{"id":10776,"date":"2016-03-19T04:51:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T11:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10776"},"modified":"2016-03-19T04:51:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T11:51:43","slug":"cleaning-the-oceans-and-flying-on-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/cleaning-the-oceans-and-flying-on-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning the Oceans and Flying on Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremy Rowsell, an Australian pilot and concerned environmentalist, has seen plastic littering beaches around the world, and knows of the micro-plastic particles ingested by fish and sea birds.\u00a0 His hope four years ago was to fly a Cessna from Australia to London and back<\/a> \u2013 powered by fuel made from that waste plastic.<\/p>\n

\"RV-9A,

RV-9A, faster than the originally-planned 172<\/p><\/div>\n

That event never came, and Rowsell is back with a still ambitious plan to fly an RV-9A from San Francisco, California (the world\u2019s innovation hub, according to the project\u2019s web site) to Anchorage, Alaska (the world\u2019s climate change frontier), following a safer route than the originally planned oceanic journey.<\/p>\n

The Problem and One Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

Partnering with Plasticenergy, a Spanish company that uses \u201cend-of-life\u201d plastic to make commercially viable fuel \u201csuitable for all diesel engines,\u201d Rowsell\u2019s flight would demonstrate that keeping plastic waste out of the world\u2019s oceans could have economic, as well as environmental, benefits.<\/p>\n

In the oceans, plastic photodegrades over time, turning into smaller and smaller pieces that can finally be ingested by the tiniest of sea creatures.\u00a0 We\u2019ve added microparticles in home cleaning and beauty agents, allowing them to scrub dirt away, but flushed down the sink with that dirt and eventually infesting the waterways of the world.\u00a0 All that plastic in the tiny creatures is eaten, along with the tiny creatures, by larger fish.\u00a0 Eventually, it ends up on our plates, a partially plastic seafood meal.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gmPDdMHgCmQ<\/p>\n

With millions of plastic water and beverage bottles negligently tossed every day, we\u2019ve managed to fill the oceans to the point where some experts claim that plastic will outweigh sea life by 2050.\u00a0 Phys.org<\/em> explains,<\/a> \u201cAt least eight million tons of plastics find their way into the ocean every year\u2014equal to one garbage truckful every minute, said the report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which included analysis by the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fuel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plasticenergy, <\/a>the company making the fuel for the flight, explains the benefits of using plastic to make diesel.\u00a0 \u201cThe fuel uses end of life plastic, that would otherwise end up in ocean garbage patches or landfill, where it takes hundreds of years to degrade the waste into recyclable materials. On average 900 liters per ton of fuel and 5% char per ton of fuel is produced. Out of this conversion they produce 70% diesel & kerosene and 20% naphtha. To date the plastic fuel has been approved as diesel which is suitable for all standard diesel engines.\u201d\u00a0 Even the char is usable in making floor coverings.<\/p>\n