A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic out of the Pacific(businessinsider.com)
businessinsider.com
A half-mile installation just took 20k pounds of plastic out of the Pacific
https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-cleanup-device-removed-plastic-pacific-garbage-patch-2021-10
11 comments
There seems to be an opportunity for wider adoption here if governments and ports would chip in a bit more. I keep seeing news articles about ships being stuck out of port for potentially weeks at a time due to backups at the ports and supply chain issues. Why not have governments pay these container ships to wait in trashy areas and collect trash while they are waiting to unload or load their cargo? If ships know they are going to be stuck waiting at ports for 10 days, then they can simply drive their ships much more slowly so they arrive at their destination 10 days later and collect more trash.
> "Once plastic has gotten into the open ocean, it becomes very expensive and fossil-fuel intensive to get it back out again," Miriam Goldstein, director of ocean policy at the Center for American Progress think tank, recently told Reuters.
It's a great effort, but for now it seems like it's just trading pollution for pollution...
It's a great effort, but for now it seems like it's just trading pollution for pollution...
Pollution isn't fungible, as mentioned in the article.
Sure, I guess my point is that it's not a simple equation.
Personally, I think the plastics in the ocean are probably more harmful than the emissions required to clean it up, but it's not as simple as saying "look, we cleaned it up and now there's x-amount less pollution".
I probably shouldn't make such brief, inarticulate comments.
Personally, I think the plastics in the ocean are probably more harmful than the emissions required to clean it up, but it's not as simple as saying "look, we cleaned it up and now there's x-amount less pollution".
I probably shouldn't make such brief, inarticulate comments.
Most of the cleanup involves existing trash floating in the ocean.
Capturing new trash requires a different approach.
Capturing new trash requires a different approach.
I think a lot of the criticism this article levels at The Ocean Cleanup's efforts is pretty unfair.
Whilst it might take 10 Jenny's (20 ships) 5 years to clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that's significantly less plastic in the sea than if they sat on the sidelines because what they've got isn't perfect. 20 small ships traveling incredibly slowly is nothing compared to the tankers and freighters delivering all the cheap plastic crap in the first place.
Similarly, mentioning that their efforts are negligible compared to the plastics still being dumped into the sea whilst also pointing out that removing it from the sea is more costly than preventing it in the first instance actually undermines the snarky "why bother" tone they've taken.
Yes, preventing plastic from entering the sea, and reducing the amount of plastic created in the first place is something we should (and are?) trying to accomplish world-wide as that's where the biggest payoff lies, but it still leaves plastic in the sea that needs removing: something these guys have taken a good crack at solving and done better than anyone else as far as I know.
Whole article reeks of a defeatist — "it's hopeless, why bother?" — attitude. I'm pleased to see progress, however small.
Whilst it might take 10 Jenny's (20 ships) 5 years to clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that's significantly less plastic in the sea than if they sat on the sidelines because what they've got isn't perfect. 20 small ships traveling incredibly slowly is nothing compared to the tankers and freighters delivering all the cheap plastic crap in the first place.
Similarly, mentioning that their efforts are negligible compared to the plastics still being dumped into the sea whilst also pointing out that removing it from the sea is more costly than preventing it in the first instance actually undermines the snarky "why bother" tone they've taken.
Yes, preventing plastic from entering the sea, and reducing the amount of plastic created in the first place is something we should (and are?) trying to accomplish world-wide as that's where the biggest payoff lies, but it still leaves plastic in the sea that needs removing: something these guys have taken a good crack at solving and done better than anyone else as far as I know.
Whole article reeks of a defeatist — "it's hopeless, why bother?" — attitude. I'm pleased to see progress, however small.
The article also fails to mention that they're also developing a passive device specifically to plop in rivers and collect trash before it ever reaches the ocean.[1] The Ocean Cleanup has also specifically addressed the "why bother with what's already there?" question in a blog post they published a while ago.[2] Disappointing that the article didn't even bother to mention either of these.
[1] https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/ [2] https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/why-we-must-clean-the-oc...
[1] https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/ [2] https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/why-we-must-clean-the-oc...
I’m glad you mentioned this, as this was a low-hanging fruit that was proposed not too long ago.
Most countries seem pretty open to this solution as another measure to reduce garbage, as they don’t have a reliable way of enforcing garbage prevention.
Also, I don’t like the defeatist snark of the article either.
Most countries seem pretty open to this solution as another measure to reduce garbage, as they don’t have a reliable way of enforcing garbage prevention.
Also, I don’t like the defeatist snark of the article either.
> 20k pounds of plastic
aka 7 tons? and no timeframe was specified, and the ships in the picture look like they will happily burn 10 tons of fuel per day.
aka 7 tons? and no timeframe was specified, and the ships in the picture look like they will happily burn 10 tons of fuel per day.
This seems like the kind of task that might be possible with a solar or renewable fuel.
Given the target speed of 1.5knots, I wonder if a large enough solar installation on a pair of modified tugs could achieve a decent runtime. Or perhaps focus on using the solar to generate hydrogen for a hydrogen burning engine given the availability of water.
Given the target speed of 1.5knots, I wonder if a large enough solar installation on a pair of modified tugs could achieve a decent runtime. Or perhaps focus on using the solar to generate hydrogen for a hydrogen burning engine given the availability of water.
I'm hoping for a future version that burns the waste to propel itself, yet while somehow containing (or something-ing) all the foul combustion byproducts.