The Ocean Cleanup Array It is no secret that the swathes of plastic accumulating in the Earth&rs

The Ocean Cleanup ArrayIt is no secret that the swathes of plastic accumulating in the Earth’s oceans are having an increasingly adverse effect upon their fragile ecosystems. Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat, despite being younger than many of the plastics in question at just 21 years of age, has been one of the most important figures in seeking a feasible solution to this problem. The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Slat, successfully tested a small-scale prototype for plastic removal in the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) last week, bringing the ambitious project one step closer to fruition.The huge patches of plastic which Slat aims to tackle have accumulated as a result of oceanic and wind currents causing the amalgamation of individual plastic items. These areas of litter circulate the oceans in gyres; large systems of rotating oceanic currents largely caused by the Coriolis effect. Some estimate that one such patch within the Pacific ocean is the size of Texas, and it is becoming increasingly visible from space.Traditionally the methods put forward for tackling these areas rely on active collection of plastics using ships and nets. These have been dismissed by many as contradictory due to their high impact in terms of fuel emissions and the ecological damages of using nets.The simple yet ingenious invention proposed by The Ocean Cleanup, the “Ocean Cleanup Array” as depicted in the illustration above, comprises a gargantuan V-shaped anchored barrier which floats at the surface of the ocean. This barrier skims off any waste within 3 metres of the sea surface, and concentrates the plastics at the apex of the V as they move along with various currents. These are then collected by a rig anchored at the apex, and are later collected by a ship - taking the plastics back to shore for recycling.Due to the absence of nets and the device’s shallow penetration, neutrally buoyant objects such as fish can simply pass beneath the array, minimising the project’s impact upon the ecosystem it seeks to preserve. The static nature of the array almost eliminates the need for fuel expenditure, greatly reducing both its cost (estimated to be 33x cheaper than conventional, active methods at just $6 per kilo) and its impact upon the environment.With the successful prototype test last week, it is expected that a full-scale 2000 metre long array will be deployed off the coasts of Japan and the Netherlands as early as 2016, bringing the hope of a cheap, efficient solution closer to reality.-A.G.C.Image:http://bit.ly/1i7it3uSources:http://bit.ly/1i7it3uhttp://bit.ly/1iYURFI -- source link
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