The Top 10 Most Innovative Algae-Powered Designs

Algae isn't just a bunch of seaweed: it's an amazing natural resource that can power everything from a light bulb to an entire city. New technology is exploring the various uses of algae to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/promising-alabama-pilot-project-turns-algae-to-biofuel-using-sewage/" target="_blank">fuel</a> big and small things cleanly, and scientists are asking whether a whole city could be run on algae, or if <a href="http://inhabitat.com/scientists-convert-algae-into-crude-oil-in-less-than-one-hour/" target="_blank">algae could power devices</a> ranging from night lights to aircraft. The result of these inquiries is a wide array of solutions that can help us harness <a href="http://inhabitat.com/14-year-olds-biofuel-breakthrough-boosts-algae-production-500/" target="_blank">the power of this phenomenal plant</a> to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to power our modern world.

Algae is blessed with such qualities as bioluminescence, which is the ability to glow in the dark, and photosynthesis, which allows scientists to extract energy from it. Plus algae cleans the air and provides food for people and other creatures. This remarkable natural resource is more powerful than anything humans could come up with, plus the use of it doesn't damage the environment, because it can be rapidly regenerated. Below are ten of the most innovative algae-powered designs out there, starting from the small scale all the way up to the city scale:

1. Algae-Powered Dinosaur Nightlight The Dino Pet from California-base company, Yonder Biology, uses the bioluminescent properties of algae to show children that when we work in harmony with nature, great things happen. Made from polyethylene plastic, the dinosaur-shaped container houses dinoflagellate algae. This is just one of many types of algae with bio-luminescent properties, which means it glows in the dark. Because the algae is a living organism, Dino Pets actually depend on their owners to survive. Daily sunlight is a must, and special dino food is added once every 1-3 months to keep the algae happy. Proper care and feeding could potentially allow the toy to last forever.

2. Algae-Powered LED Light Bulb Along the same lines, designer Gyula Bodonyi has harnessed the power of green algae in a light bulb. Bodonyi's concept brings green power to the public on a more user-friendly scale. With the Algaebulb, algae powers a single LED activated by a tiny air pump and hydrophobic material able to create a teeny-tiny power house for light. The tear-shaped bulb is made up of an air pump, LED, hidrophob container, PC Shell, and air outlet. The system sucks in carbon dioxide and water through the pump near the E27 screw-top, and as the air passes through the bulb, chlorella pyrenoidosa spirulina microalgae are fostered. While algae flourishes, it gives off oxygen, which in turn powers the tiny LED inside. Although small in size, if AlgaeBulb is employed on a large scale, it holds the potential to save a significant amount of energy. Aside from providing a light source with renewables, the bulb also sucks up carbon dioxide, helping to alleviate greenhouse gases one bulb at a time.

3. Algae Musical Jelly French students Marianne Cauvard and Raphaël Pluvinage have come up with a fantastically weird project that uses agar-agar — red algae — jelly to create music. Dubbed Noisy Jelly, the project involves cooking colored jelly with a few grams of algae powder and then molding it into different geometric shapes. The shapes are then placed on a sensor board that creates music when each one is touched! Technically the game board is a capacitive sensor that creates different sounds according to the shape of the figures, salt concentration, and finger pressure.

4. The Algae Curtain The Algae Curtain-a is living photosynthesising textile installation that was developed as part of the Energy Futures Project by studio Loop.pH in Lille, France. The design is made up of transparent tubes knotted into large architectural drapes suspended in sunny windows. Living algae is pumped through the textile soaking up the daytime sun and photosynthesizing to produce a bio-fuel that can be used locally. Microscopic algae grow ten times faster than trees and can produce huge amounts of oil through photosynthesis. The Algae Curtain-a provides a permanent support infrastructure for the “Future Fruits” (the harvest of the energy) and together form micro-ecologies networked with a tangle of living plastic. The capsules can be considered an evolution of the everyday battery, but grown from living matter to be harvested.

5. “Algaerium” Living Surfaces and Textiles Architect and textile designer Marin Sawa has created a series of living surfaces and textiles that cultivate and produce green energy in the form of algae. The Algaerium was to create and explore algae as spatial installations in urban conditions. By working with the photosynthetic method, she combines algae and light to produce stunning color systems that react and respond to the surrounding environment. The designer explains: “The project proposes utilization of algae’s biological attributes such as photosynthesis and bioluminescence as beneficial design solutions in response to our contemporary ‘environmental consciousness’.”

6. Algae-Powered Biophotovoltaic Panels UK designers are working with Cambridge University researchers to develop biophotovoltaic (BPV) devices that generate renewable energy from the photosynthesis of algae and moss. Algae and moss are fast-growing organisms that require little more than a bit of sun and water to stay alive. While these organisms are in the midst of photosynthesizing, energy can be extracted from them to power photovoltaic panels. The designers believe that this technology could compete with silicon-based solar panels in the next 5-10 years, which is compelling since solar panels are often criticized for being resource-heavy to develop. Applications for BPVs are numerous: moss in a table can be harvested directly to power a lamp, an array of algae-powered solar panels can be used for domestic consumption, and a near-shore generator can harvest desalinated water, or a forest of solar collecting masts can harvest water to keep energy-generating algae alive.

7. Portable Algae Breathing Pavilions Designed by Ádám Miklósi, Chlorella combines algae photosynthesis with oxygen therapy to create a fresh air pavilion for future urban environments. The project is inspired by the Russian ‘CELSS’ (Controlled Ecological Life Support System) study in which chlorella algaes were used to recycle exhaled Co2 from humans into necessary oxygen. The algaes replenished the air with oxygen through photosynthesis supported by artificial lighting. The structure utilizes semi-transparent teflon membranes to create a ‘semi-disconnection’ from the outside world by reducing noise, voices, and visual impressions. The pavilion acts as an urban shelter against outside air pollution. The heart of the design is a series of photobioreactors which consist of a network of transparent plastic tubes. The photobioreactors are filled with 5 cubic meters of air-purifying, oxygen-producing algae. In the center of the space there is an algae fountain surrounded by ten rail-bound relaxation chairs placed in a circular fashion. Artificial lighting is supported by solar panels placed on top of the pavilion to keep energy use to a minimum.

8. Algae Fuel-Powered Aircraft European aerospace company EADS or Airbus has invented an algae fuel-powered aircraft. The company’s twin-engine Diamond DA 42, runs partially on biofuel made from 100% algae. the plane requires 1.5 liters less fuel per hour than with conventional fueling systems because of the algae’s ultra-high energy content. EADS has high hopes for algae-powered planes in the future, but the company hasn’t yet revealed when these hybrid planes might be commercially available.

9. Algae-Powered Building Splitterwerk Architects have designed the world's first algae-powered building which is clad with a bio-adaptive façade of microalgae. To create the algae façade, the building is covered in bio-reactive louvers that enclose the algae. These louvers allow the algae to survive and grow faster than they would otherwise while also providing shade for the interior of the building. Additionally, the bio-reactors trap the heat energy created by the algae, which can then be harvested and used to power the building. Photosynthesis is driving a dynamic response to the amount of solar shading required, while the micro-algae growing in the glass louvres provide a clean source of renewable energy.

10. Algae-Powered Eco-City Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, co-founders of EcoLogicStudio in London, have begun exploring the possibilities of algae on the city scale by planning an eco-city in Simrishamn, Sweden. Their Algae Farm plan will be an entire town centered on algae production, research, and tourism. The plan incorporates the harvesting and use of algae in a number of areas around the town. “Crane Greenhouses” that resemble upside-down trees are planned for unused ports around the coast. Canopies of ETFE pedals will hold small bags that act as tiny greenhouses for algae production. Algae will also be grown specifically for food and oil in “Migro Towers” near other lakes and bodies of water. The towers double as relaxing social areas for tourists on hikes and safe nesting areas for birds. Old barns around the region are imagined to become state of the art algae farming facilities while the natural springs will serve as water filtering gardens that will not only monitor water pollution but even offer spa treatments. Visitors can navigate through algae sites by a connected bike path that doubles as a cross-country ski course in the winter months.