Jonathan Trent: Energy from floating algae pods

Call it "fuel without fossils": Jonathan Trent is working on a plan to grow new biofuel by farming micro-algae in floating offshore pods that eat wastewater from cities. Hear his team's bold vision for Project OMEGA (Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae) and how it might power the future.
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[@chipmunk3k]

im a student at university Studying Chemical engineering and its replenish-able fuel sources like these that get me excited ! but I would also like to see this type of technology implemented on house hold roof tops, this would be less intrusive and utilize "dead space" and even contribute to a house holds cooling during the day !

[@johnbenton4488]

A great idea. It must have many applications, as we don't all live in UK with it's somewhat unpredictable weather!

[@elizabelgoh8700]

Hi May I know is the algae mentioned in this video had been genetically engineered? It will be very useful for me in my academic presentation next monday! TQ!

[@nicolenobili8869]

yeah, that would be cool, but I think that this system needs to be put in water. If rooftops get too hot or too cold, the algae dies, and there is nothing such as waves on rooftops that would contribute to algae mixing.

[@robinhyperlord9053]

It should be possible to put an Algae system on an empty wall. America can be powered by Algae in an area as big as a state.

[@davida.5611]

There is an "algae house", since 2013: www.buildup.eu/en/practices/cases/biq-house-first-algae-powered-building-world

[@iluan_]

Suddenly I feel proud I´m proud I minored fresh water phycology, that I'm mayoring algae biotechnology and that I´m serving my internship in a laboratory that is researching algal biofuel.

[@faizandarsot]

host: so your not patenting it... jon: no, its open to the world gave me chills...... great work my guy!!

[@nilesbutler8638]

Annnd - its been 8 years since this was taped - and I still fail to hear any coastal city having such a system and generationg surplus by it. Which is weird, because blackwater recycling is an highly profitable business, society pays that sevice well. With the added income of fuel algae - this technology should be a moneypress. Buuuut no takers....wonder why.

[@nilesbutler8638]

@Rey De Guzman Well in my case - no capital, no proficiency in any related field, no business capabilities. In your case? Dunno, you tell me. But since there is a LOT of profit-seeking capital out there, and if some project can be painted green thats a big PR bonus.... I guess the system still has "kinks" that make it non-tenable even for venture capital. Things that work and earn money get done. Thats the system we live in.

[@powersmine]

Great Ideas, I'm hopeful for the future again. Cheers

[@markzauner8066]

Thank you for your answer!

[@OVshyguy]

Wonderful ideas and concepts. Also who thought this guy sounds and looks like Robin Williams?

[@michaeltodd5806]

RW lived in the bay area. so does this guy. Probably the same accent, ish.

[@lilora70]

Great talk; awesome idea

[@sparkloweb]

The general idea sounds good, but it's still really hard to extract oil from the algae efficiently. And if it depends on high-lipid GMO strains then there's the constant problem of contamination (lots of other, hardier stuff will also grow in wastewater). It might be more efficient to let it dry out and just burn the biomass directly, or use it as a basis for soil/fertilizer.

[@johnbenton4488]

Hence the unending R&D.

[@manojrs008]

Hydrothermal liquefaction of the algae to convert it to oil!

[@UltraRobbie]

This is incredible!

[@winstonq82]

This man a some serious ideas. I hope he is taken seriously by the U.S government to make it work. But the government won't pay too much attention to it because it might affect their lobbyist and especial interest. With that being said, I'm a fan of his ideas. I wish I had the money to fund his project and brilliant ideas.

[@lutfianna]

+Winston Quezada I really admire his ideas too. This actually could be practiced pretty well at archipelagic countries as well. Glad that there are still people who do good for the sake of environment.

[@tarstarkusz]

+Winston... I first started following Algae as a bio-fuel candidate in around 2009. So far, it has just been a disaster. Unfortunately, it is expensive and in many cases has a negative energy return. It's a shame, but if this ever works, it's probably decades away.

[@jayordanisa1854]

I also studied the effects and potential use of algaes and better way of producing it. I discovered that some of species of algea can provide food for human with healthy nutrients. If only can produce and select it's species properly. If done this in a large scale of area it would solve the global hunger.

[@tarstarkusz]

+jay ord... We burn over 10 calories of FF for every calorie of food we produce and that is just the western average, America is worse. We humans are the SUVs of the animal kingdom. Getting this number to zero is going to be an incredibly difficult endeavor. Maybe if we find a salt water algae that is good for food or fuel and find a way to deliver sea-water to the desert for free (or close to it), then maybe we can do something like feed people.

[@kokofan50]

Thank you.

[@AVINASHSINGH-bt6wq]

nice concept...... hope to see implemented !!!

[@menkaur]

good idea. we need some progress on this

[@pandora80sbox]

fantastic!!

[@elvisflorian]

I hope this helps us in the future

[@CLEANDrumCovers]

This sounds great.

[@Huang59]

Yes, please!! Know what's your passion and go for it fearlessly. The solution is not yet discovered and it need a lot more people and work!

[@Loathomar]

That a brilliant statement. Really, Biofuels have both short and long run advantages over solar power and electric cars. In the short term, there is reasonable application of bio-fuels to replace oil in cars without signification changes to cars. Once solar and electric cars become a reality, it will take ~15 years to realistically be off oil. So if we can make biofuel by 2020 as oil prices or less then we are off oil by 2025, solar and electric cars it is 2040.

[@Jurmyhyle12]

Good Job TED

[@chastityjc]

good to know. thanks j

[@richardgreen5765]

I applaud Trent and his team for trying something new, but the many unknowns Trent refers to prove that his dream is a FANTASY in the real world. Why have none of these commercial systems been built??? "Some source of CO2", out at sea. Hmmm. Trent's "off-shore structures" would have no impact on marine organisms or shipping channels, and would be unaffected in severe weather... yada, yada, yada. "Trained seals for cleaning"?? "Protected bay.. somewhere in the world"... Even Trent's own assertions that this is not viable economically unless you consider myriad unrelated economic drivers (plastic mulch, wast water, carbon markets, etc...) Plus, unfortunately, the solvent process typically required to harvest oil from algae is heavily patent protected and would restrict the ability of most technologies to ever be commercially viable.

[@carolinaferreira3187]

Fantastic

[@SomethingSea1]

Let's do both!

[@damarh]

i like how everyone is considering the sea but ignoring the vast tracks of land in USA that is unused or barren of any other industrial purpose.

[@walkerpaul]

Innovation is key to future energy developments

[@heckyes]

Totally agree.

[@craigglewis]

This is what I visioned for SeaRanch Farms 😊

[@1tinytatertot]

What happens if a tidal wave or tornado or hurricane hits these systems? Have you begun to think about what could and may inevitabley happen under such circumstance?

[@aquapucci]

The same thing as anything else.

[@timthorson52]

He did mention that, the algae die, fish eat what's left, the sewers are often already dumped into the ocean with some processing, much like he covered. The most extreme failure of the system is really just releasing to the ocean what we already are.

[@Stonedtosheep]

That man is perhaps one of the most advanced people on the planet! for the benefit of man and earth he does this!

[@Loathomar]

I think the point of being on the sea was to do with the waste treatment of big cities is most commonly pumped into the sea and this algae system would effectively use that system to produce fuel.

[@riderlibertas2580]

Fucking brilliant! I hope to live to see this kind of innovation change my world.

[@donaldclark9649]

There are all of these great ideas from TED conferences that I don't see in my state of Missouri. (Except for Factor E Farm) Where are the people on the internet that I can make connections with, to effect positive change?

[@Dollapfin]

This is great! I still believe that modern agriculture will outcompete this because we already have the infrastructure and it's cheaper to implement, but I'd like to see these compete for prices. Also the algae would be better for oils or biofuels and plastics while ag would be for alcohols and composites and fibers.

[@Dollapfin]

Btw I am aware of the extremely fast growth of algaes.

[@thegamechanger7157]

My first encounter with algae chicken feeds. For fillet machines. The protein on algae are high and non saturated

[@yoyoyoyo7813]

awesome

[@pauldelaunay6075]

Awesome

[@2758750]

OMEGA System; This could save out coast. We need to get on this boat, and real soon. Vancouver Island has many outflow pipes. The most recent is going through a consultation process where it is coming up against a lot of road blocks. This OMEGA system could improve the marine environment, and eventually pay for itself. What are we waiting for? Even if there are flaws to work out, it can't be worse than how the mollusks are suffering from too much CO2 now. The Scallop industry has already taken a serious hit with long-time businesses have to close. The last few years have seen the aquaculture industry explode on the coast of BC; So, with respect to ocean levels of CO2 we need to do the right thing. And that is not what we 'have' been doing.

[@johnbenton4488]

While different, the world looks just as able to support Human life in future decades and centuries, if we listen to and help people like this. Complacency will be our undoing.

[@Adamski102]

what software were used for making the first animation? I really like it

[@yubedude]

He wasn't saying that those additional energy systems were required to make his OMEGA system work rather that his system could easily integrate additional systems on to his acreage. The artist rendition shows how solar panels could be added to walkways, wave generators could be placed on the borders, etc. The mollusks aqua-culture is easily added to the infrastructural supports. The one drawback is that this is still a carbon fuel and as such will involve a CO2 release with combustion.

[@JimENovak]

Jonathan, Your theory, seems plausible. And I realize we have to have alternative fuels, you must be aware of the enormous power of the major corp's, they will eventually crush your (our) expectations. Big oil and the other's will never let this happen, but it's worth the fight. Jim E.

[@dvdragon]

3:00 Are those floaters? :0

[@holdmybeer]

Open source is changing the world for the better!

[@Loathomar]

Well no crap. That would be why I asked about "mass production in every major port city in the US, what would the end cost per gallon of bio-fuel cost?" and not, what would be the costs of doing this on a small scale. Though, it is always good to look at both smaller and large scale production. Could this idea some how be done cheaply on cattle farms and such, which would be a small scale, but might be low cost too?

[@markserrano4586]

if you used a container ship as a farm you wouldn't get in the way of marine traffic and wouldn't need to wait on waste water treatment plants and wouldn't need to take extra time to harvest. You could farm and refine on the ship. Then sail to a dock on land to unload your fuel. Second benefit is that you clean the ocean

[@sebastianpye9328]

cool idea!

[@Liakhim666]

Your idea, as a concept is good, the problem is cost of low desity plastic vs cost of a container ship, this kind of proyects are already really dificult to implement while beeing at the same time profitable.

[@markserrano4586]

We already have oil container ships. They would just need to change some on board tech.

[@johnbenton4488]

A brilliant idea. Let's see if it can become reality. There is no such thing as too much R&D.

[@Laughing_Chinaman]

mind blown

[@miskee11]

It's not that far away actually. There are major advancements in that field, and recently they've managed to actually create energy by fusion. I think it's a few decades away.

[@The5T1N9R4Y]

our car ran on canola for years :)

[@C0n7ax]

I have been a proponent of making each human dwelling a self sufficient "cellular" structure but that would only work for low density living environments. It would simply cost more resources to have a waste management system built into every apartment in a 300 000 dwelling city tower, than having each tower produce and re-use it's own resources. For that to become possible we need to work on these modular system that work on their own or collected for mass production as this presentation shows!

[@kerv15]

So many questions… What happens when someone flushes cleaner? If the algae is used for aquaculture how would harmful bacteria/diseases in wastewater not be passed on to us? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just use the wastewater as fertilizer than to have to grow algae to use?

[@Loathomar]

While hemp does very will vs many standard crops, it does not come even close to the range of between soy and sunflower. At between 50-80 gallons per acre per year from what I can find from science papers.

[@SomethingSea1]

DAMN!

[@NajaCrudah]

Could the algae be grown at an accelerate rate by iron fertilization of the open ocean? Ships similar to oil tankers with netting or filters could collect the surplus algae and carry it to refineries or perhaps the refining could be accomplished on-board with the tankers arriving at port carrying crude oil or some other precursor.

[@toddanderson7484]

you could mess up the ocean food chain pretty bad, like deadzone bad if done poorly. Also the percent that is collect would have to pay for the iron which may be difficult. Maybe a controlled system that uses this principal but is enclosed onshore and intakes seawater, adds iron and treated wastewater, grows non invasive algae, then algae is collected and water is returned (maybe into protected fish ponds)

[@TheAnnoyingBoss]

​​@@toddanderson7484 would you rather it be the pacific garbage patch or the pacific algae patch and the big ships manufacture the algae into fuel on the spot and then when its tanks are full it delivers it. The ocean is like most of the surface. You could grow a lot on land various different ways and actually have a supply that makes it worth it

[@Loathomar]

i wish they where open about the economic costs in this video. Even when I look for it, I can not find much on how much this would cost as a fuel source. It seemed to me that when he did talk about the economics, that he was saying it was not good without saying anything. If we got this via mass production in every major port city in the US, what would the end cost per gallon of bio-fuel cost?

[@miskee11]

Of course. I meant that a surplus of energy has been produced with fusion, i.e. less energy has been used to creating it than what it has produced.

[@aphyd23]

This is a great idea. And his lavender shirt looks fabulous. I'm just saying.

[@yourmoney3360]

How does the algae absorb carbon from the air in an enclosed system?

[@bear499]

wow i hope this really comes true. let's hope they can put a stop to fossil fuels.

[@TheAnnoyingBoss]

We need fossil fuels. Plus fossil fuels is a lie. Crude oil is algae oil mostly. Its jjst way older and it kinda got naturally formed on the earth. This fuel is great because its nearly the same thing and the alge sucls up contaminants

[@bear499]

@TheAnnoyingBoss we need fossil fuels for now, but what happens when we run out. We need better alternatives

[@TheENERDchi]

what about plastic being photodegradable? how long would we use the plastic that incubates the algae before the plastic's toxic material leaks out into the ocean?

[@DrSpooglemon]

Awe! Some!

[@C0n7ax]

haha, well yes it would be a single"building" but from some prototypes that I have seen coming out of Japan you would have 1km+ high super towers with all the amenities of modern life such as parks, entertainment, public transport within the city as well as between "cities". Obviously that requires a different scale of energy/resource production than a home for a family of 4.

[@ezpeazy5300]

Didn't talk about biofouling and internal cleaning of the system

[@jeetendrag10acc2]

i agree with misskee11. the biggest obstacle is that energy sources are not internationally networked. (solar in morroco,wind energy in france,wave energy from britain) all networked and re routed according to generation surplus and consumption. the probelm is more political than scientific. Nuclear and coal should be kept as supplemental peak power compensation.

[@k-mar9587]

Why are we still not doing it?

[@Originadmin]

Actually a company is creating pure fuel for cars with algae pods on land next to the sea rather then on the sea.

[@pinochska]

you can do that also with hemp bro... the machine thing i mean

[@Smurfmadness]

The future does not lie in one solution, but many solutions all working towards one goal.

[@2000LexusRX]

Interesting...

[@heckyes]

For sure, but that still makes sense as it's a single entity/vision/idea. Whereas our modern day cities are horribly designed (or just not designed period) for any kind of sustainability. If we think of a city as one building then it makes sense for a single or perhaps a few redundant systems to tackle jobs with in. Same difference really. Just larger scale. I'm all for the building of homes and recreational spaces into the sky.

[@miskee11]

Of course this is not THE answer for solving the issues at hand. We're on a wooden boat with lots of leaking holes we need to plug before we sink, and this solution could plug a hole or two, and it is beneficial. The hippie sources of energy (solar, wind, wave, algae/other organic sources of energy etc.) can plug some holes, but of course combining all of them would be ideal. An individual strand of fiber is weak, but combining many threads makes a very strong rope.

[@GeekProdigyGuy]

However, this is one of the first comprehensive plans for how to make a system that integrates multiple environment-friendly sources of energy, food, etc. As for "THE" answer - Nuclear reactors can provide more than enough power for the energy needs of the entire human population, given the amount of fuel reserves we have. It produces waste, but not impractical amounts, and safety hasn't been a real issue in a while. Given enough investment in the field, it's more viable than most alternatives.

[@MrDindjemek]

The tube design in no longer moduled though. So if it leak, the entire system would drain no?

[@techhungry1]

He is right on the money when he talks about the integration of our systems, but this specific project's design falls short by continuing to aim at centralized power and waste-treatment facilities. Investors and businesses could capitalize off a centralized system and would likely disagree with me. But I think the decentralization of our systems in the form of a grid or network of systems dispersed throughout our communities will be a better approach in the long run.

[@AlwaysHaveaMontage]

5:05 - 5:10 had me laughing my ass off.

[@meh.7539]

What if we built these balloon things and released them into the arctic for things to use as habitation until we can get the ice back?

[@jessjames93]

Hi just wondering what course you will be doing at uni to get into renewable energy. I too am thinking of enrolling for next year but i am unsure what course to do

[@mariaalexandra8158]

In case of a hurricane or another nature atmospheric phenomenon, have an option?

[@danbo0152]

Biology student here, And I'm Exited

[@gaybroshevik4180]

very mean, very dope solarpunk aesthetic. 🌞⚙️🌻 Green New Deal. ♥️😎🌹

[@52111centrumcz]

try going LFTR first - much lower tech required, and practically done already in the 1960s with a fraction of waste per watt then conventional nuclear.

[@bradowen8862]

If the plastic enclosure is sealed, how it will be able to sequester CO2 from the air?

[@Loathomar]

1. Biofuels, as they are used now, are highly ineffective and do very little, accounting for only 3% of transportation energy and less the 1% of our total energy usage. The real point of making Biofuels and we are currently is to develop the market and technology so we can create a useful Biofuels system in the future. 2. As stated in 1, our current Biofuels is only useful to allow something like ultra productive algae production to happen.

[@heckyes]

Aye, a 300,000 dwelling in a city would classify as a "building". "For that to become possible we need to work on these modular system that work on their own or collected for mass production as this presentation shows!", unfortunately that's a very difficult to do as everyone is concerned with Financial viability. We don't solve problems unless we can make some money doing it. Unfortunately becoming sustainable is a difficult profit venture.

[@52111centrumcz]

Energy is always made by fusion, the question is if you get much more than you put in the first place. Unless you get a return of about 7 or 8 to one, its not worth the bother. And when you achieve THAT, its still a question of keeping a stable (material wise) reactor that is going to be operable for many years on end - otherwise what you have is a scientific achievement and curiosity, but of not much use. I think in the near term the "power amplifier" concept of a reactor is more viable.

[@MaitredeDieu]

This guy is James from Project Purity ! Not patenting and free releasing, how great for our future :)

[@chastityjc]

i'm speaking of course of our day to day transportation. bio fuels have their place with other sorts of vehicles, jets and so on, like bulldozers and such. bio fuels "if" coming from a source such as this or hemp. j

[@williamhubel4643]

If this is top-notch green engineering (and it sure seems like that to me), and it's a long shot by the designer's own admission, then we should really prepare ourselves for a nasty energy crunch in the near future.

[@2223jason]

I agree but think about the number of people and the time it would take. As opposed to mass scale production. Also you would have to teach everything to a very large amount of people. I think large scale production is really the only viable option.

[@Loathomar]

Sure, if you use normal crops that produce ~200 gallons per acre per year, then the US would need 862 million acres. The use current (210) farm land is 920 million acres, so ~94% of all farm land would be needed for 100% bio-fuel productions.

[@Sagano96]

he sounds like Kevin Flynn from Tron xD in there is a new world! in there is our future. in there is our destiny!

[@chastityjc]

America should be on this, i'm proud they are so urgent that they are publishing it for whomsoever. j

[@WhichDoctor1]

Dear past, Why didn't you do this already?

[@sensur1]

Would it be wise to invest in stocks in companies developing these kinds of energy and also new materials such as graphene?

[@heckyes]

We could in theory grow the algae into oil and then turn that algae oil into plastics and polymers and whatever else the system requires.

[@gibbogirl5]

what happens with the rest of the waste water? there's no way these tiny structures can accommodate it all

[@chastityjc]

good to know, but what i like about it is you don't need land to grow it. j

[@Loathomar]

No, it really doesn't. While hemp does very will vs many standard crops, it does not come even close to the range of between soy and sunflower. At between 50-80 gallons per acre per year.

[@robz40]

page 285: "...What about algae in the sea? Remember what I just said: the algae-to-biodiesel posse always feed their algae concentrated CO2. If you’re going out to sea, presumably pumping CO2 into it won’t be an option. And without the concentrated CO2, the productivity of algae drops 100-fold. For algae in the sea to make a difference, a country-sized harvesting area in the sea would be required." simple thermodynamics and resources available

[@adracamas]

Hm.. so isn't there a way they could also collect the energy from the sun too? either a photo-conductive layer on the plastic or some way to gather the charge from photosynthesis? I'm no scientists or anything so these might be absurd ideas.

[@rachelbaker5098]

Bro I have an essay about this