Environmental as in metal and other chemical contaminants from old shipping I presume you mean.
I get that. Was just thinking all this energy is going into the perfect WEC generating solution from so many companies - all struggling with a hostile marine environment, all wanting to monetize complex technology and patents, and 30 - 40 years now evolving. No commercialisation yet.
One thing you rarely hear people comment on is the other reason why solar panels are so successfully being deployed around the world - apart from the huge reductions in manufacturing cost.
That reason is : their simplicity. One off installation, designed for outdoor environments, last for years and years with little or no maintenance (note : not talking inverters, batteries and other hardware here, just the panels themselves and their simple framing tracks.) In time, the other components will fall in cost, and be more reliable.
Simple solutions easily understood and deployable usually win the war, history shows.
So forget about dirty old ship frames full of lead etc. - however some other form of massive ballast might work, and avoid drilling into seabeds - also not particularly eco-friendly by the way.
Quite ironic really that in our haste to no longer be coal miners, we are happy instead to mine lithium, cobalt, vanadium etc. etc. with no thought given to the waste disposal problem created. Does Elon care about that ?
Everything we dig up must become surface pollution at some point. Benign solutions are best IMO.
p.s. thanks for the link - got a sister who lectures nearby
CCE Price at posting:
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