TED2012
Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater
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The world needs clean water, and more and more, we're pulling it from the oceans, desalinating it, and drinking it. But what to do with the salty brine left behind? In this intriguing short talk, TED Fellow Damian Palin proposes an idea: Mine it for other minerals we need, with the help of some collaborative metal-munching bacteria.
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. Full bio
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.
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I collaborate with bacteria.
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And I'm about to show you
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some stop-motion footage that I made recently
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where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals
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from their environment
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over the period of an hour.
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So what you're seeing here
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is the bacteria metabolizing,
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and as they do so
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they create an electrical charge.
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And this attracts metals
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from their local environment.
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And these metals accumulate as minerals
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on the surface of the bacteria.
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One of the most pervasive problems
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in the world today for people
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is inadequate access
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to clean drinking water.
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And the desalination process
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is one where we take out salts.
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We can use it for drinking and agriculture.
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Removing the salts from water --
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particularly seawater --
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through reverse osmosis
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is a critical technique
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for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water
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around the globe.
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So seawater reverse osmosis
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is a membrane-filtration technology.
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We take the water from the sea
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and we apply pressure.
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And this pressure forces the seawater
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through a membrane.
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This takes energy,
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producing clean water.
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But we're also left with a concentrated salt solution, or brine.
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But the process is very expensive
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and it's cost-prohibitive for many countries around the globe.
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And also, the brine that's produced
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is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea.
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And this is detrimental to the local ecology
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of the sea area that it's pumped back out into.
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So I work in Singapore at the moment,
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and this is a place that's really a leading place
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for desalination technology.
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And Singapore proposes by 2060
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to produce [900] million liters per day
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of desalinated water.
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But this will produce an equally massive amount
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of desalination brine.
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And this is where my collaboration with bacteria comes into play.
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So what we're doing at the moment
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is we're accumulating metals
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like calcium, potassium and magnesium
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from out of desalination brine.
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And this, in terms of magnesium
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and the amount of water that I just mentioned,
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equates to a $4.5 billion
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mining industry for Singapore --
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a place that doesn't have any natural resources.
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So I'd like you to image a mining industry
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in a way that one hasn't existed before;
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imagine a mining industry
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that doesn't mean defiling the Earth;
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imagine bacteria helping us do this
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by accumulating and precipitating
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and sedimenting minerals
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out of desalination brine.
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And what you can see here
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is the beginning of an industry in a test tube,
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a mining industry that is in harmony with nature.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damian Palin - Biological minerDamian 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 >>
Damian Palin | Speaker | TED.com