20-Year-Old Inventor’s Idea For How To Make Ocean Clean Itself Will Be Launched In Japan
Boyan Slat, a 20-year-old innovator in the Netherlands, has a lot on his plate – he’s set out to do nothing less than rid the oceans of the millions of tons of plastic garbage that circle along their currents. And judging by the support that has rallied behind his novel approach to the problem, there’s a good chance he just might succeed.
The massive rotating currents in the world’s oceans make collecting or even monitoring garbage difficult, but Slat’s Ocean Cleanup Foundation is developing a way to use those currents to its advantage. Slat envisions long-distance arrays of floats that would skim garbage from the surface while allowing aquatic life and the currents themselves to pass by underneath. The company estimates that a 100km stationary cleanup array could remove 42% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch over 10 years, representing a total of 70,320,000kg of plastic waste. For now, they’re installing a 2,000m trial system in Japan, which will become the longest floating structure in the world when completed.
There are some technical issues with the plan, which were brought up in a review by deepseanews.org. However, we hope that Slat works the kinks out of his plan and achieves his visionary goals!
More info: theoceancleanup.com | Facebook | Twitter (h/t: gizmodo)
This 2,000m floating line will become the longest floating structure in the world when it’s deployed in 2016
It is the first stage in 20-year-old Boyan Slat’s plan to rid the oceans of floating plastic waste
This plan involves targeting rotating ocean currents full of waste and skimming the trash from them
His goal is to eventually build a 100km floating array that could collect 70,320,000kg of plastic waste over 10 years
Slat estimates that this method would cost roughly 4.53 euros (5.04 USD) per kilogram, which is only 3% of the cost of other potential clean-up methods
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My son would love this as he's very conservation minded. Brilliant idea, I hope it works :)
So, that guy needs 354,412,800$ in a 10 year plan in order to realize his idea?
Reading the feasibility study makes it clear that there are a lot more than a few technical issues to sort out. The engineering and testing was done in a very amateur fashion and wasn't remotely rigorous enough. Plus, it's a 2 km drift net with no mechanism to prevent fouling (at least none that would work.) What happens when it sinks from the accumulated weight of marine life? What happens when it snaps because it was only designed to support average currents? This kid is too enamored with his own idea to look at the real flaws with it.
Dude... at least he tried and he wants to change all the mess others made, and do yourself a favor to open the web provided so you can see the technical details, many great engineers are working on it now and it seems the method are feasible, but nay sayer like you always around always turn down without trying first, glad this guy didnt listen to people like you but keep working on it instead
Load More Replies...
Very good. But there are also tons of particulates that are suspended in the ocean water. I guess this will help keep the large floating stuff from breaking down into particulates.
I think it is sad that this had to be funded by private donations instead of being supported financially by nation states.
Waw so good I'm so happy right now! But I don't get how you can stop garbages but not fishes or wales etc...
I’m curious how many marine animals and fish get tangled in the device.
AMOP & IOSC Papers. Logistics may be a sticking-point. Shipping channels another. This is a very interesting problem to get to grips with. Well done for even thinking about it. Trust me, it's a tricky one. A 1997 AMOP paper tries to describe the fun X
Good man. Let AMOP & IOSC conferences know. Write a paper etc. You will meet some interesting folk Logistics on these devices are paramount. Then they have to work. X
So inspiring to see our young generation taking the lead on creating a sustainable future. Green School supports youth empowerment! www.greenschool.org
for starters its a beginning, and with all beginnings it will take time but he's so far the first smartest and one of our brightest, so screw all the people who are negative let them come up with an idea and get it started, then they have room to take. if all you know how to do is b***h about a problem, your are part of the problem and not the solution!!
meanwhile, the chinese govt. is going on with their experiment on finding ways to "enhance" the marine environment beneath the tons of sand dumped on coral reefs in the south china sea
What a great idea!! I hope you achieve your dream of making a larger one!! We need to keep our waters clean for wildlife!!
I'm an oceanographer (PhD), and this project is b******t! Sorry for the language but it has to be said. here's why: (i) plastic is everywhere, not only in the surface. (ii) most of the plastic in the ocean is microplastic and won't be collected by that. (iii) Oceans are huge, like really really huge. (iv) oceans are not quiet, his structure will be destroyed at the first storm. (v) sea plastic is one of the worst to recycle, he's lying when he says that it'll be recycled. (vi) many marine organisms will get destroyed by passing through his thing. (vii) other will colonize it, clogging it ... and so on ... Plus this idea is all but new, many project of the same kind failed before. The plastic problem should be solved on land, it cannot be removed from sea, that's it. Selling the idea that after all we can clean our s**t is worst than doing nothing!! here a link for more information http://inhabitat.com/the-fallacy-of-cleaning-the-gyres-of-plastic-with-a-floating-ocean-cleanup-array
Great idea. What are they going to do with the waste once collected?
Excellent idea and now all we have to do is to educate the human race not to chuck their rubbish overboard and that might take a while
what happens to the collected plastic waste? Dumping is also not a Solution!!!
Very nice, now we should fine another good way to solve those garbage that you have collected to keep the environment clean and safe. :) (y)
Wow why did nobody think of this before its so simple yet brilliant i would gladly help this project
My son would love this as he's very conservation minded. Brilliant idea, I hope it works :)
So, that guy needs 354,412,800$ in a 10 year plan in order to realize his idea?
Reading the feasibility study makes it clear that there are a lot more than a few technical issues to sort out. The engineering and testing was done in a very amateur fashion and wasn't remotely rigorous enough. Plus, it's a 2 km drift net with no mechanism to prevent fouling (at least none that would work.) What happens when it sinks from the accumulated weight of marine life? What happens when it snaps because it was only designed to support average currents? This kid is too enamored with his own idea to look at the real flaws with it.
Dude... at least he tried and he wants to change all the mess others made, and do yourself a favor to open the web provided so you can see the technical details, many great engineers are working on it now and it seems the method are feasible, but nay sayer like you always around always turn down without trying first, glad this guy didnt listen to people like you but keep working on it instead
Load More Replies... Very good. But there are also tons of particulates that are suspended in the ocean water. I guess this will help keep the large floating stuff from breaking down into particulates.
I think it is sad that this had to be funded by private donations instead of being supported financially by nation states.
Waw so good I'm so happy right now! But I don't get how you can stop garbages but not fishes or wales etc...
I’m curious how many marine animals and fish get tangled in the device.
AMOP & IOSC Papers. Logistics may be a sticking-point. Shipping channels another. This is a very interesting problem to get to grips with. Well done for even thinking about it. Trust me, it's a tricky one. A 1997 AMOP paper tries to describe the fun X
Good man. Let AMOP & IOSC conferences know. Write a paper etc. You will meet some interesting folk Logistics on these devices are paramount. Then they have to work. X
So inspiring to see our young generation taking the lead on creating a sustainable future. Green School supports youth empowerment! www.greenschool.org
for starters its a beginning, and with all beginnings it will take time but he's so far the first smartest and one of our brightest, so screw all the people who are negative let them come up with an idea and get it started, then they have room to take. if all you know how to do is b***h about a problem, your are part of the problem and not the solution!!
meanwhile, the chinese govt. is going on with their experiment on finding ways to "enhance" the marine environment beneath the tons of sand dumped on coral reefs in the south china sea
What a great idea!! I hope you achieve your dream of making a larger one!! We need to keep our waters clean for wildlife!!
I'm an oceanographer (PhD), and this project is b******t! Sorry for the language but it has to be said. here's why: (i) plastic is everywhere, not only in the surface. (ii) most of the plastic in the ocean is microplastic and won't be collected by that. (iii) Oceans are huge, like really really huge. (iv) oceans are not quiet, his structure will be destroyed at the first storm. (v) sea plastic is one of the worst to recycle, he's lying when he says that it'll be recycled. (vi) many marine organisms will get destroyed by passing through his thing. (vii) other will colonize it, clogging it ... and so on ... Plus this idea is all but new, many project of the same kind failed before. The plastic problem should be solved on land, it cannot be removed from sea, that's it. Selling the idea that after all we can clean our s**t is worst than doing nothing!! here a link for more information http://inhabitat.com/the-fallacy-of-cleaning-the-gyres-of-plastic-with-a-floating-ocean-cleanup-array
Great idea. What are they going to do with the waste once collected?
Excellent idea and now all we have to do is to educate the human race not to chuck their rubbish overboard and that might take a while
what happens to the collected plastic waste? Dumping is also not a Solution!!!
Very nice, now we should fine another good way to solve those garbage that you have collected to keep the environment clean and safe. :) (y)
Wow why did nobody think of this before its so simple yet brilliant i would gladly help this project
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