Get US into the Floating Photovoltaic (FPV) Game

With the ongoing transition from obtuse and flat-out harmful environmental stewardship associated with Donald Trump, FII has quantified some of the impact of eutrophic, nutrient enriched agricultural water relative to greenhouse gas emissions. In a nutshell, by teaming with BioHaven’s nutrient reduction capacity, the Floating Photovoltaic (FPV) game can see bigger wins with carbon credit reduction revenue. By transitioning nutrient rich water, already at pandemic levels in the developed world (in particular here in the U.S.) FPV launches will qualify for carbon credit revenue.

There are other “applications” for BioHaven’s tried and true capabilities. These include key habitat expansion for critical biota, like pollinators and the growth of native sport fish. Safeguards the world's natural capital, and promises biodiversity! But FPV has not, to this point, been a water quality pitch.

Our company has thousands of island launches under its belt, compared to just hundreds by the entire FPV industry. FII is the American embodiment of constructed wetland, but much more resilient, more versatile, and has a minimal footprint, particularly in the form of real estate, required to pull off a BioHaven water quality solution.

Change the Floating Photovoltaic Game

Asians and Europeans may have been a bit short sighted and linear in their thinking. Solar energy has been their focus. Revenue first, after all! Floating Island International's BioHaven floating treatment wetland technology promises to position the U.S., and key licensed manufacturers in S. America, in the hotseat of FPV development. FII’s BioHaven systems promise several add-on benefits of FPV launches: We've got solid environmental impact data based on a multitude of empirical, independent third party, peer reviewed, data. Think: “solid” data around Harmful Algae Bloom prevention! The toxic potential of such blooms will drive sales associated with drinking water reservoirs. After all, who wants to trust chemicals in their water?

We also offer a fix for the surprising and somewhat counterintuitive added O&M expense that the FPV industry has experienced as it actually gets its feet wet, so to speak! BioHavens mitigate wave action! They promise to enable the cooling potential of water’s massive thermal mass potential, while preventing the ubiquitous O&M associated with wind and wave action.

So BioHaven’s relatively expensive biofilm reactive surface area does not have to provide the buoyancy factor for entire FPV launches, but just a protective perimeter, on the windward side of FPV launches. This is elegance embodied in innovation! This is Nature as Model, the Biomimicry mantra!

Eight months after installation, the grasses are established and effectively mitigating waves

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From a planetary perspective, North America is currently losing the game. Asia, particularly China and Singapore, and Europe, are significantly ahead of both the U.S. and Canada, and South America, in terms of innovative solar energy implementation. This factor is directly attributable to the skewed politics in Brazil and the U.S. over the last several years, and the slow environmental movement in Canada and Mexico, as well as the lack of initiative in the balance of South America, with the possible exception of Chile.

Please, please, don’t take your marching orders from obese politicians. Life doesn’t work that way. Search for models that exemplify sustainability.
Bruce Kania

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But here’s the deal. The U.S. has retained at least a vestige of its innovation greatness. It will take more than four years to cancel out the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, after all.

The bald fact of the matter is that the U.S. is still a hotbed of innovation, despite political disparities like the Trump administration. The U.S. is an amalgamation of the rest of the world. We are a stew of inventors. And we are also dot connectors. That blend of invention and business savvy that can leapfrog over the choreographed productivity of Germany and the Netherlands, and the amazing concert of energy that comes out of China. Singapore, though, is an exception onto itself! More on Singapore another time!

The U.S. stands alone in one major respect. No other country on this planet squanders nutrients, sends them into its waterways, at the level that we do here in the U.S. We’ve been referred to as the “breadbasket” of the world. This moniker is reflective of our status as one of the most obese nations of the world. Today we are transitioning though. Obesity is for politicians that aren’t aware. The rest of the country, the actual producers of wealth, the innovators and inventors, they are conscious and…moving. Politicians bring up the rear. Really! Politicians are way behind the curve. Please, please, don’t take your marching orders from obese politicians. Life doesn’t work that way. Search for models that exemplify sustainability.

We can get in the Floating Photovoltaic game — it's not too late!

These are truly interesting times. Our future is at our fingertips. Invention does represent transition. It represents hope, too. Words on a computer screen do not translate into action. Not always. But they do represent a thread of consciousness, at least. Grasp this thread and thicken it. Build it out. And watch us perform. Ideally, become part of the transition.

Sustainability means water and energy stewardship. Watch for entrepreneurial examples of sustainable action. They are on the immediate horizon!