About the GreenOcean project

The GreenOcean Project is a non-profit organisation which provides education and information about sustainable energy, food and water production based around our oceans.

Seventy percent of the surface of our planet is covered in seawater. Yet to what use do we put this immense resource to? With a few very minor exceptions, all we do with it is sail across it, pull fish from it, pollute it and swim in it.

Currently there are over six billion human beings on this planet, a number that is set to substantially increase over the next few decades. Supporting this population is putting increasing strain on the land surface of the planet and cause severe damage to the natural environment.

Environmentally benign, sustainable development is possible with sensible use of energy and resources from the oceans, of which we only scratch the surface at the moment.

The role of the GreenOcean project

High awareness about ocean-related sustainable technologies among politicians, government administrators, media and industry experts is a key goal to get these technologies implemented. We believe that there are a number of technologies which do not have the profile they deserve. The GreenOcean Project was set up to help rectifying this problem.

The team

Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson
Thomas formed Akvo in 2006, with the mission to inspire a global open source knowledge and collaboration platform for the water sector. A serial entrepreneur, Thomas was a pioneer in implementing internet web technology in corporate environments during the mid-nineties. Thomas founded OTEC News in late 2001, a news site about developments in Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, and The GreenOcean Project in 2002. Since 2004 he has also been working with business development for Seawater Greenhouse. Thomas is a computer software and environmental scientist, who began developing software ventures in the UK and California, working closely with many of the pioneers of early-wave internet companies such as Yahoo!.

Gabriel von Heijne
Gabriel joined GreenOcean in 2006 when the Akvo project started as the web site team leader. Gabriel has been programming since 1982. He built his first commercial application, a print utility for HyperCard, in 1988. Recently Gabriel together with collegue Stellan Lagerström created a cross-platform AJAX system for the web site annotations system Zezame, before AJAX even existed as a concept. Previously he has designed and created database driven web sites, particularly online customer surveys, among others for Microsoft and DoubleClick. Gabriel is a specialist in web browser behaviour, portable HTML and JavaScript.

Anke van Lenteren
Anke is a horticulturist, garden designer and graphic designer. She has worked on a wide variety of projects over the years from project manager of large computer software translation projects to marketing for an exhibition garden at the Royal Horticultural Society at Hampton Court, England. Anke comes from a family of horticulturists and didn't expect to become one herself.