No mention of the carbon footprint of this thing.
In principle negative by one measure since you are recovering energy (embedded in the outputs, possibly to then be used as fuel) if done well.
Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
21–30 of 46 posts
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#22All carbon that comes from fossil sources should be avoided.
This is only a good idea if it prevents further extraction of oil or coal.
Otherwise we will just be adding more extra carbon to the carbon cycle, by dumping CO2 into the atmosphere.
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#23I feel like I see one of these every few years. I remember the Japanese one from a while back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8 The article does mention this particular technique tries to get bigger yields and remove the need of sorting that other methods require. If it works as they claim, I could see it working for mining landfills, but when it comes to plastic patches in the ocean, I have trouble seeing…
> I have trouble seeing a ship being able to recover enough plastic to be greater than its fuel use skimming through it. I don't think this would be the idea. I think by making it worth money to recycle the plastic it doesn't get into the oceans. It's certainly not worthwhile trying to getting the existing plastic out of the oceans, this has been well covered by engineers.
> It's certainly not worthwhile trying to getting the existing plastic out of the oceans, this has been well covered by engineers.
Can you link to some info on this?
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#24I feel like I see one of these every few years. I remember the Japanese one from a while back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8 The article does mention this particular technique tries to get bigger yields and remove the need of sorting that other methods require. If it works as they claim, I could see it working for mining landfills, but when it comes to plastic patches in the ocean, I have trouble seeing…
> I have trouble seeing a ship being able to recover enough plastic to be greater than its fuel use skimming through it.
Surely it could just be solar powered? Autonomous even?
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't even have to recycle it. Burning it for heat energy is enough. Most plastic only produces water and co2 when burned...
Are you sure about that? As a younger person I burned a few samples of various things called 'plastic' and the fumes sure smelled like maybe I should be sterile by now.
Ditto, the sibling posts seem to cover it except for printed plastics, even if the plastic is good the printing probably wasn't/isn't.
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#26Plastic-to-diesel plant set for Nova Scotia -
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14307390
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't even have to recycle it. Burning it for heat energy is enough. Most plastic only produces water and co2 when burned...
Are you sure about that? As a younger person I burned a few samples of various things called 'plastic' and the fumes sure smelled like maybe I should be sterile by now.
"the fumes sure smelled like maybe I should be sterile by now"
You, sir, have just enriched the English language.
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have trouble seeing a ship being able to recover enough plastic to be greater than its fuel use skimming through it. I don't think this would be the idea. I think by making it worth money to recycle the plastic it doesn't get into the oceans. It's certainly not worthwhile trying to getting the existing plastic out of the oceans, this has been well covered by engineers.
> It's certainly not worthwhile trying to getting the existing plastic out of the oceans, this has been well covered by engineers. Can you link to some info on this?
Well here's a couple of articles quoting scientists. I mean the idea doesn't pass a smell test. If plastics are bad in the oceans how can you remove them in something so big without wiping out ecosystems at the same time?
One of the quotes (theoceancleanup) here is a idea from a 17 year old teenager (now 22) who was kickstarted. This also fails a pretty big smell test.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/26/ocean-cl...
https://www.kcet.org/redefine/6-reasons-that-floating-ocean-...
Compared to something simple like collecting it before it hit the oceans and you can dump it into something cheap like a truck and process it which it's easy to see how it does work?
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#29All carbon that comes from fossil sources should be avoided. This is only a good idea if it prevents further extraction of oil or coal. Otherwise we will just be adding more extra carbon to the carbon cycle, by dumping CO2 into the atmosphere.
In fact, having the carbon stored in the garbage patch is better for the environment (and the organisms that depend on a stable environment) than burning it and releasing it into the atmosphere.
Re: Turning Plastic to Oil, U.K. Startup Sees Money in Saving Oceans
#30Before long we're going to campaign protecting the unique ecosystem that arose on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Patch is shrinking, we will say, due to ongoing cleaning/mining operations, and its endemic creatures are struggling without their home.