In the global effort to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, scientists have been looking towards algal biofuels as renewable sources of energy. Microalgae is capable of using sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce energy-rich molecules, create bioplastics, and act as a replacement to petroleum. Most current methods of growing the tiny plants are inefficient due to the large amounts of water and energy required, but Dr. Hail Berberoglu and Thomas Murphy from the University of Texas at Austin have developed a system that mimics the structure of trees called the Surface Adhering Bioreactor (SABR). By imitating the way vascular plants transport water and nutrients, they were able to greatly increase the efficiency of the cultivation process.

Read the rest of Researchers Design Synthetic Trees to Produce Algal Biofuels and Water

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Post tags: algae, biofilm, biofuel, dr. hail berberoglu, fossil fuels, sabr, surface adhering bioreactor, suspended growth bioreactor, thomas murphy, University of Texas at Austin

Life for a manatee is tough. Sure, it may look like a lot of grazing and lazy swimming at first glance, but these docile creatures have to contend with boats, tourist harassment, and habitat destruction. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute recently reported that a toxic algae bloom has killed 241 manatees in St. Petersburg, Florida. The number greatly surpasses the previous record of 151 red tide deaths set in 1996. The most recent bloom began last fall in the Gulf of Mexico in a 70-mile area of the coast stretching from Sarasota to Lee County, and it affected a population of about 5,000 manatees.

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Post tags: algae, florida, florida fish and wildlife research institute, gulf of mexico, homosassa springs wildlife state park, lee county, lowry park zoo, manatee, Orlando, red tide, sarasota county, sea world, st. petersburg, tampa

Everyone could sigh a breath of relief if the 2011 toxic algae bloom that engulfed 2,000 square miles of Lake Erie had been an isolated event, but sadly that is not the case. Researchers from the University of Michigan and eight other research institutions have put together a paper published in the online journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which shows that a confluence of complicated factors contributed to the bright green algae bloom that peaked in October, 2011. Among them are agricultural practices that produce an increase in phosphorous runoff and changing weather related to climate change, both of which are probably here to stay.

Read the rest of Study Warns That Lake Erie May Experience More Massive Algae Blooms in the Future

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Post tags: 2011 algae bloom, algae, algae bloom, Climate Change, environmental destruction, fertilizer, great lakes, lake erie, Michigan, News, phosphorous, university of michigan

Much of the world’s human population has some sort of pharmaceutical running through their veins, and as it turns out, so does the planet’s streams and rivers. According to a report published in Ecological Applications by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, drugs and other chemicals have found their way into the freshwater supply and are affecting the health of the ecosystem. The study looked at six common compounds and how they altered the aquatic organisms that create the slippery “biofilm” that covers rocks. Scientists found a dramatic decrease in algal photosynthesis and respiration as well as a change in the bacterial community.

Read the rest of Streams Polluted by Pharmaceuticals Show Signs of Stress

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Post tags: algae, antihistamine, bacteria, biofilm, caffeine, cary institue of ecosystem studies, chicago, diphenhydramine, dr. emma rosi-marshall, drugs, ecological applications, fresh water, Indiana, indiana university, loyola university, Maryland, New York., pharmaceutical, photosynthesis, Pollution, respiration

When it comes to tackling the enormous challenge of curbing climate change, we humans may need to look to some very small organisms for help. A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has found large amount of particulate iron runoff from glacial melt in Greenland. The iron could possibly spur the growth of marine algae, which could then in turn absorb C02, one of the major greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.

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Post tags: algae, atlantic ocean, Climate Change, CO2, glacial melt, global warming, greenhouse gas, greenland, Iron, nature geoscience, nitrates, ocean, phosphates, sea level rise, sequester, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Coral bleaching occurs when sea temperatures rise and kill algae that are the source of color and food for most corals around the globe – and a new study shows that there could be mass bleaching by 2056 if current greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Researchers used data from the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to demonstrate that unless significant measures are taken to reduce emissions, annual mass bleaching could occur in 74 percent of coral by 2045. The results of the NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies report were published in the journal Nature Climate Change this week.

Read the rest of New Study Shows Global Coral Bleaching Could Occur by 2056

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Post tags: algae, carbon emissions, climate models, CO2, coral bleaching, coral reef, Environment, environmental destruction, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, IPCC, mass bleaching events, nature climate change, News, NOAA, science

The quick rise and depressing downward spiral of the ethanol industry proved that using food to make biofuel is both wasteful and costly. Non food-based biofuels, such as those derived from grasses, trees, or algae, are far more sustainable but harder to produce. In order to access the sugars in plant biomass that will eventually become fuel, scientists must find a way to break down lignin, a polymer that forms the thick, woody cell walls of most plants and trees. Now researchers at Brown University have identified a type of bacteria that loves to digest lignin, and it might be able to act as a tiny biorefinery for sustainable fuel production.

Read the rest of Brown University Identifies Hungry Microbe That Could be Key to Turning Biomass Into Biofuel

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Post tags: algae, alternative fuels, bacteria, biofuels, brown university, cellulose, ETHANOL, grasses, lignin, microbes

The Keystone XL pipeline has some big competition, and it is coming from a number of very small challengers. Scientists at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA are working under a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Energy to produce biofuels from algae and human waste. Instead of relying on dirty tar sands and massive amounts of energy to extract and transport the viscous petroleum, algae needs only the contents of a toilet bowl and some sunlight. The algae not only helps to clean municipal waste water efficiently and inexpensively, but takes advantage of a basically free source of food for the microorganisms to grow. Governments are able to meet the rising costs of removing impurities from water, provide green jobs, and avoid scarcity issues related to using water to grow biofuel crops or fracturing shale. Algae can even be sold as feedstock to biofuel refineries for an extra source of income.

Read the rest of Cal Poly Project Produces Energy and Purifies Water Using Algae and Human Waste

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Post tags: algae, algae technology group, america, atg, biofuel, cal poly san luis obispo, California, central california, Department of Energy, fossil fuel, Keystone XL Pipeline, petroleum, raceway ponds, san luis obispo water reclamation facility, Solar Power, tar sands, tryg lundquist

The Guardian is reporting that a July dump of 100 tonnes of iron sulphate in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, by California businessman Russ George has fueled a plankton bloom as large as 10,000 square kilometers. The dump is part of a rogue geoengineering experiment that is intended to demonstrate that ocean fertilization using iron can draw carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in the ocean long-term to help combat climate change. But environmentalists have called George’s algae bloom experiment a “blatant violation of two international resolutions.”

Read the rest of Rogue Geoengineering Experiment Creates Massive Algae Bloom in Pacific Ocean

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Post tags: algae, August 2012, BLOOM, carbon, Climate Change, diatom, dioxide, fertilization, geoengineering, iron sulphate, nasa, ocean, phytoplankton, russ george, sequestration

Ghost ships aren’t the only remnants of Japan’s March 2011 tsunami that are washing up on the shores of North America. Cal State Long Beach marine biologists studying kelp beds along the California coast have collected samples of radioactive iodine that spread to the US from the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant last year. The highest concentration contained 250 times more radioactivity than levels before the accident.

Read the rest of Radiation from Fukushima Disaster Found in California Kelp

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Post tags: algae, beach, California, fukushima daiichi, Japan, Kelp, long beach, nuclear disaster, nuclear meltdown, nuclear power, orange county, pacific ocean, sand, Santa Cruz, Seaweed, tsunami

Read the rest of X SEA TY is a Carbon-Absorbing, Algae-Producing Floating City

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", algae, biofuels, eco design, floating city, green architecture, Green Building, green design, photosynthesis, Sustainable Building, sustainable city, sustainable design, x sea ty, X-Tu, xseaty

Pardon the potty talk, but wouldn’t it be great if every time you flushed the toilet you were actually generating heat for your home? That’s exactly what a Los Angeles-based startup is hoping to accomplish. OriginOil, a company that specializes in converting algae into fuel, is working on developing a pilot for an urban algae farm concept that would use wastewater to help grow algae, which is then used to generate energy, treating the wastewater in the process.

Read the rest of Urban Algae Farms Could Heat Buildings While Treating Wastewater

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Post tags: "clean energy", algae, alternative energy, clean tech, france, net-zero buildings, net-zero energy, OriginOil, Paris, renewable energy, sewage treatment, wastewater, water treatment

HOK’s San Francisco office received a jury recognition award for their net-zero “Battery Park” design, which features a remarkable algae facade. A combination of load reduction, waste heat recovery, and waste-to-energy strategies combined with an array of solar panels ensures that this densely populated mixed-use building can generate all of its own energy, while the building-integrated algae further slashes the program’s carbon footprint.

Read the rest of HOK’s Net Zero “Battery Park” for San Francisco Has an Algae Facade

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Post tags: "solar energy", algae, algae facade, battery park, biomimicry, BIOS Design Collective, Charles Lee, eco design, green design, HOK, net-zero energy, San Francisco, sea sponges, solar panels, sustainable design, waste heat recovery, waste to energy, wind energy

Read the rest of Cocoon_FS: Pohl Architects Unveils Prefab Plankton-Inspired Pod Building in Germany

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Post tags: algae, applied science, Climate Change, CO2, Cocoon_FS, eco design, eco-conscious, eco-friendly, engineering, Environment, environmental design, gadget, green design, green living, green technology, groan pohl, innovative structure, julia pohl, lightweight, lightweight material, Material science, nano renewables, nanotechnology, organic building, plankton, planktontech, Pohl Architects, prefab building, renewable energy, sustainable design, sustainable living

HORTUS — or Hydro Organisms Responsive To Urban Stimuli — is a crazy new exhibit in London made up of 325 transparent bags of algae hanging from the ceiling via a network of ropes. Long plastic tubes hang from the bags and visitors are instructed to blow into them to feed the algae — which ranges in color from dark green, to pink, to brown — with their breath. Devised by the Architectural Association School of Architecture, the crazy algae greenhouse is a way for visitors to use their own carbon emissions to foster new life.

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Post tags: algae, algae art, algae art exhibit, algae fuel, algae greenhouse, Architectural Association, architectural association school of architecture, architectural design, eco logic studio, fuel source, green art, greenhouse, greenhouse architecture, hortus, London, sustainable art, Urban design, urban greenhouse

Read the rest of Influx_Studio Wants to Turn Chicago’s Marina City Into an Algae-Producing CO2-Scrubbing Powerhouse

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", algae, algae bioreactor, carbon scrubbing, carbon zero, carbon-neutral, chicago, eco design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, influx studio, influx_studio, net zero, photovoltaics, proposal, rainwater harvesting, self-sufficient, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, vertical farm, vertical garden, Zero Carbon, Zero energy

Read the rest of EcoLogicStudio Unveils an Awesome Algae-Powered Eco-City to Reinvigorate the Baltic Coast

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Post tags: algae, algae biofuel, algae cultivation, algae farm, eco design, EcoLogicStudio, green design, simrishamn, sustainable design

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Post tags: Alex Driver, algae, biophotovoltaics, biotechnology, Cambridge University, Carlos Peralta, clean tech, eco design, green design, lily pads, London Design Festival, MoSS, photosynthesis, renewable energy, solar, sustainable design

While many consider algae a slimy, green, undesirable sludge, its benefits – from its nutritious nature to its renewable energy production capabilities – are slowly gaining more and more fans. One of the biggest cheerleaders for the goopy organisms, Algaegarden, recently sent us this photo of their unconventional garden, which grows algae in curtains of vertical tubes organized by color and species. The tubes, which hang from steel frames and are aerated by bicycle pumps, form a curious structure that celebrates algae’s potential as an alternative to oil and source of nutrition.

+ Algaegarden

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Post tags: algae, algae garden, Algaegarden, eco design, Gardening, gardens, green design, landscape design, sustainable design

Read the rest of Self-sustaining BioEnergy Domes Produce Organic Veggies, Fish and Energy!

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Post tags: algae, Arizona, BioEnergy Dome, eco design, geodesic dome, geodesic farm, green design, Naatani, Navajo Indian Reservation, organic farming, organic fish farm, Pacific Dome, self-sufficient architecture, self-sufficient pond, self-sustaining, sustainable design