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Alan Green looks at 2021, discussing markets plus stocks including #ECR, #GGP, #PHE, #EQT and more on UK Investor Magazine podcast
2021 Outlook: Gold, ESG, Oil, Brexit and shares to watch in the new year
Alan Green looks at 2021, discussing markets plus stocks including ECR Minerals #ECR, Greatland Gold #GGP, Powerhouse Energy #PHE, EQTEC #EQT and more on UK Investor Magazine podcast
PowerHouse Energy (PHE) Placing and Issue of Equity
PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic and used tyres, is pleased to announce an equity fund raising by way of a placing of 130,000,000 Ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) at 0.5p per Ordinary Share (the “Placing Price”) to raise £650,000 before expenses.
PowerHouse has undertaken this placing to provide it with the capital to ensure the continuity and expansion of its commercial and engineering efforts for the foreseeable future.
This placing, was carried out exclusively by Turner Pope Investments, with the majority of their clients looking to take advantage of the EIS relief for which the Company has recently received HMRC advanced assurance, and that should be available on the newly issued shares.
In addition to the placing, a holder of PHE warrants has chosen to exercise those warrants at 0.5p which will provide the Company with an additional £50,000 of capital from the exercise. That holder has committed to hold the 10,000,000 Ordinary Shares arising from the exercise for a period of at least 18 months.
Keith Allaun, CEO of the Company, said: “With this money secured, we are confident that we will be able to achieve our on-going commercial objectives as well as expand our testing and engineering capability with new personnel and with newly acquired, highly-specialised, equipment. We also intend to further enhance our IP protection related to the DMG® System and EcoSynthesis Gas© production.”
Application will be made for the admission of 140,000,000 Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM and it is expected that this will occur on or around 10 December 2018. These shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company’s existing issued Ordinary Shares.
Subsequent to the issue of Ordinary Shares, the Company will have 1,856,431,621?Ordinary Shares in issue. PowerHouse has no shares in Treasury, therefore this figure may be used by Shareholders, from Admission, as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
For more information, contact:
PowerHouse Energy Group plc
Keith Allaun, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser)
James Joyce / Chris Viggor
Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd (Sole Broker)
Andy Thacker
Tel: +44 (0) 203 621 4120
Ikon Associates (Media enquiries)
Adrian Shaw
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291
Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733
About PowerHouse Energy
PowerHouse Energy has developed a proprietary process technology – DMG® – which can utilise waste plastic, end-of-life-tyres, and other waste streams to efficiently and economically convert them into EcoSynthesis Gas© from which valuable products such as chemical precursors, hydrogen, electricity and other industrial products may be derived. The PowerHouse technology is one of the world’s first proven, modular, hydrogen from waste (HfW) processes.
The PowerHouse DMG® process can generate in excess of 1 tonne of road-fuel quality H2, and more than 28MW/h of exportable electricity per day with its low-carbon technology.
The PowerHouse process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.
PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market under the ticker: PHE, and is incorporated in the United Kingdom.
For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
Powerhouse Energy #PHE – Operational Update
PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic and used tyres and developer of the DMG® System continues to seek additional commercialistion opportunities for its technology.
In conjunction with its Project Development Partner, Waste2Tricity, Ltd, PHE has met with 2 substantial waste suppliers to advance negotiations, supply detailed technical information, discuss detailed operational matters, and explore realistic deployment opportunities interfacing with existing installations. Both negotiations have the possibility to lead to multiple DMG® System deployments, however at this stage there is no assurance that either of these, or any other, negotiations that Waste2Tricity are engaged in on behalf of PHE will come to fruition.
PHE has also engaged with, and have provided significant technical detail to, a major UK-based, multi-national EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) company to support Waste2Tricity’s negotiations on behalf of both itself, and PHE, to obtain a system “wrap” and guarantee on the first deployment of the DMG® System and that these negotiations are ongoing. However, as previously stated, these, and other negotiations, may not result in reaching a satisfactory commercial agreement.
Per our joint-development agreement of January 2017, PowerHouse Energy Group continues to support Waste2Tricity’s efforts in building a pipeline of commercially viable potential projects.
PowerHouse yesterday announced the successful receipt of the “Statement of Feasibility” from DNV-GL under the RP-A203 Technical Assessment protocol.
For more information, contact:
PowerHouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399
Keith Allaun, Chief Executive Officer
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666
James Joyce / Chris Viggor
Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 621 4120
Ben Turner / James Pope
Ikon Associates(Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291
Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733
About PowerHouse Energy
PowerHouse Energy has developed a proprietary process technology called DMG® which can use waste plastic end-of-life-tyres and other waste streams to convert them into cost efficient energy in the form of electricity and ultra clean hydrogen gas fuel for use in cars and commercial vehicles (FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles) and other industrial uses. The PowerHouse technology is the world’s first proven, modular hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.
The PowerHouse DMG® process can generate in excess of 1 tonne of road-fuel quality hydrogen, and in excess of 28 mW/h of exportable electricity per day.
The PHE process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.
PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market. The Company is incorporated in the United Kingdom.
For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
About Waste2tricity, Ltd
Established in 2008, Waste2Tricity is a structured solutions provider to the energy-from-waste (EfW) sector, an industry supplying increasing amounts of electricity using feedstock diverted from landfill. Waste2Tricity works with clients and partners to develop, fund and support EfW deployment projects that use proven technology, are profitable and progressive. In the case of PHE these projects will use high temperature thermal conversion and ultra-efficient gas engines to convert waste plastic to energy and in the future can produce hydrogen to support the growth of the hydrogen economy.
For more information see www.waste2tricity.com.
About DNV GL
Today DNV GL is a globally leading quality assurance and risk management company. With 100,000 customers across the maritime, oil and gas, energy, food and healthcare industries, as well as a range of other sectors, DNV GL helps companies to become safer, smarter and greener.
Driven by our purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organizations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. Operating in more than 100 countries, our professionals are dedicated to helping our customers in the maritime, oil & gas, energy and other industries to make the world safer, smarter and greener.
In the power and renewables industry
DNV GL delivers world-renowned testing and advisory services to the energy value chain including renewables and energy efficiency. Our expertise spans onshore and offshore wind power, solar, conventional generation, transmission and distribution, smart grids, and sustainable energy use, as well as energy markets and regulations. Our experts support customers around the globe in delivering a safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy supply.
For more information see www.dnvgl.com
Successful Independent Technology Assessment of PowerHouse Energy’s #PHE proprietary DMG® by leading certification authority DNV GL
PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic and used tyres is pleased to announce it has received an independent “Statement of Feasibility” for its proprietary full-scale commercial engineering design for the waste to power and waste to hydrogen technology processes known as DMG®.
This independent review of PowerHouse Energy’s technology was undertaken by DNV GL, a global leader in technical assurance certification. This Phase one of the Technology Qualification process, was built into PowerHouse Energy’s extensive engineering, safety and risk management programme which has taken several months to complete. The programme involved a robust and rigorous review of the engineering design, test data, process modelling and the equipment engineering design required for the commercial application of the DMG® technology.
The DNV GL Statement of Feasibility is issued by DNV GL when their Technology Assessment finds no prohibitive obstacles under the DNV GL Technology Qualification process RP-A203. PowerHouse Energy look forward to continued involvement with DNV GL to work through the RP-A203 process to finalise the Technology Qualification with our first commercial site as is customary.
The Statement of Feasibility reads: “The PowerHouse Energy Group’s DMG® Waste-to-Energy technology can convert 25 tonnes per day of feedstock comprising high calorific value waste materials.”
In relation to the outputs from the technology process it adds: “The produced energy-rich syngas can be combusted to produce power for distributed electrical generation. The DMG® technology allows for integrating a process for the co-production of high purity hydrogen (1 tonne per day) from a proportion of the syngas in addition to generating power.”
The benefits of the DMG® process listed include:
- Waste elimination with high levels of energy recovery
- Production of electrical power for distribution
- Ability to co-produce high purity hydrogen with electrical power
It also confirms that the modular design of the DMG® process complies with all current regulations and statutory requirements and also with availability and operational demands.
This third party endorsement of the generic commercial design and equipment is a major milestone in the planned technical development programme leading to a full-scale build.
This Statement of Feasibility represents a positive development for PowerHouse Energy and its shareholders as it confirms that the DMG® technology will thermally convert waste plastic and end of use tyres into high purity hydrogen and energy.
This underscores PowerHouse Energy’s technical credibility and should provide an additional level of reassurance to prospective customers, users, and development partners of the DMG® technology.
The DMG® modular process is a novel means of dealing with waste that can also establish the foundation for low-cost distributed road fuel quality hydrogen and locally distributed electricity.
David Ryan, Engineering Director of PowerHouse Energy, commented: “Gaining this Statement of Feasibility provides us with a key foundation in the engineering and risk mitigation programme giving us great confidence in the scale up and roll out of the technology. Furthermore, it provides our partners in the waste management industry with a key element of the independent technical assurance needed to finalise site application specific commercial agreements to utilise the DMG® technology to reduce the volumes of waste plastics sent to landfill.
Our expectations are that, with our planned engineering and risk management in place, the commercial operation our DMG® technology will exceed 1 tonne of hydrogen production and generate in excess of 2MW of electricity per DMG® unit and we should achieve full Certification against the DNV GL Technology Qualification process at our first site”
Keith Allaun, CEO of PowerHouse Energy, added:
“We sought this Technology Assessment of our engineering design by one of the world’s most highly respected evaluators of new technologies. DNV GL confirms both our technology design and the rigour of our engineering approach. Our team has worked relentlessly over the last 18 months to get the DMG®technology to its existing commercialisation phase.
“This independent assessment of our proprietary DMG® Technology adds further credibility to the considerable scope that exists for its commercial application globally in the many sectors where efficient and responsible use of non-recyclable and waste plastics and end of life tyres as well as the creation of clean energy has a role to play.
“We would not be here today without the efforts, patience, and forward-thinking of all of the stakeholders in PowerHouse: our team, our partners, and our shareholders. The Board looks forward to further progress as we drive forward with the commercialisation and licensing strategy.”
ENDS
For more information, contact:
| PowerHouse Energy Group plc Keith Allaun, Chief Executive Officer |
Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399 |
| WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) James Joyce / Chris Viggor |
Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 |
| Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Ben Turner / James Pope |
Tel: +44 (0) 203 621 4120 |
| Ikon Associates (Media enquiries) Adrian Shaw |
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291 Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733 |
Notes for editors:
About PowerHouse Energy
PowerHouse Energy has developed a proprietary process technology – DMG® – which can utilise waste plastic, end-of-life-tyres, and other waste streams to efficiently and economically convert them into EcoSynthesis gas from which valuable products such as chemical precursors, hydrogen, electricity and other industrial products may be derived. The PowerHouse technology is one of the world’s first proven, modular, hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.
The PowerHouse DMG® process can generate in excess of 1 tonne of road-fuel quality H2, and more than 28MW/h of exportable electricity per day.
The PowerHouse process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.
PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market under the ticker: PHE, and is incorporated in the United Kingdom.
For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
About DNV GL
Today DNV GL is a globally leading quality assurance and risk management company. With 100,000 customers across the maritime, oil and gas, energy, food and healthcare industries, as well as a range of other sectors, DNV GL helps companies to become safer, smarter and greener.
Driven by our purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organizations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. Operating in more than 100 countries, our professionals are dedicated to helping our customers in the maritime, oil & gas, energy and other industries to make the world safer, smarter and greener.
In the power and renewables industry
DNV GL delivers world-renowned testing and advisory services to the energy value chain including renewables and energy efficiency. Our expertise spans onshore and offshore wind power, solar, conventional generation, transmission and distribution, smart grids, and sustainable energy use, as well as energy markets and regulations. Our experts support customers around the globe in delivering a safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy supply.
Brand CEO Alan Green talks Bacanora Lithium #BCN, Powerhouse Energy #PHE, Bluefield Solar Fund #BSIF & SciSys #SSY with Justin Waite on Vox Markets podcast.
Alan Green CEO of Brand Communications discusses Bacanora Lithium (BCN), Powerhouse Energy (PHE), Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) & Scisys (SSY) with Justin Waite on the Vox Markets podcast. The interview is 19 minutes 7 seconds in.
Powerhouse Energy #PHE CEO Keith Allaun & Director David Ryan discuss progress with Justin Waite on the Vox Markets Podcast
Keith Allaun, CEO and David Ryan, Technical Director of Powerhouse Energy #PHE discuss progress at the company and why David purchased £30,000 of shares at a 40% premium to the current price…plus Alan Green CEO of Brand Communications discusses Catenae Innovation (CTEA) Crawshaw Group (CRAW) Gordon Dadds Group (GOR) Predator Oil & gas (PRD)
Powerhouse Energy Group #PHE Issue of Equity
PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic and used tyres, announces that the Company is issuing 12,504,924 ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) to service providers for the settlement of fees. 11,707,317 of these Ordinary Shares are being issued at 0.5125p and 797,607 Ordinary Shares are being issued at 0.5015p in accordance with the terms of the relevant service agreements.
Application has been made for the admission of 12,504,924 Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM and it is expected that this will occur on or around 14 August 2018. These shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company’s existing issued Ordinary Shares.
Subsequent to the issue of Ordinary Shares, the Company will have 1,681,764,954 Ordinary Shares in issue.
PowerHouse has no shares in Treasury, therefore this figure may be used by Shareholders, from Admission, as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
For more information, contact:
PowerHouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399
Keith Allaun, Chief Executive Officer
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666
James Joyce / Chris Viggor
Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 621 4120
Ben Turner / James Pope
Ikon Associates(Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291
Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733
About PowerHouse Energy
PowerHouse Energy Group plc is the developer of DMG©, the distributed, modular, thermal conversion system which allows for the distributed eradication of waste, the generation of distributed electricity, and the production of distributed hydrogen with the world’s first small, modular, hydrogen from waste process (HfW).
The Company is focused on technologies to enable efficient energy recovery from municipal and industrial waste streams that would otherwise be directed to landfills and incinerators; or from renewable and alternative fuels such as biomass, tyres, and plastics for power generation, or the production of high-quality hydrogen as a fuel for transport. DMG© allows for easy, economical, deployment and scaling of an environmentally sound solution to the growing challenges of waste eradication, landfill diversion, electrical demand, and distributed hydrogen production.
The PowerHouse DMG© process can generate in excess of 1 tonne of road-fuel quality H2, and in excess of 28MW/h of exportable electricity per day.
The PHE process produces very low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community levels.
PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market. The Company is incorporated in the United Kingdom.
For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
PowerHouse Energy #PHE – All resolutions passed at today’s AGM
PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic and used tyres, is pleased to announce that all resolutions proposed at its AGM held today were duly passed.
ENDS
For more information, contact:
PowerHouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399
Keith Allaun, Chief Executive Officer
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666
James Joyce / Chris Viggor
Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 621 4120
Ben Turner / James Pope
Ikon Associates(Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291
Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733
About PowerHouse Energy
PowerHouse Energy has developed a proprietary process technology called DMG® which can use waste plastic end-of-life-tyres and other waste streams to convert them into cost efficient energy in the form of electricity and ultra clean hydrogen gas fuel for use in cars and commercial vehicles (FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles) and other industrial uses. The PowerHouse technology is the world’s first proven, modular hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.
The PowerHouse DMG® process can generate in excess of 1 tonne of road-fuel quality H2, and in excess of 28MW/h of exportable electricity.
The PHE process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.
PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market. The Company is incorporated in the United Kingdom.
For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
PowerHouse Energy #PHE – AGM Statement..full commercial operation should commence in the latter half of 2019
PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company pioneering hydrogen production from waste plastic and used tyres, is holding its Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) at 11.00am today. The general update to be provided by the Board at the AGM will include the following statement:
“As stated in our recent results we are on track with the engineering design of the DMG® process and can report the latest performance and modelling data is showing strong results in terms of the outputs from a variety of feedstocks. The generic Front End Engineering Design (FEED) Engineering is now complete, allowing initial safety design reviews and independent third party design reviews to be initiated on schedule.
“The commercialisation phase is now well underway, further building on our existing strategic partner relationships, with encouraging discussions taking place with a number of potential commercial partners and end users, in the main arising from the waste management, transport and cement production sectors.
“While our intent was to have our first commercial facility operational by the end of 2018, lead time delays in material acquisition and operational financing have now made that unlikely. It is worth noting that while a portion of the funds raised over the past 18 months were used to progress the Company’s test-engineering and operational efforts, the majority of funds were used to repay the Hillgrove Note – an absolute necessity for the Company’s future – which created an impediment to the speed of our commercial engineering efforts.
“We are now focussing on application and site specific financing packages and permitting for market led applications which will optimise returns to shareholders and customers alike. The build and commissioning of the first DMG® system will take, depending on specific customer requirements, in the order of 12 months to complete. Consequently, the Board’s revised view is that, dependent upon acquiring finance for the facility in a timely manner, full commercial operation should commence in the latter half of 2019.
“We are also actively pursuing a number of grant applications, which if successful, will result in additional funding during 2019.
“We look forward to positive progress during the rest of the year and beyond as the commercialisation strategy for our proprietary DMG® technology platform targets revenues to move PowerHouse towards becoming a profitable and sustainable business meeting the ever growing global needs for efficient elimination of plastic waste and end of use tyres and the production of clean energy.”
ENDS
For more information, contact:
PowerHouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399
Keith Allaun, Chief Executive Officer
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666
James Joyce / Chris Viggor
Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 621 4120
Ben Turner / James Pope
Ikon Associates(Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291
Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733
About PowerHouse Energy
PowerHouse Energy has developed a proprietary process technology called DMG® which can use waste plastic end-of-life-tyres and other waste streams to convert them into cost efficient energy in the form of electricity and ultra clean hydrogen gas fuel for use in cars and commercial vehicles (FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles) and other industrial uses. The PowerHouse technology is the world’s first proven, modular hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.
The PowerHouse DMG® process can generate in excess of 1 tonne of road-fuel quality H2, and in excess of 28MW/h of exportable electricity.
The PHE process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.
PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market. The Company is incorporated in the United Kingdom.
For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
Plastic pollution: Skipper describes horror at seeing ‘endless’ ocean of rubbish on Pacific research expedition – The Independent
Exclusive: ‘How do you convey – when you wake up on day four and you’re still seeing this plastic pouring past the boat? The feeling just makes your stomach clench’
By Josh Gabbatiss Science Correspondent
An experienced skipper who is currently sailing through the world’s largest ocean rubbish patch has described how her stomach “clenched” when she was faced with the terrible reality of the planet’s plastic crisis.
Emily Penn is leading an all-women expedition through the Pacific Ocean on a mission to tackle the plastic pollution that is choking marine environments, killing animals and even threatening human health.
“The most alarming thing is just the number of pieces that are moving past the boat every time you look out,” says Ms Penn, a sailor with a history of environmental activism.
“You might get a bundle of fishing net, a washing basket, a chair; then you see bottle tops, toothbrushes, combs – people’s belongings basically. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s what we have been experiencing on a daily basis for the past 500 miles or so,” she says.
The eXXpedition crew, which consists of women from a variety of backgrounds including scientists, artists and sailors, departs Hawaii (thesituationroom.tv)
At least 8 million tonnes of plastic is dumped in the ocean every year, and a large proportion ultimately ends up in one of the five major ocean gyres; drawn in by winds and ocean currents.
The largest of these gyres, dubbed the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, covers an area of 1.6 million square kilometres.
It is this enormous expanse that Ms Penn and her “eXXpedition” crew of scientists, sailors and artists is crossing on a trip that will take them from the plastic-strewn beaches of Hawaii to the shores of North America – the source of so much of this waste.
Speaking to The Independent via satellite phone from the Sea Dragon, a 72ft (22m) scientific exploration vessel, Ms Penn described the low mood that set in as they entered the plastic soup.
“How do you convey – when you wake up on day four and you’re still seeing this plastic pouring past the boat. The feeling just makes your stomach clench,” she says.
The team is collecting samples and data that will then be sent to research institutions in the UK, Canada, Switzerland and the US.
The crew has come across all sorts of marine plastics including fishing nets and household items. Here they fix a tracker to a large pile of marine debris so researchers can track it and better understand ocean currents (eXXpedition)
This information is valuable, because owing to their remote locations there is still a lot scientists do not know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and other plastic accumulation zones.
Horrific images of turtles tangled in fishing nets and whales with stomachs full of bags have shocked the world, but the eXXpedition crew wants to investigate the subtler effects of plastic pollution.
Their samples will be examined for traces of chemicals like pesticides and flame retardants that have the potential to leach into the bodies of animals and – ultimately – humans.
The eXXpedition team is studying microplastics and toxics in the North Pacific Gyre, and they have found large amounts of microplastics in each sample collected (eXXpedition)
Being out in the open ocean has made the crew acutely aware of the interactions between wild animals and plastic waste.
“We are looking into the water and seeing fragments of plastic, and then 20m away we see an albatross feeding on squid which looks just like that plastic,” says Ms Penn.
The key to solving this problem, she says, is first to raise awareness and then to cut off the flow of plastic before it enters the ocean.
“There are trillions of fragments covering this part of the planet and it’s just endless, it goes on and on, and not only here in the North Pacific but other parts of the world as well,” says Ms Penn.
“It’s taken us weeks to get here under challenging conditions, and the idea then of trying to extract the little fragments you just realise – gosh – we have to solve this problem at the source. By the time it’s out here it’s too late.”