A mission to educate communities worldwide on the fight against plastic waste has drawn the Odyssey Race for Water vessel to Fiji.
The Odyssey, a unique shaped catamaran, left Lorient, northwestern France, in April 2017 for a five-year expedition around the world in order to propose, on one hand, solutions for the preservation of the oceans against plastic pollution.
The other purpose is to promote the energy transition from the use of fossil fuels to clean renewable forms of energy as exemplified by Race for Water, which sails exclusively through a solar-hydrogen-kite hybrid propulsion.
Port Denarau Limited general manager Cynthia Rasch said Race for Water, ambassador, The Odyssey Race for Water 2017-2021 arrived in the country on December 21 and will remain until January 19, 2019.
“The Odyssey has chosen Port Denarau Marina as its official marina during their Fiji stopover,” she said.
“Indeed, as at each of their stopovers, they plan to organise in Fiji with local partners a press conference (with local authorities on board), school tours with a special Ocean Preservation exhibition, general public conferences to discuss local issues and think about the implementation of solutions such as the plastic energy project they propose.”
At each stopover, the Race for Water Foundation develops local actions according to the three pillars of its Learn/Share/Act programme:
- Learn: Contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge about water pollution by plastics;
- Share: Alert decision-makers, raise public awareness and educate younger generations; and
- Act: Promote and implement solutions for converting plastic waste into energy by ensuring sustainable economic, environmental and social impacts.
About the vessel
In 2010, Swiss entrepreneur Marco Simeoni established the Foundation in Lausanne and devoted all his entrepreneurial spirit for the benefit of the oceans.
With his passion for the sea, he decided in 2015 to launch a scientific and environmental expedition, the Race for Water Odyssey, to make the first one-swoop global assessment of our ocean’s plastic pollution.
Since April 2017, Race for Water has embarked on a second oceanic tour aiming to provide concrete, technology-based solutions for the preservation of the oceans.
With their partner ETIA, then developed a leading-edge technology of high temperature pyrolysis to recover the high calorific value of plastic litter and convert it into an energy-rich synthesised gas (syngas) which can be use to produce electricity.
Source: Fiji Sun