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Comment by witherk | Hacker News Reader

Interesting Idea! This seems like an elegant but somewhat expensive solution. Does the power consumed by pumping tons of air 24/7 offset the ecological gains by the system? If this can stop microscopic plastic than it would probably also stop microscopic creatures. Are there shore based ecosystems that rely on those creatures coming to shore, or vice versa?

Anyways still seems worth trying.

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From the FAQ[1]:

> Is it possible to remove microplastics from water by using a Bubble Barrier? During the Berlin Bubble Barrier Pilot, the Bubble Barrier was able to catch plastic as small as 1 millimetre. It depends on the catchment system whether the microplastics are able to be brought ashore. In the pilot at Wervershoof, we are investigating whether we can catch microplastics measuring 20 micrometers up to 500 micrometers (0,5 millimeters).

Only stopping larger plastic could be enough of a win, I think, as this would prevent it from being broken down into microplastic...

[^1]: https://thegreatbubblebarrier.com/en/faq-en/

If it’s wind / solar, absolutely. A compressor for that canal run is probably using 1-2KW/h, comparable to a small shop. If the compressor itself is cooled by the water you’re even putting back some of the sun or wind energy that would have gone into it :)

Could even use tidal as it lies in a river

Your units are wonky. I'll assume you mean 1-2 kW, a unit of power output. kW/h would be a rate of increase of power (e.g. "The generator is producing 500 kW now, and can safely ramp up at a rate of 100 kW/h.")

in the US Kilowatt-hour is commonly used like that, and not as a rate of change - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour

The kW*h doesn't make sense in this context, either. It is a unit of energy, and would imply a one-time cost to have bubbles made from then on.

A kWh is not a kW/h. Also, a device used continuously would use a number of kWh over a time period... So kWh/h or kW. If you were discussing a process, you might say it takes so many kWh per cycle, like charging a battery or producing an item, etc.

It would be a kilowatt-hours per hour in this case, also known as kilowatts.

And as soon as the wind stops and the sun gets obscured by clouds or the earth, the bubbles stop, and off goes the plastic :) Apart from that, I'd think that the amount of energy required to move the air down is massive. Also, not sure wear and tear on the (plastic) structure can be handled in a sensible manner over the long-term...

>Does the power consumed by pumping tons of air 24/7 offset the ecological gains by the system?

I was thinking along the same lines. I'm guessing it would be cheaper to concentrate all the plastic close to the source so it can be easily collected. Compared to sending N boats out to M garbage patches that exist, I'm thinking this will be more efficient.

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