Friday, May 7th, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill: Engineering Approaches

The Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image May 4. The bulk of the spill appears as a dull gray area southeast of the Mississippi Delta. NASA/Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team

The oil continues to gush from the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf -- and the official solution for stopping the flow, which involves finding the borehole and drilling into it at an angle, could take weeks. But are there other options? Some people are looking outside the box for engineering solutions. -The New York Times Dot Earth blog has been collecting ideas, as has Innocentive. -The US EPA has also opened a collection site for 'Technology Solutions' to the spill. In this segment, we'll talk about the challenges that any engineering approach to capping the well might face, and look at some outside-the-box ideas for getting the job done. Do you have an idea? Call in!