EPA website on

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CyanoHABs)

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/cyanohabs.cfm

Lake Savers - "We’ve eliminated the ‘boom-bust’ diatomic cycle"

Lake Savers LLC, USA have been using Nualgi for past 1 year and posted this on their website.

http://lake-savers.com/our-solution/whole-lake-technology/biological-acceleration/

Diatoms are one of the reasons life emerged from the swamp. Millions of years ago when the oceans subsided, land masses emerged, and runoff started to carry granite and silica into the oceans, a microscopic life-form emerged that scientists consider to be a fundamental building block of life itself – the diatom. 

Diatoms are microscopic food power cells (phytoplankton) that convert carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other nutrients into dissolved oxygen and oxygen rich organic compounds and phytoplankton which result in a healthy ecosystem and ultimately a thriving fish population. They play a dynamic role in nutrient conversion and regulation of ecosystems. [Read more about Diatoms]

The problem is that they are boom-and-bust in nature. When diatom population is high, nutrients are converted to fish. When diatom population is low, nitrogen that would normally be converted to dissolved oxygen, phytoplankton, and zooplankton and released as CO2 gas in the atmosphere is instead utilized by explosive weed growth and toxic blue-green algae (cyanotoxin). Diatom diminishment typically happens in mid-summer. The “bust” happens when the supply of silica, iron and other micronutrients fail. Diatoms need all these inputs.

We’ve eliminated the ‘boom-bust’ diatomic cycle.

As part of our ongoing Biological Acceleration research and technology we’re deploying a silica based micro-nutrient formulation developed for Lake Savers by Nualgi Nanotechnology that’s proven to stimulate, regulate, and sustain continual diatom growth. One year after initial treatment in one of our highly distressed urban-environment freshwater bodies we’re seeing the development of higher order complex siliceous diatom species that are indicative of extremely high water quality environments (oligotrophic).

Our results are showing a clear and rapid transformation of a eutrophic water body to an oligotrophic status. For this reason, we’ve moved our diatomic regeneration technology from emergent…to current!

Green-India Product Showcase: Nualgi

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/green-india/5tbv4tm2KPU

Green-India Product Showcase: Nualgi

A Novel Solution for Waste Water Treatment

Science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke famously said: “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Nualgi  (pronounced as new-algae) is one such solution to the problem of waste water treatment.

All you have to do is just add Nualgi powder to the water body (lake, pond, etc.), no matter how polluted, and it will get to work within minutes. You can start to see the change within a matter of hours and after a few weeks, the water will be fit for use.

The table below describes how Nualgi is helpful in different contexts. More details follow the table.

Context	Problem	Solution
Ponds, lakes, estuaries, back waters, rivers, even oceans	·         Discharge of untreated sewage into water bodies is a huge problem across India. ·         Causes formation of blue-green algaethat deplete dissolved oxygen (DO) and kill fish. ·         Pollution causes fishermen lose their livelihood and go elsewhere to find fish. ·         Reviving a large water body using conventional means requires massive amounts of energy. ·         Overfishing is another serious problem in coastal areas where fish stocks are depleted to unacceptably low levels.	·         Application of Nualgi powder in the water body causes growth of microscopic water plants that consume organic matter and release oxygen thus increasing dissolved oxygen. ·         Increase in DO level causes beneficial bacteria to bloom and foul smell, if any,stops within hours. ·         Within a few weeks, blue green algae disappears and fish and other aquatic life grows in a clean environment. ·         Nualgi needs to be applied periodicallyto maintain the DO level and fish yield.
Sewage treatment	·         Consumes scarce electricity resource that could be used by thousands of homes. ·         When electricity is unavailable diesel pumps are used causing pollution and increasing cost of treatment.	·         Nualgi application in sewage treatment plants reduces energy consumption. ·         Cost of Nualgi applied to raise DO level is less than cost of electricity consumed. ·         Nualgi can also treat sewage all by itself at places electricity is unavailable or expensive.

How does it work?

Nualgi powder contains micro nutrients on a nano silica base which triggers the growth of a particular type of phytoplankton called diatoms. Since only diatoms require silica they consume it and grow rapidly. Nualgi powder is taken in fine net bag and this is shaken in the water or the powder can be dissolved in a few litres of water and then added to water body. Nualgi spreads out into the entire lake and becomes available for consumption by the diatoms and these diatoms consume the organic wastes and produce oxygen. Increase of DO level in water facilitates the growth of aquatic species like aerobic bacteria, zooplankton, fishes etc. The diatoms are consumed by zooplanktons that in turn are food for fishes.

Is it a scientifically proven solution?

Nualgi is in use regular since 2005 and many tons have been used till date in aquaculture ponds and lakes. The contents of Nualgi as similar to those in f/2 media used in shrimp hatcheries to culture diatoms, however the use of Nano Silica is the new feature. Nano silica improves the delivery of micro nutrients to diatoms in a remarkable manner. Nano particles are available for consumption by the smallest diatoms, silica keeps the metals stable in water and it spreads out in a large water body so little mixing is necessary.

• A peer-reviewed paper  published in a scientific journal states that use of Nualgi "was found to significantly boost growth in [two diatom] species." Key finding was that Nualgi is about twice as good as conventional f/2 media.
• A recent article in Nature (India) calls Nualgi, a ready-mix solution to global warming  due to its carbon sequestration potential.
• Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) webpage on Nualgi Technology 

What is the dosage and how often does it need to be applied?

After Nualgi application the growth of diatoms is almost immediate - starting within minutes. Within a few hours, DO increase is measurable. Diatom bloom continues as long as the nutrient lasts.

The normal dosage is one kilogram in one surface acre of pond once a week. The dosage can be increased or decreased depending on the nutrient level, DO level, number of fish, etc. The increase in fish weight due to the consumption of the diatoms would be at least 10 kilogram. Thus Nualgi is very economical.

For sewage treatment the dosage is one kilogram per million litres of sewage. 1 kg of Nualgi causes bloom of at least 100 kilogram of Diatoms and these give at least 100 kilogram of oxygen.

What are the other applications of Nualgi apart from water bodies?

Another version of Nualgi is used as a Foliar Spray in agriculture  and horticulture. The nano silica with micro nutrients are easily absorbed by plants through the leaves. Silica improves the health of plants and improves their pest resistance. The Micronutrients prevent nutrient deficiencies.  

Can you name some of the customers ?

Karnataka Fisheries, Ashok Leyland Ltd, JSW Steels Ltd, etc., are some of the customers.

Can I become a distributor / retailer?

The advertiser would like to appoint distributors and retailers all over the world.

Whom do I contact for more information?

MV Bhaskar

Kadambari Consultants Pvt Ltd. Hyderabad. India.

Email - nualgi@gmail.com ;  Cell - 92465 08213 ; www.nualgi.com/new 

A ready-mix solution to global warming

http://www.nature.com/nindia/2012/120731/full/nindia.2012.115.html
A ready-mix solution to global warming

K. S. Jayaraman

The European Iron Fertilization Experiment (EIFEX) recently reported that dumping iron in the ocean stimulates algal blooms which capture atmospheric carbon-dioxide and deposit the carbon in deep waters when they die¹. This has come as welcome news to Thothathri Sampath Kumar, Bangalore-based inventor and founder of 'NuAlgi Nanobiotech'. 

"The most encouraging fact is the confirmation that the algal bloom that capture the carbon are dominated by diatoms," he told Nature India.

A centric diatom (above) and a star diatom (below).

Diatoms are a group of algae that grow in any sun-lit, wet place on Earth. "Because of their abundance in marine plankton, diatoms probably account for as much as 20% of global photosynthetic fixation of carbon, making them more productive than all the world's tropical rainforests," says David Mann, Principal Research Scientist at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

The reason for Kumar's elation at the EIFEX's finding is understandable. Eight years ago he invented 'NuAlgi' which he claimed causes a copious bloom of diatoms in any type of water within 15 minutes of its addition. "NuAlgi (U.S.patent 7585898) could be an alternative to iron sulphate used in ocean fertilization experiments like EIFEX," says Kumar. Iron sulphate can cause bloom of any organism including harmful algae whereas NuAlgi triggers the growth of only diatoms and not any other algae, he says. "So there need not be any fear of producing toxic algal blooms or depletion of oxygen levels. On the contrary NuAlgi increases the level of dissolved Oxygen."
NuAlgi is a mix of all the micronutrients required by diatoms in the form of nano particles. Silica, which the diatoms require to build their outer shell, is the main constituent of NuAlgi while iron constitutes only 1%. "It is inexpensive and can be mass produced and is being used for the past seven years in many lakes and fish ponds in southern India to promote diatom blooms. It is also marketed in USA, China and Vietnam," says Mallimadugula Bhaskar, Kumar's collaborator.

NuAlgi collaborators Sampath Kumar (left) & M. Bhaskar.

While the oxygen released by the diatoms keeps the lakes clean, the diatoms are consumed by zooplanktons that in turn are food for fishes. Based on studies so far, Bhaskar estimates that when used for ocean fertilization one gram of iron in 100 grams of NuAlgi can capture at least 5000 grams of carbon which is 80% more than what was achieved with iron sulphate in EIFEX. 

Syed Naqvi, distinguished scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa is sceptical. "To say that NuAlgi will work in ocean because it does so in lakes is a misconception," he told Nature India.

However, impressed by the claims, David Karl, director of Hawaii University's Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education has taken some NuAlgi for testing. "Our scientists are currently at sea aboard Kilo Moana conducting experiments that are all relevant to the issues raised recently¹ except that our field site is the low nutrient, low chlorophyll region of the North Pacific called the North Pacific Gyre," Karl said in an email interview.

"We are conducting a series of experiments with NuAlgi to determine whether or not it can be used to select for the growth of diatoms and which species are favoured. If our initial shipboard experiments are successful we will explore the use of NuAlgi to stimulate large-scale, export events by this mechanism perhaps including an open ocean trial of this hypothesis in summer 2013 or later."

Kumar says while carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change is one of the goals, he would first like to promote NuAlgi's use to revive fresh water eutrophic lakes and the 530 aquatic "dead zones" (lacking oxygen) worldwide. The project to revive the Baltic Sea Dead Zone — the world's largest dead zone — reportedly would require around 100 pumping stations to transport oxygen deep underwater. "NuAlgi may provide an alternative to this as well as to Western Australia's $3.4 million plan for setting up pumping systems to breathe life into the dying Swan River," he says.

• References

1. Smetacek, V.et al. Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom. Nature 487, 313-319 doi: 10.1038/nature11229 (2012)

US Clean Water Act and water pollution

http://www.invw.org/article/clean-water-act%E2%80%99s-anti-po-1287

Clean Water Act’s Anti-Pollution Goals Prove Elusive

BY ROBERT MCCLURE AND JASON ALCORN, INVESTIGATEWEST
JULY 18, 2012

WITH BONNIE STEWART, EARTHFIX

“In 1972 we were going to stop using our rivers as dumping grounds and we’re nowhere near there,” VandenHeuvel said. “State and federal regulators don’t even try to meet that goal any more and that’s a problem. “That’s a colossal failure.”

Nature - EIFEX report

Discussion on Geoengineering google group
https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering/browse_thread/thread/d8f07aa1af76ac78/df0146390ae3aca9#df0146390ae3aca9

Bhaskar M V	View profile	Hide options Jul 19, 1:13 pm

From: Bhaskar M V ...@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:43:22 +0530

Local: Thurs, Jul 19 2012 1:13 pm

Subject: Re: [geo] Nature eifex report

Reply | Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original | Remove | Report this message | Find messages by this author

Ken
You are right to a certain extent when you say -
"So, to some extent, iron fertilization concentrates productivity in space
and in time."
However the facts are as follows -
Human action has increased the amount of N and P in water.
The Nitrogen (and Phosphorus) cycles have been both speeded up and
increased in volume.
About 100 million tons of urea is manufactured and used as fertilizer in
agriculture, most of this is made by the Haber-Bosch process of capturing
Nitrogen from atmosphere and converting it into ammonia and then into urea.
Thus we are adding more N into water.
Phosphate fertilizer is made by mining rock phosphate and converting this
into phosphoric acid and then into super phosphate, etc.
Thus insoluble rock phosphate and N2 gas in atmosphere are being converted
into soluble N and P in water.
Another way to calculate the increase in N and P due to human action is to
compute the average food intake of people and the N and P content of this
and multiply with the population.
If we consume about 1 kg of food (wet weight) per day, this may contain say
50 mg of N and 10 mg of P. Multiply with the population of 1 billion 200
year ago, 7 billion today and projected population of 9 billion by 2050 and
you can get the total increase in N and P in food and sewage input into
lakes, rivers and oceans. I am not attempting to quantify the actual
numbers, since there are too many variables and averages, the concept is
adequate for the present.
What is the consequence of this?
1000s of eutrophic lakes and 500+ dead zones in the coastal waters.
This is the N and P that will be used up to sequester carbon when oceans
are fertilized with iron.
So there is no need to worry about depletion of macro nutrients in oceans.
:) Once we run out of oil, we can use the defunct Oil tankers to transport
sewage to Southern Ocean to provide the macro nutrients required. Prof John
Martin's recommended dose of half a tanker load of iron can be matched with
a 100 tanker loads of sewage. :)
I guess physicists always get lost in space and time.
regards
Bhaskar
On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 1:04 PM, Ken Caldeira ...@carnegiescience.edu 

- Hide quoted text -

> wrote:
> Recall that this fertilization is using up macronutrients such as N and P
> that may have been used elsewhere at a later date.
> So, to some extent, iron fertilization concentrates productivity in space
> and in time.
> An important question is: how much of the P that was in the fertilized
> water would have been mixed downward as phosphate and how much of it would
> have been transported downward biologically at a later date somewhere else.
> It is only the fract of P that would not have been used biologically
> somewhere else at a later date that represents the increase in
> biological export.
> On top of this, there are additional questions of how the C/P ratio and
> remineralization depth of this carbon that would have been naturally
> exported differs from the C/P ratio and remineralization depth of the
> carbon that was exported in the experiment.
> So, two difficulties in analyzing these results are
> (1) Determining effects that are distal in space and time associated with
> the local (in space and time) consumption of macronutrients
> (1) establishing the counterfactual baseline that could be subtracted from
> the experimental case to determine the delta, taking into consideration
> effects that are distal in space and time (see previous point)
> On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 10:59 PM, Rau, Greg ...@llnl.gov> wrote: 
>> So 1 tone of added Fe captures 2786 tones of C or 10,214 tones of CO2 (?)
>> Then the issue is how much of this stays in the ocean for how long.  I'll
>> have to read the fine print.
>> -Greg
>> From: Mick West ...@mickwest.com>
>> Reply-To: "m...@mickwest.com" ...@mickwest.com>
>> To: "andrew.lock...@gmail.com" ...@gmail.com>
>> Cc: geoengineering
>> Subject: Re: [geo] Nature eifex report 
>> It says 13,000 atoms, not tonnes:
>> "Each atom of added iron pulled at least 13,000 atoms of carbon out of
>> the atmosphere by encouraging algal growth which, through photosynthesis,
>> captures carbon."
>> On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 12:54 PM, Andrew Lockley <
>> andrew.lock...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Personally I find the claims of 13000 tonnes to 1 atom of iron somewhat
>>> difficult to comprehend!
>>> A
>>> ----- 

Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v487/n7407/full/nature11229.html

NATURE | ARTICLE

Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom

• Victor Smetacek,
• Christine Klaas,
• Volker H. Strass,
• Philipp Assmy,
• Marina Montresor,
• Boris Cisewski,
• Nicolas Savoye,
• Adrian Webb,
• Francesco d’Ovidio,
• Jesús M. Arrieta,
• Ulrich Bathmann,
• Richard Bellerby,
• Gry Mine Berg,
• Peter Croot,
• Santiago Gonzalez,
• Joachim Henjes,
• Gerhard J. Herndl,
• Linn J. Hoffmann,
• Harry Leach,
• Martin Losch,
• Matthew M. Mills,
• Craig Neill,
• Ilka Peeken,
• Rüdiger Röttgers,
• Oliver Sachs
• et al.

• Affiliations
• Contributions
• Corresponding authors

Nature

 

487,

 

313–319

 

(19 July 2012)

 

doi:10.1038/nature11229

Received

 

15 November 2011 

Accepted

 

03 May 2012 

Published online

 

18 July 2012

Abstract

• 
  

Fertilization of the ocean by adding iron compounds has induced diatom-dominated phytoplankton blooms accompanied by considerable carbon dioxide drawdown in the ocean surface layer. However, because the fate of bloom biomass could not be adequately resolved in these experiments, the timescales of carbon sequestration from the atmosphere are uncertain. Here we report the results of a five-week experiment carried out in the closed core of a vertically coherent, mesoscale eddy of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, during which we tracked sinking particles from the surface to the deep-sea floor. A large diatom bloom peaked in the fourth week after fertilization. This was followed by mass mortality of several diatom species that formed rapidly sinking, mucilaginous aggregates of entangled cells and chains. Taken together, multiple lines of evidence—although each with important uncertainties—lead us to conclude that at least half the bloom biomass sank far below a depth of 1,000 metres and that a substantial portion is likely to have reached the sea floor. Thus, iron-fertilized diatom blooms may sequester carbon for timescales of centuries in ocean bottom water and for longer in the sediments.