Written by Louisa Wong, 31-07-2014
A sketch of Protei by Cesar Harada. Hong Kong is well-known as a shopping paradise for the latest hi-tech goods, electronics and gadgets. However, this time we are not going to preach you about conscious consumerism telling you to think twice before getting a new i-phone. In fact, Hong Kongers’ enthusiasm for new technology and it’s vibrant business environment actually set up a good base for many social and environmental entrepreneurs to endeavor their start-ups.
Just recently, I read a local news about a Hong Kong-based Japanese French technician (who considers himself as an artist) developed special robotic boats which claimed to help with clean-up at the site of massive oil spill. In 2013, there was an oil spill incident in Hong Kong close to Lamma Island and it caused huge maritime oil pollution problems. As the old saying goes ‘many heads work better than one’, Harada, the young technician envisioned developing an alternative oil-cleaning technology that needs only cheap materials and fast and open-source that can be freely adapted by improved by the others. And this is how the story of Protei began.
Testing sail of Protei in Tuen Mun Pier Hong kong. The purpose of his robotic boats startup is to further research and develop Protei, a DIY wind-powered shape-shifting sailing boat with an ability to clean-up oil spills. Against all odds, the project aims to reverse the norms of most business priorities, which maximize profit at the upfront. For Harada’s initiative, profit-making and nature protection weigh equally important. It’s clearly stated in his company’s philosophy.
‘we believe that we need a healthy environment to nurture people, so can be creative with meaningful technologies that have a positive environmental impact, while making money’.
In the long run, Protei hopefully would be a basic model for entering a new market of automated boats to serve missions to rescue maritime disasters. Even for Hong Kong’s oil spill incident last year, great ecological impacts were left behind, ‘locals fish and swim in the water and there are mussels on the seabed that are still covered in oil’, Harada commented in the same news article from a local newspaper.
Like many others, Harada’s story has been something we can look up to: a good use of technology and creativity for inspiring action. The most trying part of his story is that Protei is not a static patented object solely for profit making, it’s evolving with many people’s efforts and ideas putting together. There is even a local social media group built around it with young people and poly-technic students work out to protect the ocean with Open Technologies as a community.
Stay tuned on RESET’s August editorial topic Responsibility, and you will find out more great stories on innovations changing the world.
Tagged with: clean up oil spill Hong Kong robotic boat