TEDGlobal 2012
Jonathan Trent: Energy from floating algae pods
Jonathan Trent : Energi fra flyende algerør
Filmed:
Readability: 4.9
1,037,057 views
Kald det "Brændstof uden fossiler" : Jonathan Trent arbejder på en plan for at gro biiobrændsel ved at dyrke spildevandsspisende mikroalger i flydende rør offshore. Hør hans holds store vision for OMEGA projektet (Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae) og hvordan det måske kan producere fremtidens energi.
Jonathan Trent - Scientist and biofuel guru
Not only does Jonathan Trent grow algae for biofuel, he wants to do so by cleansing wastewater and trapping carbon dioxide in the process. And it’s all solar-powered. Full bio
Not only does Jonathan Trent grow algae for biofuel, he wants to do so by cleansing wastewater and trapping carbon dioxide in the process. And it’s all solar-powered. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
Some years ago, I set out to try to understand
0
657
2502
For nogle år siden satte jeg mig for at undersøge
00:19
if there was a possibility to develop biofuels
1
3159
2728
om der var en mulighed for at udvikle biobrændsler
00:21
on a scale that would actually compete with fossil fuels
2
5887
4702
på en skala der faktisk kunne konkurrere med fossile brændstoffer
00:26
but not compete with agriculture for water,
3
10589
3684
men uden at konkurrere med landbrug om vand,
00:30
fertilizer or land.
4
14273
2438
gødning eller land.
00:32
So here's what I came up with.
5
16711
1530
Her er hvad jeg fandt frem til.
00:34
Imagine that we build an enclosure where we put it
6
18241
1608
Forestil dig at vi bygger noget at have det i
00:35
just underwater, and we fill it with wastewater
7
19849
2278
lige under havoverfladen, og vi fylder det med spildevand
00:38
and some form of microalgae that produces oil,
8
22127
3128
og en eller anden form for mikroalge der producerer olie
00:41
and we make it out of some kind of flexible material
9
25255
2160
og vi bygger det af et fleksibelt materiale
00:43
that moves with waves underwater,
10
27415
2072
der kan bevæge sig under vandet med bølgerne
00:45
and the system that we're going to build, of course,
11
29487
2040
og at systemet vi bygger,
00:47
will use solar energy to grow the algae,
12
31527
2320
selvfølgeligt vil bruge solenergi til at dyrke algerne,
00:49
and they use CO2, which is good,
13
33847
2211
og de bruger CO2, hvilket er godt.
00:51
and they produce oxygen as they grow.
14
36058
2365
og de producerer ilt mens de vokser.
00:54
The algae that grow are in a container that
15
38423
3664
Algerne er i en beholder
00:57
distributes the heat to the surrounding water,
16
42087
2792
der fordeler varmen til det omgivende vand.
01:00
and you can harvest them and make biofuels
17
44879
2264
og du kan høste dem og lave biobrændsel,
01:03
and cosmetics and fertilizer and animal feed,
18
47143
2680
kosmetik, gødning og dyrefoder.
01:05
and of course you'd have to make a large area of this,
19
49823
2840
du skal selvfølgeligt bruge et stort areal
01:08
so you'd have to worry about other stakeholders
20
52663
2552
så du skal også tænke på andre der bruger området
01:11
like fishermen and ships and such things, but hey,
21
55215
4192
som fiskere, skibe og lign.
01:15
we're talking about biofuels,
22
59407
2263
men vi snakker om biobrændsel
01:17
and we know the importance of potentially getting
23
61670
2202
og vi ved hvor vigtigt det er potentielt at få
01:19
an alternative liquid fuel.
24
63872
2479
et alternativt flydende brændstof.
01:22
Why are we talking about microalgae?
25
66351
2681
Hvorfor snakker vi om mikroalger?
01:24
Here you see a graph showing you the different types
26
69032
3687
Her ser i en graf, der viser de forskellige typer
01:28
of crops that are being considered for making biofuels,
27
72719
3852
af afgrøder der overvejes til at producere biobrændsel.
01:32
so you can see some things like soybean,
28
76571
2563
Så vi kan se at noget som sojabønner
01:35
which makes 50 gallons per acre per year,
29
79134
2317
som producerer cirka 33 liter per hektar om året.
01:37
or sunflower or canola or jatropha or palm, and that
30
81451
5057
Vi ser også solsikker, raps, jatropha eller palme
01:42
tall graph there shows what microalgae can contribute.
31
86508
4494
Og den høje søjle der, viser hvad mikroalger kan udføre,
01:46
That is to say, microalgae contributes between 2,000
32
91002
2531
det vil sige at mikroalger kan producere imellem 1,300 og 3,300
01:49
and 5,000 gallons per acre per year,
33
93533
2792
liter per hektar per år
01:52
compared to the 50 gallons per acre per year from soy.
34
96325
3352
sammenlignet med de 33 liter som soja kan producere.
01:55
So what are microalgae? Microalgae are micro --
35
99677
3264
Så hvad er mikroalger? mikroalger er mikroskopiske
01:58
that is, they're extremely small, as you can see here
36
102941
2448
de er ekstremt små, som i kan se her
02:01
a picture of those single-celled organisms
37
105389
2968
på det her billede af de encellede organismer
02:04
compared to a human hair.
38
108357
2310
sammenlignet med et menneskehår
02:06
Those small organisms have been around
39
110667
2826
Disse små organismer har været her
02:09
for millions of years and there's thousands
40
113493
2040
i millioner af år, og der er tusindvis
02:11
of different species of microalgae in the world,
41
115533
2224
af forskellige arter af mikroalger i verden,
02:13
some of which are the fastest-growing plants on the planet,
42
117757
3024
nogen af dem er de hurtigst voksende planter i verden,
02:16
and produce, as I just showed you, lots and lots of oil.
43
120781
3192
og producerer, som jeg har vist jer, masser af olie
02:19
Now, why do we want to do this offshore?
44
123973
3288
Hvorfor vil vi så udføre dette offshore?
02:23
Well, the reason we're doing this offshore is because
45
127261
2848
Grunden til at vi gør det her offshore er :
02:26
if you look at our coastal cities, there isn't a choice,
46
130109
4596
hvis i ser på vores kystbyer, har vi intet valg,
02:30
because we're going to use waste water, as I suggested,
47
134705
2799
for vi skal bruge spildevand som jeg foreslog
02:33
and if you look at where most of the waste water
48
137504
1911
og hvis du ser hvor de fleste spildevandsanlæg
02:35
treatment plants are, they're embedded in the cities.
49
139415
3569
befinder sig, er dette inde i byerne.
02:38
This is the city of San Francisco, which has 900 miles
50
142984
3683
Dette er San Francisco, som har 1,500 km kloakrør
02:42
of sewer pipes under the city already,
51
146667
2655
under byen allerede,
02:45
and it releases its waste water offshore.
52
149322
3976
og byen udleder sit spildevand offshore.
02:49
So different cities around the world treat their waste water
53
153298
3912
Forskellige byer rundt omkring i verden håndterer spildevand forskellig
02:53
differently. Some cities process it.
54
157210
2368
nogen byer renser det først,
02:55
Some cities just release the water.
55
159578
1646
andre byer udleder blot vandet.
02:57
But in all cases, the water that's released is
56
161224
2658
Uanset hvad er vandet der udledes
02:59
perfectly adequate for growing microalgae.
57
163882
2960
godt nok til at dyrke mikroalger.
03:02
So let's envision what the system might look like.
58
166842
1665
Så lad os forestille os hvordan systemet vil se ud,
03:04
We call it OMEGA, which is an acronym for
59
168507
2102
Vi kalder det OMEGA, som er et akronym for :
03:06
Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae.
60
170609
4431
Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae,
03:10
At NASA, you have to have good acronyms.
61
175040
2552
hos NASA, er man nødt til at have gode akronymer.
03:13
So how does it work? I sort of showed you how it works already.
62
177592
2843
Så hvordan virker det? jeg har lidt vist jer det allerede
03:16
We put waste water and some source of CO2
63
180435
3720
vi putter spildevand og en CO2 kilde
03:20
into our floating structure,
64
184155
3047
ind i vores flydende konstruktion
03:23
and the waste water provides nutrients for the algae to grow,
65
187202
3641
og algerne får deres næring fra spildevandet
03:26
and they sequester CO2 that would otherwise go off
66
190843
2718
og de binder den CO2 der ellers ville gå op i atmosfæren
03:29
into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.
67
193561
2610
som en drivhusgas.
03:32
They of course use solar energy to grow,
68
196171
2328
Algerne bruger selvfølgeligt solenergi til at vokse,
03:34
and the wave energy on the surface provides energy
69
198499
2551
og bølgeenergien på overfladen
03:36
for mixing the algae, and the temperature
70
201050
2304
sørger for at blande algerne, temperaturen
03:39
is controlled by the surrounding water temperature.
71
203354
2560
styres af temperaturen på det omkringliggende vand.
03:41
The algae that grow produce oxygen, as I've mentioned,
72
205914
3354
De voksende alger producerer ilt, som jeg har nævnt,
03:45
and they also produce biofuels and fertilizer and food and
73
209268
3288
og de producerer også biobrændsel, gødning, mad
03:48
other bi-algal products of interest.
74
212556
3441
og andre interessante alge-biprodukter.
03:51
And the system is contained. What do I mean by that?
75
215997
3417
Systemet er under kontrol. Hvad mener jeg med det?
03:55
It's modular. Let's say something happens that's
76
219414
2126
Det er modulært, lad os sige at noget uforudset sker
03:57
totally unexpected to one of the modules.
77
221540
2194
ved et af modulerne,
03:59
It leaks. It's struck by lightning.
78
223734
2199
det lækker, det bliver ramt af et lyn.
04:01
The waste water that leaks out is water that already now
79
225933
2609
Spildevandet der lækker, er vand der allerede nu
04:04
goes into that coastal environment, and
80
228542
2388
lækkes ud i kystmiljøet,
04:06
the algae that leak out are biodegradable,
81
230930
2248
algerne der lækker er bionedbrydelige,
04:09
and because they're living in waste water,
82
233178
1086
og fordi de lever i spildevand,
04:10
they're fresh water algae, which means they can't
83
234264
3069
er de ferskvandsalger, hvilket betyder
04:13
live in salt water, so they die.
84
237333
1797
at de ikke kan leve i saltvand, så de dør.
04:15
The plastic we'll build it out of is some kind of
85
239130
2160
Plastikken vi vil bygge det her af er en eller anden velkendt plastik
04:17
well-known plastic that we have good experience with, and
86
241290
2632
som vi har god erfaring med
04:19
we'll rebuild our modules to be able to reuse them again.
87
243922
4851
og vi vil genbygge vores moduler så vi kan bruge dem igen.
04:24
So we may be able to go beyond that when thinking about
88
248773
3572
Vi kan måske endda gå endnu længere
04:28
this system that I'm showing you, and that is to say
89
252345
2477
når vi tænker på det system jeg viser jer, hvilket vil sige
04:30
we need to think in terms of the water, the fresh water,
90
254822
2834
vi bliver nødt til at tænke på vandet, ferskvandet
04:33
which is also going to be an issue in the future,
91
257656
2366
som også vil blive et vigtigt emne i fremtiden,
04:35
and we're working on methods now
92
260022
1837
vi arbejder nu på metoder
04:37
for recovering the waste water.
93
261859
2522
så vi kan genvinde spildevandet.
04:40
The other thing to consider is the structure itself.
94
264381
2792
Den anden ting at overveje er konstruktionen selv,
04:43
It provides a surface for things in the ocean,
95
267173
3051
den giver en overflade for ting i havet,
04:46
and this surface, which is covered by seaweeds
96
270224
3243
og denne overflade, som er dækket af tang
04:49
and other organisms in the ocean,
97
273467
2494
og andre hav-organismer,
04:51
will become enhanced marine habitat
98
275961
3987
vil blive forbedret hav-miljø,
04:55
so it increases biodiversity.
99
279948
1663
så konstruktionen fremmer biodiversitet.
04:57
And finally, because it's an offshore structure,
100
281611
2000
og til sidst : fordi det er en offshore konstruktion,
04:59
we can think in terms of how it might contribute
101
283611
2902
kan vi overveje hvordan den kan bidrage
05:02
to an aquaculture activity offshore.
102
286513
3754
til havbrugs-aktiviteter.
05:06
So you're probably thinking, "Gee, this sounds
103
290267
1589
Nu tænker du sikkert, "Det lyder da som en god ide,
05:07
like a good idea. What can we do to try to see if it's real?"
104
291856
4571
hvad kan vi gøre for at se om det er virkeligt?"
05:12
Well, I set up laboratories in Santa Cruz
105
296427
3815
Jeg har sat laboratorier op i Santa Cruz
05:16
at the California Fish and Game facility,
106
300242
3162
ved den californiske fisk- og vildt-facilitet
05:19
and that facility allowed us to have big seawater tanks
107
303404
3049
og de tillod os at have store saltvandstanke
05:22
to test some of these ideas.
108
306453
1723
til at teste nogen af de her ideer.
05:24
We also set up experiments in San Francisco
109
308176
2622
Vi satte også eksperimenter op i San Francisco
05:26
at one of the three waste water treatment plants,
110
310798
2831
ved et af deres tre spildevandsanlæg,
05:29
again a facility to test ideas.
111
313629
2496
igen en facilitet til at teste ideer.
05:32
And finally, we wanted to see where we could look at
112
316125
3304
Vi ville også se på hvilken påvirkning
05:35
what the impact of this structure would be
113
319429
2704
konstruktionen ville have
05:38
in the marine environment, and we set up a field site
114
322133
3657
på havmiljøet, og vi satte et teststed op i felten
05:41
at a place called Moss Landing Marine Lab
115
325790
2463
på et sted kaldet Moss Landing Marine Lab
05:44
in Monterey Bay, where we worked in a harbor
116
328253
2360
i Monterey Bay, hvor vi arbejdede i en hav
05:46
to see what impact this would have on marine organisms.
117
330613
4846
for at se hvordan det ville påvirke havlivet.
05:51
The laboratory that we set up in Santa Cruz was our skunkworks.
118
335459
3090
Laboratoriet vi satte op i Santa Cruz var vores hobbysted,
05:54
It was a place where we were growing algae
119
338549
2898
Det var et sted hvor vi groede alger,
05:57
and welding plastic and building tools
120
341447
2665
svejsede plastik, byggede værktøjer,
06:00
and making a lot of mistakes,
121
344112
1523
og lavede masser af fejl,
06:01
or, as Edison said, we were
122
345635
1931
eller som Edison sagde :
06:03
finding the 10,000 ways that the system wouldn't work.
123
347566
3450
Vi fandt de 10.000 måder hvor systemet ikke ville virke.
06:06
Now, we grew algae in waste water, and we built tools
124
351016
4246
Vi dyrkede alger i spildevand, og vi byggede værktøjer
06:11
that allowed us to get into the lives of algae
125
355262
3432
der tillod os at følge med i algernes liv
06:14
so that we could monitor the way they grow,
126
358694
1722
så vi kunne holde øje med hvordan de groede,
06:16
what makes them happy, how do we make sure that
127
360416
2702
hvad der gør dem glade og hvordan vi kan sikre os
06:19
we're going to have a culture that will survive and thrive.
128
363118
3902
at vi kommer til at have alger der overlever og trives.
06:22
So the most important feature that we needed to develop were these
129
367020
3089
Så det allervigtigste at udvikle var disse
06:26
so-called photobioreactors, or PBRs.
130
370109
2728
såkaldte fotobioreaktorer eller FBR'er.
06:28
These were the structures that would be floating at the
131
372837
1343
Det er disse konstruktioner der ville flyde på overfladen,
06:30
surface made out of some inexpensive plastic material
132
374180
3425
og de ville være lavet af noget billigt plastik,
06:33
that'll allow the algae to grow, and we had built lots and lots
133
377605
2657
der tillader algerne at gro, og vi havde bygget masser af
06:36
of designs, most of which were horrible failures,
134
380262
3129
forskellige designs, hvoraf de fleste var frygtelige fejltagelser.
06:39
and when we finally got to a design that worked,
135
383391
2335
Da vi endeligt fandt et design der virkede
06:41
at about 30 gallons, we scaled it up
136
385726
2287
med omkring 110 liter, skalerede vi det op
06:43
to 450 gallons in San Francisco.
137
388013
3616
til omkring 1700 liter i San Francisco.
06:47
So let me show you how the system works.
138
391629
2194
Lad mig vise jer hvordan systemet virker,
06:49
We basically take waste water with algae of our choice in it,
139
393823
3712
basalt set tager vi spildevandet med vores udvalgte alge i
06:53
and we circulate it through this floating structure,
140
397535
2706
og cirkulerer det igennem denne her flydende konstruktion,
06:56
this tubular, flexible plastic structure,
141
400241
2732
der består af fleksible plastik rør.
06:58
and it circulates through this thing,
142
402973
1493
Det cirkulerer igennem
07:00
and there's sunlight of course, it's at the surface,
143
404466
2712
Den ligger i overfladen, og der er selvfølgeligt sollys
07:03
and the algae grow on the nutrients.
144
407178
2405
og næringen lader algerne vokse.
07:05
But this is a bit like putting your head in a plastic bag.
145
409583
2422
Men dette er lidt som at putte sit hoved i en plastikpose,
07:07
The algae are not going to suffocate because of CO2,
146
412005
3242
algerne vil ikke kvæles på grund af CO2en
07:11
as we would.
147
415262
839
ligesom os,
07:12
They suffocate because they produce oxygen, and they
148
416101
2659
de vil derimod kvæles fordi de laver ilt,
07:14
don't really suffocate, but the oxygen that they produce
149
418760
2176
de kvæles ikke rigtigt men ilten de producerer
07:16
is problematic, and they use up all the CO2.
150
420936
3104
er problematisk og de opbruger al CO2en.
07:19
So the next thing we had to figure out was how we could
151
424040
2432
Så det næste vi skulle finde ud af var hvordan vi skulle
07:22
remove the oxygen, which we did by building this column
152
426472
3229
fjerne ilten. Hvilket vi gør ved at bygge denne sølje
07:25
which circulated some of the water,
153
429701
1477
som cirkulerer noget af vandet,
07:27
and put back CO2, which we did by bubbling the system
154
431178
3370
og putter CO2 tilbage i systemet, dette gjorde vi ved at
07:30
before we recirculated the water.
155
434548
2452
lade bobler stige igennem systemet før vi lod vandet løbe tilbage.
07:32
And what you see here is the prototype,
156
437000
1704
Hvad i ser her er prototypen,
07:34
which was the first attempt at building this type of column.
157
438704
3798
som var det første forsøg på at bygge sådan en søjle,
07:38
The larger column that we then installed in San Francisco
158
442502
2440
den større søjle som vi derefter installerede i San Francisco
07:40
in the installed system.
159
444942
1628
i det installerede system.
07:42
So the column actually had another very nice feature,
160
446570
3398
Søjlen havde faktisk en anden god egenskab,
07:45
and that is the algae settle in the column,
161
449968
3117
og det er at algerne falder til bunds i søjlen,
07:48
and this allowed us to accumulate the algal biomass
162
453085
3574
og dette lod os samle algemassen
07:52
in a context where we could easily harvest it.
163
456659
2967
et sted hvor vi nemt kunne høste den.
07:55
So we would remove the algaes that concentrated
164
459626
2775
Så vi kunne fjerne algerne der samlede sig
07:58
in the bottom of this column, and then we could
165
462401
2568
i bunden af søjlen, og vi kunne høste den
08:00
harvest that by a procedure where you float the algae
166
464969
3823
med en procedure hvor du lader algen flyde på overfladen
08:04
to the surface and can skim it off with a net.
167
468792
3896
og du samler det fra overfladen med et net.
08:08
So we wanted to also investigate what would be the impact
168
472688
3637
Vi ville også undersøge hvilken påvirkning systemet
08:12
of this system in the marine environment,
169
476325
2931
ville have på hav-miljøet,
08:15
and I mentioned we set up this experiment at a field site
170
479256
3480
jeg nævnte at vi satte et felteksperiment op
08:18
in Moss Landing Marine Lab.
171
482736
2240
i Moss Landing marinelaboratorium,
08:20
Well, we found of course that this material became
172
484976
2840
vi fandt ud af at materialet selvfølgeligt blev overgroet
08:23
overgrown with algae, and we needed then to develop
173
487816
2912
af alger, og vi havde så brug for at udvikle
08:26
a cleaning procedure, and we also looked at how
174
490728
2408
en renseteknik, og vi så også på hvordan
08:29
seabirds and marine mammals interacted, and in fact you
175
493136
2937
havfugle og havpattedyr reagerede, og i kan faktisk se her
08:31
see here a sea otter that found this incredibly interesting,
176
496073
3023
at en havodder fandt det utroligt interessant,
08:34
and would periodically work its way across this little
177
499096
3104
og den ville fra tid til tid arbejde sig over den her lille
08:38
floating water bed, and we wanted to hire this guy
178
502200
2888
flydende vandseng, vi ville gerne have hyret den
08:40
or train him to be able to clean the surface
179
505088
2089
og trænet den til at rense overfladen på systemet
08:43
of these things, but that's for the future.
180
507177
2407
men det må blive i fremtiden.
08:45
Now really what we were doing,
181
509584
1321
Det vi gjorde var,
08:46
we were working in four areas.
182
510905
1772
at vi arbejdede på fire områder,
08:48
Our research covered the biology of the system,
183
512677
2883
vores forskning dækkede biologien i systemet,
08:51
which included studying the way algae grew,
184
515560
2168
hvilket inkluderede at studere hvordan algerne gror,
08:53
but also what eats the algae, and what kills the algae.
185
517728
3649
men også hvad der spiser algerne, og hvad der dræber dem.
08:57
We did engineering to understand what we would need
186
521377
2179
Vi udførte ingeniørkunst for at forstå hvad vi havde brug for
08:59
to be able to do to build this structure,
187
523556
2293
for at være i stand til at bygge det her,
09:01
not only on the small scale, but how we would build it
188
525849
2703
ikke kun i lille skala, men hvordan vi kunne bygge det
09:04
on this enormous scale that will ultimately be required.
189
528552
3316
i den enorme skala som i sidste ende ville være nødvendig.
09:07
I mentioned we looked at birds and marine mammals
190
531868
3200
Jeg nævnte at vi så på fugle og havpattedyr,
09:10
and looked at basically the environmental impact
191
535068
2529
og vi så basalt set på den miljømæssige påvirkning,
09:13
of the system, and finally we looked at the economics,
192
537597
3151
af systemet, og til sidst så vi på økonomien.
09:16
and what I mean by economics is,
193
540748
1647
Hvad jeg mener med økonomien er,
09:18
what is the energy required to run the system?
194
542395
3105
hvor meget energi kræver det at køre systemet?
09:21
Do you get more energy out of the system
195
545500
1422
Får du mere energi ud af systemet,
09:22
than you have to put into the system
196
546922
1581
end du skal putte ind i det
09:24
to be able to make the system run?
197
548503
2013
for at få det til at fungere?
09:26
And what about operating costs?
198
550516
1746
og hvad koster det at have kørende?
09:28
And what about capital costs?
199
552262
2058
og hvad koster det at bygge?
09:30
And what about, just, the whole economic structure?
200
554320
4158
og hvad med hele den økonomiske struktur?
09:34
So let me tell you that it's not going to be easy,
201
558478
2718
Jeg kan fortælle jer at det ikke bliver nemt,
09:37
and there's lots more work to do in all four
202
561196
2560
der er meget mere arbejde at udføre i alle fire
09:39
of those areas to be able to really make the system work.
203
563756
3592
af de områder, før at vi virkeligt kan få systemet til at fungere.
09:43
But we don't have a lot of time, and I'd like to show you
204
567348
2920
Men vi har ikke lang tid, og jeg vil godt lige vise jer
09:46
the artist's conception of how this system might look
205
570268
3502
en kunsters fortolkning af hvordan systemet vil se ud
09:49
if we find ourselves in a protected bay
206
573770
2680
hvis vi befinder os i en beskyttet bugt
09:52
somewhere in the world, and we have in the background
207
576450
3184
et eller andet sted i verden, og i baggrunden
09:55
in this image, the waste water treatment plant
208
579634
2768
på dette billede har vi spildevandsanlægget,
09:58
and a source of flue gas for the CO2,
209
582402
2873
og en udstødningsgaskilde for CO2en
10:01
but when you do the economics of this system,
210
585275
2735
men når du ser på økonomien i systemet
10:03
you find that in fact it will be difficult to make it work.
211
588010
3072
vil du finde ud af at det er svært at få til at virke.
10:06
Unless you look at the system as a way to treat waste water,
212
591082
4570
med mindre du ser på systemet som en måde at behandle spildevand
10:11
sequester carbon, and potentially for photovoltaic panels
213
595652
3728
binde CO2 og potentielt et sted at sætte solceller
10:15
or wave energy or even wind energy,
214
599380
3480
eller bølgeenergi eller endda vindenergi,
10:18
and if you start thinking in terms of
215
602860
1271
og hvis du begynder at tænke på at
10:20
integrating all of these different activities,
216
604131
3041
integrere alle de her forskellige ting,
10:23
you could also include in such a facility aquaculture.
217
607172
4647
kan du også inkluderede havbrug i sådan en konstruktion,
10:27
So we would have under this system a shellfish aquaculture
218
611819
2928
så under hele systemet kunne der være krebsdyr havbrug,
10:30
where we're growing mussels or scallops.
219
614747
2094
hvor der kunne dyrkes muslinger
10:32
We'd be growing oysters and things
220
616841
2992
vi kunne dyrke østers og lignende ting
10:35
that would be producing high value products and food,
221
619833
2838
der ville producere produkter og mad af høj værdi,
10:38
and this would be a market driver as we build the system
222
622671
2770
og dette ville gøre systemet markedsvenligt,
10:41
to larger and larger scales so that it becomes, ultimately,
223
625441
3314
imens vi bygger større og større systemer
10:44
competitive with the idea of doing it for fuels.
224
628755
5801
så det til sidst bliver rentabelt at gøre det for brændstof.
10:50
So there's always a big question that comes up,
225
634556
2697
Der er altid et stort spørgsmål der dukker op,
10:53
because plastic in the ocean has got a really bad reputation
226
637253
3344
for plastik i havet har et virkeligt dårligt ry lige nu
10:56
right now, and so we've been thinking cradle to cradle.
227
640597
2989
og vi har tænkt "vugge til vugge".
10:59
What are we going to do with all this plastic that we're
228
643586
2717
hvad skal vi gøre med al den plastik som vi bliver nødt til
11:02
going to need to use in our marine environment?
229
646303
2741
at bruge i vores havmiljø?
11:04
Well, I don't know if you know about this,
230
649044
1518
Jeg ved ikke om i kender til det her
11:06
but in California, there's a huge amount of plastic
231
650562
2762
men i Californien, er der en enorm mængde plastik
11:09
that's used in fields right now as plastic mulch,
232
653324
3345
der bruges på marker til at holde fugten i jorden,
11:12
and this is plastic that's making these tiny little greenhouses
233
656669
3224
det bruges til at lave små drivhuse,
11:15
right along the surface of the soil, and this provides
234
659893
2751
langs jordoverfladen, og dette sørger for
11:18
warming the soil to increase the growing season,
235
662644
3258
at varme jorden op, og forlænger gro-sæsonen
11:21
it allows us to control weeds,
236
665902
2543
det skaber større kontrol med ukrudt,
11:24
and, of course, it makes the watering much more efficient.
237
668445
3592
og det gør vandingen meget mere effektiv.
11:27
So the OMEGA system will be part
238
672037
2313
Så OMEGA systemet vil være en del af
11:30
of this type of an outcome, and that when we're finished
239
674350
3079
den her type af dyrkning, og når vi er færdige
11:33
using it in the marine environment, we'll be using it,
240
677429
2689
med at bruge det i havmiljøet, vil vi bruge det,
11:36
hopefully, on fields.
241
680118
2553
forhåbentligt, på marker.
11:38
Where are we going to put this,
242
682671
1320
Hvor vil vi placere systemet?
11:39
and what will it look like offshore?
243
683991
2511
og hvordan vil det se ud offshore?
11:42
Here's an image of what we could do in San Francisco Bay.
244
686502
2991
Her er et billede af hvad vi kunne gøre i San Francisco bugten.
11:45
San Francisco produces 65 million gallons a day
245
689493
2680
San Francisco producerer 250 mio. liter spildevand
11:48
of waste water. If we imagine a five-day retention time
246
692173
2760
om dagen, hvis vi forestiller os at det skal være i systemet i 5 dage,
11:50
for this system, we'd need 325 million gallons
247
694933
2369
så har vi brug for at kunne have 1200 mio. liter
11:53
to accomodate, and that would be about 1,280 acres
248
697302
4026
i systemet, og det vil betyde omkring 320 kvadratkilometer
11:57
of these OMEGA modules floating in San Francisco Bay.
249
701328
3619
af disse OMEGA moduler, i San Francisco bugten.
12:00
Well, that's less than one percent
250
704947
1794
Men det er mindre end en procent
12:02
of the surface area of the bay.
251
706741
1751
af overfladen i bugten.
12:04
It would produce, at 2,000 gallons per acre per year,
252
708492
3742
og det ville producere, med 1900 liter per kvadratmeter om året,
12:08
it would produce over 2 million gallons of fuel,
253
712234
2996
ville det producere 7.6 mio. liter brændstof,
12:11
which is about 20 percent of the biodiesel,
254
715230
2200
hvilket er omkring 20% af det diesel
12:13
or of the diesel that would be required in San Francisco,
255
717430
3008
der ville være behov for i San Francisco,
12:16
and that's without doing anything about efficiency.
256
720438
3190
og det er uden at gøre noget ved effektiviteten.
12:19
Where else could we potentially put this system?
257
723628
2970
Hvor kunne vi ellers placere systemet?
12:22
There's lots of possibilities.
258
726598
2900
Der er mange muligheder,
12:25
There's, of course, San Francisco Bay, as I mentioned.
259
729498
2052
der er som nævnt San Francisco bugten,
12:27
San Diego Bay is another example,
260
731550
1816
San Diego bugten er et andet eksempel,
12:29
Mobile Bay or Chesapeake Bay, but the reality is,
261
733366
2913
Mobile eller Chesapeake bugten er andre,
12:32
as sea level rises, there's going to be lots and lots
262
736279
2092
men eftersom havet stiger vil der komme flere og flere muligheder
12:34
of new opportunities to consider. (Laughter)
263
738371
3907
at overveje (Latter)
12:38
So what I'm telling you about is a system
264
742278
3568
Så det jeg fortæller jer om her, er et system
12:41
of integrated activities.
265
745846
3632
med integrerede aktiviteter,
12:45
Biofuels production is integrated with alternative energy
266
749478
2610
produktion af biobrændsel af integreret med alternativ energi,
12:47
is integrated with aquaculture.
267
752088
2802
der er integreret med havbrug.
12:50
I set out to find a pathway
268
754890
3924
Jeg havde sat mig for at finde en vej
12:54
to innovative production of sustainable biofuels,
269
758814
5646
til en ny måde at producere bæredygtigt biobrændsel,
13:00
and en route I discovered that what's really required
270
764460
3248
og på vejen opdagede jeg at hvad der var brug for
13:03
for sustainability is integration more than innovation.
271
767708
7277
for bæredygtighed er integration mere end nyskabelse.
13:10
Long term, I have great faith
272
774985
3430
I det lange løb, har jeg stor tiltro
13:14
in our collective and connected ingenuity.
273
778415
5145
til vores kollektive og sammenkoblede opfindsomhed.
13:19
I think there is almost no limit to what we can accomplish
274
783560
4316
Jeg tror at der næsten ingen grænser er for hvad vi kan opnå
13:23
if we are radically open
275
787876
2202
hvis vi er radikalt åbne
13:25
and we don't care who gets the credit.
276
790078
3730
og er ligeglade med hvem der får æren.
13:29
Sustainable solutions for our future problems
277
793808
4216
Bæredygtige løsninger til fremtidens problemer,
13:33
are going to be diverse
278
798024
2400
kommer til at være forskellige,
13:36
and are going to be many.
279
800424
2465
og kommer til at være mange.
13:38
I think we need to consider everything,
280
802889
2791
Jeg tror at vi bliver nødt til at overveje
13:41
everything from alpha to OMEGA.
281
805680
3032
alt fra alfa til OMEGA
13:44
Thank you. (Applause)
282
808712
2880
Mange tak (Bifald)
13:47
(Applause)
283
811592
5350
(Bifald)
13:53
Chris Anderson: Just a quick question for you, Jonathan.
284
817347
3212
Bare et hurtigt spørgsmål Jonathan.
13:56
Can this project continue to move forward within
285
820559
2208
Kan projektet fortsætte med at blive udviklet indenfor NASA
13:58
NASA or do you need some very ambitious
286
822767
3965
eller har du brug for en eller anden meget ambitiøs
14:02
green energy fund to come and take it by the throat?
287
826732
4076
grøn energifond som kan komme og tackle det?
14:06
Jonathan Trent: So it's really gotten to a stage now
288
830808
1303
- Det er nået til et sted nu i NASA
14:08
in NASA where they would like to spin it out into something
289
832111
3014
hvor de gerne vil have det til virkeligt at blive til noget
14:11
which would go offshore, and there are a lot of issues
290
835125
2391
der kunne være offshore, og der er mange problemer
14:13
with doing it in the United States because of limited
291
837516
2227
ved at gøre det i USA, pga. begrænsede
14:15
permitting issues and the time required to get permits
292
839743
2494
tilladelser og den tid det tager at få tilladelser
14:18
to do things offshore.
293
842237
1514
til at gøre ting offshore.
14:19
It really requires, at this point, people on the outside,
294
843751
2798
Lige nu afhænger det at folk udefra,
14:22
and we're being radically open with this technology
295
846549
2304
og vi vil være radikalt åbne med den her teknologi,
14:24
in which we're going to launch it out there
296
848853
1712
vi vil lade den ligge derude
14:26
for anybody and everybody who's interested
297
850565
2276
så enhver der er interesseret
14:28
to take it on and try to make it real.
298
852841
1840
kan tage fat i den og prøve at virkeliggøre det.
14:30
CA: So that's interesting. You're not patenting it.
299
854681
2477
- Det er interessant, i vil ikke tage patent på det,
14:33
You're publishing it.
300
857158
1675
i udgiver det.
14:34
JT: Absolutely.
301
858833
763
- lige præcist.
14:35
CA: All right. Thank you so much.
302
859596
1891
- Okay, mange tak.
14:37
JT: Thank you. (Applause)
303
861487
3575
- Tak (Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jonathan Trent - Scientist and biofuel guruNot only does Jonathan Trent grow algae for biofuel, he wants to do so by cleansing wastewater and trapping carbon dioxide in the process. And it’s all solar-powered.
Why you should listen
Jonathan Trent works at NASA’s nanotechnology department, where he builds microscopic devices out of proteins from extremophiles -- bacteria that live in the world’s harshest environments. It isn’t the logical place to start a biofuel project. But in 2008, after watching enzymes chomp through plant cells, Trent started thinking about biofuels. And, because he has a background in marine biology, he started thinking about algae and the oceans.
Thus was born OMEGA, or the Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae. This technology aims at re-using the wastewater of coastal cities that is currently piped out and disposed into the seas. Fueled by the sun and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the algae eat the waste and produce oils that can be converted to fuel. Unlike growing corn for ethanol, OMEGA doesn’t threaten the world’s food supply.
Jonathan Trent | Speaker | TED.com