Even if this is a prototype, I feel BP should be held responsible to at least try it. Commit a few million bucks to manufacturing a few hundred of these and retrofitting a cargo ship to handle the processing of their nano fabric.
the question would be how does this thing deal w/choppy/unpredictable seas?
Why should they be "held responsible" to try untested technology? Better to spend their resources on things that are known to work (and will work now), and contribute to a general R&D fund or something like that.
Requiring mining/drilling companies to contribute anything to clean-up and response R&D would, apparently, be a huge step forward by itself.
I agree BP shouldn't themselves be obligated to directly support this kind of testing right now. But if they had been contributing to research groups along the way, wouldn't we expect those groups would:
1. very much like to try their latest on a real problem 'in the wild'
2. be given latitude by to do exactly that by BP ?
Granted, no-one should/would rely on technology in testing to do the cleanup, but it appears the alternative to letting researchers have-at deep-sea slicks is to do nothing. So why not let researchers have at it?
And wouldn't the net result of all that be pretty much exactly what was advocated, just with a few layers of indirection?
Why should they be "held responsible" to try untested technology?
One thing obvious from the gulf spill, is that recovery technology has not kept pace with deep-water drilling technology. The time-lag involved in development & engineering if left to the free market is a huge externality. We don't want accident recovery to lag further and further behind as oil drilling goes into more extreme and environmentally sensitive environments. (And you know that it will!)
contribute to a general R&D fund or something like that.
i was more inferring that they should be required to try all the available options to clean up this mess. in the grand scheme, investing in untested tech is NOT the worst that could happen to bp. leaving viable options on the table is what took them so long to eventually cap the well.
the question would be how does this thing deal w/choppy/unpredictable seas?