and is bad for the
environment and public health?¶ Now is the time to reduce the use of corn ethanol in our gasoline.
Oceanic Dead Zones
Nitrogen fertilizer from increased corn ethanol production causes
dead zones
Tennant 13/11/13, Michael, a freelance writer “Federal Ethanol Policy: Bad for the Planet,
Good for Lobbyists” The New American
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/16932-federalethanol-policy-bad-for-the-planet-good-for-lobbyists
Another big problem caused by the ethanol law is the growth in the amount of nitrogen
fertilizer being used. “Between 2005 and 2010, corn farmers increased their use of
nitrogen fertilizer by more than one billion pounds,” reported the AP. “More recent data
isn’t available from the Agriculture Department, but because of the huge increase in corn planting, even conservative
projections by the AP suggest another billion-pound fertilizer increase on corn
farms since then.Ӧ With all this fertilizer being dumped in a relatively small portion of the country, its effects are
particularly worrisome.¶ For one thing, nitrogen in drinking water is toxic to humans. Iowa's Des Moines Water Works faced such
high levels of nitrates in its water sources this summer that it had to keep huge machines running constantly to clean the water, and
it asked customers to reduce their water consumption. Minnesota’s water system is also finding itself “overwhelmed by the increase
in production pressure to plant more crops,” Steve Morse, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, told the
AP.¶ The fertilizer runoff has deleterious effects downstream, too, wrote the AP:¶ The nitrates travel down rivers
and into the Gulf of Mexico, where they boost the growth of enormous algae fields.
When the algae die, the decomposition consumes oxygen, leaving behind a zone where aquatic life cannot survive.¶ This year, the
dead zone covered 5,800 square miles of sea floor, about the size of Connecticut.¶
Warming
Ethanol use doubles greenhouse emissions
Naik 2/8/8, Gautam, Writer for the Wall Street Journal “Biofuels May Hinder AntiglobalWarming Efforts”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB120241324358751455?mod=todays_us_page_one&mg
=reno64wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB120241324358751455.html%3Fmod
%3Dtodays_us_page_one
Carbon Emissions Could Increase As Land-Use Shifts
A study published in the latest issue of Science finds that corn-based ethanol, a type of biofuel
pushed heavily in the U.S., will nearly double the output of greenhouse-gas emission s instead of reducing
them by about one-fifth by some estimates. A separate paper in Science concludes that clearing
native habitats to grow crops for biofuel generally will lead to more carbon
emissions.¶ The findings are the latest to take aim at biofuels, which have already been blamed for pushing up prices of corn
and other food crops, as well as straining water supplies. The Energy Department expects U.S. ethanol
production to reach about 7.5 billion gallons this year from 3.9 billion in 2005,
encouraged by high prices and government support. The European Union has proposed that 10% of all fuel used in transportation
should come from biofuels by 2020.
All their evidence doesn’t take into account land use shifts
Naik 2/8/8, Gautam, Writer for the Wall Street Journal “Biofuels May Hinder AntiglobalWarming Efforts”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB120241324358751455?mod=todays_us_page_one&mg
=reno64wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB120241324358751455.html%3Fmod
%3Dtodays_us_page_one
Land-use changes can have big and unintended consequences, such as food shortages and
reduced biodiversity. For example, when forests or grasslands are converted for agricultural use, it leads to a
large, quick release of carbon when the existing plant life is destroyed and the soil is tilled . Even if
biofuels are grown on cropland previously used to grow food, farmers tend to then
clear other forests and grasslands and grow the food elsewhere.¶ "Even if we're dramatically
wrong, it's hard to get to a result that says you get a benefit over 50 years," said Timothy Searchinger, a researcher at Princeton
University and a co-author of the paper on corn-based ethanol.¶ In the second study, researchers found
that the effect of biofuels varied hugely, depending on where and how they were
produced. For example, an increasing amount of land in Brazil is being used to
grow sugarcane for ethanol. Converting the undeveloped land into sugarcane fields
releases CO2. It would take 17 years for the positive effect of using sugarcane
ethanol from those fields instead of petroleum-based fuels to overcome the CO2
farming the land put into the air. Draining and clearing peatlands in Malaysia and Indonesia to grow palm oil emits so much CO2
that palm biodiesel from those fields would have to be burned for more than 420 years to counteract it.¶ David Tilman, an
ecologist at the University of Minnesota and co-author of the second paper, said
the biofuel industry needs to seek more efficient sources for biofuels, such as various kinds
of waste and nonfood crops such as switchgrass grown on degraded land. A researcher from the Nature Conservancy, an
environmental advocacy group, was also a co-author.¶ Their study's funding came from the National Science Foundation and the
University of Minnesota's Initiative on Renewable Energy and the Environment, according to Mr. Tilman. The other paper relied on
funding from various indirect sources, including the Hewlett Foundation and the Agriculture Department.
AT: No tradeoff with corn
Algae market stuff
Algae can take up market shares, now is the time
CBO Financial 12/15/11, “Commercialized Algae Production: Turning Gunk into Global Change”
http://www.cbofinancial.com/news_events/newsletters/2011-12-15/algae_educational.html
Algae oil is one of the world's most renewable and sustainable biofuel feedstocks.¶ While nutraceuticals can help change an individual's health,
commercial algae production really has a chance to transform our planet. Biofuels have
received a lot of attention lately;
however, some of the issues raised about the true sustainability , particularly of corn-based ethanol
production, are concerning. Corn production is hard on the environment, polluting waterways,
degrading soil, and causing soil erosion. Corn also is a relatively slow-growing plant, and produces a
relatively low-energy feedstock for biofuels. Most importantly, taking acreage out of food production and
using it for ethanol corn has raised food prices,
and there is a growing awareness of the conflict of food versus fuel.¶ As
compared to corn, algae grows quickly, can be grown in tanks on otherwise nonproductive land, and potentially
even be used to
clean the environment, feeding on waste CO2 that would otherwise pollute the environment. Compared to crops used to
produce vegetable oil, algae can generate up to 50 times the amount of oil per acre. It can be processed into a number
of different biofuels, including biodiesel. Biodiesel is an exciting industry because it can fuel a conventional diesel engine, burns cleaner than
conventional diesel, and can actually prolong the life of the engine.¶
Algae production commercialization offers an
exciting opportunity for investors .¶ In the coming years, as the world looks more and more toward
truly sustainable options to feed our insatiable appetite for energy, the algae biofuels industry is
expected to explode . The market is currently crowded by small, nimble companies who have each developed their own processes and
technology, all vying for their share of this new space. At this point in its development, the industry has developed a wide variety of different
algae production methods, with varying levels of scalability and funding needs.
The status of today’s market provides an
exciting opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an industry that promises to be not only
economically rewarding, but environmentally indispensable .¶ As an Algae Project Developer, the CBO Financial team
applies innovative funding strategies and customized planning so that algal projects can reach full-scale commercialization. We’ve identified a
number of inventive algae project funding opportunities, and, in particular, we’re applying our extensive NMTC (New Market Tax Credit)
knowledge toward this market. We’re creating a new model for the revitalization of low-income communities by combining the local economic
benefits o NMTC projects with the global environmental benefits of renewable energy.
Algae set to take over market, 7-10 years with investment
Hannon et al 10, Michael Hannon, Javier Gimpel, Miller Tran, Beth Rasala, and Stephen Mayfield, “Biofuels from algae: challenges
and potential” NIHPA San Diego Center for Algal Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, Division of Biology, La Jolla, CA, USA
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Hannon%20M%5Bauth%5D
We have discussed strategies to make algae-based fuels costs competitive with petroleum. Bioprospecting is of importance to identify algal
species that have desired traits (e.g. high lipid content, growth rates, growth densities and/or the presence of valuable co-products), while
growing on low-cost media. Despite the potential of this strategy, the most likely scenario is that bioprospecting will not identify species that
are cost competitive with petroleum, and subsequent genetic engineering and breeding will be required to bring these strains to economic
viability. The
range of potential for engineering algae is just beginning to be realized, from improving lipid
No sustainable technology is
without its challenges but blind promotion of those technologies without honest consideration of the long-term implications may lead
biogenesis and improving crop protection, to producing valuable enzyme or protein co-products.
to the acceptance of strategies whose long-term consequences outweigh their short-term benefits. We have presented what we view as the
most important current and upcoming challenges of algae biofuels but, as with any new industry, the more we learn the more we realize that
challenges exist that we had not foreseen.
Even given these uncertainties, we believe that fuel production from
algae can be cost competitive and widely scalable and deployable in the next 7–10 years , but only if
we continue to expand our understanding of these amazing organisms as we expand our ability to
engineer them for the specific task of developing a new energy industry.
Algae Co-products make it competitive with petroleum even in early stages of
development
Hannon et al 10, Michael Hannon, Javier Gimpel, Miller Tran, Beth Rasala, and Stephen Mayfield, “Biofuels from algae: challenges
and potential” NIHPA San Diego Center for Algal Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, Division of Biology, La Jolla, CA, USA
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Hannon%20M%5Bauth%5D
The extraction and sale of natural or engineered co-products along with algae oil could¶ positively
impact the economics of algae-based biofuels. If the infrastructure for algae fuel¶ production is in place, expansion of
these facilities to include protein or other coproduct¶ purification can be added at a fraction of total
cost. The postprocessing residue from algae¶ oil extraction consists primarily of proteins and
carbohydrates. Conventional use of these¶ by-products might include anaerobic digestion to generate
methane gas [163], combustion¶ for energy production or, perhaps, use as animal feed, although algae are not
presently sold¶ as animal feed outside of the aquaculture industry. The high protein content of most¶ microalgae and their amino acid
composition makes them suitable for human and animal¶ nutrition. The cyanobacteria Arthrospira (i.e., Spirulina) has a 60–71% dry-weight
protein¶ content, and is widely used as a food supplement for humans, cattle, poultry, aquarium fish,¶ ornamental birds and horses [168].
Algae biomass is also an essential source of nutrients for¶ fish, mollusk and shrimp in the aquaculture industry. The most popular algae genera
are¶ Tetraselmis, Nannochloropsis, Isochrysis, Pavlova, Navicula, Nitzschia, Chaetoceros,¶ Skeletonema, Phaeodactylum and Thalassiosira
[169,170]. Chlorella is also regarded as an¶ excellent nutrient source for humans but it also produces a high valuable molecule, β-1,3-¶ glucan.
This polysaccharide is a recognized immunostimulator, a free radical scavenger and¶ a reducer of blood lipids [171].¶ Given their diverse nature,
microalgae can produce a wide variety of nutrients and¶ secondary metabolites that are beneficial for human or animals. Valuable current or
potential¶ co-products include carotenoids, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs).¶ Microalgae
can also produce a
wide variety of useful carotenoids, such as lutein, zeaxanthin,¶ lycopene, bixin, β-carotene and astaxanthin. However,
commercial production is mainly¶ confined to the latter two [172–174]. β-carotene is produced by the marine algae D. salina,¶ which can
accumulate up to 14% of its dry weight as this pigment under stress conditions¶ [175]. This carotenoid is an orange pigment, widely used
as a natural food colorant. It is also¶ Hannon et al. Page 16¶ Biofuels. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 August 8.¶ NIH-PA
Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript120 strong antioxidant and a precursor of vitamin A [176,177]. The
main producer of¶ astaxanthin is the freshwater algae, Haematococcus pluvialis, which can accumulate up to¶ 4% of its dry weight as this
pigment [178]. Astaxanthin is a red pigment, mainly used as a¶ feed additive for coloring salmon, carp, red seabream, shrimp and chickens. It is
also used as¶ a food supplement for humans, given that it is an extraordinary antioxidant [179,180].¶ Microalgae can
also
synthesize LCPUFAs, including omega-3 and omega-6. These are¶ essential for humans and marine
animals but they are only available in a very limited¶ selection of foods [181,182]. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is
an omega-3 fatty acid¶ commercially produced by Crypthecodinium and Schizochytrium for infant formulas and ¶ aquaculture feeds. Algae can
also efficiently produce other important LCPUFAs but are¶ currently not the main commercial source of these fatty acids. These LCPUFAs
include¶ eicosapentanoic acid (produced by Nannochloropsis, Phaeodactylum and Nitzschia),¶ arachidonic acid (produced by Porphyridium)
and γ-linoleic acid (produced by Arthrospira)¶ [183].¶ Additional minor commercial products from microalgae are phycobiliproteins, used as
food¶ and research dyes (Arthrospira and Porphyridium) [184,185], extracts for cosmetics¶ (Nannochloropsis and Dunaliella) [186], and stable
isotope biomolecules used for research¶ (Phaeodactylum and Arthrospira) [187].¶ Microalgae can
synthesize many other
unique molecules with commercial potential, such as¶ toxins, vitamins, antibiotics, sterols, lectins,
mycosporine-like amino acids, halogenated¶ compounds and polyketides. In some instances, the expression of molecules that improve¶ crop
protection may also have pharmaceutical value. For further reading see [183,188–192].¶ These natural co-products have potential to provide a
bridge while the economics of algal¶ biofuels improve. Early on, owing to the large market for fuels and companies establishing¶ niches, it
is
most likely that diverse coproduct-producing strains will be used, rather than an¶ optimal single strain. In addition,
many of these co-products will be coextracted with the¶ lipids using current strategies, decreasing their value as a coproduct. Improving
extraction¶ techniques or dedicating a percentage of the algal crop to these higher value products¶
depending on demand (e.g., with terrestrial agriculture) may further close the economic gap¶ between petroleum
and algae biofuels
New research on algae use makes it competitive in the fuels market
Hannon et al 10, Michael Hannon, Javier Gimpel, Miller Tran, Beth Rasala, and Stephen Mayfield, “Biofuels from algae: challenges
and potential” NIHPA San Diego Center for Algal Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, Division of Biology, La Jolla, CA, USA
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Hannon%20M%5Bauth%5D
In addition to improved lipid production, other strain-specific
improvements are being¶ considered, including crop
protection, salt tolerance, growth at high pH, improved nutrient¶ utilization and traits that lead to
more efficient harvesting, such as flocculation. The¶ economic impact from these improvements will allow
for decrease operational costs. For¶ example, flocculation will allow improved harvesting by making it
easier to concentrate¶ algae, decreasing the cost of water extraction. A variety of algae have been characterized for¶
their fouling of marine equipment. Some of the qualities that cause fouling include rapid¶ growth on specific substrates. Further studies of
these attributes may lead to improved¶ flocculation and extraction, by understanding how and why these species grow and adhere to¶ these
specific substrates. These data may allow these traits to be exploited, so that algae will¶ aggregate after a specific induction event or to a
specific surface.¶ In general, the literature on algal strain improvements is minimal; however, extrapolation ¶ from successes in other system
may provide a blueprint for some of these improvements.¶ One such improvement is better salt tolerance conferred through expression of¶
glycinebetaine and polyamines in terrestrial plants [166,167]. Despite the potential value of¶ these improvements, their real value must be
determined experimentally in each species.
Bioengineering makes algae biofuels competitive
Hannon et al 10, Michael Hannon, Javier Gimpel, Miller Tran, Beth Rasala, and Stephen Mayfield, “Biofuels from algae: challenges
and potential” NIHPA San Diego Center for Algal Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, Division of Biology, La Jolla, CA, USA
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Hannon%20M%5Bauth%5D
Identification of an ideal, unmodified biofuel organism that fits into the established¶ infrastructure for harvesting, extraction and purification,
and is economically viable, is a¶ possibility; however, a
much more likely scenario is the identification of a variety of
species¶ that each have one or a few of these desirable traits. These traits, when engineered into a¶
single strain, may be sufficient to result in an economically viable production strain. In¶ addition to strain
improvements in fuel production, using genes identified from other algae¶ species may allow for improved expression of heterologous proteins,
which either have high¶ value as a protein coproduct or enzymatically produce a high-value coproduct. Both of these¶ strategies are being
investigated to improve the economics of algal biofuels.
Use as foodstock makes algae biofuel able to replace corn
Lum, Kim, Lei 12/21/13, Krystal Lum, Jonggun Kim, Xin Gen Lei are writing for Department of Animal Science, Cornell University,
Ithaca, Published as “Dual potential of microalgae as a sustainable biofuel feedstock and animal feed” in the Journal of Animal Science and
Biotechnology 2013, 4:53 http://www.jasbsci.com/content/4/1/53#
Marine microalgae sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis, and may be used to produce biogas including methane and
hydrogen via anaerobic processing [13-15]. While certain species of microalgae were recognized in the 1940s to yield high amounts of cellular
lipids under selective growth pressures, it was not until the 1950’s when algae were viewed as a potential energy source, and were tested for
methane gas production via anaerobic digestion of their cell carbohydrates [16,17]. The flexibility and(or) adaptivity of microalgal species to
water and cultural conditions allows us to spare fresh water and arable land for crop production [18]. The
land use efficiency of
microalgae for biofuel production, grown with 30% oil content by weight, was 130 and 338 times
greater than the conventional biodiesel feedstock soybean and corn, respectively [6].¶ While optimal growth
conditions for microalgae are species-specific, photoautotrophic cultivation of these single cell species at large scales for biofuel and coproducts depends on the technical and economic feasibility. At the present time, the photoautotrophic production of microalgae is marginally
cost-effective only for generating value-added co-products or feed additives used in aquaculture [19,20]. In such productions, microalgae are
grown in the presence of light within constructions such as open raceway ponds. To extract the lipids, microalgae are first de-watered. The
concentrated biomass is subsequently processed to optimize the solvent extraction through cell disruption, particle size reduction, and drying
[21]. The remaining microalgae skeleton after lipid extraction is the
so-called de-fatted microalgal biomass to be used as
an animal feed. Without the presumed feed application, the commercial microalgae cultivation and processing for biofuel production
[22,23] remains largely cost-ineffective. Therefore, the feed application of the de-fatted biomass would not only
create a new source of animal feed to mitigate the current competition with human food supply, but
also help make the biofuel production of microalgae economically feasible.
Algae fuel/food has huge market potential
Lum, Kim, Lei 12/21/13, Krystal Lum, Jonggun Kim, Xin Gen Lei are writing for Department of Animal Science, Cornell University,
Ithaca, Published as “Dual potential of microalgae as a sustainable biofuel feedstock and animal feed” in the Journal of Animal Science and
Biotechnology 2013, 4:53 http://www.jasbsci.com/content/4/1/53#
The use of microalgal biomass in animal feed will not only improve human and animal food security,
but also facilitate cost-effective biofuel production and reduces greenhouse gas production of
agricultur e [6,79-81]. Recent estimates indicate that 30% of the global algal production is used by the animal feed
industry [5], amounting to a fast-growing $300 million in retail value [82]. Pragmatic species-specific large-scale algae
refinery techniques must be devised to reduce the cost of the biomass production. It is necessary to determine limiting factors of the microalgal
biomass that hinder its digestion and utilization by animals. Novel technology should be explored to improve microalgal nutrient utilization, and
their long term nutritional and metabolic effects should be assessed. In addition, the production of DHA from microalgal biomass alone is a
rapidly growing market. The last estimate is that approximately 300
tons is produced to generate $1.5 billion market
value each year [72,82]. However, the tremendous potential of using the microalgal biomass in producing DHA/EPA enriched eggs,
meats, and milk for improving human health is yet to be fully explored.
Algae tradeoff
Algae trades off with corn ethanol, more efficient
Herro 1/1/8, Alana, staff writer for WorldWatch Institute, “Better Than Corn? Algae Set to
Beat Out Other Biofuel Feedstocks” http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5391
Forget corn, sugar cane, and even switchgrass. Some experts believe that algae is set to eclipse all other biofuel
feedstocks as the cheapest, easiest, and most environmentally friendly way to
produce liquid fuel, reports Kiplinger’s Biofuels Market Alert. “It is easy to get excited about algae,” says Worldwatch
Institute biofuels expert Raya Widenoja. “It looks like such a promising fuel source, especially if it’s combined with advances in
biodiesel processing.Ӧ The inputs for algae are simple: the single-celled organisms only need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to
grow. They can quadruple in biomass in just one day, and they help remove carbon
from the air and nitrogen from wastewater, another environmental benefit. Some
types of algae comprise more than 50 percent oil, and an average acre of algae
grown today for pharmaceutical industries can produce 5,000 gallons (19,000
liters) of biodiesel each year. By comparison, an average acre of corn produces 420
gallons (1,600 liters) of ethanol per year, and an acre of soybeans yields just 70 gallons (265 liters) of
biodiesel per year.¶ “Your bang for your buck is just bigger because you can really do this
on a much smaller amount of land and yet yield much, much higher biomass,” said
Michael S. Atkins, CEO of San Francisco area-based Ocean Technology & Environmental Consulting (OTEC). Douglas Henston, CEO
of Solix Biofuels, a company that grows algae for biofuels, has estimated that replacing all current U.S. diesel
fuel use with algae biodiesel would require using only about one half of 1 percent
of the farmland in production today. Algae can also grow on marginal lands, such as in desert areas where the
groundwater is saline.¶
Algae trades off with corn
Algae crowds out corn as source for biofuels
Ngak 6/8/13, Chenda, Reporter for CBS News“Powering the future: Will algae fuel your next car?”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/powering-the-future-will-algae-fuel-your-next-car/
Professor Juergen Polle is packing up his laboratory on a sweltering morning in New York City, but the beakers and test tubes aren't going on summer break. The
professor of biology at Brooklyn College has run out of funds for his research, and is shutting down his lab until a new round of funding can
be found. Polle joins some of the top minds in the nation working to find an alternative for oil -- and he's placing his bet on algae.¶ "We cannot fly
planes with ethanol. We need oil. And algae can make oil as a drop-in replacement for fossil fuel," Polle
told CBSNews.com on a recent tour of his lab. ¶ Proponents find algae appealing because it can be grown in salt water. The race to find a
sustainable alternative to oil has mainly focused on other types of biofuels, like corn-derived ethanol
or vegetable oil, but these options compete with food crops. What makes algae ideal is that it can be grown in
non-arable land. And while it burns carbon dioxide (CO2) like fossil fuels, it requires CO2 to photosynthesize, making it
carbon neutral.
Algae is 3x more efficient than corn based ethanol
Lane 9/23/13, Jim writer for Biofuels Digest, “It’s official: algae biofuels cut emissions by 50-70 percent, approaching oil energy
economics, says report” http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2013/09/23/its-official-algae-biofuels-cut-
emissions-by-50-70-percent-approaching-oil-energy-economics-says-report/
In Minnesota, the Algae Biomass Organization announced that a peer-reviewed paper, published in Bioresource
Technology, has shown that algae-derived biofuel can reduce life cycle CO2 emissions by 50 to 70
percent compared to petroleum fuels, and is approaching a similar Energy Return on Investment (EROI) as conventional
petroleum.¶ The study, “Pilot-scale data provide enhanced estimates of the life cycle energy and emissions
profile of algae biofuels produced via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL),” is a life cycle analysis of an algae cultivation and fuel
production process currently employed at pre-commercial scales. The authors examined field data from two facilities operated by Sapphire
Energy in Las Cruces and Columbus, New Mexico that grow and process algae into Green Crude oil. Sapphire Energy’s Green Crude can be
refined into drop-in fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.¶ The
study concluded that algae technologies at
commercial scale are projected to produce biofuels with lower greenhouse gas emissions and EROI
values that are comparable to first generation biofuels. Additionally, algae based biofuels produced
through this pathway at commercial scale will have a significant energy return on investment (EROI),
close to petroleum and three times higher than cellulosic ethanol .¶ The system that was evaluated recycles
nutrients, can accept an algae feed that is up to 90 percent water in the processing phase, and the final
product can be blended with refinery intermediates for refining into finished gasoline or diesel product, resulting in
significant energy savings throughout the process.¶
Algae can replace corn as a source for biofuels
Wogan 11/24/10, David is a writer for the Scientific American and an engineer and policy researcher, “Power from pondscum: Algal
biofuels” http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2010/11/24/power-from-pondscum-algal-
biofuels/
In the discussion of alternative energy and fuels, algae have been bubbling to the top of the proverbial feedstock pool. Algae, the little green
guys responsible for everything from making your Dairy Queen Blizzard solid to forming the basis of our current fossil fuels, are being looked at
long and hard by some of the nation’s top researchers and decision-makers as a source for next-generation biofuels.¶ Biofuels are already
produced in large quantities. In the United States, corn is used to produce tens of millions of gallons of the ethanol each year. Biodiesel,
produced in smaller volumes, can be produced from everything from waste cooking oil to soybeans and tropical plants.¶ Unfortunately,
corn ethanol and terrestrial plant-based biodiesel face significant environmental and social dilemmas.
Reliance on food crops for fuel poses problems for populations around the world that rely on basic
staple foods such as corn. Deforestation is rampant in tropical climates as forests are cut down to
accommodate oil crop production. And all of these crops require vast amounts of land and water.¶ Enter
algae.¶ The idea is that algae can avoid some of the problems facing our current sources of biofuels. As
evidenced by algae growing in backyard pools around the nation, algae aren’t the pickiest organisms; algae primarily require sunlight, carbon
dioxide and water to grow. Carbon dioxide can come from power plants and industrial emitters, which not only results in faster growth, but also
would let carbon dioxide from fossil fuels be recycled before being emitted to the atmosphere. Unlike
terrestrial crops (like corn),
algae can utilize wastewater for growth, reducing demand on scarce water resources.¶ And most
important, algae produce useful compounds that can be formed into fuels and chemicals desperately needed by
our society. Synthetic gasoline and diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and biodiesel can all be produced from different parts of the algal biomass and lipids,
while some algae strains have been shown to produce hydrogen.
OMEGA uses algae to clean waste and produce clean biofuels w/o trading off food
Soderman No Date, Teague Soderman is a member of the NLSI staff, “Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA)”
http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/omega/
NASA scientists have proposed an ingenious and remarkably resourceful process to produce “clean
energy” biofuels, that cleans waste water, removes carbon dioxide from the air, retains important nutrients, and does not
compete with agriculture for land or freshwater . As a clean energy alternative, NASA invented a bioreactor
that is an Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA), an algae photo-bioreactor that
grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel and a variety of other products.¶ NASA plans to refine and
integrate the technology into biorefineries to produce renewable energy products, including diesel and jet fuel. The OMEGA system consists of
large plastic bags with inserts of forward-osmosis membranes that grow freshwater algae in processed wastewater by photosynthesis. Using
energy from the sun, the algae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nutrients from the wastewater to produce biomass and
oxygen. As the algae grow, the nutrients are contained in the enclosures, while the cleansed freshwater is released into the surrounding ocean
through the forward-osmosis membranes.¶ “The
OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can convert
sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels,” said Matthew Atwood, president and founder of
Algae Systems. “The technology is simple and scalable enough to create an inexpensive, local energy supply that also creates jobs to sustain
it.Ӧ When
deployed in contaminated and “dead zone” coastal areas, this system may help remediate
these zones by removing and utilizing the nutrients that cause them. The forward-osmosis membranes use
relatively small amounts of external energy compared to the conventional methods of harvesting algae, which have an energy intensive dewatering process.¶ Potential benefits include oil production from the harvested algae, and conversion of municipal wastewater into clean water
before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is extracted from the algae, the algal remains can be used to make fertilizer, animal feed,
cosmetics, or other valuable products. This successful spinoff of NASA-derived technology will help support the commercial development of a
new algae-based biofuels industry and wastewater treatment.¶ “The reason why algae are so interesting is because some of them produce lots
of oil,” said Jonathan Trent, the lead research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. “In fact, most of the oil we are now
getting out of the ground comes from algae that lived millions of years ago. Algae are still the best source of oil we know.Ӧ Algae are similar to
other plants in that they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, and use phosphates,
nitrogen, and trace elements to grow and flourish. Unlike many plants, they
produce fatty, lipid cells loaded with oil that
can be used as fuel.¶ “The inspiration I had was to use offshore membrane enclosures to grow algae. We’re going to deploy a large
plastic bag in the ocean, and fill it with sewage. The algae use sewage to grow, and in the process of growing they clean up the sewage,” said
Trent.¶ It is a simple, but elegant concept. The bag will be made of semi-permeable membranes that allow fresh water to flow out into the
ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients. The membranes are called “forward-osmosis membranes.” NASA is
testing these membranes for recycling dirty water on future long-duration space missions. They are normal membranes that allow the water to
run one way. With salt water on the outside and fresh water on the inside, the membrane prevents the salt from diluting the fresh water. It’s
a natural process, where large amounts of fresh water flow into the sea.¶ Floating on the ocean’s
surface, the inexpensive plastic bags will be collecting solar energy as the algae inside produce oxygen by photosynthesis. The
algae will feed on the nutrients in the sewage, growing rich, fatty cells. Through osmosis, the bag will absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and
release oxygen and fresh water. The temperature will be controlled by the heat capacity of the ocean, and the ocean’s waves will keep the
system mixed and active.¶ When the process is completed, biofuels will be made and sewage will be processed. For the first time, harmful
sewage will no longer be dumped into the ocean. The algae and nutrients will be contained and collected in a bag. Not only will oil be produced,
but nutrients will no longer be lost to the sea. According to Trent, the system ideally is fail proof. Even
if the bag leaks, it won’t
contaminate the local environment. The enclosed fresh water algae will die in the ocean.¶ The bags are
expected to last two years, and will be recycled afterwards. The plastic material may be used as plastic mulch, or possibly as a solid amendment
in fields to retain moisture.¶ When astronauts go into space, they must bring everything they need to survive. Living quarters on a spaceship
require careful planning and management of limited resources.¶ “We have to remember,” Trent said, quoting Marshall McLuhan: “we are not
passengers on spaceship Earth, we are the crew.”
Corn bad
Corn ethanol bad, five reasons, need 2nd gen crops
Mellino 10/14/11, Cole is part of the energy team at the Center for American Progress writing for thinkprogress.org, “More Corn is
Used For Ethanol in U.S. Than For Food or Feed — The Top Five Reasons We Should Stop This Madness”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/10/14/344165/corn-ethanol-food-feed/
Today, more corn is grown in America for ethanol than for food or for livestock feed. For every 10 ears of corn grown in the U.S., two are
consumed by humans, and the other eight are used for feed and fuel. In the last year, the scales have tipped so that ethanol represents the
largest share of corn use — 5 billion bushels of corn went to animal feed and residual demand while “the nation used more than 5.05 billion
bushels of corn to fill its gas tanks.Ӧ That is sure to rile all those who see corn ethanol as an over-subsidized boondoggle for the climate, a
group that includes Climate Progress (see “The Fuel on the Hill” and “Let them eat biofuels!“)¶ Corn ethanol was always touted as a “stepping
stone” to advanced fuels. That is still true in theory. But with the government supporting traditional ethanol for so long, it’s time to refocus our
efforts non-food based fuels. Here are the top five reasons why the U.S. should shift incentives away from traditional corn ethanol: ¶1. Life
cycle studies show that corn ethanol ranges from barely better than petroleum fuels to significantly
worse, especially if you take into account land and water use issues, increased deforestation, and increased fertilizer use.¶2. Corn
ethanol contributes to rises in food prices because of competition for arable land to grow food. With
more corn for biofuels taking up that space, the price of grains and other agricultural products increases.¶ 3. For many in the developing world,
rising prices mean they don’t eat. People
in poor countries, especially in import-heavy sub-Saharan Africa, feel
the impact of rising food prices far worse than in developed countries. This is because they spend so much more of
their income on food. As the Poor people do not have that luxury. As the UN Reported earlier this month, 26 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan
Africa, are still atextreme risk of hunger, with biofuels playing a significant role in exacerbating the problem.¶ 4. Climate change mitigation from
biofuels will be “very limited” before 2050. “We will
not have any greenhouse gas savings for the next 20
years…because they are working with first generation crops,”according to Mahendra Shah, an advisor to Qatar’s food
security program.¶ 5. By focusing our national investments on corn ethanol, we prevent other technologies,
including other biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol and micro algae biodiesel, which are low greenhouse gas emitters, from
competing with corn ethanol.¶ Much has been written about the environmental and social consequences of food-based fuels. But with the U.S.
now using more corn for ethanol that for animal feed or food for humans, that alarm is likely to increase
Corn Ethanol causes food price spikes and famine, this card is in the context of
foodcrops
Goldenberg 10/11/11, Suzanne is an environment correspondent for The Guardian, “US must stop promoting biofuels to tackle
world hunger, says thinktank” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/11/us-biofuels-world-
hunger-thinktank?newsfeed=true
America must stop promoting the production of biofuels if there is to be any real progress in
addressing spiking global food prices and famine, such as seen in the Horn of Africa, an authoritative thinktank has warned.¶
A new report, the Global Hunger Index, warned that US government support for corn ethanol was a
major factor behind this year's food price spikes
– and was projected to fuel further volatility in food prices over the next
decade.¶ Although the report noted some improvements over the past 20 years, 26
countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa,
are still at extreme risk of hunger including Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
Eritrea.¶ The hunger situation worsened most dramatically in the DRC with a 63% increase in hunger and undernourishment
since 1990, the report warned. Burundi's hunger index rose by 21% and North Korea's by 18%.¶ And while Latin America, south-east Asia and
the Caribbean made "remarkable progress" in reducing hunger, the report singled out India in particular for failing to improve the situation of
its poorest people despite rapid economic growth since 2001.¶ India
had "alarming" rates of hunger and
undernourishment, putting it in line with the situation in sub-Saharan Africa.¶ The proportion of undernourished children in
India has risen 2% since the mid-1990s, the report said. It blamed the increase in part on the lower status of women.
Wednesday newer cards:
OMEGA meets future energy needs, just 10 acres solves Aviation fuel needs
Howell 3/12/09, Katie is a writer for the Scientific American “NASA Aims for Future Fuel from Algae-Filled Bags of Sewage”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-fuel-algae-sewage/
NASA is applying space technology to a decidedly down-to-earth effort that links the production of algae-based fuel with an inexpensive
method of sewage treatment.¶ The space agency is growing algae for biofuel in plastic bags of sewage floating in the ocean.¶ Jonathan Trent,
the lead researcher on the project at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said the effort has three goals: Produce biofuels with few
resources in a confined area, help cleanse municipal wastewater, and sequester emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide that are
produced along the way.¶ "Algae are the best source of biofuels on the planet that we know about," Trent said in
an interview. "If we can also clean [wastewater] at the same time we create biofuels, that would great."¶ The process is amazingly simple. It
starts with algae being placed in sewage-filled plastic bags, which in true NASA style have a nifty acronym, OMEGA, for
"offshore membrane enclosures for growing algae."¶ The OMEGA bags are semipermeable membranes that NASA
developed to recycle astronauts' wastewater on long space missions. In this case, the membranes let freshwater exit but prevent saltwater
from moving in.¶ Then the algae in the bag feast on nutrients in the sewage. The plants clean up the water and produce
lipids – fat-soluble molecules – that will be used later as fuel.¶ Just as in algae biofuel production on land, the floating OMEGA bags use water,
solar energy and carbon dioxide – which in this case is absorbed through the plastic membrane – to produce sugar that algae metabolize into
lipids.¶ Oxygen
and fresh, cleansed water are then released through the membrane to the ocean.¶ "It's
energy-free," Trent said. "It doesn't cost us anything. Osmosis works by itself."¶ The system is foolproof, he said.
Even if the OMEGA bags leak, the salty ocean water would kill the algae, preventing the escape of an invasive
species.¶ "Freshwater algae can't compete in the marine environment," Trent said. "We're not putting something out there that could become
an invasive species."¶ And if the wastewater spills, he said, "the only thing we're putting in the water is already in the ocean anyway."¶
Feasibility¶ NASA's plastic bags are designed to last up to three years, Trent said. After that, they could be recycled as plastic mulch or chopped
and used to improve soil quality and help retain moisture.¶ "We
don't think this would be cost-effective if we just go
after the fuels," Trent said. "But we're functioning on at least three different levels: making the
products – fuel, fertilizers – then wastewater processing and carbon sequestration. The economic model becomes
more reasonable."¶ In fact, Trent said, the technology is nearly cost-competitive with land-based
production methods for algae biofuels that require vast industrial-scale , open-air pond farms or in closed
bioreactors.¶ But land-based methods have limits, Trent said. Open-air ponds and bioreactors gobble up large tracts of land that would be
taxed and could potentially compete with agriculture. And even in deserts, where farming is less likely, evaporation of open-air ponds is a
threat. Closed bioreactors face similar hurdles. They must be extremely robust in order to hold large amounts of water against air. ¶ "We've
solved the problem of evaporation, weeds, structure," Trent said. "And we think we've added other benefits like processing sewage and
sequestering carbon."¶
Trent envisions the OMEGAs producing enough fuel to fill U.S. aviation needs – 21
billion gallons a year. Doing so would require about 10 acres of ocean, he said.¶ "It seems huge, but it's a
small area in the overall oceans," he said. "And we imagine [the OMEGAs] distributed around, locally distributed ... or franchised
and monitored by fishermen."
Algae can meet world energy demand, laundry list of reasons, can also replace corn
ethanol
Smith 11, Val H. Smith, PhD, is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas (KU). He is published on a range
of topics including the ecology of eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/smithv.shtml “The Ecology of Algal Biofuel
Production” March 2011 at the American Institute of Biological Sciences
http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/smith.html
Although conventional biofuel production relies primarily on land plants as a feedstock, many
researchers believe that biofuel
production on the scale needed to compete with petroleum-based fuels on the open market will
require the use of microscopic algae,4 which grow abundantly and naturally in the world’s surface waters and can be converted
into multiple kinds of biofuel. Algae have the potential to produce sufficient quantities of biofuel to satisfy the
world’s growing energy demands, even considering predicted limitations on the availability of land
and water resources.5¶ What are algae, and how can they be used to produce biofuels?¶ Algae require less water and can produce
more fuel than land plants.¶ Algae are tiny, plantlike organisms that include the green alga Pediastrum (Figure 1). The algae used in biofuel
production are freshwater algae, comprising both prokaryotic and eukaryotic species, that grow naturally in every freshwater creek, river,
pond, lake, and reservoir on the Earth’s surface. Algae
are also aquatic biomass production systems that have both a
higher fuel yield potential and lower water demand than terrestrial plants, and they generate cellular products
such as oils, starch, protein, and other marketable compounds.6 Like land plants, microalgae derive their energy from the biochemical process
of photosynthesis, which captures the sun’s radiant energy and converts atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into new cellular biomass. When
measured in standard calorie units, the energy content of algae per unit weight does not differ significantly from that of land plants. In addition,
although there can be considerable variation in their cellular oil content,7 all species of algae contain oil that can be extracted for use in biofuel
production. To date, more than $1 billion in private sector funding has been committed to the development of algae-based fuels.8¶ Algae
can be used to produce a variety of renewable energy resources.¶ The idea of using algae as a feedstock for biofuel
production dates back at least 50 years, to when William J. Oswald and Clarence G. Golueke first proposed the use of “raceway ponds” to
cultivate large quantities of algal biomass for fermentation to create methane gas.9 In such ponds, growing algae are moved along with paddles
and then removed at the downstream end. Soon after the proposed use of raceway ponds, research in algae-derived bioenergy focused on the
production of liquid fuels that can be combusted directly in standard internal combustion and jet engines,7 and large oil companies and
research institutions have recently joined forces in commercial ventures to produce biodiesel from algae. However, algae
can also be
used to produce other renewable energy products, such as biohydrogen, hydrocarbons, and
bioethanol; in addition, as noted above, the algal biomass itself can be processed to generate biogas.6,10¶ Alternatively, dried algae can be
combusted directly, much like the burning of crop residues, wood, coal, or peat. This use of algae is important because the direct combustion of
plant biomass is a sector of bioenergy already in development that takes advantage of existing commodity supply chains.1 Just like any energy
commodity that can used for direct combustion, however, algal biomass would need to consistently meet several key criteria with respect to its
energy, moisture, and undesirable pollutant content.1¶ Algae offer numerous significant benefits relative to their soil-grown
counterparts:11,12¶ Algal
cells can exhibit extremely rapid growth rates, doubling one to three times per
day, and they can be grown abundantly in waters of widely varying chemical composition.¶ Algal cells can synthesize and
accumulate large quantities of bioproducts (e.g., oil), that can be harvested and marketed to offset the
costs of biofuel production.¶ Cultivating algae rather than land plants, such as corn, for bioenergy could reduce the diversion of
agricultural crops away from vitally needed food production.¶ The land “footprint” needed to produce a given amount
of bioenergy is much smaller for algae than for terrestrial biofuel crops.¶ Algae can be grown using
effluents from domestic wastewater treatment plants and other sources of nontoxic liquid waste,
which provide an abundant source of water and mineral nutrients that are required for algal growth.¶ If grown in
wastewater streams, the water “footprint” needed to produce a given amount of bioenergy is much
smaller for algae than for terrestrial biofuel crops.¶ Algae can provide an important ecosystem service by removing
nitrogen, phosphorus, and other contaminants from wastewater feeds.¶ Algae can also be used to remove carbon dioxide from high-CO2 gas
streams, such as flue gases and flaring gases, that can be piped to algal biofuel production facilities from nearby energy generation plants.¶
Algal biomass yields can be optimally maintained by modifying harvesting rates. ¶ The ability of algae
to grow continuously in many climates may help reduce the strong seasonality of biomass yields currently
seen with terrestrial biofuel crops.
Solvency for other stuff
OMEGA solves greenhouse gases, ocean acidification and security
Ames Research Center 3/28/14, NASA “Omega Overview”
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/research/OMEGA/index.html
Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae ( OMEGA) is an innovative method to grow algae, clean wastewater,
capture carbon dioxide and to ultimately produce biofuel without competing with agriculture for
water, fertilizer or land. ¶ NASA’s OMEGA system consists of large flexible plastic tubes, called photobioreactors. Floating in seawater, the
photobioreactors contain freshwater algae growing in wastewater. These algae are among the fastest growing plants on Earth.¶ The
algae use energy from the sun, carbon dioxide and nutrients from the wastewater to produce biomass
that can be converted into biofuels as well as other useful products such as fertilizer and animal food. The algae clean the wastewater by
removing nutrients that otherwise would contribute to marine deadzone formation.¶ NASA’s project goals are to
investigate the technical feasibility of a unique floating algae cultivation system and prepare the way for commercial applications. Research by scientists and
engineers has demonstrated that OMEGA is an effective way to grow microalgae and treat
wastewater on a small scale. ¶ The OMEGA system is being investigated by NASA as an alternative way to
produce aviation fuels. Potential implications of replacing fossil fuels include reducing the release of
green house gases, decreasing ocean acidification, and enhancing national security. ¶
OMEGA uses algae to clean waste and produce clean biofuels w/o trading off food
Soderman No Date, Teague Soderman is a member of the NLSI staff, “Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA)”
http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/omega/
NASA scientists have proposed an ingenious and remarkably resourceful process to produce “clean
energy” biofuels, that cleans waste water, removes carbon dioxide from the air, retains important
nutrients, and does not compete with agriculture for land or freshwater. As a clean energy alternative,
NASA invented a bioreactor that is an Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA), an
algae photo-bioreactor that grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel and a variety of
other products.¶ NASA plans to refine and integrate the technology into biorefineries to produce
renewable energy products, including diesel and jet fuel. The NLSI recorded this video of PI Jonathan
Trent presenting the OMEGA project at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field California. You can
view the video by double clicking on the image above or you can download the file directly to your
computer here. [324.2 MB .mp4 file; 0:58:10 run time]¶ The OMEGA system consists of large plastic bags
with inserts of forward-osmosis membranes that grow freshwater algae in processed wastewater by
photosynthesis. Using energy from the sun, the algae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and
nutrients from the wastewater to produce biomass and oxygen. As the algae grow, the nutrients are
contained in the enclosures, while the cleansed freshwater is released into the surrounding ocean
through the forward-osmosis membranes.¶ “The OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can
convert sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels,” said Matthew Atwood,
president and founder of Algae Systems. “The technology is simple and scalable enough to create an
inexpensive, local energy supply that also creates jobs to sustain it.Ӧ When deployed in contaminated
and “dead zone” coastal areas, this system may help remediate these zones by removing and utilizing
the nutrients that cause them. The forward-osmosis membranes use relatively small amounts of
external energy compared to the conventional methods of harvesting algae, which have an energy
intensive de-watering process.¶ Potential benefits include oil production from the harvested algae, and
conversion of municipal wastewater into clean water before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is
extracted from the algae, the algal remains can be used to make fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, or
other valuable products. This successful spinoff of NASA-derived technology will help support the
commercial development of a new algae-based biofuels industry and wastewater treatment.¶ “The
reason why algae are so interesting is because some of them produce lots of oil,” said Jonathan Trent,
the lead research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. “In fact, most of the oil
we are now getting out of the ground comes from algae that lived millions of years ago. Algae are still
the best source of oil we know.Ӧ Algae are similar to other plants in that they remove carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere, produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, and use phosphates, nitrogen,
and trace elements to grow and flourish. Unlike many plants, they produce fatty, lipid cells loaded with
oil that can be used as fuel.¶ “The inspiration I had was to use offshore membrane enclosures to grow
algae. We’re going to deploy a large plastic bag in the ocean, and fill it with sewage. The algae use
sewage to grow, and in the process of growing they clean up the sewage,” said Trent.¶ It is a simple, but
elegant concept. The bag will be made of semi-permeable membranes that allow fresh water to flow out
into the ocean, while retaining the algae and nutrients. The membranes are called “forward-osmosis
membranes.” NASA is testing these membranes for recycling dirty water on future long-duration space
missions. They are normal membranes that allow the water to run one way. With salt water on the
outside and fresh water on the inside, the membrane prevents the salt from diluting the fresh water. It’s
a natural process, where large amounts of fresh water flow into the sea.¶ Floating on the ocean’s
surface, the inexpensive plastic bags will be collecting solar energy as the algae inside produce oxygen
by photosynthesis. The algae will feed on the nutrients in the sewage, growing rich, fatty cells. Through
osmosis, the bag will absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen and fresh water. The
temperature will be controlled by the heat capacity of the ocean, and the ocean’s waves will keep the
system mixed and active.¶ When the process is completed, biofuels will be made and sewage will be
processed. For the first time, harmful sewage will no longer be dumped into the ocean. The algae and
nutrients will be contained and collected in a bag. Not only will oil be produced, but nutrients will no
longer be lost to the sea. According to Trent, the system ideally is fail proof. Even if the bag leaks, it
won’t contaminate the local environment. The enclosed fresh water algae will die in the ocean.¶ The
bags are expected to last two years, and will be recycled afterwards. The plastic material may be used as
plastic mulch, or possibly as a solid amendment in fields to retain moisture.¶ When astronauts go into
space, they must bring everything they need to survive. Living quarters on a spaceship require careful
planning and management of limited resources.¶ “We have to remember,” Trent said, quoting Marshall
McLuhan: “we are not passengers on spaceship Earth, we are the crew.”
AT: Land CP
Solvency---Oceans Best
Oceans best place for algae growth-land use increases emissions
Wiley 13 [Patrick Edward Wiley-Ph.D., Environmental Systems from UC Merced, “Microalgae Cultivation
using Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA)”, 2013,
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0586c8p5#page-62]
The production of renewable fuels is becoming increasingly important as the supply of petroleum
reserves diminish and environmental consequences resulting from fossil fuel combustion become more
severe. Fuels produced from biomass have the potential to reduce reliance on petroleum resources and
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, Fargione et al. (1) and Searchinger et al. (2) reported that land use practices,
such as clearing carbon-rich forests for biofuel production, might actually increase GHG emissions when compared
with emissions released from fossil fuel combustion. Additionally, the use of arable land for biofuel production
could negatively affect the global food supply (3).Microalgae are currently under consideration as a significant source
of sustainable biofuels because of their high photosynthetic efficiency, fast growth rates and seemingly large
capacity to produce oil that can be readily transformed into fuel (4-9). Mata et al. (7) identified over 40 strains of
microalgae capable of accumulating lipid content ranging from 2 to 75% by mass that can be extracted and transformed into liquid
transportation fuels. These microscopic, single-celled organisms
can be cultivated on non-arable land, using saline, brackish, or
agriculture and thus giving them an
wastewaters that have few competing uses (7, 8, 10-13), lessening competition with
advantage over other biofuel crops (4, 13, 14). On the other hand, microalgae require fertilizer and supplemental carbon dioxide
(CO2) for optimal growth, which can generate more environmental pollution and GHG emissions than cultivation of more traditional biofuel
feedstocks, such as switchgrass, canola and corn (15-17). Several authors have noted that these environmental drawbacks can be ameliorated
by linking microalgae cultivation to wastewater treatment plants (to provide water and nutrients) and flue gas sources (to provide CO2) (16, 1820). It has also been shown that an overall net positive energy return on investment (EROI) can be realized when microalgal cultivation systems
are combined with wastewater treatment processes for the purpose of nutrient recovery (15, 21). Accordingly, there is growing consensus that
any large-scale microalgal cultivation system must be linked to wastewater treatment to establish economic feasibility and reduce the GHG
emissions (16, 18, 22).
Solvency---Cost-Competitive
OMEGA is Cost Competitive with Land-Based Algae Farms- More Advantages and
Solves Better
By KATIE HOWELL, Published: May 12, 2009,Greenwire Deputy Editor, New York Times, NASA bags algae, wastewater in bid for
aviation fuel, http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/05/12/12greenwire-nasa-bags-algae-wastewater-in-bid-for-aviation-12208.html. Accessed
7/15/14
NASA's plastic bags are designed to last up to three years, Trent said. After that, they could be recycled
as plastic mulch or chopped and used to improve soil quality and help retain moisture. "We don't think
this would be cost-effective if we just go after the fuels," Trent said. "But we're functioning on at least
three different levels: making the products -- fuel, fertilizers -- then wastewater processing and carbon
sequestration. The economic model becomes more reasonable." In fact, Trent said, the technology is
nearly cost-competitive with land-based production methods for algae biofuels that require vast
industrial-scale, open-air pond farms or in closed bioreactors. But land-based methods have limits,
Trent said. Open-air ponds and bioreactors gobble up large tracts of land that would be taxed and
could potentially compete with agriculture. And even in deserts, where farming is less likely,
evaporation of open-air ponds is a threat. Closed bioreactors face similar hurdles. They must be
extremely robust in order to hold large amounts of water against air. "We've solved the problem of
evaporation, weeds, structure," Trent said. "And we think we've added other benefits like processing
sewage and sequestering carbon." Trent envisions the OMEGAs producing enough fuel to fill U.S.
aviation needs -- 21 billion gallons a year. Doing so would require about 10 million acres of ocean, he
said. "It seems huge, but it's a small area in the overall oceans," he said. "And we imagine [the OMEGAs]
distributed around, locally distributed ... or franchised and monitored by fishermen."
Solvency---No Agriculture Tradeoff
OMEGA improves oceans-uses wastewater and doesn’t compete with agriculture
Wilcox 5/22/12 [Kevin Wilcox, “The Beginning of OMEGA”, American Society of Civil Engineering, May 22, 2012,
http://www.asce.org/CEMagazine/Article.aspx?id=25769808850#.U8RFTpP77J1]
May 22, 2012—Researchers in California have completed small-scale tests of an innovative wastewater system that treats primary or secondary
effluent by flowing it into photobioreactors—flexible, transparent polyethylene tubes floating in saltwater—and then introducing and growing
microalgae, which consume nitrogen and phosphate in the wastewater. Once the system is in balance, about 25 percent of the algae can be
harvested daily to produce biofuel oil. The system—Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA)—was funded by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and developed by a research team at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
Microalgae are among the fastest growing plants on the planet, according to Jonathan Trent, Ph.D., an OMEGA project
scientist. They are prized for their ability to produce oil, and are considered a promising source for the
development of biofuel. “Growing algae is not as trivial as people seem to think,” Trent says. “Because algae grow in their swimming
pools and ponds and puddles, they think it’s just a matter of creating an environment where you just throw in some algae and you harvest it a
day or two later. “The reality is that the algae produce oxygen, which is toxic to their growth,” Trent says. “They need nutrients, they need pH
regulation, and they need additional CO2 to grow properly. There are a lot of subtleties in growing microalgae.” A test system was developed at
the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Facility in San Francisco, where OMEGA tubes are suspended in saltwater tanks and filled with 450 gal of
secondary effluent. The wastewater circulates in the tubes at a rate that prevents the algae from settling to the bottom. Periodically, the algae
pass through a vertical chamber in which oxygen is removed, CO2 bubbles provide carbon for the algae and correct the pH balance in the
system, and algae settle out to be harvested. Eventually the system is infiltrated by organisms in the wastewater that begin consuming the
algae. At that point, the system is flushed with seawater and the process begins again. The team is now studying how effectively the system
removes pharmaceuticals, steroids, endocrine disrupters, caffeine, and other trace elements. “For reasons that aren’t completely clear yet—
although we are working on the science of this—many of these compounds are disappearing,” Trent says. Trent envisions massive versions of
OMEGA deployed in protected bays off the coasts of large cities, where outflows of wastewater are common. Globally 400
trillion gal of
wastewater are generated each year, 80 percent of which is discharged untreated into oceans and seas and this
is an enormous resource for making biofuels, while recovering valuable nutrients that can be used for
fertilizers on land. “Wastewater has a source of nitrogen and phosphate that is not costing us anything in a sense,” Trent says. “We are,
right now, just throwing it away into the ocean, allowing it to cause algae blooms in the marine environment. We are proposing that we can use
those nutrients to make an algae bloom of our choice, harvest the algae for fuel, then also harvest the nitrogen and phosphate to produce
fertilizer and not just throw it away.” Floating photobioreactors in seawater provide a natural method to regulate their internal temperature of
the bioreactors. Also, because the microalgae are growing in wastewater, which is a freshwater environment, if the system leaks into the sea,
the algae that are released cannot thrive and won’t contribute to unwanted algae blooms or become invasive species. Trent estimates that
one acre of OMEGA biomass will be capable of generating 2,000 gal of biofuel annually. “The U.S. is currently
using for aviation about 20 billion barrels per year,” Trent says. “So, if you do the math, you’re going to need about 10 million acres to
accommodate our aviation needs using algae as a source of that fuel. That sounds like a huge number, but in fact it would be
distributed over a large area. It’s less than 3 percent of the total crop land that’s under cultivation in the United States
right now for food—and what area should we dedicate to a carbon-neutral source of sustainable fuel that won’t compete with
agriculture ?” Trent is scheduled to discuss the potential of the OMEGA system on June 27 at the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh,
United Kingdom. Earlier this month, NASA announced the system is available to the private sector through the administration’s technology
transfer program. “I considered the system that we have built today a bit like Orville and Wilbur’s first 12-second flight,” Trent says. “It was a
long enough flight for them to look at each other and say, ‘Gee, this is going to work.’ And think about it, within 60 years of the Kitty Hawk’s
flight we flew to the moon! “We have just the first inkling of how one might approach the problem of finding a sustainable substitute for fossil
fuels from algae,” Trent says. “If we as a community of scientists and engineers were really serious about making liquid fuel from a sustainable
biological source, based on what we’ve done I think there is hope.”
AT: Israel CP
Israel desalination fails – lack of minerals.
Rinat 12 – (Zafrir, writer for Haaretz, long-running Israeli newspaper, 3/23/12, “Is desalination the
solution for Israel's water problems? Depends who you ask”, http://www.haaretz.com/printedition/news/is-desalination-the-solution-for-israel-s-water-problems-depends-who-you-ask1.420278)/ab
Increasing desalination can improve water quality and save the economy some NIS 500 million a year,
according to a new survey commissioned by the Israel Water Authority. Experts from the Environmental
Protection Ministry, however, believe desalination plants' costs outweigh their benefits. Desalination
systems account for a fifth of the freshwater used in Israel and, according to existing plans, by the end of
the decade that amount will be doubled. Recently the Water Authority commissioned an economical
value survey through Adan Technical & Economic Services. The study focused on the benefit of
decreasing the amount of salt and scale in desalinated water, since until recently the amount of scale in
groundwater supplied to customers was high. The study inspected the quality of water supplied to Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem, who have recently received desalinated water distilled with other sources.
According to the study, the amount of salt and scale in the water decreased by 25 percent in the past
five years, and a further 30-40 percent decrease is expected within three years, when the desalination
plant being built south of Rishon Letzion will become operative. The main benefit to households is the
energy saved as a result of less scale in the pipes, and expenses saved for energy that otherwise would
have been spent on reducing scale. As for agricultural use, lower salt levels would increase the crop. All
in all, the study estimates that the total economical benefit would be NIS 0.45 per metric cube. Today
the cost of a metric cube of desalinated water is NIS 2-3, and the total yearly benefit would be NIS 185
million, eventually reaching an annual sum of NIS 500 million. Adan's study did not take into account
further possible benefits, such as the lack of dangerous cancerous chemicals in the water, or pollution
by residues of medicines and hormones. Another benefit would be the longevity of household electric
appliances following the decrease in scale. On the downside, desalinated water does not include
magnesium, which has many health benefits and exists in water from other sources. The government
recently decided not to add magnesium to the water system due to prohibitive costs. The results of
the study are expected to strengthen the existing trend in the Water Authority, which tends to support
further desalination. However, a steering committee dealing with climate change in the Environmental
Protection Ministry recently presented a different and critical view. The ministry has, so far, refused to
publish the complete report by the committee, which consisted of water and environmental experts,
but several of its conclusions were presented last month in a University of Haifa convention dealing with
climate change. Prof. Nurit Kliot, one of the members of the ministry's climate change steering
committee, said that the committee did not specify desalination systems as a preferred policy move.
"These systems produce large amounts of water, but their benefits do not justify their high costs including the environmental costs, which nowadays aren't taken into consideration," Kliot said. While
she failed to specify the costs, it is assumed that Kliot was referring to the fact the systems occupy much
coastal space, use a lot of energy and emit to the sea huge concentrates of salt and chemicals used
during the desalination process. Kliot recommended that the amounts produced by desalination should
be determined every so often according to the varying conditions and needs. The committee is set to
recommend steps encouraging water preservation, prevention of leaks, purification of polluted wells
and use of gray water (which is already done in some 30 countries ). Kliot also mentioned purification of
sewage and planning of building sites in a way that would allow rainwater to seep in. The committee
estimates that these steps could save some 100 million cubic meters a year, and probably even more.
Israel desalination is not thought through – leads to potential environmental
destruction
Kuttab 13 – (Columnist for Al-Monitor's Palestine Pulse, Palestinian journalist and media activist, former
Ferris Professor of journalism at Princeton University, currently the director general of Community
Media Network, columnist for The Jordan Times, Al-Quds and The Daily Star in Lebanon, Al-monitor,
12/16/13, “Israel-Jordan water agreement not worth the hype”, http://www.almonitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/aqaba-jordan-desalination-water-israel-palestine.html)/ab
A $400 million agreement to create a desalination plant in Aqaba and to pump brine water to the
Dead Sea is a far cry from what is being hyped by Israel as an “historic agreement.” The memorandum
of understanding signed at the World Bank on Dec. 9 by Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian officials calls
for the creation of a desalination plant in Aqaba that would supply clean water to Aqaba and Eilat and
pump sea water into the shrinking Dead Sea. In return, Israel would give Jordan 50 million cubic meters
of water from the Sea of Galilee free of charge and sell to the Palestinians 20 million to 30 million cubic
meters of water. Jordan would supply Eilat with 30 million cubic meters of water and make the same
amount available to its own southern population. Israeli Minister of Energy and Water Silvan Shalom,
hailing the agreement as “historic,” said it reflected what he called unprecedented regional
cooperation. His Palestinian counterpart, Shaddad Attili, said that the Palestinian government supports
the Jordanian project, which would for the first time free up a decent quantity of water for supply to
Palestine outside the framework of the Oslo Accords. This largely Jordanian endeavor is a far cry from
the multibillion dollar Red Sea-Dead Sea channel that has been part of the discussions steered by the
World Bank. Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), a regional environmental organization, has
slammed the agreement as insufficient and lacking any real environmental impact studies. In
particular, there is concern about mixing saltwater with the Dead Sea’s water, potentially resulting in
an extremely bad odor. What is most surprising is that the agreement contradicts the
recommendations made by experts as well as the World Bank itself, as pointed out by FoEME. FoEME
is now calling on the World Bank to announce publicly that unless the Israeli and Jordanian governments
halt projects which preempt the outcome of the feasibility study and social impact assessment, the
World Bank will withdraw from the study process. Plans to commence development of a Red Sea-Dead
Sea water conveyance before the potentially serious social and environmental impacts of such an
action are understood not only render the World Bank's study meaningless, but are also likely to
cause untold environmental destruction. Such action is irresponsible and amounts to a slap in the face
to the World Bank and the international community which have committed resources to studying
(albeit as part of a somewhat flawed process) the feasibility and anticipated impacts of the water
conveyance. While the potential environmental problems of the water pipeline have been repeatedly
emphasized, many have failed to deal with the cause of the water problem: Israel’s theft of water. The
simple fact is that the dangerous decline in the the Dead Sea's water level is due to the rerouting of
Jordan River waters — which flow into the sea — for use almost exclusively by Israel. The Israeli national
water carrier's diversion of Jordan River water to the Negev desert deprives the Dead Sea of a steady
supply of water. The Israelis' actions have been dubbed water "theft" by the Palestinians, experts and
major international media outlets. The hype this latest agreement has received in Israel, where it has
been hailed as a fulfillment of the dream of Zionist founder Theodore Herzl, is far from the reality. It is
little more than a Jordanian desalination plant in Aqaba and a 112-kilometer underground pipeline that
would help lessen the decline of the water level of the Dead Sea with questionable environmental
consequences.
Israel’s desalination coordination is awful – counterplan would be largely ineffective
Kedmi 06 – (Sharon, Co-founder & CEO at Demeter AWE Chairperson of the committee on economic
cooperation and integration at United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Past Director General
at Ministry of Economy Senior Economic Adviser to the Minister at Ministry of Energy, Water and
National Infrustructures, Haaretz, 5/10/06, “State completely fails to desalinate water as promised”,
http://www.haaretz.com/business/economy-finance/state-completely-fails-to-desalinate-water-aspromised-1.187306)/ab
The state has failed miserably in its plans to promote water desalination. In 2000, the government
resolved to build seven plants by 2004. So far one is ready to troll and only one more is being built. The
seven desalination plants were supposed to supply 315 million cubic meters of water per year - some
30 percent of the country's water consumption. The government decided that large plants would be
constructed by private companies in Hadera and Ashkelon, and that Mekorot would build one at
Ashdod. Four smaller ones were supposed to be built by private companies in undecided locations. The
only plant working now is the one at Ashkelon, which produces 100 million cubic meters of water per
year. It was opened at the end of 2005. Another plant is expected to open at Palmahim at the end of
2006, which will supply 30 million cu. m. of water per year. The report criticizes the actions of the state
in its dealings with VID, the company which built the Ashkelon plant. VID demanded compensation
from the government due the a delay in issuing the permits necessary for running the plant. The
government brought forward the purchase of 79 million cubic meters of water and made an advance
payment of NIS 92 million. The report says this was done without seeking a legal opinion on VID's claims.
The report further criticizes the planning of the tender for the construction of the Hadera plant, and
the government's attempts to find private companies to build three smaller ones.
Israel doesn’t solve – destroying minerals
Askenazi 07 – (Eli, writer for Haaretz, long-running Israeli newspaper, 11/9/07, “Desalinated water can
harm crops, researchers warn”, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/desalinated-water-canharm-crops-researchers-warn-1.232848)/ab
Israeli researchers are calling for a reassessment of the use of desalinated water for irrigation, warning
in an article published in today's issue of Science Magazine that desalinated water adversely affects
some crops, such as tomatoes, basil and certain varieties of flowers. Israel's use of desalinated water for
agriculture is the highest in the world, so the new research is arousing considerable interest among
scientists. Much of the water produced in Ashkelon's desalination plant is used for irrigation. This is the
world's largest seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant, producing some 100 million cubic meters of
desalinated water a year. Dr. Jorge Tarchitzky, head of the Agriculture Ministry's department of soil and
fertilizer usage and one of the article's authors, says the plant produces more water than required for
urban use, and half of it is funneled to agriculture. The article says that the water's the low mineral
content, once believed to be an advantage, is bad for the crops. Calcium shortage, for example, causes
physiological defects, while magnesium shortage damages the plant's development. If the crops are
grown in sand or off the ground, the damage is even worse, because the soil cannot provide the
missing elements. Frequent changes in the water's composition hurt the crops still further. "One
morning we woke up and found that only desalinated water was flowing through the pipes," said
another co-author, Dr. Uri Yirmiyahu of the Gilat Research Center. "We gradually began to see the
problems. For example, a shortage of magnesium damaged the development of tomatoes and caused
defects in basil." Added co-author Dr. Asher Bar-Tal of the Agricultural Research Organization - Volcani
Center: "The problem is the irregular water composition. Sometimes the desalinated water is
adulterated and sometimes it isn't. The damage is reflected in the crops' quality." "The Agriculture
Ministry gave farmers a solution - a system that reports changes in the water's composition," Yirmiyahu
said. "But the farmer must be prepared for such changes at any given moment. The changes used to be
seasonal, which they could handle. Now, the change could take place within a few hours and the water's
quality must be checked all the time." The tender for the desalination plant set criteria only for the
quality of drinking water. The researchers are calling for new standards that would also require the
desalinated water to be suitable for farming, by requiring it to contain some of the nutritional elements
vital to crops. "Israel is first in the world in setting criteria for desalinated water and has managed to
raise this water's quality. Now the water quality must be improved for both farmers and urban
consumption," said a fourth co-author, Dr. Ori Lahav of the Technion.
AT Navy CP
Perm---Do CP
Perm do the CP- The Navy is already involved with OMEGA
Department of the Navy, Spring 2011,NASA & the Navy Developing the Fuel of the Future, Joint Effort Investigating Algae Farms in the
Ocean, http://greenfleet.dodlive.mil/files/2011/04/Spr11_NASA_Navy__Fuel_Of_Future.pdf. Accessed 7/15/14
The Navy is teaming up with NASA to investigate a radical new approach to large-scale algae
cultivation using a system called Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA). The
OMEGA system consists of floating PBRs filled with wastewater from existing offshore sewage outfalls
and deployed in protected marine environments. The individual OMEGA modules are constructed of
flexible plastic, clear on top, to allow light penetration for photosynthesis, and reinforced white plastic
on the bottom, for strength. The modules are filled with secondary-treated wastewater and inoculated
with freshwater algae. If the system leaks, it minimally impacts the environment because:
Navy and NASA have already signed Agreement to work on OMEGA
Department of the Navy, Spring 2011,NASA & the Navy Developing the Fuel of the Future, Joint Effort Investigating Algae Farms in the
Ocean, http://greenfleet.dodlive.mil/files/2011/04/Spr11_NASA_Navy__Fuel_Of_Future.pdf. Accessed 7/15/14
IN FEBRUARY 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) signed a Memorandum
of Agreement (MOA) with the Navy to test a system for producing what many believe to be the fuel of
the future, using algae grown in the ocean. “Changing the way energy is used and produced in our
country is the right thing to do,” said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, upon signing the agreement. “It’s the
right thing to do for our security, it’s the right thing to do for our economy, and it’s the right thing to do
for our environment.” The Basics About Oil The oil we use today comes from plants that lived in ancient
times— mostly microscopic, single-celled, plants called microalgae, which lived in seas and lakes. When
they died, they settled to the bottom and were buried in sediments. Under some conditions, with
appropriate temperatures, pressures, and rock formations, they form oil that accumulates in reservoirs.
Once discovered, these reservoirs can be tapped to meet our fossil fuel needs.
Perm Solvency
Navy And NASA Coop Solves best
Department of the Navy, Spring 2011,NASA & the Navy Developing the Fuel of the Future, Joint Effort Investigating Algae Farms in the
Ocean, http://greenfleet.dodlive.mil/files/2011/04/Spr11_NASA_Navy__Fuel_Of_Future.pdf. Accessed 7/15/14
The military is the largest single user of fuels in the United States, and for the foreseeable future there
will be a need to continue using liquid fuels; not only for aircraft and ships, but also for operations in
remote locations. However, the danger and expense in transporting these fuels, and the dwindling
reserves of fossil fuels, underscores the need for alternatives to fossil fuels. The aeronautics industry
has also recognized the need for alternative fuels, but it is the technology developed for space travel
that provided the foundation for the OMEGA project. The challenges and rigor of space travel led
NASA to design and develop equipment and life-support systems that optimize the use of resources,
minimize the use of energy, and recycle, refurbish, and reuse everything—materials that on earth are
taken for granted or discarded as waste. It was with thisfocus on efficiency and parsimony that OMEGA
began. The feasibility and scalability of the OMEGA system will be determined by combining NASA
expertise with the knowledge and expertise of naval engineers, university professors and industry.
AT: Photobioreactors CP
Photobioreactors are too expensive
Oilgae. 2009. Oilgae Guide to Algae-based Wastewater Treatment A Sample Report .
http://www.fao.org/uploads/media/0911_Oilgae__Wastewater_Treatment_Using_Algae_Report_Preview.pdf. Accessed 7/18/14
Wastewater treatment using algae are implemented either using simple oxidation ponds or with high
rate algal ponds. In a few cases, especially where high productivity of algal biomass is desired,
companies are exploring the possibility of using closed systems such as photobioreactors as well.
The following are our observations in the context of optimal systems and processes for wastewater
phycoremediation: • Based on reviews and researches done so far regarding economics of algae-based
wastewater treatment, it can be concluded that photobioreactors are not economic for such
treatments in the short and medium term (even if it is intended to derive significant economic benefits
from the sale of algal biomass). Such a closed and controlled environment for cultivation will become
viable only after the costs of such systems come down dramatically.
Misc
Obama Gets Blamed for Plan
Obama has already used political capital through speeches and spending to support
algae biofuels, to not do this in the US would be a failure for the democrats (Second,
Obama has invested completely in algae, making it necessary to accomplish)
Wingfield, Brian, and Jim Snyder. "Obama Promotes Pond Scum to Relieve Dependence on Oil
Imports." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 July 2014.
Faced with the highest oil prices in nine months, President Barack Obama is backing pond scum as a
path to energy independence, pitting the nascent algae-based biofuels industry against critics of his
energy plan.¶ The administration yesterday announced as much as $14.3 million to support the
development of biofuels from algae, as crude oil for April delivery rose to $107.83 on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, its highest settlement price since May.¶ “We could replace up to 17 percent of the
oil we import for transportation with this fuel that we can grow right here in the United States,”
Obama said in Miami during a speech on energy policy.¶ The Energy Department is seeking proposals
from small businesses, national laboratories and universities to create research “test beds” for algal
biofuels research at existing facilities, according to a statement from the agency. The award money will
be part of a $30 million investment in similar research this year, it said.¶ Algae, a plant-like organism, can
be harvested from ponds near industrial sites, where it can grow from power-plant carbon emissions or
wastewater substances, the White House said in a fact sheet. The Energy Department is backing more
than 30 projects representing about $85 million in public and private investment to develop biofuels
from algae, it said.¶ ¶ The Energy Department is investing in biofuel technology made from algae as a...
Read More¶ Soybean Fuel¶ An acre of soybeans can produce 60 to 70 gallons of biofuel, while an acre of
algae can provide 2,000 to 5,000 gallons, said John Williams, a spokesman for the Algal Biomass
Organization, a Preston, Minnesota-based industry group whose members include Boeing Co. (BA) of
Chicago and Sapphire Energy Inc. of San Diego.¶ “It’s a huge shot in the arm to have the president
talking about algae” as a fuel source, Williams said in a phone interview.¶ Unlike corn-based ethanol,
fuel from algae can immediately be used as a substitute for oil-based products, according to Sapphire
Vice President Tim Zenk. “We’re making drop-in replacement fuels,” he said in a phone interview.¶ Exxon
Mobil Corp. (XOM) of Irving, Texas, and closely held Synthetic Genomics Inc. of La Jolla, California, in
2009 began a partnership to develop algae-based biofuels. Exxon Mobil may spend as much as $600
million on the program within the next decade if milestones are met, the company said in a July 2010
statement.¶ Significant Role¶ “It’s great to see increasing focus on advanced biofuels like algae,” said
Jonathan Wolfson, chief executive officer of Solazyme Inc (SZYM)., in an e-mail. The San Francisco-based
company delivered about 108,000 gallons (407,000 liters) of renewable diesel and jet fuel to the
Defense Department, and its algal- derived oil helped fuel a United Continental Holdings Inc. flight from
Houston to Chicago in November, he said.¶ “This is a budding industry that will play a significant role in
helping the U.S.,” Wolfson said.¶ Critics said the subsidy is unwarranted.¶ “If algae is an economically
viable product, then the market will determine that,” said Nick Loris, a policy analyst for the
Washington-based Heritage Foundation, which says it promotes conservative political policies. “I don’t
think it needs $14 million from taxpayers.Ӧ While algae-based biofuels show promise, Obama has taken
other revenue-generating energy proposals “off the table,” Thomas J. Pyle, president of the
Washington-based Institute for Energy Research, said in a phone interview. TransCanada Corp.’s
proposed Keystone XLpipeline to transport oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast is a “no-brainer,” he
said.¶ “Despite President Obama’s rhetoric, this administration has done little to address our nation’s
growing energy crisis,” Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “What we need is less regulation and more
access to secure supplies.Ӧ
Biofuels Inherency
Algae is more efficient than ethanol but not being used for biofuels in squo
Conca 4/20/2014 [James Conca-Ph.D. in Geochemistry, “It’s Final—Corn Ethanol is of No Use”, April 20,
2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2014/04/20/its-final-corn-ethanol-is-of-no-use/]
OK, can we please stop pretending biofuel made from corn is helping the planet and the environment? The United Nations Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change released two of its Working Group reports at the end of last month (WGI and WGIII), and their short discussion of
biofuels has ignited a fierce debate as to whether they’re of any environmental benefit at all. The IPCC was quite diplomatic in its discussion,
saying “Biofuels have direct, fuel‐cycle GHG emissions that are typically 30–90% lower than those for gasoline or diesel fuels. However, since for
some biofuels
indirect emissions—including from land use change—can lead to greater total emissions than
when using petroleum products, policy support needs to be considered on a case by case basis” (IPCC 2014 Chapter 8). The summary
in the new report also states, “Increasing bioenergy crop cultivation poses risks to ecosystems and
biodiversity” (WGIII). The report lists many potential negative risks of development, such as direct conflicts
between land for fuels and land for food, other land-use changes, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity
and nitrogen pollution through the excessive use of fertilizers (Scientific American). The International Institute for
Sustainable Development was not so diplomatic, and estimates that the CO2 and climate benefits from replacing petroleum
fuels with biofuels like ethanol are basically zero (IISD). They claim that it would be almost 100 times more effective, and much less
costly, to significantly reduce vehicle emissions through more stringent standards, and to increase CAFE standards on all cars and light trucks to
over 40 miles per gallon as was done in Japan just a few years ago. In 2007, the
global price of corn doubled as a result of an
explosion in ethanol production in the U.S. Because corn is the most common animal feed and has many other uses in the food
industry, the price of milk, cheese, eggs, meat, corn-based sweeteners and cereals increased as well. World grain reserves dwindled to less
than two months, the lowest level in over 30 years. Rudolf Diesel originally developed the diesel engine to run on diesel from food oils such as
peanut and soybean, but animal fats and any other natural oil can be used. However, almost a hundred years ago, the need for fuel
outstripped the supply of natural oils and petroleum become the only abundant source available. The most common natural oils used are
rapeseed and canola oil, but a particularly promising candidate is oil from algae. Algae
production uses non-productive land and brine
water and produces over 20 times the oil production of any food crop. An acre of algae can produce almost 5,000
gallons of biodiesel. It does not compete with food crops for arable land or potable water and could produce over 60 billion gallons/yr that
would replace all petroleum-based diesel in the U.S. However,
all algae production facilities presently sell their crops
to the food and cosmetic industry at a much greater profit than they would get from the fuel industry. I guess for biofuels, as for
any other source, there’s just no such thing as a free lunch.
Biofuels Solvency
OMEGA succeeds in recycling CO2 and wastewater into biofuels and more efficient
than other methods
Jonathan Trent DECEMBER 2012. Offshore MEMBRANE ENCLOSURES FOR GROWING ALGAE (OMEGA). Energy Research and
Development Division FINAL PROJECT REPORT. http://www.energy.ca.gov/2013publications/CEC-500-2013-143/CEC-500-2013-143.pdf.
Accessed 7/14/14 After receiving his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. Trent spent six years in
Europe at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and the University of Paris at Orsay
in France. He returned to the USA to work at the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine at Yale Medical School for two years before establishing
a biotechnology group at Argonne National Laboratory. In 1998 he moved to NASA Ames Research Center
OMEGA has the potential of co-locating microalgae cultivation with two major waste-streams from
coastal cities: wastewater and CO2. By situating OMEGA systems in the vicinity of offshore wastewater
outfalls and CO2 sources, such as near-shore power plants, OMEGA can transform these waste streams
into resources that produce biofuels and treat wastewater without competing with agriculture for
water, fertilizer, or land [12]. The experiments presented here explored the technical feasibility of
OMEGA, using a 110-liter prototype system that was built and tested over a 23-day period. Microalgae
in secondary-treated wastewater circulated through PBRs floating in seawater tanks and through a gas
exchange and harvesting column, while a custom I&C system monitored and controlled critical culture
parameters. Analyses indicated that the system was supersaturated with dissolved oxygen during the
day due to photosynthesis, but at the highest light levels there was only slight photoinhibition. The
system rapidly used the NH3-N in wastewater and had a CO2 conversion efficiency of >50 percent;
better than the 10-20 percent conversions in other systems [21, 38]. The areal productivity of the
system averaged 14.1 g m-2 day-1 overall with peaks above 20 g m-2 day-1 values consistent with
reported U.S. average microalgae productivity of 13.2 g m-2 day-1 [58]. The microalgae consistently
removed >90 percent of the NH3-N from the secondary-treated municipal wastewater tested. This
result, combined with observations that the OMEGA system can remove other wastewater
contaminants [59], suggests that a scaled-up system could provide effective wastewater treatment
services.
Brine Solvency
Algae Can be Used to recycle Brine From Desalination Plants
IEE, May 4, 2012, Institute for energy and the Enviroment, New Mexico State University,
http://www.ieenmsu.com/2012/05/04/microalgae-strain-could-reduce-algae-and-desalination-costs/, Accessed 7/15/14
Researchers from New Mexico State University’s Institute for Energy & the Environment (IEE) are
investigating how well microalgae can grow using brine concentrate and supernatant from anaerobic
digested sludge (ADS). Dr. Maung Thein Myint and research assistant Waddah Hussein are growing a
unique strain of algae which can grow in desalination concentrate. The team also uses wastewater to
provide nutrients to the algae. In doing so, this process simultaneously reuses two waste streams,
increasing sustainability and possibly decreasing the cost of producing algae for products like biofuel.
Algae need four things to thrive: sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients. A promising site for algal
biofuel production, New Mexico has an ample supply of sunlight, however water supplies are limited.
Likewise, the nutrients for “feeding” the algae can be costly. The environment is another challenge.
Algae are sensitive to higher concentrations of divalent ions. However, the microalgae that Myint and
Hussein use originated from an evaporation pond at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination
Research Facility (BGNDRF), located near Alamagordo, NM. The algae are native to New Mexico. By
seeding and culturing this microalgae species, they can improve how algae are produced in an open
pond. The objective is to develop a species which can grow in desalination concentrate and is tolerant
to divalent salts such as magnesium, calcium, and sulphate. To do this, Myint and Hussein are reusing
brine concentrate from the facility as the water media for the algae. Supernatant from ADS (the liquid
layer above the ADS) provides nutrients. “We conserve water required for microalgae by reusing the
concentrate to gain sustainability,” said Myint. This effort may also reduce the costs of desalination
and microalgae production. It provides a treatment for the waste from desalination and reduces the
need to buy nutrients for algae.
Laundry List I/L
Algae Is key to biofuels, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, nutrition and food additives,
aquaculture, and pollution prevention
Teresa M. Mata 2010, Microalgae for biodiesel production and other applications: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, pdf. Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto.
Removal of CO2 from industrial flue gases by algae bio-fixation [29], reducing the GHG emissions of a
company or process while producing biodiesel [30]. _ Wastewater treatment by removal of NH4 +, NO3
_, PO4 3_, making algae to grow using these water contaminants as nutrients [29]. _ After oil
extraction the resulting algae biomass can be processed into ethanol, methane, livestock feed, used as
organic fertilizer due to its high N:P ratio, or simply burned for energy cogeneration (electricity and
heat) [29]; _ Combined with their ability to grow under harsher conditions, and their reduced needs for
nutrients, they can be grown in areas unsuitable for agricultural purposes independently of the seasonal
weather changes, thus not competing for arable land use, and can use wastewaters as the culture
medium, not requiring the use of freshwater. _ Depending on the microalgae species other compounds
may also be extracted, with valuable applications in different industrial sectors, including a large range
of fine chemicals and bulk products, such as fats, polyunsaturated fatty acids, oil, natural dyes, sugars,
pigments, antioxidants, high-value bioactive compounds, and other fine chemicals and biomass
[14,15,31]. _ Because of this variety of high-value biological derivatives, with many possible
commercial applications, microalgae can potentially revolutionize a large number of biotechnology
areas including biofuels, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, nutrition and food additives, aquaculture, and
pollution prevention [25,31]..
Algae Solvency-Disease
Algae Kills diseases In wastewater
Oilgae. 2009. Oilgae Guide to Algae-based Wastewater Treatment A Sample Report .
http://www.fao.org/uploads/media/0911_Oilgae__Wastewater_Treatment_Using_Algae_Report_Preview.pdf. Accessed 7/18/14
Many different mechanisms play a role in disinfection in high rate ponds. These include
predation, sunlight, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, sedimentation and starvation
(Fallowfield et al., 1996). Algal photosynthesis causes an increase in the pH due to the
simultaneous removal of CO2 and H+ ions (Fallowfield et al., 1996) and the uptake of
bicarbonate when the algae are carbon limited (Craggs et al., 1997). According to Rose et al.
(2002a) a pH of 9.2 for 24 hours will provide a 100% kill of E. coli and most pathogenic
bacteria and viruses. Pahad and Rao (1962) also found that E. coli could not grow in
wastewater with a pH higher than 9.2.
Fertilizer I/L
OMEGA Creates Fertilizer, animal food, cosmetics, biochar- cleans waste water- and IS
viable platform for wind, solar, wave, and aquaculture facilities.
Jonathan Trent DECEMBER 2012. Offshore MEMBRANE ENCLOSURES FOR GROWING ALGAE (OMEGA). Energy Research and
Development Division FINAL PROJECT REPORT. http://www.energy.ca.gov/2013publications/CEC-500-2013-143/CEC-500-2013-143.pdf.
Accessed 7/14/14 After receiving his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. Trent spent six years in
Europe at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and the University of Paris at Orsay
in France. He returned to the USA to work at the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine at Yale Medical School for two years before establishing
a biotechnology group at Argonne National Laboratory. In 1998 he moved to NASA Ames Research Center
While OMEGA is in part meant for biofuels, the algae biomass can also be used for other products (such
as fertilizer, animal food, cosmetics, or biochar), and the system provides services (such as wastewater
treatment, carbon sequestration, alternative energy and aquaculture support). The point of OMEGA is
that it is a system of systems, an "ecology of technology," in which the "waste" from one part of the
system becomes a resource for another part. For example, domestic wastewater becomes a source of
nutrients for algae and algae treat the wastewater. Algae produce oxygen as a waste product and the
oxygen is made into ozone for the wastewater plant. The plant produces CO2 by burning CH4 and the
CO2 feeds the algae. The plant dumps phosphate and the algae capture phosphate to be used for
fertilizer on land. The fertilizer is used to produce food that is eaten by people that produce waste that
goes back to the wastewater treatment plant. Beyond this convoluted cycle, the OMEGA system itself
requires a large floating infrastructure to support the algae cultivation system and the infrastructure
itself can become a platform for offshore alternative energy (solar, wind, wave) and aquaculture. The
aquaculture produces wastewater and requires oxygen.
Ethanol Causes Deadzones
Continued production of ethanol causes dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico
Lochhead 7/6/2010 [Carolyn Lochhead, “Dead zone in gulf linked to ethanol production”, July 6, 2010,
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Dead-zone-in-gulf-linked-to-ethanol-production3183032.php#page-1]
While the BP oil spill has been labeled the worst environmental catastrophe in recent U.S. history, a biofuel is contributing to a
Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" the size of New Jersey that scientists say could be every bit as harmful to the gulf.
Each year, nitrogen used to fertilize corn, about a third of which is made into ethanol, leaches from Midwest
croplands into the Mississippi River and out into the gulf, where the fertilizer feeds giant algae
blooms. As the algae dies, it settles to the ocean floor and decays, consuming oxygen and suffocating marine life. Known as hypoxia, the
oxygen depletion kills shrimp, crabs, worms and anything else that cannot escape. The dead zone has doubled since the 1980s and is expected
this year to grow as large as 8,500 square miles and hug the Gulf Coast from Alabama to Texas. As to which is worse, the oil spill or the hypoxia,
"it's a really tough call," said Nathaniel Ostrom, a zoologist at Michigan State University. "There's no real answer to that question." The gulf
dead zone is the second-largest in the world, after one in the Baltic Sea. Scientists
say the biggest culprit is industrial-scale
corn production. Corn growers are heavy users of both nitrogen and pesticides. Vast monocultures of corn and
soybeans, both subsidized by the federal government, have displaced diversified farms and grasslands throughout the
Mississippi Basin. "The subsidies are driving farmers toward more corn," said Gene Turner, a zoologist atLouisiana State University. "More
nitrate comes off corn fields than it does off of any other crop by far. And nitrogen is driving the
formation of the dead zone." The dead zone, he said, is "a symptom of the homogenization of the landscape. We just have a few
crops on what used to have all kinds of different vegetation." In 2007, Congress passed a renewable fuels standard that requires ethanol
production to triple in the next 12 years. The Department of Agriculture has just rolled out a plan to meet that goal, including building ethanol
refineries in every state. The Environmental Protection Agency will decide soon whether to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline blends
from 10 percent to 15 percent. A 2008 National
Research Council report warned of a "considerable" increase in
damage to the gulf if ethanol production is increased. Pet cause of Congress One of the authors of that report,
agricultural economist Otto Doering at Purdue University, said that a 50 percent boost in the ethanol blend in gasoline will significantly raise
corn prices, driving farmers to pull land out of conservation and pastureland and into corn production. They are also likely to add more nitrogen
fertilizers to boost yields.
Using land for biofuels increases food prices-puts millions of people in poverty
UNEP 2/16/2009 [United Nations Environment Programme, “THE ENVIRONMENTAL
FOOD CRISIS-THE ENVIRONMENT’S ROLE IN AVERTING FUTURE FOOD CRISES”, February 16, 2009,
http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/food-crisis/page/3558.aspx]
The current world food crisis is the result of the combined effects of competition for cropland from the growth
in biofuels, low cereal stocks, high oil prices, speculation in food markets and extreme weather events. The crisis has
resulted in a several-fold increase in several central commodity prices, driven 110 million people into poverty and added
44 million more to the already undernourished. Information on the role and constraints of the environment in increasing
future food production is urgently needed. While food prices are again declining, they still widely remain above 2004 levels. The objective of
this report is to provide an estimate of the potential constraints of environmental degradation on future world food production and subsequent
effects on food prices and food security. It also identifies policy options to increase food security and sustainability in long-term food
production. While food
prices generally declined in the past decades, for some commodities, they have increased several fold
since 2004, with the major surges in 2006–2008 (Brahmbhatt and Christiaensen, 2008; FAO, 2008; World Bank, 2008). The FAO index of
food prices rose by 9% in 2006, 23% in 2007 and surged by 54% in 2008 (FAO 2008). Crude oil prices, affecting the use of fertilizer,
transportation and price of commodities (Figures 1 and 2), peaked at US$147/barrel in July 2008, declining thereafter to US$43 in December
2008 (World Bank, 2008). In May 2008, prices of key cereals, such as Thai medium grade rice, peaked at US$1,100 /tonne, nearly threefold
those of the previous decade. Although they then declined to US$730/tonne in September (FAO, 2008), they remained near double the level of
2007 (FAO, 2008). Projections are
that prices will remain high at least through 2015. The current and
continuing food crisis may lead to increased inflation by 5–10% (26–32% in some countries including
Vietnam and the Kyrgyz Republic) and reduced GDP by 0.5–1.0% in some developing countries. Among the diverse primary causes of the
rise in food prices are four major ones (Braun, 2007; Brahmbhatt and Christiaensen, 2008; World Bank, 2008): 1) The combination of extreme
weather and subsequent decline in yields and cereal stocks; 2) A rapidly increasing share of non-food crops, primarily biofuels; 3) High oil prices,
affecting fertilizer use, food production, distribution and transport, and subsequently food prices (Figure 3); and 4) Speculation in the food
markets. Although production has generally increased, the rising prices coincided with extreme weather events in several major cereal
producing countries, which resulted in a depletion of cereal stocks. The 2008 world cereal stocks are forecast to fall to their lowest levels in 30
years time, to 18.7% of utilization or only 66 days of food (FAO, 2008). Public and private investment in agriculture (especially in staple food
production) in developing countries has been declining relatively (e.g., external assistance to agriculture dropped from 20% of Official
Development Assistance in the early 1980s to 3% by 2007) (IAASTD, 2008; World Bank, 2008). As a result, crop yield growth became stagnant or
declined in most developing countries. The
rapid increase in prices and declining stocks led several food-exporting
countries to impose export restrictions, while some key importers bought cereal to ensure adequate domestic food supply
(Brahmbhatt and Christiaensen, 2008). This resulted in a nervous situation on the stock markets, speculation and
further price increases. food prices and thus lower access to food by many people have been dramatic. It is estimated that in 2008 at
least 110 million people have been driven into poverty and 44 million more became undernourished (World Bank, 2008). Over 120
million more people became impoverished in the past 2–3 years. The major impact, however, has been on already
impoverished people – they became even poorer (Wodon et al., 2008; World Bank, 2008). Rising prices directly threaten the
health or even the lives of households spending 50–90% of their income on food. This has dire consequences
for survival of young children, health, nutrition and subsequently productivity and ability to attend school. In fact, the current food
crisis could lead to an elevation of the mortality rate of infant and children under five years old by as
much as 5–25% in several countries (World Bank, 2008). The food situation is critical for people already starving, for children
under two years old and pregnant or nursing women (Wodon et al., 2008), and is even worse in many African countries. Although prices have
fallen between mid-2008 and early 2009, these impacts
will grow if the crisis continues.
Land use for biofuels creates a multitude of threats-increases CO2 emissions, decreases
food supply, and hurts biodiversity
UNEP 2/16/2009 [United Nations Environment Programme, “THE ENVIRONMENTAL
FOOD CRISIS-THE ENVIRONMENT’S ROLE IN AVERTING FUTURE FOOD CRISES”, February 16, 2009,
http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/food-crisis/page/3558.aspx]
The natural environment, with all its ecosystem services, comprises the entire basis for life on the planet. Its value
is therefore impossible to quantify or even model. The state of environment has – at any given stage – effects on food production through its
role in water, nutrients, soils, climate and weather as well as on insects that are important for pollination and regulating infestations. The state
of ecosystems also influences the abundance of pathogens, weeds and pests, all factors with a direct bearing on the quality of available
cropland, yields and harvests. Environmental
degradation due to unsustainable human practices and activities
now seriously endangers the entire production platform of the planet. Land degradation and
conversion of cropland for non-food production including biofuels,
cotton and others
are major threats
that could reduce the available cropland by 8–20% by 2050 . Species infestations of pathogens, weeds and insects,
combined with water scarcity from overuse and the melting of the Himalayas glaciers, soil erosion and depletion as well as climate change may
reduce current yields by at least an additional 5– 25% by 2050, in the absence of policy intervention. These factors entail only a portion of the
environment covering direct effects. The indirect effects, including socio-economic responses, may be considerably larger. Biofuels have grown
quickly in demand and production (Figure 14), fuelled by high oil prices and the initial perception of their role in reducing CO2 emissions (FAO,
2008). Biofuels, including biodiesel from palm oil and ethanol
from sugarcane, corn and soybean, accounted for
about 1% of the total road transport in 2005, and may reach 25% by 2050, with the EU having set
targets as high as 10% by 2020 (World Bank, 2007; FAO, 2008). For many countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, biofuels are
also seen as an opportunity to improve rural livelihoods and boost the economy through exports (Fitzherbert et al., 2008; UNEP, 2008). The US
is the largest producer and consumer of bioethanol, followed by Brazil (Figure 15) (World BIOFUELS AND COTTON – SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS TO
INCREASE INCOMES OR THREAT TO BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD PRODUCTION? Bank, 2007; FAO, 2008). Brazil has now used 2.7 million ha of land
area for this production (4.5% of the cropland area), mainly sugar cane. W hile
biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy
source, the conversion of rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce biofuels in the US,
Brazil and Southeast Asia may create a “biofuel carbon debt” by releasing 17 to 420 times more CO2
than the annual greenhouse gas reductions that these biofuels would provide by displacing fossil fuels
(Fargione et al., 2008; Searchinger et al., 2008). Corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, will nearly
double greenhouse emissions over 30 years
(Searchinger et al., 2008). Biofuels from switchgrass, if grown on US corn lands,
will increase emissions by 50% (Fargione et al., 2008). It is evident that the main potential of biofuels lies in using waste biomass or biomass
grown on degraded and abandoned agricultural lands planted with perennials (World Bank, 2007; FAO, 2008). Production
of crops for
biofuels also competes with food production (Banse et al., 2008). Indeed, the corn equivalent of the energy used on a few
minutes drive could feed a person for a day, while a full tank of ethanol in a large 4-wheel drive suburban utility vehicle could almost feed one
person for a year. A
recent OECD-FAO (2007) report expected food prices to rise by between 20% and 50% by
2016 partly as a result of biofuels. Already, drastically raised food prices have resulted in violent
demonstrations and protests around the world in early 2008. Current OECD scenarios by the IMAGE model project a
mean increase in the proportion of land allocated to crops for biofuel production equivalent to 0.5% of the cropland area in 2008, 2% by 2030
(range 1–3%) and 5% by 2050 (range 2–8%). Production of other non-food crops is also projected to increase. For example, cotton is projected
to increase to an additional 2% of cropland area by 2030 and 3% by 2050 (Ethridge et al., 2006; FAPRI 2008). Hence, the combined increase
in cropland area designated for the production of biofuels and cotton alone could be in the range of 5–13% by 2050 and
have the potential to negatively impact food production and biodiversity.
Navy Advantage
The US Navy Is interested in algae Biofuels to transition to green ship fuels
Sarah Mason May 28, 2014 US Navy says, “algae biofuel represents great potential”, Algae Industry Magazine. A.I.M. is a meeting place
for observations, ideas, news and information about the community of algae production specialists. Our focus is for A.I.M. not only to serve the
trade, but to function as a door into this industry for those becoming involved in a sustainable energy future.
http://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/us-navy-says-algae-biofuel-represents-great-potential/. Accessed 7/15/14
The similarities between the U.S. Navy and civilian cities and industry may not be readily apparent,
said Dennis McGinn, U.S. Navy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Installations and Environment, but in the
realm of energy use and reliability, there are often parallel problems to be solved. Where there are
overlapping issues, such as cost, sustainability, efficiency and energy security, McGinn said the Navy is
interested in working with research institutions and industry to improve the energy outlook for all. “We
are thinking about energy in three different ways: first in technology terms; biofuels, wind and solar
energy storage, power grid systems and more,” McGinn said during a visit to Arizona State University.
“But it takes two other critical elements to achieve our energy goals: partnerships and culture. This is
why we’re interested in forging and strengthening relationships with outstanding organizations like
ASU.” McGinn said that the Navy has already invested millions in projects with the DOE and USDA in
order to bring down the cost of producing biofuel. “The Navy wants to buy anywhere between 10 and
50 percent biofuel blends for our ships,” he said. “We want it to be a cost-competitive program. We
are working specifically with the USDA to bring down biofuel costs to $3.50 a gallon or less at the
commercial scale of 170 million gallons a year by 2016.” The Navy has interest in the work done by the
Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI) and the Algae Testbed Public-Private
Partnership (ATP3), especially if the cost of creating algae biofuels can shrink to compete with
traditional fuel markets, McGinn said. “Algae biofuel represents great potential in that it is sustainable
and scalable. That’s why we’re interested in working with ASU and the industry to advance this
technology.”
Biofuels in the Navy key to two senarios- Oil Dependency and Fiscal Responsibility
Mike Hower. Monday January 13th, 2014 Mike Hower is a writer, thinker and strategic communicator that revels in driving the
conversation at the intersection of sustainability, tech, politics and law. He studied Political Science and History at the University of California,
Davis and has spent time working for the United States Congress in Washington, D.C.,. Can the US Navy Turn the Tide with Biofuels?.
TriplePundit. http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/01/can-us-navy-turn-tide-biofuels/ Accessed 7/15/14
Mabus explained that going green was not only an environmental sustainability move, but also an
economic and military imperative. As anyone who has ever owned a car knows, the cost of fuel
fluctuates every time there is so much as a hint of unrest in the oil-producing regions, such as the
Middle East. With a petroleum-dependent fleet, the Navy is often forced to pay millions more than it
budgeted when the cost of fuel shoot ups. This means it has less money to spend on operations,
training troops and building new ships. With the federal sequester and other austerity measures
strangling military budgets, finding cheaper, more efficient energy sources is more important than
ever. “Now is exactly the time that we have to do this,” Mabus said. “A tightening budget situation
makes it even more urgent, even more critical that we do this. According to Mabus, the Navy has
always been on the forefront of new energy technologies, switching from sail to coal, coal to oil, and
pioneering nuclear. “Every single time, there were naysayers,” he said. “It’s one of our core
competencies: changing energy.” Investing in green technologies has also helped to save American
lives, Mabus said. In Afghanistan, for example, for every 50 convoys sent to the front lines, one marine
dies. Since oil is one of the main things these convoys haul, reducing the need for it will decrease the
number of convoys needed, which will save lives. Mabus said climate change and rising sea levels will
make it increasingly difficult for the Navy to do its job. With a significant percentage of the world’s
population living near oceans, sea level rise can trigger instability. “Our responsibilities, our jobs,
become bigger because of sea level rise,” Mabus said. There is serious concern for island-nations like the
Maldives, which could disappear from the face of the Earth if sea levels rise much further. The Navy
often looks to its enlisted men for sustainability ideas, such as how to increase energy efficiency on its
ships and land-based facilities. “People who join the Navy or Marine Corps have this willingness to
change, and it’s part of the spirit of innovation,” Mabus said. The Department of Defense is the biggest
user of fossil fuels in the world, and the Navy uses about a third of it. With the U.S. having spent
around $716 billion on defense in 2013, this isn’t chump change. “What we do is we bring a market,”
Mabus said
Scenario 1: Fiscal responsibility
Money Redirected from military spending to other areas of the budget are 50 to 140
percent more efficient at job creation
Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier May 9, 2012 Don't Buy the Spin: How Cutting the Pentagon's Budget Could Boost the
Economy. The Nation. http://www.thenation.com/article/167811/dont-buy-spin-how-cutting-pentagons-budget-could-boost-economy.
Accessed 7/15/14. Robert Pollin, professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), is the author of
Back to Full Employment (MIT Press). Heidi Garrett-Peltier is assistant research professor at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI).
The primary economic argument made by members of the military-industrial complex against cutting
the Pentagon budget is that it would produce major job losses. One widely cited report by Stephen
Fuller of George Mason University found that 1 million jobs would be lost through the annual cuts set by
the sequestration agreement. The Pentagon claims that military cuts in the range of $1 trillion over the
next decade would raise unemployment by one percentage point per year—from, say, 8 to 9 percent.
It is hard to assess the accuracy of either of these claims, since neither Professor Fuller nor the
Pentagon has provided details about how these estimates were reached. In any event, it is
indisputable that the Pentagon is a major employer in the US economy. How could it be otherwise, given
that the Pentagon’s $700 billion budget is equal to nearly 5 percent of the GDP? In fact, Pentagon
spending as of 2011 was responsible for creating nearly 6 million jobs, within the military itself and in all
civilian industries connected to it. In addition, because of the high demand for technologically advanced
equipment by the military, a good share of the jobs created are well paid and professionally challenging.
However, the crucial question is not how many jobs are created by spending, for example, $1 billion
on the military. Rather, it is whether spending that $1 billion creates more or fewer jobs when
compared with spending $1 billion on alternative public purposes, such as education, healthcare and
the green economy—or having consumers spend that same amount of money in any way they choose.
In fact, compared with these alternative uses, spending on the military is a poor source of job creation.
As we see in the graph below, $1 billion in spending on the military will generate about 11,200 jobs
within the US economy. That same $1 billion would create 16,800 jobs through clean energy
investments, 17,200 jobs within the healthcare sector or 26,700 jobs through support of education.
That is, investments in clean energy, healthcare and education will produce between 50 and 140
percent more jobs than if the same money were spent by the Pentagon. Just giving the money to
households to consume as they choose would generate 15,100 jobs, 35 percent more than military
spending.
Scenario 2- Oil Dependency
US Oil Dependence Kills National SecurityGrowth Energy November 08, 2011 Military Leaders say Biofuels Key to Strengthening National Security – Growth Growth Energy
leads the national effort to increase awareness of ethanol, and improve the product’s popularity through the establishment and leadership of
the American Ethanol sponsorship of NASCAR. In 2012, Growth Energy kicked off its first multimillion dollar national advertising effort focused
on the NASCAR sponsorship platform to introduce E15 to consumers in the motor fuel marketplace.
In the last year alone, we have seen the economic and environmental consequences of our overreliance on foreign oil as a transportation fuel. Gas prices continue to empty the pockets of hard
working Americans, and the long term ecological effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of
Mexico are still largely unknown. But our dependence impacts more than just our pocketbooks and our
habitats. A new report from the Military Advisory Board (MAB), “Ensuring America’s Freedom of
Movement: A National Security Imperative to Reduce U.S. Oil Dependence,” demonstrates how our
addiction to foreign oil poses a significant threat to our national security and geopolitical standing.
According to the MAB, a council composed of 13 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals,
America’s dependence on oil is a significant national vulnerability and “Immediate and aggressive
action to move our transportation sector away from oil and toward alternative, domestically
produced sources of energy are needed to improve our national security posture.” Energy security is
national security. If we cannot fuel our own military ships, tanks and jets, we cannot protect our
nation. In fact, in its 2010 Fuel Scorecard, the Truman National Security Project concludes that the
policy of keeping oil as our primary transportation fuel “clearly stands out as the most harmful for
U.S. national security overall.” There is only one solution: we must use less oil. And we can, through
conservation and efficiencies over time, and significantly right now by substituting the use of oil through
domestically-produced alternatives – specifically, ethanol
Neg
T
OMEGA Project ran with military assistance- Makes Aff untopical
Department of the Navy, Spring 2011,NASA & the Navy Developing the Fuel of the Future, Joint Effort Investigating Algae Farms in the
Ocean, http://greenfleet.dodlive.mil/files/2011/04/Spr11_NASA_Navy__Fuel_Of_Future.pdf. Accessed 7/15/14
The Navy is teaming up with NASA to investigate a radical new approach to large-scale algae
cultivation using a system called Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA). The
OMEGA system consists of floating PBRs filled with wastewater from existing offshore sewage outfalls
and deployed in protected marine environments. The individual OMEGA modules are constructed of
flexible plastic, clear on top, to allow light penetration for photosynthesis, and reinforced white plastic
on the bottom, for strength. The modules are filled with secondary-treated wastewater and inoculated
with freshwater algae. If the system leaks, it minimally impacts the environment because:
AT Navy Advantage
Adopting Bio Fuels will crush Naval readiness and cause fiscal instability- Biofuels cost
too much and degrade military equipment
Brian Slattery and Michaela Dodge September 24, 2013 Biofuel Blunder: Navy Should Prioritize Fleet Modernization over Political
Initiatives. The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/09/navy-s-green-fleet-a-biofuel-blunder Accessed
7/15/14 Brian Slattery is a Research Assistant for Defense Studies and Michaela Dodge is Policy Analyst for Defense and Strategic Policy in the
Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies,
at The Heritage Foundation.
For the past several years, the President and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus have directed the U.S. Navy to
dedicate increasingly precious budgetary resources to establish a “green fleet”—i.e., to replace
conventional diesel fuel for ships with biofuels harvested from organic material. Supporters claim that
instability in the fossil fuel market justifies paying more for unproven technologies, but this initiative
will in effect cause fiscal instability in an already unstable Department of Defense budget. Most
Capable Fleet, Not Green Fleet While the Navy is officially embracing biofuel use as a tool to decrease its
dependence on fuels from the volatile Middle East, there are good reasons why the Navy should keep
relying on conventional fuels. Diesel Will Be Plentiful. The American petroleum sector is currently
undergoing a booming revival, and new sources of fuel such as shale will decrease demand for diesel
elsewhere in the U.S. economy. This will help secure sources of diesel to be readily available to the
U.S. military. No Established International Infrastructure. That could cause considerable challenges
given the Navy’s global reach. It might be difficult or even impossible to refuel a “green” ship in foreign
waters, because a foreign biofuel infrastructure capable of meeting the Navy’s needs is almost nonexistent. Even if the U.S. builds its own supply chain for the Navy, it would still have to rely on diesel if
refueling in foreign ports. Increased Corrosion. Studies have shown that biofuels are more corrosive
than regular diesel and can therefore increase maintenance costs within the Navy’s fleet.[1] This would
only worsen the current fleet’s dire situation, since inspection failures are already occurring at an
alarming rate within the fleet.[2]Increasing average age of U.S. fleet; delayed, deferred, and
underfunded modernization; and use of fuels with potentially harmful consequences is a recipe for a
fleet readiness crisis. Increased Expenses. Biofuels are disproportionately more expensive than
conventional fuels. A gallon of biofuel costs $26, whereas the Department of Defense purchases diesel
at about $3.60 per gallon. Many argue that this rate will decrease over time as biofuel production
increases, but in the interim, the Navy’s readiness would be further damaged by wasting precious
resources on biofuels that are seven times more expensive than the Navy’s conventional fuels—not
including the increased maintenance costs. An Already Unstable Funding Environment. Even in a fiscally
robust environment, biofuels are not a wise allocation of the Pentagon’s funds. The U.S. military is
currently facing serious funding reductions due to sequestration, which was mandated by the Budget
Control Act of 2011. Under these cuts, the Navy will be unable to sustain its current shipbuilding rate,
which has already been below the necessary level for a number of years. As defense spending is
projected to keep decreasing into the future, the Navy’s budget becomes even more fragile. Naval
Surface Warfare Director Rear Admiral Tom Rowden projected that the fleet could fall to 257 ships—
around 50 less than the Navy’s requirement—by 2020.[3] Yet the Navy will still be required to replace
the aging ballistic missile submarine fleet and maintain 10 carrier air wings, as both are the key elements
of U.S. strategic posture.[4] Biofuels currently do not consume much of the Pentagon’s topline budget;
however, it is essential that the organization scrutinizes any and all programs, no matter how small or
large. Fleet readiness is of utmost importance to the Navy and the security of this nation. Programs
jeopardizing readiness in order to support unproven science with questionable results should be
eliminated. What Congress Should Do While some will continue to push for this alternative fuel source,
Congress should direct its support to the real needs of the military. With respect to the Navy’s biofuels
use, Congress should: Eliminate funding for the purchase of biofuels. The free market should be the
driver of new fuels and technologies, not taxpayers’ dollars. With sequestration already causing
readiness problems, the Navy should not detract its resources from achieving national security
objectives. Redirect funds allocated for biofuels development. The Navy should prioritize modernization
accounts that are currently suffering. For instance, the Congressional Budget Office has reported that
the shipbuilding budget has been underfunded for over a decade.[5] Focus on national security
objectives. The biofuels debate is one example of a broader lack of national security strategy. The
Obama Administration has continuously undermined a comprehensive strategy and has instead pursued
politically charged goals, such as pulling military bases out of Europe.[6] Focus on Security, Not
Unproven Science The U.S. military is at a crossroads due to intense budgetary constraints. Every
decision made by the Navy and other services should be evaluated against whether it first and
foremost improves the military’s ability to secure American interests. While energy independence is
only a component of this assessment, the current experiments with biofuels force an overly expensive
program on an already strained service, and they will ultimately only weaken the fleet.
Israel CP/SQ solves Desal
Israel Solves Desalination
SALES
2013
BEN
May 30,
With desalination, a once unthinkable water surplus is possible. The Times of Israel.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/with-desalination-a-once-unthinkable-water-surplus-is-possible/. Accessed 7/16/14. Writer for The Israel Times
ALMACHIM, Israel (JTA) – As construction workers pass through sandy corridors between huge
rectangular buildings at this desalination plant on Israel’s southern coastline, the sound of rushing water
resonates from behind a concrete wall. FREE SIGN UP! Drawn from deep in the Mediterranean Sea, the
water has flowed through pipelines reaching almost 4,000 feet off of Israel’s coast and, once in Israeli
soil, buried almost 50 feet underground. Now, it rushes down a tube sending it through a series of filters
and purifiers. After 90 minutes, it will be ready to run through the faucets of Tel Aviv. Set to begin
operating as soon as next month, Israel Desalination Enterprises’ Sorek Desalination Plant will provide
up to 26,000 cubic meters – or nearly 7 million gallons – of potable water to Israelis every hour. When
it’s at full capacity, it will be the largest desalination plant of its kind in the world. “If we didn’t do this,
we would be sitting at home complaining that we didn’t have water,” said Raphael Semiat, a member
of the Israel Desalination Society and professor at Israel’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. “We
won’t be dependent on what the rain brings us. This will give a chance for the aquifers to fill up.” The
new plant and several others along Israel’s coast are part of the country’s latest tactic in its decadeslong quest to provide for the nation’s water needs. Advocates say desalination — the removal of salt
from seawater – could be a game-changing solution to the challenges of Israel’s famously fickle
rainfall. Instead of the sky, Israel’s thirst may be quenched by the Mediterranean’s nearly infinite,
albeit salty, water supply. Until the winter of 2011-12, water shortages were a dire problem for Israel;
the country had experienced seven straight years of drought beginning in 2004. The Sea of Galilee (also
known as Lake Kinneret), a major freshwater source and barometer of sorts for Israel’s water supply, fell
to dangerous lows. The situation got so severe that the government ran a series of commercials
featuring celebrities, their faces cracking from dryness, begging Israelis not to waste any water. Even
as the Sea of Galilee has returned almost to full volume this year, Israeli planners are looking to
desalination as a possible permanent solution to the problem of drought. Some even anticipate an
event that was once unthinkable: a water surplus in Israel. Israel Desalination Enterprises opened the
first desalination plant in the country in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon in 2005, following
success with a similar plant in nearby Cyprus. With Sorek, the company will own three of Israel’s four
plants, and 400 plants in 40 countries worldwide. The company’s U.S. subsidiary is designing a new
desalination plant in San Diego, the $922 million Carlsbad Desalination Project, which will be the largest
desalination plant in America. In Israel, desalination provides 300 million cubic meters of water per
year – about 40 percent of the country’s total water needs. That number will jump to 450 million
when Sorek opens, and will hit nearly 600 million as plants expand in 2014, providing up to 80 percent
of Israel’s potable water. Like Israel’s other plants, Sorek will work through a process called Seawater
Reverse Osmosis that removes salt and waste from the Mediterranean’s water. A prefiltration cleansing
process clears waste out of the flow before the water enters a series of smaller filters to remove
virtually all the salt. After moving through another set of filters that remove boron, the water passes
through a limestone filter that adds in minerals. Then, it enters Israel’s water pipes. Semiat says
desalination is a virtually harmless process that can help address the water needs prompted by the
world’s growing population and rising standard of living. “You take water from the deep sea, from a
place that doesn’t bother anyone,” he said. But sesalination is not without its critics. Some
environmentalists question whether the process is worth its monetary and environmental costs. One
cubic meter of desalinated water takes just under 4 kWh to produce – that’s the equivalent of burning
40 100-watt light bulbs for one hour to produce the equivalent of five bathtubs full of water. Freshwater
doesn’t have that cost. Giora Shaham, a former long-term planner at Israel’s Water Authority and a critic
of Israel’s current desalination policy, said that factories like Sorek could be a waste because if there is
adequate rainfall the desalination plants will produce more water than Israel needs at a cost that is too
high. Then, surplus water may be wasted, or international bodies like the United Nations could pressure
Israel to distribute it for free to unfriendly neighboring countries, Shaham said. “There was a long
period of drought where there wasn’t a lot of rain, so everyone was in panic,” Shaham said. “Instead
of cutting back until there is rain, they made decisions to produce too much.” Fredi Lokiec, an
executive vice president at the Sorek plant, says the risks are greater without major desalination efforts.
Israel is perennially short on rainfall, and depending on freshwater could further deplete Israel’s rivers.
“We’ll always be in the shadow of the drought,” Lokiec said, but drawing from the Mediterranean is like
taking “a drop from the ocean.” Some see a water surplus as an opportunity. Orit Skutelsky, water
division manager at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, says desalinated water could free
up freshwater to refill Israel’s northern streams and raise the level of the Sea of Galilee. “There’s no way
we couldn’t have done this,” she said of desalination. “It was the right move. Now we need to let water
flow again to the streams.”
Israel’s Model Can solve the Water Crisis
Karin Kloosterman March 20, 2014. Can Israel solve the Californian Water Crisis?. Israel21c.
http://www.israel21c.org/environment/water-confident-israel-can-dry-californias-tears/. Accessed 7/16/14. Karin Kloosterman lives in Jaffa,
Israel. She is a journalist, writer and blogger who focuses on the environment and clean technology from Israel and the Middle East. Published
in hundreds of newspapers around the world, Karin also writes for the Huffington Post and Green Prophet.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently offered to help California overcome its extreme drought
–– affecting about two-thirds of its 38 million residents — using Israeli science, water conservation and
desalination technology. The Israel Water Association, a non-profit organization founded to help Israeli
water companies and society deal with water issues, will host a one-day annual conference on March
24 in Ramat Gan to explore such possibilities for outsiders. Californians are most welcome to the
sessions, which will be in English and Hebrew. What makes Israel and California different and how can
Israel help? Rain dancing optional Israel has four desalination plants in operation along the
Mediterranean Sea, with a fifth plant to come online in Ashdod. But desalination is only part of the
story, says Avraham Israeli, president of the Israel Water Association. In California, he says, one
important difference is that treated wastewater gets dumped back into the sea. This water may not
be good for drinking but it’s perfectly good, even superior, to fresh drinking water for agriculture, as it
has some added nutrients. Using a two-system approach with pipes for both gray water and drinking
water, Israeli farmers irrigate crops with gray water even in desert areas with practically no rain at all.
Israel, he says, is now pushing 75 percent wastewater reuse and aiming for 90%. No water from Israel’s
treatment plants gets discharged into the sea. The missing numbers can be accounted for from sewer
overflow in the winter months. “This could work in California if the infrastructure was built,” Israeli
says. “In principle, they have to change [to] the attitude that treated water is safe and that it is a
resource especially in such a year with severe drought. They invest huge amounts of money bringing
water from the Colorado River for agriculture. “Treated water could save them a lot of money,” he tells
ISRAEL21c. Desalination, he points out, “is a measure of coping with lack of water. It is more expensive
than reclaimed water. First, treat sewage and reuse.” Technologies that support energy savings Israel’s
technology solutions ease the energy burdens on wastewater reuse. Companies like Mapal Energy,
Aqwise and Emefcy can help enormously in places like California, Israeli says. California has already
started working with Israel on water. Israel’s IDE Technologies is building the largest seawater
desalination plant in the Western hemisphere, north of San Diego. To be finished in 2016, it is
expected to supply 50 million gallons of potable water a day. Three smaller desalination plants have
opened in California, with more than a dozen proposed. Israeli says we have to wait until the end of
the year to see whether 2014 will go down in history as the worst year for rainfall. “But as far back as I
remember, as a kid working in the field crops in the kibbutz, I have never seen a drought like this. I
don’t remember a phenomenon where I didn’t see rain from mid-December to mid-March.” Israel’s
refusal to be dependent on the rain started with first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s visionary
construction of the country’s national water carrier back in the 1950s. This enabled the state to build on
a lean model and scale up water recycling as needed. And scale up it did: Over the last 10 years, Israel
began to build major desalination projects seaside. By 2013, the country declared that it had beaten
the drought. Even this year, which may break the driest-ever records, you won’t find Israelis washing
their clothes once a week nor will they be withholding showers for their cars or themselves as some
folks are doing in California.
Israel Desalination Solves Middle East Water Conflicts
The Associated Press | May 31, 2014Israel's desalination program averts future water crises.
HAARETZhttp://www.haaretz.com/life/nature-environment/1.596270. Accessed 7/16/14
Disputes over water have in the past sparked war, and finding a formula for dividing shared water
resources has been one of the "core" issues in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Jack Gilron, a
desalination expert at Ben-Gurion University, said Israel should now use its expertise to solve regional
water problems. "In the end, by everybody having enough water, we take away one unnecessary
reason that there should be conflict," he said. Israel has already taken some small steps in that
direction. Last year, it signed an agreement to construct a shared desalination plant in Jordan and sell
additional water to the Palestinians. Israel's advances with desalination could help it provide
additional water to the parched West Bank, either through transfers of treated water or by revising
existing arrangements to give the Palestinians a larger share of shared natural sources. "Desalination,
combined with Israel's leadership in wastewater reuse, presents political opportunities that were not
available even five years ago," said Gidon Bromberg, the Israel director of Friends of the Earth Middle
East, an environmental advocacy group.
Desalination Fails
Desalination Tech is too expensive and favors wealthy countries
Colonel Byron Jorns 30 MAR 2007
Water Wars The Need for a National Water Policy USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a469088.pdf.
Accessed 7/17/14
Ever since Aristotle discovered that “vapor produced from seawater, when condensed, is no longer
salty”, thoughts of the sea becoming a source of drinking water source have endured.17 However, the
popular belief that saltwater desalinization is the cure-all for the world’s freshwater challenges remains
more of an ideal that a reality. On average, seawater contains 3.5-percent salt. The threshold for typical
municipal drinking water standards is less than 0.05-percent salt.18 Although desalinization is a proven
technology, its usefulness is outweighed by the enormous costs involved. Desalinization currently
accounts for less than 0.1-percent of total world water usage.19 Capital costs to build a sizeable
desalinization plant, let alone operate one, is several millions of dollars. Saudi Arabia’s Shoaiba
desalinization plant was completed in 2003 at a total project cost of $1.06 billion.20 The cost of
desalinated water is about $2 to $3 per cubic meter.21 This is 4 to 8 times the average cost of
municipal water and 10 to 20 times typical agricultural water costs. It is estimated that a large scale
reliance on desalinated water to replace current freshwater usage would approach $3 trillion per year or
roughly 12-percent of the 2004 gross world product.22 This basic cost estimate does not capture plant
replacement costs or water “losses” necessary to sustain livestock, croplands, and other items to sustain
human activity. Despite established desalination operations in parts of the world, it remains a highly
expensive and energy intensive process. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain are
some of the few countries utilizing desalinization extensively.23 In a sense, these countries are turning
oil into water and can afford to do so. In the foreseeable future, saltwater desalinization will likely
remain an option reserved for wealthy nations and provide only a minor contribution to the world’s
total water supply.
Desalination is only a short term deterrence, doesn’t solve water crisis
Francis A. Galgano. 2012. Middle States Geographer. WATER AND CONFLICT: THE EVOLVING
ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY LANDSCAPE
. Department of Geography and the Environment Villanova University. http://www.msaag.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/10/4-Galgano-MSG4529-392012.pdf. Accessed 7/17/14
There are short–term solutions to mitigate the effects of water scarcity and governments have been
able to forestall the consequences of escalating water deficits. In the 1970s, water demands in the
Middle East could be met from within the region. However, population growth has forced the region
into an acute water deficit; and yet, there has been no water–related war since 1967. Many think that
the answer lies in so–called virtual water, which is the water contained in imported food (Allen 1998). In
fact, more water flows into the region annually as virtual water than flows along the Nile (Darwish
1994). Virtual water has enabled the region to augment its water resources with grain imports and
devote scarce resources to domestic use rather than irrigation, which has reduced tensions and raised
the threshold for conflict. However, it is not an enduring solution because virtual water is heavily
subsidized and the continued reliance on virtual water is on insecure ground (Allen 1998). Water scarce
states account for 26 percent of grain imports, however, as an additional billion people are added to
these water–stressed basins during the next 15 years, and more states join the ranks of food importers,
the demand for international grain will exceed supply, thus unbalancing the virtual water flow into the
Middle East (Postel and Wolf 2001). De–Stalinization is often presented as a popular solution to
chronic water shortages and it is being used extensively in localized situations. Nevertheless,
desalinization is enormously expensive and cannot meet long–term water demands in the Middle East
(Amery 2002). In 2005, more than 13 million cubic meters of fresh water were produced from
desalinization each day; nonetheless, this represents just under one one–hundredth of fresh water
consumption per day (Conca 2006). Desalination can only be viewed as a short–term solution to
resolve or mitigate localized water shortage scenarios. If warfare over water is to be avoided, we must
ensure an equitable distribution of water in a basin and permit a fair resolution of conflicts (Soffer
1999). International agreements and treaties are certainly desirable, but international law is not very
robust. Water law in the U.S. and other parts of the world is well developed and backed by many
precedents, and thus conflict resolution can typically rely on well–established doctrine (Butts 1997). For
example, in many regions, the legal distribution of water is based on riparian rights. This doctrine works
well in places where there is a considerable renewable water supply. However, in arid regions,
appropriations doctrine is more accepted, and under this doctrine, priority is given to the first user of
the water (Darwish 1994).
No Water Wars
Turn- Water Scarcity Increases cooperation between Political enemies- Solves
Instability
Annabel van Gelder 2012
Rivalis Using Water Wars theory and Resource Curse theory to discover if water scarcity played a role in causing the Darfur conflict and the
environmental conflicts in China
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19454/Master%20Thesis%20AE%20van%20Gelder.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed
7/16/14
Finally, a large amount of the discourse over water management between nations is focused on how
shared water resources more often stimulated negotiations and cooperation instead of leading to
conflict. Despite tremendous tension, nations who have been at war with one another have stayed at
the negotiation table when water was concerned. So Indians and Pakistani, Arabs and Israeli and
Azeris and Armenians have negotiated water treaties while being political and military enemies.73
According to Wolf et al, the acts of cooperation outnumber the acts of violence over shared water
resources. Politicians seem to use fiery rhetoric when water is concerned, but rarely use violence. The
harsh words are more often aimed at their own constituencies than towards the enemy.74 Different
scientific studies advocate unitary basin-wide agreements under the guidance of international
institutions as the
best way of preventing interstate violence.75 But the cost of war in combination with the difference in
strength between nations often already seems to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict, so
cooperation and international negotiations are not even necessary to prevent conflict over water.
Water is just not valuable and not hard enough to attain to be a reason for war between states. States
still have many alternatives of obtaining water before reverting to warfare and this prevents water
tension from becoming water war. That said about water war between states, water scarcity within
states is also often named as a reason for armed conflict or violent protests. Although often not the
root cause of conflict, water seems to lead to conflict within states as protest erupts over the over
tapping of water resources. Water has been named a contributing reason for the internal conflicts in
Rwanda, China, Sudan and Karachi.76 But the systems and methods of scholars studying Water Wars is
often inexplicit. The overall argument seems to be that Water Wars will occur because water is
becoming a scarcer commodity. How scholars reach this conclusion and based on which cases is often
unclear. There does not seem to be a lot of proof for the Water Wars theory except that it does sound
logical that scarcity will lead to conflict. But the overall evidence for Water Wars is very thin. Because
Resource Curse does offer tools to study internal resource conflicts, the next paragraph deals with this
topic. With the tools Resource Curse theory provides, hopefully we will be able to look into local water
conflicts and see if water is a contributing factor or even the driver of conflicts.
Rhetoric of Water Was is alarmist and not accepted by the academic world
Annabel van Gelder 2012
Rivalis Using Water Wars theory and Resource Curse theory to discover if water scarcity played a role in causing the Darfur conflict and the
environmental conflicts in China
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19454/Master%20Thesis%20AE%20van%20Gelder.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed
7/16/14
Often Water Wars literature has the tendency to be alarmist, raise awareness and spot potential
conflicts. Politicians, United Nations publications and NGO’s are very fond of using water conflict
rhetoric; as the quotes at the beginning of the chapter exemplify. Water Wars theory is widely used in
journalistic publications and quoted by policy makers because Water Wars has credibility with the
public. But Water Wars is not a theory which is widely accepted in the academic world. A vast amount
of literature has been written which doubts the assumption that water scarcity will inevitably lead to
conflict. Since the water war in Mesopotamia no war, where water was the main driver of conflict
between nations, has occurred.62 Scholars publishing about Water Wars have provided a wide variety
of description of water related tensions and a few conflicts in which water was a contributing factor.63
But researchers at Oregon State University found that if water was a contributing factor in violence
between states, in 30 of the 37 cases of water related violence, the conflict was between Israel and its
neighbors. 64 Since this relation cannot be described as stable, even without water as a factor on can
question why water war still causes so much stir in the academic circles? And what is the reason that
even though water is becoming scarce, water scarcity does not translate to hostilities, violence and
interstate wars?
Water Wars impacts are politically unrealistic
Annabel van Gelder 2012
Rivalis Using Water Wars theory and Resource Curse theory to discover if water scarcity played a role in causing the Darfur conflict and the
environmental conflicts in China
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19454/Master%20Thesis%20AE%20van%20Gelder.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed
7/16/14
The second critique of Water Wars is based on political realism. Nations only go to war if there is a
likeliness that they will win and if the proceeds of victory are high. Otherwise the risks of going to war
are greater than the eventual benefits. Kevin Freeman, a professor in the study of government and
public services, offers a simple matrix based on the research (1984) by Naff and Matson about water
and cooperation/conflict in the Middle East. 69 The matrix (see table 1) shows the likeliness of nations
going into conflict over water of the Euphrates River. The matrix
shows three criteria for water related conflict, 1) state interest and issues in the watershed, 2)
riparian position, and 3) external and internal power. He applies a weight to the criteria with 1 being
weak and 5 being strong. Conflict potential is high when the sum of the criteria is roughly equal.70
Because Turkey is militarily so much stronger than the other states and Syria is stronger than Iraq the
chance of conflict over water erupting in the Euphrates River basin is unlikely. The fact that in most
shared water resources one of the shareholders is a much stronger political and military power
reduces the probability of military conflict over water. Power politics deters the likeliness of conflict
over shared water resources.
No Water Wars- Cheaper to buy water or invest in better water Infrastructure
Annabel van Gelder 2012
Rivalis Using Water Wars theory and Resource Curse theory to discover if water scarcity played a role in causing the Darfur conflict and the
environmental conflicts in China
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19454/Master%20Thesis%20AE%20van%20Gelder.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed
7/16/14
There are a number of possible explanations for this. First of all, wars are expensive and resource wars
rarely achieve their goals. The First Gulf War is a very good example of why resource conflict is
unlikely to erupt in the near future. Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait cost approximately $100
billion, and he was not able to secure the Kuwait oil production of 1.5 million barrels a day. In fact, this
risky move eventually cost him his regime and his head. In comparison, on the stock market Exxon paid
$80 billion to secure Mobil’s 1.7 million oil-barrels
a day, a merger which was very successful. Trade offers a much cheaper and more reliable way of
attaining resources than war.65 In chapter 1 I have argued that water is not a normal resource which
can be traded as easily as oil. But still economic viable options besides war are available to nations.
War is very expensive and as long as states have cheaper options for attaining water they will not go
to war over water. Water is simply not valuable enough. To cite an Israeli mayor-general responsible for
military strategy during the 1967 and 1982 wars: “For the price of one week of fighting, you could build
five desalination plants. No loss of life, no international pressure, and a reliable supply you don’t have
to defend in hostile territory”. 66 This critique of the Water Wars theory is based on the Cornucopian
model which beliefs that the free market will eventually relieve scarcity.67 As water becomes more
scarce, prices will increase, which will lower demand and prolong depletion of the resource. In the
meantime technological innovations can help relieve water scarcity pressures.68 Part of this theory is
supported by the water saving options still available in the world. At this moment, water saving options
are not always the politically and financially viable solution for a country. However as water scarcity
will put more pressure on the water resources of nations, these investments might prove more
feasible in the future. Rising oil prices made deep sea drillings for oil an economically viable
investment. In the past the technically complicated off shore oil platforms where too expensive to
operate, but rising oil prices made these oil platforms, despite of high cost, profitable. The same
mechanism might occur with water saving options.