ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damian Palin - Biological miner
Damian Palin is developing a way to use bacteria to biologically "mine" minerals from water -- specifically, out of the brine left over from the desalinization process.

Why you should listen

Research engineer Damian Palin has long been fascinated by the process of biomineralization–with particular attention on the mechanisms involved for mineral precipitation. At the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (in collaboration with Nanyang Technical University, Singapore), he conducts experiments to assess the ability of microorganisms to mine selected minerals out of seawater desalination brine. This study was based on compelling and burgeoning evidence from the field of geomicrobiology, which shows the ubiquitous role that microorganisms play in the cycling of minerals on the planet. 

He says: "It is my aim to continue to research in the field of biomineralization, while exploring the mechanisms responsible for mild energetic mineral (including metal) precipitation for the production of mineral composites."

Read our in-depth Q&A with Damian Palin >>

More profile about the speaker
Damian Palin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2012

Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater

Damian Palin: Ekstrakti mineralojn el marakvo

Filmed:
1,002,297 views

La mondo bezonas trinkeblan akvon. Pli kaj pli, oni produktas ĝin per marakva sensaligo. Sed kion fari kun la salsolva kromprodukto, kiu rezultas de la procezo? En tiom mallonga kiom interesa prelego, TEDano Damian Palin proponas novaĵon: ekstrakti el ĝi la mineralojn, kiujn ni bezonas, helpe de kunlaborantaj bakterioj.
- Biological miner
Damian Palin is developing a way to use bacteria to biologically "mine" minerals from water -- specifically, out of the brine left over from the desalinization process. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
I collaborate with bacteria.
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Mi kunlaboras kun bakterioj.
00:18
And I'm about to show you
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Kaj mi tuj montros al vi
00:19
some stop-motion footage that I made recently
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bildopostbildan videon, kiu mi faris lastatempe
00:21
where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals
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en kiu oni vidas bakteriojn eltiri mineralojn
00:23
from their environment
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el sia medio
00:25
over the period of an hour.
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dum unuhora periodo.
00:27
So what you're seeing here
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Tio, kion vi vidas
00:28
is the bacteria metabolizing,
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estas bakterioj, kiuj metabolas,
00:30
and as they do so
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kaj tion farante
00:31
they create an electrical charge.
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kreas elektran ŝarĝon.
00:33
And this attracts metals
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Tio eltiras metalojn
00:35
from their local environment.
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el la proksima ĉirkaŭaĵo.
00:38
And these metals accumulate as minerals
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Tiuj metaloj kolektiĝas kiel mineraloj
00:40
on the surface of the bacteria.
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je la surfaco de la bakterioj.
00:42
One of the most pervasive problems
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Unu el la plej persistaj problemoj
00:45
in the world today for people
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de la monda loĝantaro hodiaŭ
00:46
is inadequate access
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estas trovi fidindajn fontojn
00:48
to clean drinking water.
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de trinkebla akvo.
00:49
And the desalination process
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La procezo nomata sensaligo estas
00:51
is one where we take out salts.
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unu el tiuj fontoj de trinkakvo.
00:53
We can use it for drinking and agriculture.
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Ĝi uzeblas por homa konsumado aŭ agrikulturo.
00:55
Removing the salts from water --
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Sensaligi akvon --
00:57
particularly seawater --
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specife marakvon --
00:59
through reverse osmosis
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per inversa osmozo
01:00
is a critical technique
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estas grava procezo
01:02
for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water
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por landoj kie uzebla trinkakvo mankas
01:05
around the globe.
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tra la mondo.
01:06
So seawater reverse osmosis
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Inversa osmozo de marakvo
01:07
is a membrane-filtration technology.
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estas membranfiltrila teknologio.
01:10
We take the water from the sea
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Oni altiras marakvon
01:12
and we apply pressure.
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per pumpilo, kaj repuŝas ĝin
01:14
And this pressure forces the seawater
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trans membrano
01:17
through a membrane.
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duontralasebla.
01:18
This takes energy,
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Por produkti trinkeblan akvon tiumaniere,
01:19
producing clean water.
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oni bezonas energion. Krome,
01:22
But we're also left with a concentrated salt solution, or brine.
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la procezo postlasas koncentritan salsolvon,
01:26
But the process is very expensive
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kaj ĝi tre multekostas,
01:27
and it's cost-prohibitive for many countries around the globe.
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tro, fakte, por multaj landoj tramonde.
01:30
And also, the brine that's produced
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Ofte, ankaŭ, la salsolvon, kiu rezultas
01:31
is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea.
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oni simple repumpas en la maron.
01:34
And this is detrimental to the local ecology
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Tio damaĝas la ekologion de la loko
01:37
of the sea area that it's pumped back out into.
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en kiu oni remetas la solvon.
01:39
So I work in Singapore at the moment,
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Nun, mi laboras en Singapuro, urbo
01:41
and this is a place that's really a leading place
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kiu ludas ĉefrolon pri la disvolvigo
01:44
for desalination technology.
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de sensaligajn teknologiojn.
01:46
And Singapore proposes by 2060
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Singapuro proponas prokukti ĝis 2060
01:49
to produce [900] million liters per day
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900 milionojn da litroj
01:52
of desalinated water.
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de sensaligitan akvon ĉiutage.
01:54
But this will produce an equally massive amount
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Bedaŭrinde, tio ankaŭ rezultigos
01:57
of desalination brine.
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grandegan kvanton da salsolvo.
01:59
And this is where my collaboration with bacteria comes into play.
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Ĝuste tie povas interveni mia kunlaboranto kun bakterioj.
02:02
So what we're doing at the moment
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Tio, kion ni faras nun
02:04
is we're accumulating metals
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estas akumuli metalojn,
02:07
like calcium, potassium and magnesium
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kiel kalcio, kalio kaj magnezio,
02:09
from out of desalination brine.
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ekstraktitajn el postsensaliga salsolvo.
02:11
And this, in terms of magnesium
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Nur pri kalio
02:13
and the amount of water that I just mentioned,
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kaj la akvokvanto, kiun mi ĵus menciis,
02:16
equates to a $4.5 billion
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oni kalkulas valoron de $4.5 miliardoj
02:19
mining industry for Singapore --
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por la minindustrio de Singapuro --
02:21
a place that doesn't have any natural resources.
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kie ne estas krudmaterialoj.
02:23
So I'd like you to image a mining industry
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Do mi petas vin imagi minindustrion tian,
02:26
in a way that one hasn't existed before;
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kia neniam ekzistis antaŭe;
02:28
imagine a mining industry
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imagu minindustrion,
02:30
that doesn't mean defiling the Earth;
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kiu ne profanas la Teron;
02:33
imagine bacteria helping us do this
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imagu bakteriojn, kiuj helpas nin tiurilate
02:35
by accumulating and precipitating
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per akumulado, precipitado
02:38
and sedimenting minerals
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kaj sedimentigo de mineraloj
02:41
out of desalination brine.
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el sensaliga salsolvo.
02:42
And what you can see here
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Tio, kion vi povas vidi ĉi tie
02:44
is the beginning of an industry in a test tube,
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estas la komenco de enlaboratoria industrio,
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a mining industry that is in harmony with nature.
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de minindustrio en akordo kun naturo.
02:50
Thank you.
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Dankon.
02:51
(Applause)
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(Aplaŭdoj)
Translated by Stéphane Brault
Reviewed by Karine Breault

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damian Palin - Biological miner
Damian Palin is developing a way to use bacteria to biologically "mine" minerals from water -- specifically, out of the brine left over from the desalinization process.

Why you should listen

Research engineer Damian Palin has long been fascinated by the process of biomineralization–with particular attention on the mechanisms involved for mineral precipitation. At the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (in collaboration with Nanyang Technical University, Singapore), he conducts experiments to assess the ability of microorganisms to mine selected minerals out of seawater desalination brine. This study was based on compelling and burgeoning evidence from the field of geomicrobiology, which shows the ubiquitous role that microorganisms play in the cycling of minerals on the planet. 

He says: "It is my aim to continue to research in the field of biomineralization, while exploring the mechanisms responsible for mild energetic mineral (including metal) precipitation for the production of mineral composites."

Read our in-depth Q&A with Damian Palin >>

More profile about the speaker
Damian Palin | Speaker | TED.com