Is the Ocean Cleanup Array also powered by general fossil fuels? A US science team has now managed to transform plastics in the sea into biofuel that resolves environmental issues by facilitating power provision from rubbish during the cleanup process of the array.
The research team formed with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Harvard University has introduced a new solution for marine litter, which transforms plastic into oil under a temperature of 300-500°C and a sea level pressure of 250-300 times by using water as the reaction medium with hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL).
According to the hypothesis of the team, an installation of HTL equipment on vessels that are collecting marine plastic makes long-term stationing at certain plastic-heavy areas possible, where the collected plastic would turn to oil that will provide energy for the vessel in completing the given mission. Despite generation of carbon dioxide and trace amount of solid wastes during the process, the emission of carbon remains lower than that of general petroleum, while the solid wastes can be transported back to the pier after several months.
By doing so, all those insoluble plastics that float on the sea are finally put to good use.
Several million tons of plastic enter the ocean each year, and a segment of these has become plastic particles due to the beating of waves, while others would get accumulated into a garbage patch when they stop at the subtropical high pressure zone from the drive of ocean currents. Many environmentalists have initiated clean up procedures for enormous and “eyesore” targets such as the latter, but it always requires several vessels to carry these plastics back to the pier for processing.
The method introduced by the US science team may be more eco-friendly and efficient, and facilitates on-site processing at the scene of marine litter.
(Cover photo source: shutterstock)