1.) Sustainability Problem: Energy, water & safety

2.) Technology: A multi-directional ocean wave energy converter is being developed by the US Berkeley team with an approach that emulates natural ecosystems – the ability of muddy seafloors to absorb ocean waves within a couple of wavelengths. A synthetic-seabed-carpet is connected to a grid of generators underneath for the extraction of wave energy to generate electricity, creation of safe zones in oceans and prevention of erosion. Many current technologies harnessing ocean energy contribute to the interference of ocean currents that affect the global weather system and may harm marine life (turbines), however this solution may be more natural as it imitates “mud holes” on the coastal seafloor.

• http://taflab.berkeley.edu/uc-berkeley-ocean-wave-energy-converter/
• https://www.livescience.com/47188-ocean-turbines-renewable-energy.html
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/02/140220-five-striking-wave-and-tidal-energy-concepts/
• http://news.berkeley.edu/2014/01/28/seafloor-carpet-catches-waves-to-harness-energy/

3.) Stakeholders:

• Cities and governments attempting to mitigate disaster risk management – this technology can potentially cancel waves of large hurricanes and store them as energy.
• Residents of coastal regions.
• Public and private companies working on blue economy initiatives and water/energy technologies.
• Energy distributors.

4.) Deployment:

1. Collaborate with atmospheric science and marine life biology research teams to determine harmful impacts on ocean currents and marine life.
2. Fully proof the functionality of a pilot plant in the ocean.
3. Begin construction development of pilot plant and testing in the ocean.

5.) Reply to Octavio Franco

• Yang developed a new bioplastic called polylactide (PLLA), a biodegradable polymer made from either corn starch or sugarcane through a heating process of the polylactide to nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit, followed by slow-cooling it. However, this might not be the best solution for plastics because they can often take decades to actually break down completely, unlike often advertised. (https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2014/06/12/biodegradable-plastics-too-good-to-be-true/).

By: Sylwia Zieba

UNI: sz2673