Ask HN: Could ships that convert CO2 + water to natural gas save the planet? 
<i>DISCLAIMER: I know basically nothing about this topic. It's just a (naive and
likely stupid) idea that woke me up this morning. If anybody knows where to get
more info, or how to answer some of these questions around feasability, I'd
love to hear it.</i><p># IDEA<p>Imagine a ship sitting in the middle of the ocean (where little life naturally
occurs), with an eSolar [1] installation deployed.<p>A giant array of mirrors, individually small, but in total much larger than the
hull of the ship, automatically adjusts to keep an intense beam of heat focused
on a boiler, even as the ship rolls in the waves.<p>Convection carries water from the ocean to quickly cool the boiler and keep
pistons that generate electricity firing.<p>Generated electricity is used, along with water and carbon dioxide, to create
CH4 (natural gas) and oxygen, at 80% efficiency [2].<p>Once the ship is full of natural gas, it folds up its solar array and sails
to the port where the bid for natural gas is highest.<p>I haven't done any math to figure out cost, but it seems interesting/compelling
from a high level. What do you think?<p>Anybody who wants to take this idea and execute on it should feel free to do so
without reserve. I claim no ownership to anything.  Execution is everything.<p><pre><code>  [1]: http://www.idealab.com/our_companies/show/all/esolar
  [2]: http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/04/01/boosting-bugs-with-electricity-to-make-natural-gas-from-c02/</code></pre>