Welcome to the December update. We have had some good news as well as disappointments. Starting out with the disappointments, we were not able to get a partnership working with the OSU chemical engineering department at this time. ========================================================================== Now for the good things that has been happening: I received the following letter from one of our volunteers in India that has been working in the background to assist us along the lines of the actual cleanup process that we may be using. I would like to give Pankaj Kumar a special thanks for passing on this information and the results of the work that they are accomplishing in that part of the world.

I believe is very important to note that the efforts that are being put into smaller projects such as this will have a major impact on the engineering and design that we will use for open water cleaning. I happened to come across a technology that can be incorporated into this project.

• The basic idea and purpose involved in it— This is a multipurpose boat with various equipments fitted on board.

• As it moves along the water, It picks up floating trashes like plastic bags (the most deadly pollutant), bottles, animal & human carcasses (I hope there are not very many of these…), tree limbs, solid garbage from various kinds of industries. It is done using mechanically operated hydraulic system fitted on it.

• The oil skimmer fitted on board scoops layers of oil, poisonous chemicals and foams coming out from various industries located along the riverside.

• The water treatment system installed on board works continuously. The river water is pumped into this chamber from the forward side at a rate of approx. 9600 gallons per minute ,decontaminated, injected with life supporting and cleansing oxygen and then released into the river from the rear side.

Accomplishments: For an idea, after 100 hrs of operation over a course of 10 days, following was achieved:

1. 18,500 litres of trashes collected.

2. 32,55,000 litres of oxygen injected into the water.

3. 6,30,18,000 gallons of water decontaminated.

I think, this technology may be of some help in cleaning the coastal areas of sea and oceans, if properly implemented….. Looking forward to hear from you……

– Warm Regards, Pankaj Kumar. Mumbai,India. ========================================================================== I am happy to announce that we are getting very close to the point of locking in the final design for the trimaran thanks to Dennis and Fergus. We have the overall appearance locked down based upon the design by Feargus Bryan that has been posted on the web site.

The next steps will be to make a three-dimensional model showing some of the technologies that we will be using in order to show potential sponsors and donors that we now have something solid.

We will also the work on putting together the subsystems that will be needed and a rough layout of the ship itself. We are now determining the power management system for the Trimaran…

If you have any thoughts on this please email me so that we can discuss the possibilities and options. ==========================================================================

We are in need of help in the following specific areas:

First and foremost is securing sponsorship and financial grants:

a. We need direct financial input such as Euros or Dollars. We need this money in order to be able to give presentations to members of the United Nations associated with the issues we are dealing with, individual nations that are concerned with the issues we are addressing, as well as private group or individuals that would like to assist us in this international endeavor.

b. For those that are in the know, I would appreciate contacts and names of people that you think I could approach for sponsorship or Grants.

. Hydrogen generation system. Do you have any knowledge on this subject, or do you know of an institute or group that is working on this issue that we can contact.

Again, please send your thoughts and comments to me.

==========================================================================

For those that want to be notified directly of updates please become part of my network at LinkedIn or send me your email address so I can start a database for notification. We will not give out your email address without your permission. We have no need for giving out any email address.

========================================================================= The next steps in the process will be the following:

1. Determine the overall power loading for Hotel and critical systems.

2. Storage for Hydrogen

3. Hydrogen production systems

4. Batteries to be used and how many including configuration

5. The materials that will be used in forming the hulls and bulkheads.

6. Designing the various sub-systems

7. Internal layout

8. Getting Sponsors to donate equipment and/or Grants for equipment and supplies.

========================================================================

A personal note: I want to thank everybody that has become involved in this project… even those that are just keeping up with general interest. I know that many of these ideas are going to be taken and used by designers and commercial companies… and that is OK because the focus and intent of what we are doing has a much larger picture to look at. What we want to do is to help mankind… With all the wars going on in the world as well as the increase of natural disasters, we have the opportunity to help many people that are in need of help… in many different ways.

There is a problem that is happening now with the many other groups that are just starting to look at this problem… and that is: “Paralysis through Analysis”

What makes our efforts different is that we are not spending our time on the various affects issues, we are focusing on designing ways of fixing the problem. To be sure, the problem is massive and can easily overwhelm the ordinary person… but as a Senior Level Project Manager, this is just another project that is broken down into a series of specific steps one after another.

 Baby steps…

With each step we learn and make mistakes and learn some more. With each error we have discovered another way or direction to go. I have specifically decided not to go in the direction of a “Not-for-profit” organization even though we will be operating as such. The reason is simple, first we are going to be very outspoken to show various governments and countries ways of being more Ocean-Positive in a way that is financially feasible or at least financially neutral.

 The next reason is that with not for profit organizations, I have seen all too often that a board of directors will change the mission from the original intent to being more of a money grab… I have seen large international organizations actually battle with smaller for focused individuals and groups that were making a difference (shutting them down)…. All in the name of the mighty Dollar/Euro.

I do not want this focus that we have to be lost in this way.

I feel privileged and honored to be working with each and every one of you, to listen to your ideas and thoughts on how we can work together to make the vision of this project happen. I want to express a great gratitude to the students at Oregon State University as well as the Engineering Director for their involvement. The opportunity to make this happen has been created by each and every one of you… it is truly remarkable to see the energy and effort each of you give to the project. That energy can start at sharing our vision with your friends to actual hands on assistance and sharing your efforts and abilities. This is a true example of people from all over the world coming together as one… beyond culture, beyond belief systems… working together. Thank you for your inspiration.

I wish the best for everybody and wishes of warmth, family, and prosperity to each and every person. 

Gary Darby

There is a lot that you can do directly as well as indirectly.

First and foremost we need to bring or create a community of people that will assist us in getting the word out.

What is that word?

Clean up the Ocean and you clean up the AIR

Clean up the Ocean and you fix the Global Warming situation

Clean up the ocean and you bring the fish back and feed more people

Support the group that is taking a active stance in cleaning up the Ocean… The Green Island Project.

We will change the face of super yacht requirements with technological break-through and bring “Green” concepts to everyday use with ship builders.

If we make the demand, then people will capitulate.

We need to have a partnership with engineers that can help us with designing hydrogen production systems based upon specific criteria.

We need a partnership with engineers or universities that will help us design specific fuel cells that we can use on the research vessel.

We need a partnership or donations for various internal systems and equipment such as radar, communications, sails and canvas, as well as all other internal equipment and subsystems.

We need a partnership with some Marine biologists that will work hand in hand with the engineers as we actively design equipment that will clean up various parts of the debris on the Oceans, in the Oceans, and under the Oceans…

We need supporters financially to donate that will help us find more sponsors and donations… for operational costs, for finding funding, and marketing.

We need your ideas that will help us fulfill this project in its entirety internationally.

We need you!

This last month has proved to be full of wins as well as changes in direction.

I drove down to Mojave California in order to speak to Burt Rutan (Designer of spaceship one and voyager…) His company also helped to design the hard sail wing for the American Sailing race yacht “America One.” Not surprisingly, I was not able to speak directly to Burt, but I was able to speak to others that were knowledgeable in the concept and general design of the Turbosail. Their experience and knowledge of the TurboSail was actually extensive and detailed. Apparently the TurboSail was fraught with extensive problems and issues. Although after a lot of work and tweaking the TurboSail did in fact work. But not as is reported by the various magazines. The bottom line is that we would have to start from scratch and re-design the complete system.

Although it is feasible and in my estimation desirable, it is not affordable at this time. The cost will exceed over a million US Dollars. So rather than trying to tackle that problem and issue, we will be redesigning using computer controlled canvas systems instead.

One important note on this: Rutan’s company is actually owned by Northrop-Grumman a major US company that is a major player with the shipping industry as well as the aircraft industry. It might be possible to approach NP requesting for their sponsorship to design the TurboSail as a donation or a sponsor. But we will have to have a lot of people supporting that request as well as a more impressive organization… in numbers if nothing else. What if NP got hundreds of emails requesting that they support this project? They just might do it… but we need the numbers and community support first.

The more I research the issue of Oceanic garbage cleanup the more I find that nothing is being accomplished. There is plenty of talk by the UN, marine biologist’s reports and so forth… they are spending millions accessing the damage and long term affects, but there is little in the way of engineers and designers working on the actual problem!

While everybody is analyzing the subject to death, they are paralyzed at actually accomplishing anything. That is what we are doing! We need this ship as the first step in designing some very valid systems that will actually start tackling the ocean garbage problem.

That is why everybody that is involved is so important in following through with their convictions on helping us. The Web site has been worked on in order to make it better, although it is still having problems with Apple computer browsers… I think the code will have to be changed for the front end template.

We have an active partnership with Oregon State University Engineering Department whereas the students are designing and building the power source input controller system for us. This is real exciting as I was able to go over there and spend a day with them… these are extremely smart guys.

We need to expand that for the hydrogen production system as well as the hydrogen fuel cell systems that will be critical on the ship… we will work with anybody that is willing to assist us in our efforts.

Most importantly we are financially in need; please donate a few dollars to help us out… I am spending all that I can from my own savings to support this effort and we still need more for operational costs as well as trips to track down technology and people.

Thank you everybody for their continued help and support.

Gary Darby

Director GIP

Activity Update for 20 Sept 2009 This has been a very busy month so far in making fantastic inroads in the overall design of the ship itself as well as sub-systems.

Just to start with: Contact has been made with the University of Oregon Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Departments although there has not been any response at this time in reference to those contacts. The most exciting contacts have been with the Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon. The Dean of the Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Collage was quite receptive to our ideas and referred me to Dr. Chris Goldfinger and Dr. Alan Mix (http://www.coas.oregonstate.edu/). In what turned out to be an extremely informative and productive morning of meetings with them, I am feeling very hopeful and positive for their overall support and possible recommendations.

I have been told that Burt Rutan (Designer of Spaceship One) was involved with the original design of the Turbo Sail system. So with that in mind, I have been pursuing in contacting him for possible information. While meeting with Dr. Goldfinger, I was given a lot of information about how the American Process for research ships and research requests for the actual ships occurs. Unfortunately, I was also shown how little the US actually participates in Ocean research. This information will be invaluable in the future operations and management of our vessel in the aspect of operational costs. This will help us to investigate our own opportunities in being part of the NSF fleet (http://www.nsf.gov/). I have made contact with the National Science Foundation in order to see where that will take us.

Turning to the system engineering aspect of the Trimaran, I was able to make contact with Donald Heer of Oregon State University Engineering program who was very open to the ideas and concepts behind the project. With that, we will be putting together a proposal for the Graduate Studies R&D in order to design an energy mergence subsystem that will monitor all of the various energy inputs (such as solar cell, wind electrical generation, ocean current electrical generation, etc…) in order to match the various systems together to be used for charging the batteries and other electoral needs.

Dennis Ingemansson has been working on some very important work of his own (www.dennisingemansson.com ) but has still found a little bit of free time to work on some designs and renderings for the advanced design of the Trimaran. I will get these posted in the next week or so.

Feargus Bryan who has also been one of our top key supporters and designers has also found a bit of free time in order to advance some additional renderings for designs. I will get these posted in the next week or so as well. Feargus has been greatly instrumental in helping to set up the overall load balancing, subsystems, ideas, scheduling, and many other aspects of the project. I want to specifically thank these two as well as everybody else that has taken the time to participate… for their continued efforts, support, and the advancement of the dream of this project. I look forward to the time that we can all meet together and walk upon the deck of the first International Green research vessel in history that was created and organized using the internet. There is a lot of work to be accomplished and I would like to encourage each of you to help out with a small bit of your time and expertise.

There is a lot of research needed, making contacts with people and experts, writing proposals, sourcing and writing various grants, sponsors, and requests for technology assistance. Just started a Twitter page… http://twitter.com/Green_Island_ (Will take a bit of time to get use to it and keep it updated).

The huge car carrier ship called the M/V Auriga Leader idled at the Port of Long Beach, burning through enough electricity to power 100 homes as workers loaded and unloaded a fleet of Toyotas.

But unlike any of the diesel-spewing, power-draining vessels that travel here, the Auriga Leader sports 328 solar panels on its top deck — a small array that provides 10% of the energy used by the giant ship while she is docked.

The ship — part of a demonstration project by the Port of Long Beach, Toyota and Tokyo-based shipping company NYK Line — is the first to use solar energy to help fill all of the vessel’s power needs, rather than to run auxiliary lights or serve other small functions.”

by The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar-ship2-2009jul02,0,3774663.story

Hydrogen-Powered Yacht
The world’s first hydrogen-powered yacht will be used to study pollution in the Mediterranean. The Zero Co2 project uses a clean carbon-free auxiliary motor. The 12-meter craft built by the RM shipyard of La Rochelle is equipped with an electric motor driven by a hydrogen fuel cell developed by CEA Liten of Genoble.

It is also equipped with renewable energy power sources (solar, wind, and hydro) to generate power for onboard requirements.

The yacht will travel around the Mediterranean coast as far as Turkey on a journey that will commence in March, 2010. It will be presented for the first time at the Paris Boat show in December, 2009.

A scientific platform has been installed on the yacht by the University Joseph Fournier (UJF) and its technical transfer subsidiary, Floralis. It will be used to collect scientific data on man-made pollution throughout the length of what is estimated to be a 10-month trip.
The onboard laboratory will analyze air, sea, and port sediments to evaluate the pollution from the sea and coastline.

The key aim of the project is to develop and promote new energy sources to replace fossil fuels and to lead to a reduction in carbon emissions and the mitigation of the greenhouse effects.

The Zero CO2 journey should open up amateur and professional sailors to new ways of enjoying the sea, using cutting-edge technologies that are both more respectful of the environment and more economic in terms of energy consumption.

The journey will also serve as a venue for the carrying out of research into the possibility of producing “green hydrogen” through the installation of solar panels and wind turbines on the roofs of port-side buildings.

The Zero CO2 projects hopes to raise awareness of climate change, pollution, and the importance of alternative energies to the Mediterranean population, global community, and professional or amateur sailors.

- Katrice R. Jalbuena

Hello Everybody,

Since the last update I have been focusing upon working with the design team members to get to the final design solution for the Trimaran solidified. The importance of this is so that we can get a 3-D model put together as a show piece in order to show future sponsors and donors what we are doing.

I have been in contact with Prof. Tonio Buonassisi of MIT who has been helping me in the Photovoltaic area. He has been in contact with the electric car team at MIT hoping that they will help us with the project concerning using Photovoltaic arrays as one source of power.

The overall concept of the power system is to use natural ways of power and fuel…This will hopefully be accomplished by the use of 4 wind generators, hydrogen fuel cells, Photovoltaic arrays… it is possible that we might have to incorporate a generator that is powered by hydrogen gas.

One of the current issues on the table right now is the electric engines that will be used for propulsion. Each hull will have a separate propulsion unit including battery array. The questions that need to be answered are: What is the optimal voltage needed for each electric motor and what is the optimal RPM (and horsepower) needed for sustained economical use.

Because of concerns for severe weather issues, we will need to design the Turbosails either so that they collapse in half, or otherwise become neutral in the wind. Ikkanda Graphics has come up with a really great Logo for us and I would like to thank him and his team of designers for their efforts and a great job they did on the Logo. This is a slow process and each step we make brings us closer to the overall goal. Yes we can make a difference if we are willing to keep at it.

I want to thank everybody for the time they have spent on this project, and encourage everybody to keep up the great work.

Gary Darby

This update is a bit earlier than usual but it is an exciting one: 

To start with I want to welcome a couple of new members to the group; the first is Rogier Van Meeuwen who is the owner of a 3-d animation company in the Netherlands. Roger is going to create a 3-D animated rendering of the Trimaran including the eco friendly systems and equipment we are putting into it.

 So Please keep an eye out for any and all eco friendly technology that could possibly be used.

 The second person is Santiago Lopez from Spain who is working with me directly in building a really great Business Plan (Business Case) and then to take it out and find the sponsors and donors that we need.

 The third person, that has just contacted me is Jack Parr, I took the following off of his blog… it is an interesting idea if we can figure out how to utilize it to its full capacity.

 Restaurant Consultant seeking nonprofit organizations that would like assistance in an exciting fund raising program that will increase event revenue by up to 300% and cut the food budget by up to 50%

Our firm was instrumental in taking an organization that was year after year doing a sit down fund raiser that was typically generating $25,000 with 300 attendees. Our program allowed them to expand their much needed demographic to attract new and interested people to their cause. One year later with our service assistance they had 603 people in attendance with a $10 drop in ticket price and raised $75,000 during the course of the evening. For more details, references and availability feel free to contact us.

We don’t have any money yet to put on such an event here on the west coast… but that isn’t necessarily a problem as we might be able to use sponsorships in order to generate the event itself.

For example: Hollywood is full of the elite people that like to be associated with the green movement… Perhaps we could find an upscale facility where we can use local volunteers for waiting and invite some notable Celebes for being up on stage… and then charge something like $1500.00 per plate. We can make it a great media event as well. The would be a special draw with top chefs that can come out and greet the audience…  

The key speaker(s) can be paid in commission? Advertising can be accomplished on credit until after the dinner. My main focus is to get the project vision out there and get the trimaran built in order to accomplish the first phase of the project. In time we will build more ships.

Some of the designers working on the project are starting to think or consider how we might design some equipment and processes that can be used to clean up the garbage in the oceans. More on that subject later… The US Navy actually claims that they will donate stripped down vessels to anybody that wants them. We can redesign and refit these to be totally eco friendly based upon the technology we are using on the Trimaran. Then with some real out-of-the-box thinking we can work on a clean-up project…On that, I will be approaching the governments of several countries and maybe the UN as well in order to get funding for this… but we have to get the Trimaran proof of concept online first.

The trimaran is a proof of technology being created to make a market for the ocean friendly technology we have found. If we have a great media and WOW factor, then the mega yacht owners and ship builders will want the latest and greatest for themselves… next thing you have is clean yachts no longer polluting the ocean…

Another item is to take sanitation technology to shoreline cities and get them to see that it is in their best interest to quit throwing away an energy source like sewage into the Ocean because it can be used for methane creation and that can be used as a power source for electricity lights and more… with great manure left over for planting.

There is so much to do it can become easily overwhelming, but it just takes one step at a time… as I like to say: a flood started with just a single raindrop… this is the first raindrop Jeff. It can help your company, it can help get our project going and in the publics eye, and it most importantly, it can help the environment and oceans.

If you are concerned about Global Warming, consider this: 60-70% of the carbon dioxide photosynthesis process comes from the ocean. The ocean is no longer processing as much as it used to… meaning that the oxygen content of the atmosphere which is usually about 21% is as low as 12% in major cities around the world. Therefore: Better ocean health = better CO2 conversion into O2 = less greenhouse gasses that cause Global Warming = no more global warming… a very solid and simple answer.

Last item; I am starting to work on a PowerPoint presentation concerning Phase One and the mission of cleaning up the Oceans.

Last, Last Item: We are working very hard on getting the legal aspect started, but we need $1000.00 to get the LLC created as well as the Tax Exempt certification…

Please go to the web site and donate with a subscription or a one time donation to help us out.

Thanks

Gary Darby

Director

Hello everybody,

This week has been an extremely productive week as well as a very busy one. To start with, because I was spending so much time writing letters blogs and on and on… I purchased a copy of dragons NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software.  It is not perfect and I have to watch very closely as to how it interprets my speaking but on the most part it has saved my fingers a lot of wear.

As I mentioned in my last update I was able to contact a legal firm Pocatello Idaho that was registered in the state of Wyoming in order to do business along the lines of creating legal entities.  After a long discussion with one of the partners they were willing to set up the legal status of the project as a not for profit corporation with a tax exemption certification as well as a number of other services.  The cost that they settled upon was approximately 1/3 of their regular price.  In essence we were successful in finding legal representation which hopefully will we will never need to use.  Now all we have to do is come up with the money to get started.

Another item that has been accomplished is that we have set up an executive advisory board that has predominantly successful executives and CEOs that are willing to advise the project management and business partners in order to help us succeed.  Their involvement is limited because they are very busy people with their own executive level duties often with their own companies that they have to take care of.  Therefore we appreciate very much those people that have volunteered to be on the executive advisory board, and we have promised not to take up very much of their time.  If you look under the heading of business on the website you’ll find those people listed.

In order to enhance communication between those people that have volunteered to assist in the rendering and the design as well as the engineering of the trimaran, we have created a specific forum for them to exchange ideas and discuss issues pertaining to the vessel itself.  At this moment we are still working on design concepts, some issues of advanced technology as well as specific specifications for the actual vessel.  Because we are still working on the shape and the design itself the discussion for the interior layout is still in the future.  Yet when we do reach that point we have at least three awesome people that we will be drawing upon their knowledge and experience for the completion of the interior.  Because of the uniqueness of this vessel you want to have a major WOW factor in every aspect of the vessel. What we want to do is to get people so excited that the technology we are using wheel in actuality become the latest fashion and desire for implementation on the vessel’s being designed.

Now getting onto the website; if you follow the link for donations out you will find a breakdown of various categories of donations as well as the opportunity to donate through a subscription or a one-time donation.  Currently this has been set up through PayPal.

We have also completed most of the other ranches of the website. If you see any information that needs to be added or you would like to make some suggestions we have also placed a comment page or you can send a direct e-mail.

One last note about the design of the trimaran, if you take the link on the front page called the trimaran and follow it out to the design concepts page you’ll find the location where pictures of the current ideas as well as specifications and requirements are located. So far we have had two drawings come in and they have been posted for your viewing pleasure. As others coming in they will also be posted at that location.

Again I want to thank everybody that has assisted in bringing us to this point and helping to take the vision of the Green Island Project to the next level. This is a very exciting time and I look forward to when we can start building… even though that is a long ways away right now.

Therefore at this point I need to start focusing on funding of this project in finding sponsors that will support us either financially or with needed equipment. If there is anybody who would like to help me tackle this important part of the project, it would be greatly appreciated.

Gary Darby.

Thinking outside of the box is more than just thinking in abstract terms or ideas, it is an internal process of self discovery and change, as well as the seperation of your inner self from your ego self.

There is no such thing as a bad suggestion if the intent of the suggestion is honorable; only a closed mind that is wrapped up within itself would waste time in flaming another that is acting in integrity and honor. It is the acceptance of difference that allows us to to think outside of the norm… which is where we will find creative answers.  “What we are now doing is not working, therefore we need to change how and what we do… including our own attitude…”

“Suggestion and Ideas might not go anywhere, but if they are not brought out, it is assured that they will go nowhere…”

No one person or one group can tackle all the problems currently created by mankind… nor can you solve problems by throwing vast amounts of money against it… It is not the problem that is the issue; it is the underlying attitude, past actions, and current belief system that created the problem in the first place. If we are to find a solution to the problem, then we need to address the behavior and the attitude towards the issue.

The first step is to address the issue within ourselves… If our own belief or what we think is “Truth” is in fact in error (while not allowing ourselves the possibility of being in error because we have our ego invested in it), then we only compound the situation rather than remediate it. It is only by challenging ourselves every day on what we think is fact and truth, that we challenge our ego; only then can we come to understand the actual facts and situation before us. We must always be open to new information and facts even when it is contrary to what we believe…

This is because with new information, and an open mind, we might just have to change what we thought was true. Yet, without having an open mind for changing our beliefs, we can easily become part of the problem by refusing to change in spite of new information; this usually happens through the sheer stubbornness and refusal of letting go of a concept that we have invested our ego into.

If we do not invest our ego into a belief system, then we are more likely to eventually find the real truth.

 

Gary Darby