The carbon-absorbing abilities of algae may be one of the most potent tools as far as organic processes go for combating climate change. The natural phenomenon of algae have been the topic of many scientific studies lately with the hope that it can be used to tackle greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time produce eco-friendly biofuels and even food.
Algae is essentially an aquatic plant that soaks up carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to produce energy through photosynthesis. The energy produced is what enables the plant to multiply and grow. However, scientists have been experimenting with ways to capture this energy produced and convert it into biofuels instead.
Now, one American company called Hypergiant Industries has found a way to package the powers of algae into a high-tech box-shaped machine that can soak up as much carbon from the atmosphere as an acre of trees!
The device is called an Eos Bioreactor and it looks like a massive Xbox that measures 3 x 3 x 7 ft (90 x 90 x 210 cm) and is designed to be installed in urban environments where it captures and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere and produces clean biofuels that could be used to further reduce a building’s carbon footprint.
The algae inside the Eos Bioreactor live inside a tube system and water tank within the device, which is pumped full of air and exposed to artificial light. This provides the plant with the food it needs to thrive and produce biofuels for harvesting, explains the company on their website. A special strain of algae called Chlorella Vulgaris is used, as it is said to be able to soak up much more CO2 than any other plant.
According to Hypergiant Industries, the harvesting technology packed into its Eos Bioreactor is so efficient it is 400 times more effective at capturing carbon than trees taking up the same footprint! Its incredible potential is attributed to the machine learning software used in the device that oversees the whole process—managing light, temperatures, and pH levels for maximum output.
The Eos Bioreactor is currently in its final development phase but the company plans to have a commercial product available in 2020. For now, the company has kindly stated that it will make the designs for the bioreactor publicly available by the end of this year—in the hope that it will inspire others to come up with similar solutions.
