Race for Water: the fight against ocean pollution

A boat at the cutting edge of technology

“Race for Water” left the Lorient submarine base to fight ocean pollution around the world. To do this, the eco-friendly catamaran of the future has set itself the challenge to make the sea a cleaner place, in 5 years. This mixed propulsion vessel is equipped with hydrogen bottles, photovoltaic panels, a kite sail and a fuel cell. It runs on clean, and therefore non-polluting, energy.

Saccording to the president of the Race for Water foundation, Marc Simeoni, the eponymous boat has succeeded in the energy transition challenge of “mixing different sources of clean energy” while by striving to reduce ocean pollution. But that’s not all ! In partnership with the company ETIA, Race for Water will very soon include technology for transforming plastic waste into electricity or gas. This new tool should be delivered in fall 2017.

History of Race for Water, the anti-ocean pollution catamaran

Formerly called “Planet Solar”, it is the largest solar-powered boat to have circumnavigated the world from 2010 to 2012. This first expedition allowed the organization to become aware of the extent of the damage caused by microplastics on the planet. marine environment. This new expedition will therefore serve to provide solutions to the problems encountered in 2012. According to Marc Simeoni, completely cleaning the oceans of all plastic waste is a utopia. On the other hand, actions on dry land, such as the collection of waste before it reaches the sea, are essential to avoid pollution of the oceans.

The objectives

During its stops, the boat will welcome political leaders, scientists and even schoolchildren, in order to raise awareness among young people about ocean pollution. Race for Water also promotes transportable recycling containers. In partnership with the company ETIA, the foundation will set up modules so that low-income people participate in the collection of plastic waste in exchange for remuneration. Cans, bottles and other waste will be recovered and then transformed into clean energy.

The president of Race for Water emphasizes the seriousness of the situation: “in the oceans, for five kilos of fish you have one kilo of plastic. If nothing is done, there will be five kilos of plastic for five kilos of fish in 2050.”

Thanks to all these actions, the foundation has set itself 4 main objectives to accomplish over these 5 years:

1. Promote waste processing machine around the world
2. Highlight the use of mixed energies to accelerate the energy transition
3. Advance research by welcoming scientists from around the world on board the boat
4. Raise awareness among the general public about ocean pollution