TED2012
Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater
Damian Palin: Uchimbaji wa madini kutoka katika maji ya bahari
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Dunia inahitaji maji safi na salam, na mengi kati ya hayo kwa sasa tunayachukua kutoka baharini,tunayatoa chumvi na kuyanywa.Lakini tufanyeke na chumvi inayobaki nyuma? Katika mazungumzo haya mafupi ya kusisimua, Mshirika wa TED, Damian Palin anapendekeza wazo: Toa madini tunayoyahitaji katika chumvi hii inayobaki, kwa kusaidiwa na bacteria wanaokula metali
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.
00:16
I collaborate with bacteria.
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Ninashirikiana na bacteria
00:18
And I'm about to show you
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ninataka nikuonyeshe
00:19
some stop-motion footage that I made recently
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kipande cha video ambacho nimetengeneza hivi karibuni
00:21
where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals
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ndani yake utaweza kuona bacteria wakikusanya madini
00:23
from their environment
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kutoka katika mazingira yao
00:25
over the period of an hour.
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ndani ya zaidi ya saa moja
00:27
So what you're seeing here
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Kwa hiyo unachokiona hapa
00:28
is the bacteria metabolizing,
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ni bacteria wakiwa wanameng'enya
00:30
and as they do so
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wakati wanafanya hivyo
00:31
they create an electrical charge.
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wanatengeneza chaji za umeme.
00:33
And this attracts metals
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na inavuta metali
00:35
from their local environment.
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kutoka katika mazingira ya karibu
00:38
And these metals accumulate as minerals
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metali hizi zinajikusanya kama madini
00:40
on the surface of the bacteria.
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katika uso wa wa bacteria
00:42
One of the most pervasive problems
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Moja kati ya matatizo yaliyoenea sana
00:45
in the world today for people
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duniani katikati ya watu
00:46
is inadequate access
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ni upungufu
00:48
to clean drinking water.
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wa maji safi na salama ya kunywa
00:49
And the desalination process
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mchakato wa kuchukua maji
00:51
is one where we take out salts.
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na kutoa chumvi ndani yake
00:53
We can use it for drinking and agriculture.
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ili yaweze kutumika kwa ajili ya kunywa na kilimo
00:55
Removing the salts from water --
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Kutoa chumvi katika maji
00:57
particularly seawater --
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na hasa maji ya bahari
00:59
through reverse osmosis
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kupitia mfumo wa kinyume wa osmosis
01:00
is a critical technique
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na njia muhimu
01:02
for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water
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kwa ajili ya nchi ambazo zina upungufu wa maji safi na salama ya kunywa
01:05
around the globe.
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duniani kote
01:06
So seawater reverse osmosis
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Kwa hiyo utoaji wa chumvi katika maji ya bahari
01:07
is a membrane-filtration technology.
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ni teknolojia ya kuchuja kwa kutumia utando
01:10
We take the water from the sea
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Tunachukua maji kutoka baharini
01:12
and we apply pressure.
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na tunayagandamiza katika msukumo mkubwa
01:14
And this pressure forces the seawater
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na mgandamizo huu unayalazimisha maji
01:17
through a membrane.
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kupita katika utando
01:18
This takes energy,
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Hii inahitaji nguvu
01:19
producing clean water.
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kutengeneza maji ya kunywa
01:22
But we're also left with a concentrated salt solution, or brine.
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Lakini hii inaacha nyuma chumvi kali
01:26
But the process is very expensive
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Mchakato huu ni wa gharama sana
01:27
and it's cost-prohibitive for many countries around the globe.
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gharama ambayo ni kubwa sana kwa nchi nyingi duniani
01:30
And also, the brine that's produced
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Na pia chumvi inayobaki
01:31
is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea.
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mara nyingi hurudishwa tena baharini
01:34
And this is detrimental to the local ecology
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na hali hii si nzuri kwa mazingira
01:37
of the sea area that it's pumped back out into.
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ya eneo la baharini chumvi inapotupwa
01:39
So I work in Singapore at the moment,
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Kwa hiyo nafanya kazi Singapore kwa sasa
01:41
and this is a place that's really a leading place
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Na hili ni eneo ambalo linaongoza
01:44
for desalination technology.
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kwa utoaji wa chumvi katika maji ya baharini
01:46
And Singapore proposes by 2060
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Na Singapore inapendekeza kuwa mpaka mwaka 2060
01:49
to produce [900] million liters per day
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kutengeneza lita millioni 900 kwa siku
01:52
of desalinated water.
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za maji yaliyotolewa chumvi
01:54
But this will produce an equally massive amount
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Lakini hii itasababisha kiasi kama hicho cha ukubwa
01:57
of desalination brine.
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cha chumvi
01:59
And this is where my collaboration with bacteria comes into play.
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Na hapa ndipo ushirikiano wangu na Bacteria unapofanya kazi
02:02
So what we're doing at the moment
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Kwa hiyo tunachofanya kwa sasa
02:04
is we're accumulating metals
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ni tunakusanya metali
02:07
like calcium, potassium and magnesium
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kama Kalsiamu,Potassiamu na Magnesiamu
02:09
from out of desalination brine.
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kutoka katika chumvi inayobaki baada ya maji kutolewa chumvi
02:11
And this, in terms of magnesium
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Na hii, kwa Magnesiamu
02:13
and the amount of water that I just mentioned,
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na kiasi cha maji ambacho nimekitaja
02:16
equates to a $4.5 billion
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ina thamani ya Dola za Marekani,Billioni 4.5
02:19
mining industry for Singapore --
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kwa mfumo wa madini wa Singapore
02:21
a place that doesn't have any natural resources.
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Sehemu ambayo haina rasilimali zozozte
02:23
So I'd like you to image a mining industry
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Kwa hiyo ningependa uwaze kuhusu viwanda vya madini
02:26
in a way that one hasn't existed before;
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katika njia ambayo haijawahi kutokea kabla
02:28
imagine a mining industry
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Fikiria viwanda vya madini
02:30
that doesn't mean defiling the Earth;
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ambavyo haviharibu mazingira
02:33
imagine bacteria helping us do this
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Fikiria bacteria wakiwa wanatusaidia kufanya hivi
02:35
by accumulating and precipitating
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kwa kukusanya na kumeng'enya
02:38
and sedimenting minerals
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madini
02:41
out of desalination brine.
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kutoka katika chumvi iliyobaki baada ya maji kutolewa chumvi
02:42
And what you can see here
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Na utakachokmiona hapa
02:44
is the beginning of an industry in a test tube,
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ni mwanzo wa viwanda
02:46
a mining industry that is in harmony with nature.
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,viwanda vya madini ambavyo vitaendana na mazingira
02:50
Thank you.
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Asante Sana
02:51
(Applause)
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(Makofi)
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