Buckminster Fuller once remarked that many of our social and economic and physical challenges can best be addressed by understanding how nature addresses them. Have you ever wondered how a mighty oak can support the weight of a horizontal limb or how or how a bird can fly or how a tiny heart can pump blood through thousands of miles in of microscopic arteries and veins and capillaries. Sometimes ideal solutions to problems are not practical but they can still supply us with fuel for thought. There is more than enough direct sunlight energy for everyone and yet governments allow the continuous exploitation of non-renewable resources as the quality of life and the health of our tiny planet declines. We do have alternatives but if we are to live in harmony with nature we must learn to understand the nature of nature. All animals from the microscopic ameba to the to the macroscopic sperm wale have have some kind of circulatory system that makes life possible by transporting food energy, nutrients and oxygen. Most multicultural organisms are equipped with a heart that circulates oxygenated blood through a parallel network of capillaries. If the surface area of a person 1'x1'x6' could be spread out with a thickness of .1" their surface area would be 720 sq ft. The surface area of a solar collector this large, operating at an efficiency of 50% could harvest the heat energy equivalent of 108,000,000 BTUs per year... with a street value in excess of $2000.
This natural method of circulating fluids through a large parallel network is sometimes known as branch connected plumbing. Small hearts with low energy requirements can support large organisms with this method of blood distribution. Unfortunately full blown branch connected solar plumbing systems are not cost effective when it comes to collecting and storing the sun's heat energy.
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