Gosh, this was my masters thesis 17 years ago! Microalgae solve a handful of problems, but raise a handful more (cost, dilution, stability of culture against invasive species, harvesting, the need for CO2 to be supplied whereas 'normal' plants just take it from the air...). For office windows, a simpler solution would be solar pv films that filter out invisible parts of the light spectrum. They do the same job of cooling the building whilst generating electricity, but with no moving parts or expertise required. They would seem a more likely bet, and much easier to retrofit, but I'm glad it has brought people together on this channel around the realisation that it's possible to produce bioenergy without displacing food production.

@sebbecht

Жыл бұрын

As a scientist (in bioprocess engineering), I reserve the right to be proven wrong and change my opinion, but I would have to agree that having bioreactors everywhere sounds like a suboptimal idea. The things that can go wrong, need maintenance etc., just makes it too complex. Certainly, fewer and larger systems will be easier to maintain, but then, they will be vertical and/or high up which greatly complicates it too. I'd rather see giant farms in the desert.

@tonywilson4713

Жыл бұрын

I was the lead electrical and control systems engineer on a bio-conversion plant in Perth Western Australia. Unfortunately the Stage 2 expansion was stuffed up by a civil engineer who thought he was God's gift to project management. I actually started with a degree in aerospace and about 20 years ago a classmate who was by that stage in the ISS program at NASA told me that until the life support issue was solved NOBODY was going back to the moon. Let alone onto Mars. So I have tended towards projects that might give me ways to get around that problem. I've listened to a few of Dr. Jonathan Trent's talks and lectures. I'm convinced that this areas of science is going to become a major part of our future economies. In the space life support systems they have either been to complex (like Bio-dome) or too simplistic (like aquaponics) to be viable. But before we go back to the Moon or go to Mars we need to do a lot of work here. In this area I saw a vid the other day about solid and this guy showed how much water biologically active (where the microbes are thriving) can hold and what the effect on crop yield is. I don't know what your doing now but I think your in an area whose time has arrived (or very close to arriving). Even if we believe some of the demographics experts who think we are headed for population collapse we'll still need to feed the planet without damaging it any further.

@moiragoldsmith7052

Жыл бұрын

Just leave it to the whales...they are doing a grand job now that their numbers are increasing👍🌞.

@thewunderhase

Жыл бұрын

I like bioreactors, but I don't think they are a good replacement for solar. But they are good in making some stuff, better than plants we use at the moment. And in industrial scale they may would be competitive.

@craverxt5990

Жыл бұрын

gosh this was my master's thesis too ;P I just completed my master's. It was based upon the bioprospecting of aquatic microalgae of Phormidium.

as a homeowner I can tell you that plumbing is always difficult and expensive.

I can imagine a large pyramid covered with both this and solar panels. It would look fantastic, sci-fi meets reality, and be a nod to the ancient architecture in the general region.

Another 2 weeks in a row about algae and the channel has to be renamed to All about the Blob.

@JustHaveaThink

Жыл бұрын

:-)

Cover Pleistocene Park. It's a 30 year ongoing project in Siberia to recreate the Beringian Mammoth Steppe by introducing high population densities of large herbivores. One of the goals is to decrease permafrost degradation and maintain artic carbon, along with raising the albedo and enhancing the ecosystem.

@brandy2378

Жыл бұрын

did you watch the video about the old russian guy and family trying to raise raindeer

@neolithictransitrevolution427

Жыл бұрын

@@brandy2378 That's kinda vauge, maybe? But this project is much more than reindeer, they started with horses but now even have camels

In the summer I wage a constant battle with algae in my aquarium. Sure it helps oxygenate the water, but I like being able to see the fish.

@Kevin_Street

Жыл бұрын

I'm sure the fish like to see the sun as well, or at least the light from the room.

@David-il6hn

Жыл бұрын

Get yourself a UV light filter. That should help take care of it.

@NeonVisual

Жыл бұрын

@@David-il6hn It would kill the biological filter.

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

Do you have live plants in your aquarium? Keeping the whole tank in a equalized state between the plants cleaning the water of what the fish put in it gives the algae less to grow with. But of course one of those magnetic scrubs is going to be a part of having a aquarium.

@petewright4640

Жыл бұрын

The whole idea is ridiculous. Its a scam for ESG investors.

The “sequestration” portion is just as important as the “carbon capture” portion.

@Kiyarose3999

Жыл бұрын

What’s the difference, Sequestration IS ‘’Carbon Capture’’.

@hurrdurrmurrgurr

Жыл бұрын

@@Kiyarose3999 Algae captures carbon. Once the water is saturated with algae it no longer has room to grow and so your capture stops, you need to sequester it. That means burying it somewhere it won't just rot releasing methane and converting it to biofuel to burn makes the entire point moot.

@DFPercush

Жыл бұрын

It does kind of defeat the purpose by burning it for fuel, especially in a building, where the electric grid could possibly be supplied by non-emitting generation sources. Liquid fuels are most beneficial for transportation, particularly aviation. That's a place where a goal of carbon neutral makes sense.

@zen1647

Жыл бұрын

@@DFPercush Yeah, you're generating biofuels or capturing carbon, not both.

Please cover Kelp Aquaculture, a wonderful opportunity not only to remove carbon and decrease ocean acidification, but also provide a low barrier alternative economy to small scale fishermen.

@JustHaveaThink

Жыл бұрын

I did that a couple of years ago in this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/lXip3LirlqW4p9o.html

@timbushell8640

Жыл бұрын

@@JustHaveaThink so what is the general "up-date" policy without necessarily major new additions - the kelp farming - maybe just be the thing that touches several points get us 'green' plastic, heat removal from the oceans, fish breeding space, fertilise additions for all these new mini gardens, etc., etc. I realise your capacity is limited - and a fantastic job is done, but "plagiarizing" some of your own older content is a time-honoured method. : )))))

Somehow I can't help seeing in my mind's eye office workers backing away as algae advances towards them along the floor from a cracked pane!.

@EleanorPeterson

Жыл бұрын

Ah, Professor Bernard Quatermass, I presume... 🤭

This is the first time I have felt entertained and educated reading through the commentary

As an aquarium owner I can only imagine the amount of maintenance required to keep hundreds of these panels operating. And where does the nitrogen and phosphorus come from to grow all this algae? 24 year ROI? At what age do the seals need to be serviced? Who would want all this headache, risk of leakage, ugly green windows at such a price?

@CTCTraining1

Жыл бұрын

... plus wouldn’t you need more lighting inside as the windows green-up? One thing I’d like too see would be shoals of those ‘cleaner fish’ zipping around .. albeit they would need to stay small to remain between the sheets of glass.

@debbiehenri345

Жыл бұрын

@@CTCTraining1 Could use cleaner snails. They'd stay reasonably small. However, the panels would fill up with shells after some time.

@CTCTraining1

Жыл бұрын

@@debbiehenri345 .. very true but perhaps the calcium could itself be useful. 😀👍

I guess if this was to be a carbon sink the algae would need to be extracted and locked into the ground in some way otherwise it's just a carbon buffer until you burn the bio fuel. To me vertical farming would make more sense in cities as air gets cleaner through electrification of transport. Reducing food miles while still helping to keep buildings cool in the summer

I think it’s time to point out the extremes the world is experiencing now. Might as well start with how many Englanders passed away, shortening their lives, just from heat exhaustion. I know your all about fixing things and I applaud the work you do! But people just don’t seem to see the urgency for those we will lose next summer much less those we lost already this year!

@CUBETechie

Жыл бұрын

Algae would be interesting but also moss it can have many benefits it help cooling the surrounding, sound reduction to blocking and it cleans the air

@georgeeighmy7660

Жыл бұрын

There was a major study published by the Lancet quantifying 5.1 million lives lost annually due to extreme temperatures. Interestingly- for every 1 death associated to heat extremes there a 9 associated with cold. Shouldn’t the argument lean towards heating the planet not cooling it?? 🤔🤔🤔

@grindupBaker

Жыл бұрын

​@@georgeeighmy7660 The 46 million people who die every year due to being too cold certainly is Interestingly- to say the least considering that about 60 million people die every year from all causes so the Lancet and you say that 77% of all humans who died over the last couple decades or whatever died because they were too cold. Are you certain that Lancet didn't take body temperature 48 hours after death and conclude all these bods were too cold which killed them ? Or maybe they found that coddling geriatric humans in a blanket in a sauna made them live for ever so they died because too cold.

@scottslotterbeck3796

Жыл бұрын

#1, global warming will not kill off humans. CO2 in the Cretaceous was 2500 ppm. Today, 410 ppm. #2 nuclear. All energy is nuclear anyway.

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

@@georgeeighmy7660 you are joking right?

Honestly, water cooled, transparent solar panel windows would be awesome. Not only would the PVs capture a lot of the energy that would otherwise enter, and heat the building, but the water circulating through them, would cool the PVs, and move the heat somewhere it can be more useful. I think the algae just overcomplicates the system.

@Withnail1969

Жыл бұрын

Water cooled windows would be extremely heavy and likely to catastrophically fail. They will never be used.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't biofuel for heating a pretty low value for aplication for algae? Considering how fast it grows compared to land plants, It could be a significant source of energy for animal feed. That may significantly reduce the need for less productive farm land to feed animals that feed us. Growing fast growing trees for wood structures is a way to lock carbon up for a length of time.

@theguythatcoment

Жыл бұрын

Growing or keeping one tree alive in the middle of a city would take a shit ton of water, this is why trees are better when surrounded by other trees since the transpiration area is less than the humid volume, one tree by itself has a 1/1 ratio, while 1 tree in the middle of a forest has a 1/8 ratio. If one were to grow one giant tree then he would need to make a giant greenhouse first.

@jaspertell6764

Жыл бұрын

Storing carbon in plant matter is always going to be temporary (unless buried / not allowed to decompose), if they could make anthracite or diamonds that's a little more permanent but would require power. As for feeding it to animals that's already a thing (part of some blends) yet the carbon still comes out in the end :). Meat growth from companies like cultivated meat from GFI is the future of all meat production, inevitable.

@iandaniel1748

Жыл бұрын

Can algae be use make rabbit food ❓

@Barskor1

Жыл бұрын

@@iandaniel1748 Yes.

@Barskor1

Жыл бұрын

@@jaspertell6764 You can put plant matter into a metal container and cook it into charcoal and then use it in farmland it remains for centuries and provides water retention and fungal, bacterial lodgings for beneficial species.

Interesting idea, I like the green light it'll create in rooms like a sun room and possibly keep that room cool

Definitely want to see a follow up in some few years time to see if these succeeded. Hope they do!

Seems like a great way to draw positive attention to your architecture

seems like the biggest potential engineering problem for this approach to architecture will be freezing temperatures, or the probability thereof in a given location.

@danyoutube7491

Жыл бұрын

I wonder how warm the algae can get under glass from the sun. Obviously on overcast days that won't help, in which case they would need a solution, but if one thinks of how hot it can get behind glass when in direct sun, even on a cool day, it might not be an issue for many parts of the world. I think the companies highlighted in this video were based in (and developing products for) hot climate countries, Australia and Mexico, where it shouldn't be a problem. However, note near the start of the video (@2:20) where he mentions that a Hamburg building used the premise a decade ago; no mention of cold weather is mentioned but evidently it worked in that climate, which would face cold winter weather.

Fascinating to read some of the comments. Their are a lot of very clever people watching this channel.

It sounds like it's worth investigating further. Thanks for the info -

Light to Life just arrived. A riveting read. Thanks for the hint

Just saw the building in Hamburg 2 days ago on the IBA site in Wilhelmsburg 😃 What a coincidence you mentioning it now.

Still a fan of the Walter Jehne approach of using natural cooling mechanisms rather than trying to solve climate change through dubious high tech with proven high $$$$$ and likely bad consequences. Adding methane harvesting has the added benefit of quicker cooling while reducing power costs for cities, businesses and homeowners alike. It also decentralizes energy which adds to resilience for the same latter entities. Algae technology is great but only when the return is much greater than the costs. Imposing more harm is a step backwards

@ThePaulv12

Жыл бұрын

Yes. To elaborate further on your point, I feel we're hedging all our bets on science solving climate change in order that we we may continue unending economic growth. It just isn't going to work like that. We have to reduce consumption and with it economic growth in order that we survive. One day the penny will drop - probably when it's too late.

@b_uppy

Жыл бұрын

@@ThePaulv12 If we do more like recapture leaking methane as fuel rather than treating it as bad we solve some problems. Methane is a hotter gas than CO2 and by using low tech-bladders to capture it from oil wells, septics and sewage treatments and dairy and CAFO manure ponds that will quickly and positively impact homesteaders and businesses using the methane on private land and help veterans and campers who use it on Federal lands (many vets choose to live on Fed land away from others, this might be a great way to support them.) They other ethical but higher tech way to also address climate change is to employ hydrochar for fuel, mined chemicals, and a charcoalized topsoil amendment. These will do much to cool the climate while decentralizing power, which is very important for both growth and climate cooling. The fact that most eco proponents fail to comprehend is most that eco solutions do more harm than good in both the long and short term. It is very bad that most solutions offered by high-tech are expensive, cause significant harm in other areas, increase poverty rather than decrease poverty, fail to meet expectations, operate in old paradigms etc. One of the biggest problems is that tech is making dubious CO2 mitigation solutions in a eco Ponzi pyramid scheme of reduced returns because the need for more perceived solutions means more points for profit. Our biggest problem is that we've messed with the earth's lungs to mitigate global warming by reducing diverss, site appropriate greenery and especially trees. If we solve the problems around regreening including rehydrating soil and improving soil biota to support proper regreening, we can rapidly alter CO2 as well as provide adequate climate mitigation as we adjust down CO2 levels...

Thanks for another great video! There's a long history of combining living things with our structures. Roofs made with thatch or fronds are maybe the most famous example. Green roofs are a more modern one. There doesn't seem to be much done with walls, even though the walls have a lot more area than the roof in big modern buildings. This sounds like a good idea, but the devil is always in the details. As you said in your video, there's no mention of what they'll do with the algae when it dies, or how they'll clean it out. In the unicornbattle slide it looks like there's no way to clean it except popping off the top and scraping it out. And all those little pipes in all those tiles running along the wall of a building... Well, some of them will probably get clogged over time. The idea of using some kind of carbon nano-particles to increase the heat conductivity of water sounds really neat, though! Imagine heat pumps or even steam generators that operate more efficiently! Maybe engineers can think of reasons it wouldn't work, but I really like the idea of "doping" water to make it a better working fluid for machinery.

thanks dave for looking into algae, appreciate it ;-)

I have always liked the idea of getting oil from the algae, but unless they have an effective, simple, and cost effective solution for cleaning out that algae in those solar thermal panels this is a bust.

@Barskor1

Жыл бұрын

Small squeegee bots :)

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

Again so funny you people that have not a clue what you talk about, just have to criticize what you don’t understand. Just because you can’t figure out what others have, because you don’t know how their solutions work, does it make you feel better about your inadequacy?

@jeffsteinmetz7188

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLosamatic Oil from algae is not a new idea and ensuring the algae does not block out the sun light to enable continued growth has been a stumbling block for decades. I sincerely hope it is solved in an economically feasible way. Going forward I suggest you point your critical feedback against real detractors that didn’t start a statement with “I have always liked the idea of getting oil from algae” .

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

@@jeffsteinmetz7188 I don’t remember starting my statement with “Jeff” I do think it’s funny when people take the time to point out the obvious, like those that are working out solutions should be paying you for consulting fees! But hey maybe they should, go for it! That is if you really think they haven’t seen these problems.

I've seen diy algae panels. Pretty neat!

@judydepenau567

Жыл бұрын

Really? Say more, please. 🙂

@jmr

Жыл бұрын

@@judydepenau567 kzread.info/dash/bejne/aGiXp8-jpNq4l9o.html

Ahh. Sunday is now officially allowed to begin.

@alantupper4106

Жыл бұрын

I know, right? I was starting to get a bit twitchy.

@JustHaveaThink

Жыл бұрын

Bless you Jim :-)

Good detective work!

I'm doing my part by encouraging the mould growth in my house.

Summary "That's a pretty big if" that's also generally true for this channel's content.

Another interesting idea. I think the Babylonians had a kind of similar idea with the hanging gardens. Would make cities much nicer,cooler and healthier places to live.

@nacoran

Жыл бұрын

Lots of old construction in the Middle East used water inside to cool the air. Before photovoltaics started becoming cost effective there were a lot of cool passive solar buildings that could regulate their temperature just with things like solar mass and shade.

@brandy2378

Жыл бұрын

I have wondered similar things bc the buildings are close together and offer proper support for boards or strings for plants grow across. I see this with rope lights going from one side of the street to the other so I figure we could do it with plants and it would help keep the roads cooler plus it is pretty.

@janami-dharmam

Жыл бұрын

@@brandy2378 people do not permit their buildings being used for public purposes. it is related to access permissions because the plants and supports need to be maintained on a regular basis

@brandy2378

Жыл бұрын

@@janami-dharmam cities maintain trees and other such plants that they have placed so im sure such things can be worked out.

@CUBETechie

Жыл бұрын

@@nacoran I think here in Europe we NEED TO BUIL MORE SUN SHADES

Pumping the air from the bio reactors into the building raises the issue of legionnaires disease and the like. Hopefully they will do stringent filtering of some kind. Usually the water would be heated or chlorinated to prevent this but obviously not an option here.

Sounds like a massive over complication of things. If you want to generate energy put solar panels on it. The only energy algae can produce is biofuel, and in order to covert that into electricity it needs to go through a heat engine which is inefficient. It makes no sense from a carbon-capture perspective because the fuels produced are then burned, making it have 0 impact either way. The biggest downfall with all algae systems is that they require expensive and energy intensive systems to separate the algae from the water and dry them. The previous algal-carbon sequestration thing in morocco at least addressed some of this issue by leaving the algae to desiccate in the hot sun, there is no such system possible in a building.

@oerthling

Жыл бұрын

It wouldn't be 0 impact as long as that fuel replaces classic fossil fuels. Yes, the biofuel is by itself just neutral to the atmosphere, but every million ton of fuel not dug up from on the Earth is a win.

@joeblogs6598

Жыл бұрын

@@oerthling Essentially no impact then. The point remains that its an extremely expensive and inefficient way to make either energy or carbon capture. Besides people will just buy diesel from fossil fuels for their car because its 10 times cheaper than fuel derived from algae grown in a tower block window. The only way you can realistically tackle climate change is by inventing green alternatives that are cheaper than their polluting counterparts.

@oerthling

Жыл бұрын

@@joeblogs6598 I wasn't arguing for using algae fuel - just explaining how it would replace fossil fuels dug or pumped from the ground and thus make a difference. I agree that it won't be the future of transportation, we're already seeing the rise of BEVs. Together with improved public transport (on powered rails, also using batteries or green hydrogen, depending on use and infrastructure). Fuel burning motors are mostly doomed.

@joeblogs6598

Жыл бұрын

@@oerthling Green hydrogen is just a complicated battery, and it's only as green as the energy used to create it. It's a shame the government makes it so hard to have economical nuclear power. Too many unnecessary regulations.

@oerthling

Жыл бұрын

@@joeblogs6598 Yes, hydrogen is effectively a form of battery - which is useful for some use cases (for example heavy machinery away from charging infrastructure, or perhaps planes). "Green" hydrogen implies that it is produced with non-fossil energy - otherwise it wouldn't be green hydrogen. Nuclear power is only safe-ish BECAUSE of the regulations. Drop the regulations and the safety record goes down.

Thanks for the book tip, just got it.

I think "Not ready for Primetime" is about right for this technology.

The idea is fascinating. Think a gradual flow through system carried by heat currents could control the algae growth and other uses. The carbon dioxide bubbles gradually working their way upwards through a maze would be visually interesting.

@tobiaszb

Жыл бұрын

Sounds like living in an uncleaned by algae eating fish (or snails) aquarium. : P

This has been done for a long time starting with the hanging gardens of Babylon and continuing to the modern day. For example my flat/apartment is part of a poorly constructed building that is only held together by mold.

I think they should just grow duckweed. Considering how fast that seems to spread over the surface of our back garden wildlife pond I reckon it could give engineered algae a run for their money! 🙂

@robinherrick2177

Жыл бұрын

There is a company in Kenya doing this. Or at least there was a couple of years ago.

@CHIEF_420

Жыл бұрын

🎓

@andycordy5190

Жыл бұрын

It's also of tremendous food value not only to ducks. I'd like to cultivate it to feed carp in an aquaponic garden.

Love it. That biomass would be an amazing fertilizer component as well for spent algae

@janami-dharmam

Жыл бұрын

algae shall need lots of other nutrients for growth; phosphorous, nitrogen, calcium, iron, copper, magnesium... you basically need a culture medium

@Danothebaldyheid

Жыл бұрын

This is what I was thinking. It's people could grow their own compost in plastic algae reactors on their roofs that would be really compelling..

@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665

Жыл бұрын

@@janami-dharmam Most of those elements are available in screened and filtered sewage. Or the waste from aquaculture fish tanks... Feed the fish on a mix of algae and insects from recycling food waste and you can take the nutrient rich water and feed it into the algae panels On the outside of your fish farming facility in vertical columns.

@hotdognl70

Жыл бұрын

@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 There are already experimental projects combining tilapia fishtanks under tomato plants in greenhouses. The water from the tanks is filtered by the plants that use fish feces as fertilizer. No idea how functional it is and if the experiments ever got in to commercial phase.

@EarthCreature.

Жыл бұрын

@@janami-dharmam I'd recommend context as you had missed it

Thanks for the weekly video :) Always a good end to the week.

OMG I laughed so hard during the intro. British humour at it's subtle best! And yes, I am British....

Interesting video as usual. Thanks! Do you have any information on how the building in Hamburg performed over time and if it still in operation?

@JustHaveaThink

Жыл бұрын

Apparently it performs well and is still going strong :-)

@74dievega

Жыл бұрын

@@JustHaveaThink I used to work at Arup now i'm working with micro anaerobic digesters, and I was quite excited to visit the "algae building " I went there in may of 2019 and it was not operational, the brise soleil tanks was empty...maybe it was at maintenance, not sure. nice video! tanks a lot!

It's almost never all or none, but this is a very interesting idea which makes sense, and the algal overgrowth makes great biodiesel. Grown in vertical bags, a serious amount of fuel can be created. As part of a multi pronged effort this can work. We must use every method to help until we have the luxury of paring down the lesser effective components.There are many varied uses for algae. It's not only green slime, it's amazing stuff.

@Coecoo

Жыл бұрын

No, this idea is catastrophically bad. They're talking about moving (essentially fish-tanks) into windows, shove a bunch of plumming into every single one, connect that to a pump & air in-take that continuously blares in air. Absurdly complex, very prone to leaks (and if there is a leak, it's catastrophic), room will eventually run out constantly, it's prone to become hazardous in-case there is extreme weather (like cold) where the water will freeze to expand and shatter the windows or severely damage the system... List goes on.

@Barskor1

Жыл бұрын

@@Coecoo ......not only is your glass half empty but someone pissed in it as well and you didn't pay attention to the demonstration building in cold ass Germany that has been in operation for years without your predicted disasters.

@Coecoo

Жыл бұрын

@@Barskor1 And someone apparently took a piss directly into your brain if you think a non-transparent single DEMONSTRATION BUILDING installed by the CREATORS is some sort of sample size that you can deduct data from.

How does the CO2 capture, speed, cooling and capital/operational costs of this compare to just growing ordinary plants up/on the buildings. Green walls are already a thing and seem to require a lot less technology and faff than these, plus they can be combined with areas of PV panels and (shock horror) ordinary see-thru windows so your office isn't tinted light green during the day.

Its really interesting to think how buildings can be more like nature functionally and aesthetically. Right now most of what we do is dead with the occasional green thing growing on it, really interesting thinking about how buildings can become a part of the solution and how fresh the air could eventually become in the city.

@kennethferland5579

Жыл бұрын

We don't need to make our cities mimic nature, we need to make our cities compact and efficient so they don't sprawl all over and replace the actual nature that's out their.

@DavidMcCalister

Жыл бұрын

​@@kennethferland5579 Couldn't disagree with you more. a lot of times city dwellers think that riding a bicycle and buying "local" means there is a low carbon footprint but there are two basic types of sprawl out there, the suburban sprawl we all know and the logistical sprawl that follows every city. The amount of land, and far away land, that a city eats up and populates with shipping lanes bringing product and produce from all over the world is intense. I would argue that both have a large impact. What we need is to think of ourselves as part of nature and to make our cities productive instead of deserts of concrete and death. We also need to get rid of single family zoning and have more low rise buildings across all our NA cities with again productive landscapes. If we can fully get off of gasoline then bees and other life can thrive in the city. We can also have fresher air, better water infiltration (instead of a deluge of water going into the storm system and out into lakes and rivers with pollution), reduced heat Island effect with continuous greenery and trees. Again, bear in mind that compact dead cities take tons of concrete/sand/materials/produce tons of Carbon and pollution and as repeated are dead zones or blights on the landscape, why should we design like that? Why can't we have urban hydroponic farms so the food is actually local? Why can't the city produce oxygen instead of just carbon and pollution? Why should we design cities so they help kill birds and bees when they can be living places. And why can't we have beautiful cities that incorporate landscape? Your solution in the end says humanity is the problem, lets keep them as far away from nature as much as possible which likely also argues for keeping the human population low... which then seems to always result in trying to control African populations and promoting abortion in those areas (Justin Trudeau of Canada 600million to promote abortion in mostly black dominant countries and Bill gates in articles for the WEF saying Africa is a problem for population growth). Which is insanely bigoted and evil. What if we switched our approach and technologies around and started making our cities more environmentally productive? Electric cars will win out, solar, wind, batteries and nuclear can make it all decarbonized, why not have our cities green? Theres this really interest hotel in Japan (i believe) that has over 100 times more biomass running up the building than what the site on its own could hold. Why can't cities look more like that?

Hi Dave, the graphic seems to show algae panels obscuring office windows. I’m not sure looking out over a cityscape thru a green slime will appeal much.

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

I’m not sure the view of wherever will, soon to be a hellish landscape, would be better than the greenish one that for starters be in only one direction! Are you sure that your punching down on this doesn’t come from your being just a petroleum troll?

@incognitotorpedo42

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLosamatic I doubt that Mike is a petroleum troll. I have to question the concept of "punching down". Mindless boosterism is harmful, because it causes us to waste resources on ideas that will ultimately fail. We should instead be offering a clear-eyed examination of new ideas, so we can promote the ones that have real promise.

@markmuir7338

Жыл бұрын

There's no reason the slime cladding couldn't be limited to just the non-window parts of the outer walls. In fact, it could be designed into any new structure so that it is the outer part of all outside walls.

@markmuir7338

Жыл бұрын

Alternatively, it could be genetically modified to have different colors, and combined to form living stained-glass windows!

@JustHaveaThink

Жыл бұрын

Hi Mike. That's definitely one of the question marks, yes.

Lol I don't mind one bit! Humans always end up working for plants anyway

Reminds me of the algae lamp from 15 + years ago ,but with modern fuel teck and home/office efficiency in line with carbon capture,I hope this company makes it

i think a worthwhile combination of technologies would be this, and the HTC sewage treatment/carbonization technique discussed in an earlier video. i could see dedicated sewage lines picking up old, out-grown and ready to be harvested building-panel grown algae. the pipes would end up in the same large, central facility that would do the waste treatment through HTC, extracting bio char and biofuels for energy production.

Great work JHAT. Scooby snacks for you!

Thank you

One of the reasons I love southern Louisiana is that it is green. I mean green everywhere. There are very few even urban areas where you can't see trees and other greenery. Cost of living here is great too. I wonder if there is a correlation there?

This seems very promising if it really works like this. Who knew that with naturally occurring alghe, we would solve an issue that all the available technologies and advancement of equipments couldn't do at an affordable cost!

What plant cooling options exist currently? As I understand it having plants on your roof can have significant impact on heat management of a building.

thank you

Finally mentioned how housing and energy efficiency are going to be something that needs to be implemented. Still no real input to urban models however and how their design also plays a part in well everything, maybe next video.

Algae are great! I've seen such innovative ideas with this... and I'm more positive about this development. Perhaps it doesn't outgrow the system, and is just self sustaining? Nevertheless, I think algae's potential to absorb C02 seems to be the best option we have so far?

I would like to know how they keep the algae to grow just on the crystal and prevent growth on the rest of those containers. That's what I've seen on unattended glasses with water or other small bodies of water

@WWZenaDo

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. I came here to make a similar comment. How are they going to keep the algae alive? This sounds like it would require single, enclosed panels that run the entire height of the building, and how would they prevent gravity from causing the algae to collect in giant heaps at the bottom of the lengths of the panels, and any protuberances inside those building-height channels would hinder full collection of the algae, unless they flushed the channels from the top of the building. That might require water pressure approaching the level of fire hoses, which would cause leaks over time as the seals on the system age.

Considering the algal biomass simply to take carbon out of the atmosphere is frankly quite stupid. Algae biomass could be used as a source of food, feed and biofuel that otherwise would produce a lot more greenhouse emissions to produce them. Algae also needs more than just water to grow so if you want to grow them in large scale you should think about the fertiliser and maintenance it would require too. Years ago I was thinking of something like algal panels to be placed on the top of the houses and harvested algae would be purchased by the industry for processing and paying the homeowners. Would be possible but when you think about the speed algae can grow and the logistics it would require Im not sure if it would be feasible in a large scale.

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

Isn’t it funny that there are now those that are doing what you obviously failed at?

@drpk6514

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLosamatic well, as far as I see, they still haven’t done it. I don’t even see they would have a feasible plan. To be honest I didn’t try to make it either I just thought about the system and designed it in my mind. I have hundreds of these plans in my mind 😊

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

@@drpk6514 seems to me, now, that they must have stole your idea! You should get a lawyer and sue, at least for a percentage of the funding they have obviously already received.

@drpk6514

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLosamatic lol no let them have it. I’m even happy to help them with that for free 😂

Finally, a good trilogy

The video this week begs comparison to the video last week based on the elegance of the solution. Last week's video demonstrated a carbon removal and sequestration technique that used abundance seawater and abundant desert land. The system is already being tested at a fairly large scale. Importantly, the system proposed last week looks simple and easy to build. As a former builder, that really increases the plausibility of the idea. This weeks idea seems like the exact opposite. These panels are complicated, heavy (ever lifted a fishtank full of water?) and need some kind of flow for the water to be removed and receycled. How do these heavy panels, stacked onto a tall building, handle wind loading? Where does all this water come from? is it only appropriate for cities next to oceans? I could go on and on. If I am an entitity with limited resources, then my time and money are going into the idea proposed last week because it takes advantage of what is already in abundance---seawater and deserts (sorry to repeat myself.) Urban solutions always look good in computer renderings, but these "gleaming white palaces" never seem to get built. I think there is a reason for that.

@grindupBaker

Жыл бұрын

Such things tend to get built on a scale too small to reduce greenhouse gas loading by those minuscule few who have great wealth owing to oil, Dubai & Middle East in general for example.

@kennethferland5579

Жыл бұрын

Yes, it's a big contrast between 'rugged and practical solution' vs 'hyped yuppy novelty'. The biggest challenge we face in communicating green tech is distinquishing between these two, the latter are incressingly becoming a means to scam people in crowdfunding with naive youtubers contributing to the hype cycles. Just Have a Think is far far more dilligent then most in this regard.

6:15 tip: NREL usually pronounced n-rell. (Greetings from Colorado, home of Golden NREL facilities)

Wishful thinking for sure. How to stop algae sticking to the window panels is going to be a big issue...

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

Oh wow you must be brilliant, to think how much time, effort, and money you could have saved this company, hell the whole world should just stop trying unless you approve. Cause you know those people are just idiots, can’t possibly have figured out solutions to problems that your brilliance in just criticizing … or maybe your just always jealous of real problem solvers!

@robandsharonseddon-smith5216

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLosamatic your solution?

Nicely done presentations. Barely found your stream. Could you do a dive into carbon monoxide emissions and if algae could help reducing those? Everybody is speaking of co2 but nobody is diving into CO, thank you

If more buildings are built like the one in Germany, there would be more production of algae for fuel production. Maybe the new buildings can have a system built in where they can sell the surpluses to municiple processing centers and cut down on the cost of production that is preventing market availability for alternative fuel, which is the excuse currently being used by big oil on why we can't currently switch over from fossil fuels.

@noahapatoff1902

Жыл бұрын

@Lainey bug. Living in rural America I think algae panels would go over much better Here because This seems like a technology that could be Repaired Instead of thrown away After 25 years that's one of many reasons why a lot of people refuse to get solar panels Because after 25 years you just throw them away and you have to purchase new ones People out here tend to hold on to scrap metal and used parts and even entire cars and trucks that are no longer worth fixing in the conventional sense And the best part would be that we could create a carbon-neutral fuel Or it could be and compressed into pellets and used as animal feed there's so many possibilities that we would just have to wait and see what people came up with.

I would like to see what algae panels look like irl, rather than "artists' conceptions." More than anything else, how they look will determine where they'll be used.

Algae is an important part of my daily nutrition, as the blue-green variety is an excellent souce of vitamins/minerals and phytonutrients, w/ no carbs or gluten and a good protein count, by volume. Been supplementing w/ this for around twenty years and have observed no adverse effects or health issues - quite to the contrary, I'm as healthy as can be, w/ a cholesterol count of ~130 and no blood pressure problems, at 62. Go blue-green!

Awesome! 👏

One the biggest challenges working with microalgae is biofouling that any PBR system needs addressing.

The biggest cost of both solar and algae is installation. The real required technology are spider robots that can install them automatically.

Concerning the efficiency of the full spectrum of light being captured for heating, it does makes sense being that a simple solar hot water panel can collect into the range of being 80% efficient, even the best solar electric panels only collect in the realm of 20+% efficiency. I think they're likely understating their efficiencies maybe to be above reproach....?

Maybe you could combine a transparent solar panel ,or reflector behind,but maybe that would be deriving to much economic scrape back for space,ingeniouse economic angles combined in this eco

May I ask about if the algae dies due to age or due to environmental factors that we did not foresee, will we suck up all the algae and replace the algae with new algae on the skyscraper?

Can it be used in a cold climate, will sub zero temps kill the algae?

I think thin film solar may win out in terms of weight and simplicity.

Should check out professor Aldo Steinfield’s paper in the journal Joule he has demonstrated using just solar energy breaking down air and turning it into a kerosene for jet fuel at the machine laboratory in Switzerland. Proof of concept facility in Germany was enough to get the Swiss Airline to commit to being the first to use it. Plan is in place for an industrial plant in Spain that should, with intermittent solar produce 9 million gallons per year! Ciao Carlo

This would seem to have a too hot or too cold problem keeping these little algae friends happy.

So will they have diffent color algae be nice have red as well as green

Would be great to see these algae panels on a geodesic dome…. Just for fun.

Thank you for your always interesting and balanced perspective on these new technologies. I've just read an article from IEEE about an AI-based design and 3D printing that could make Air Conditioners "10 times as efficient as conventional air conditioners, while costing the same amount of money to buy and operate (...) By increasing the surface area and optimizing air flow, these designs boost the component’s energy efficiency. (...) They plan to have a prototype ready by the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai next year.". The company that develops this solution is Hyperganic (Germany). If you have the time, can you have a look at this and tell us what do you think about it?

From the comments, it appears that this may be most feasible in hot, dry climates. It would be great if they could harvest the algae, dry it out or otherwise render it "dead" and then mix it with compost and plant trees in desert areas. Synergy, I think they call it.

I love algae especially macroalgae like seaweed. But this? Aren't windows for looking out of?

As I was reading through the nice comments below, I kept thinking back to the hundreds of thousands of acres given over to the production of corn intended for the creation of ethanol (because, of course, sugar). I still don't see enough benefit to humankind in that practice (it's still burning, last time I looked). The thoughts are good, though, since we're considering the use of living systems to do what they do more or less naturally. I want this sort of thing to flourish somehow ... just don't actually know the "how."

@TheLosamatic

Жыл бұрын

The ethanol lowers the pollution that comes out of your tail pipe for the same mile driven. Also understand how scum politicians work by subsidizing monoculture million acre corn farming they get the added benefit of putting South American peasants out of work because they can’t compete with the how cheap that subsidized corn is then sold for!

Can biochar be made from algee?

I think a well isolated wall will cut the costs of aircondition way more than a large window / aquarium with algae. The second thing is that converting algae to heat or even worse electricity is a rather heroic endeavor, especially if we talk about doing it at the scale of one building. Too much engineering for too little.

I live a few miles away from NREL. All the locals pronounce it 'Enrel'.

Hey boss where do you want these twenty ton of algae you ordered to cover your backyard?

Using algae is a good alternative but there is a big problem that may be dangerous. Releasing a lot of O2 into a building may lead to oxygen poisoning. I don't know a lot about the subject but considering that there may be larger scale usage, the issue of oxygen poisoning must be considered.

Added benefit, green colour is known to have a calming effect, so all those high stressed office workers should find their environment more calming.😉🤣🤣

4:10 Company Green Fluidics. Biopanels. Generate 328 kw hours per squate meter per year

Does the Algae not use oxygen at night?

I'm not going to judge, this could well be part of the solution, but it all seems a bit complicated. How do these panels handle well below freezing temps and cold cloudy days in winter?

@janami-dharmam

Жыл бұрын

they work only in warm climates.

@timbushell8640

Жыл бұрын

@@janami-dharmam triple glazing and place them between the inside and middle panes. Plus, in case you hadn't noticed snow and ice are er, going extinct. Especially in Mexico City or Dubai even. : ))))

Growing anything vertically on urban buildings is way too expensive to harvest It won't be the location of food nor energy farming, unless cost of labor goes down significantly (which does bad things to "livable wages.") Or, you know, the robots take over. But you'll probably get less energy from a building facade than the cost of harvest, that way... Although I recommend growing tomatoes on your balcony if you can!

It's a brilliant idea but maintenance would be costly...

Put a black tank of water on top of your house before it goes into your hot water heater and it’ll use less energy in the heater

How does CO2 get in, and O2 go out in a sealed window??

Why not do both, photovoltaic windows exist so why not combine the two technologies?

It seems very complicated to ever get wide spread adoption anytime soon. I still think the future lies in geothermal - when we can get it working in all locations

@CHIEF_420

Жыл бұрын

#unrealistic #materials

@davidcalvert-smith4633

Жыл бұрын

@@CHIEF_420 apparently there is a promising startup that is looking to use a laser to “burn” holes down to 20km. We’ll know how feasible this is by the end of next year. If we can even get to 10km fairly cheaply it’s a huge step in the right direction