At greeNEWit, we’re always striving to stay on the forefront of energy efficiency and green technologies. And when we come across something spectacular, we like to spread the word. That’s why we’re here to tell you about Seawer. No it’s not the place where you send refuse and where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live. It’s a floating skyscraper that turns garbage into clean energy. We’ll let you read that one more time. Got it? No? That’s okay; it took a little explaining to get us used to the idea. Before we get into what Seawer is, let’s talk about why it exists.
The GPGP
The GPGP, an abbreviation for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is one of planet earth’s most unsettling features. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the GPGP is a massive concentration of debris including plastics and chemical sludge, with estimates of its size ranging from larger than Texas to twice the size of the United States. However most people don’t even know it exists. How? The GPGP is composed largely of microplastics, invisible to the naked eye, but incredibly harmful to the environment and deadly to aquatic life.
The Seawer
The Seawer is a proposed underwater structure not unlike a drainage hole, roughly 550 meters in diameter and 300 meters deep that would be built directly in the middle of the GDGP. The Seawer is designed to suck in all manner of waterborne debris and seawater and would consist of five layers of baleen filters (filters modeled after the bristle like structures in baleen whale’s mouths) which are designed to separate particles from the water. After the particles are separated from the water they are to be sucked up to the top of the structure where a built in recycling plant processes the plastic into clean energy.
While the Seawer has yet to be built, its designers are campaigning for funding from investors.
greeNEWit is All About Clean Energy
At greeNEWit, we’re always looking for new ways to improve energy efficiency, saving precious natural resources, and developing ways of taking better care of our planet. In addition to providing clean energy solutions like solar panels, we're also an experienced energy audit provider and can bring the best in training, science, and technology to help you realize a more energy efficient Maryland home. Call today at 866.994.7639 or visit us at our website!