Innovation Could Feed CO2 to Algae Plants

More than half of the damaging emissions in our atmosphere are carbon dioxide, with one quarter of that spewing from the United States alone. An even worse statistic is that in the past half of the century these gases have doubled.

So is there a solution to this problem or not?

Every day there are reports released from multi million dollar studies, which tell us there is but that the concept of turning these results into practical applications are years away from becoming a reality. The truth is, it can be done sooner, but we need to make allowances. Professor David Bayless from the Ohio University, together with colleagues, have created a type of algae plant, where carbon dioxide waste is literally fed to the little green wonders. The CO2 enters the water, and is 'digested' by the algae, which in turn sends out emissions of it's own. What kind of emissions? Oxygen and Nitrogen!

In the past, the problem has been to create large scale versions of such inventions. For this bioreactor, one would need an area set up the size of a large supermarket to capture the waste from just one polluting plant. Professor Bayless says that the original prototype was set up so that the algae was grown on vertical panels, and that the space saving device could be constructed on a huge scale in this very manner. The device, known as a photo bioreactor is in developmental stages as we speak and is said to be on target to full function as soon as 2010. The reactor will contain over 3 million square feet of vertical growing area for the algae.

There's no time like the present. Much money is needed to focus on the development of every one of these projects no matter how trivial or dysfunctional they may seem to be right now. The sooner we can incorporate even smaller versions into our lives, perhaps for use in the homes, the better off we will all be. I wonder if a small scale version of the algae reactor above could even be incorporated into our homes by way of a rooftop placement? After all, plants do exist with mere sunshine, fresh air and water. Our children's future depends on us prioritizing our spending so every last cent can be funneled into these projects.

A key warning to make a note of is; when carbon dioxide enters our atmosphere from toxic plants we developed through sheer ignorance, it then remains there for a whole century. It needs to be diverted now, not later. Even the most minor of changes we can make will right now will contribute to our planet's health for a long time to come.

Sources:

http://www.ivanhoe.com/science/story/2007/04/271si.html

http://www.ivanhoe.com/science/story/2007/04/271a.html

The American Geophysical Union, American Society for Microbiology, and the Optical Society of America