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The Clean Oceans Project; A real solution to ridding the world's oceans of plastic pollution.

The Problem:
As a result of poor or non-existent recycling and waste handling practices, millions of tons of plastic garbage find their way into the marine environment every year, profoundly altering fragile ecosystems and threatening humans at the top of the food chain. Marine mammals, birds, and fish die from ingesting or becoming entangled in this carelessly discarded trash. Plastic pollution also damages coral reefs, litters beaches, discourages tourism, poses a navigational hazard to ships, and destroys fisheries.

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) is a slow moving spiral of ocean currents where millions of tons of floating plastic pieces of every size, shape, and color tend to congregate. The sheer size and remoteness of the affected areas coupled with the financial and technical challenges of operating in a deep-sea environment have thus far stymied remediation efforts. This problem is not isolated to the Pacific; gyres containing massive amounts of plastic trash have been discovered in each of the five major oceans of the world.

The Solution
TCOP has developed a targeted, multi-phase approach to achieving our goal of locating, removing, and processing ocean borne plastics into fuel. The process utilizes commercially available technology but is unique in its application, and is patent-pending. Remote sensing technology will be used to locate debris field concentrations, while collection systems developed by the oil spill response industry will harvest the debris without trapping or injuring marine animals. Our uunique plastic-to-fuel technology will then generate diesel fuel from the harvested debris to power our vessels.

Learn More at thecleanoceansproject.org

Learn more at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qBFlOqLnJ8

Topics: Marine Conservation Nature Environment North Pacific Gyre marine debris ocean conservation ocean ecology plastic pollution the great garbage patch
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    Janell Galindez

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    Dec 5 2011: Because I have studied and researched this area, The Clean Oceans Project (TCOP) is by far a worthwhile endeavor. Not only will this project clean up the oceanic environment, but also TCOP provides monetary and real world solutions to developing and developed countries. Plastic to Fuel? Brilliant!

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