Tag Archives: environmental

The world’s largest algae growth pond uses nature-based technology to capture CO2 emissions

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Brilliant Planet, a renewable energy semiconductor manufacturing company, operates a 30,000-square-meter production facility where they capture CO2 emissions via the largest algae growth pond in the world.

Algae is like magic. Consumed by humans as a superfood, algae promotes healthy skin, produces essential amino acids, and contains Omega-3 fatty acids. Then, on a larger scale, when algae are grown in the sunlight, the plants absorb carbon dioxide, like any other plant, and release oxygen into the atmosphere.

Designer: Brilliant Planet

For higher productivity rates, algae can be grown in controlled areas to absorb large amounts of CO2 and convert it to biomass and oxygen via photosynthesis. Brilliant Planet, a UK-based renewable energy semiconductor manufacturing company, is tapping into the magic of algae to create an affordable means of “permanently and quantifiably sequestering carbon at the gigaton scale,” as the company describes.

In 2013, Brilliant Planet began as a three-square-meter experiment on the shores of St Helena, South Africa. Today, they’ve grown into a 30,000-square-meter production facility based in the coastal desert of Morocco, where the world’s largest algae growth pond can be found. While algae systems, a full service that converts algae to energy, exist in high numbers around the world, Brilliant Planet stands apart from the rest by being entirely nature-based.

Speaking about their nature-based operation, Brilliant Planet notes, “We’re different from conventional algae systems. We don’t scale up an artificial test tube with artificial seawater and pumped in carbon dioxide. Our nature-based system scales down the ocean to use natural seawater, nutrients, and CO2. This natural process deacidifies seawater, enhances local ecosystems, and also enables paradigm-shifting levels of affordability.”

In the ocean, algae blooms take place seasonally, but Brilliant Planet developed a natural process that essentially “downscales” the ocean to grow algae quickly all year-round. Through this process, the algae system can sequester CO2 at far less cost and at a much quicker rate than direct air capture plants that are meant to capture airborne CO2 particles. For nearly five years, Brilliant Planet has been running its test site in Morocco to much avail, leading to plans for larger demonstration facilities and ultimately a commercial facility by 2024.

The post The world’s largest algae growth pond uses nature-based technology to capture CO2 emissions first appeared on Yanko Design.

Serbian scientists install an urban photo-bioreactor to capture CO2 and produce O2 just like trees

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LIQUID3 is an outdoor, urban photo-bioreactor that uses microalgae to perform photosynthesis and remove the same amount of CO2 as two ten-year-old trees.

Sustainable design that confronts the effects of climate change comes in many forms. From bio-receptive concrete that grows moss on its own to vertical urban forests that redefine what organic architecture could look like, sustainable design is all around us and provides varying degrees of mitigation against the threat of climate change.

Designer: University of Belgrade

Designers find a unique challenge in creating sustainable infrastructure in urban areas, where green spaces are few and far between. Taking an atypical approach to climate change design, researchers at the University of Belgrade developed LIQUID3, an urban photo-bioreactor that’s used for CO2 fixation and O2 production.

Located in the capital city of Serbia, a photo-bioreactor is essentially a vessel that uses a light source, such as natural sunlight, to cultivate phototrophic microorganisms that produce biomass. Created and designed by the University of Belgrade’s Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, LIQUID3 is a photo-bioreactor teeming with microalgae to sequester carbon and perform photosynthesis to produce oxygen.

Each LIQUID3 vessel carries a total of 600 liters of water, allowing the photo-bioreactor to remove analogous amounts of carbon dioxide as two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of green space. Operable even during the cold months of Belgrade’s winters, LIQUID3 only requires a light source for the naturally photosynthesizing microalgae to execute the same carbon-capturing role as trees in urban spaces that typically lack green spaces.

Awarded with Green Product Award’s Green Concept Award for 2022, LIQUID3 has been recognized for its innovative approach to green, bio-reactive design. Besides its appeal to sustainable design, LIQUID3 also suggests an efficient use of public land, while creating space for interactive ads and a high-value fertilizer. Its location in such a dense area of Belgrade also encourages city residents to become more aware of climate change’s threat to urban areas.

Configured like small urban meeting spaces, the LIQUID3 stations could be outfitted with outlets for city residents to charge their devices.

Come dark, LIQUID3 transforms into a neon-green light to guide residents through the streets.

An integrated bench space turns LIQUID3 into a social hub for city residents to gather and feel encouraged to keep fighting climate change.

The post Serbian scientists install an urban photo-bioreactor to capture CO2 and produce O2 just like trees first appeared on Yanko Design.

These TWS Earphones are solving the tech waste crisis with removable replaceable batteries

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Watch any AirPods teardown video and there’s one thing you’ll quickly notice. There’s no way you can put it back together once you’ve disassembled it. The damned things are hermetically sealed shut, and opening them means damaging them. In fact, Apple doesn’t even fix AirPods that come to them for servicing. The design is so notoriously un-fixable that it’s actually cheaper for Apple to replace them with a new pair.

Now that problem isn’t unique to Apple. Almost every single TWS earphone faces the same issue. Designed to be small, these earphones have absolutely tiny batteries that don’t last beyond a year, and their small bodies/components are almost always fused/glued together with no intention of ever being separated for repair or even recycling. The result is an overwhelming wave of tiny electronics that can’t be reused and can’t be disassembled and disposed of safely. They’re made of metal and plastic, which won’t biodegrade, and even contain toxic lithium-ion batteries within them.

To overcome this problem, the NOVO TWS earphones have a unique and clever compromise. Microphones, speaker drivers, and SOCs (system on chips) are usually designed to last 4-5 years, whereas those batteries go dead within a year or 18 months. The NOVO earbuds just turn the batteries into a modular unit that can easily be replaced… a feature you’d see in old mobile phones before they began becoming sealed, unibody devices. Unlike phones, however, these battery modules are designed to sit on the outside, and come in a variety of colors with ornamental patterns, adding a fashionable flair to the earphones. Every few years when the batteries wear out, you can simply switch the modules for new ones, choosing from a variety of colors and textures to ‘upgrade’ your earbuds. The old batteries get swapped in at the company which provides a discount on the new batteries, closing the loop and creating a circular economy where batteries are recycled and perfectly capable tech doesn’t enter a landfill because one single part was designed to go prematurely obsolete.

Designer: Batu Sozen

This retro nautical-inspired teardrop caravan adds a dash of luxury to your camping experience!

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In the age of COVID-19, it seems that the only type of trip we can responsibly get away with is camping. Since it’s such a specific way of traveling and new to many of us in 2020, it’s helpful when our budget permits the use of luxury camping vehicles like teardrop caravans. Newer caravan designs such as La Carapate from the French manufacturer, Carapate, were conceptualized a few years before the quarantine of 2020, but with camping’s popularity only surging, they already stand the test of time.

While the caravan was not designed to resemble a teardrop, but rather a trapezoid, the makers behind it still call the final design a teardrop caravan. La Carapate has many features that set it apart from other caravans on the market. For instance, instead of a swinging door, you might expect to see on a classic caravan, La Carapate’s door functions as a sturdy flap, which locks into place by means of gas pressure swings, in order to provide campers with ample shade and easy access to both the caravan’s interior and the outdoors. Adjacent to La Carapate’s flap door is a drawer that converts from handy indoor storage space for cookware to an exterior cooking unit that could also extend into a table for further use as an outdoor dining area. The true appeal of this camper lies in its trapezoidal shape and the blue and yellow nautical color scheme. The rounded edges with a bold yellow trim and the unique side-door that swings open to reveal the surprisingly spacious interiors – it brings to mind the wooden interiors seen in older cars and the result is touchingly nostalgic.

Users have the option of purchasing a fully-operative kitchen which includes a gas cooker, sink, set of tableware, and additional saucepans. A simpler version could be purchased for less, which includes all you need for camping: a gas cooker and a 12-liter sink. The main part of the caravan comes with mattresses that provide lots of space for all the campers using the caravan – a big upgrade from sleeping in tents. Equipped with a solar panel, La Carapate is manufactured and utilized in an ecologically responsible way. Everything from the material used, to the compact size of this caravan, and the hyperlocal approach to sourcing and manufacturing speaks to the founders’ commitment to ecotourism and sustainable travel.

La Carapate comes fully functioning with panoramic views and miniature living space. Camping doesn’t necessarily require prerequisites, but it typically brings together those who feel passionate about traveling, alternative accommodation, and the natural world. For the founders of La Carapate, these passions came together and inspired their own interpretation of the teardrop caravan. La Carapate is filled with lots more exciting, hidden features: skylight, mosquito net, blackout shades, fire extinguisher, CEE plug, cigarette lighter, some 220 volts outlets, USB ports, vanity mirrors, and many more. Scroll through the photos below and find out for yourself!

Designers: Fabien Denis, Jean-Marie Reymond x Carapate

This self-sustaining compost system turns your food scraps into a thriving indoor garden!

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The world as we once knew it is changing. While the list of changes seems too long to share – gardening would be considered one of them. The environment and sustainable living have been hot topics for some time now, but in 2020, they’ve turned into personal commitments for people across the globe. Composting is one way to promote sustainability in your own living space, as proved by AQUA, a sustainable, contained gardening system. AQUA was created by OG Design so that environmentally conscious people can curate their very own self-sustaining indoor garden no matter where they live.

AQUA’s system is comprised of three main working parts: a container for food waste, an elevated light structure, and three soil pots. The food waste container is located on one side of the indoor planter and turns your leftover food scraps into compost for fertilizer. Composting is a method used to decompose organic solid waste and fertilize the soil for gardening. The slim, attractive light fixture is situated directly above AQUA’s garden pots and provides the mini garden with nourishing light-energy. The indoor, gardening system is completely self-sustaining and conveniently sized in order to fit into any kitchen or living space. The system itself works after food waste is dumped into the container on the left-hand side, fertilizing the soil contained in the trio of modestly sized pots, each of which provides energy for plants to then grow and thrive.

OG Design conceptualized AQUA in order to “[keep] food from entering landfills” and for users “to cultivate their own small vegetable garden,” because food accounts for 46.2% of combustible waste. The interest in gardening, especially indoor gardening, and sustainable living is rising with younger generations as city living becomes more popular. In urban spaces, ecologically conscious living is tricky as there’s less yard space and community gardens can be hard to come by. AQUA makes sustainable living possible for any city home, from the small efficiency studio to the three-story townhouse. As long as you’ve got a kitchen counter or windowsill, your personal vegetable garden awaits.

Designer: OG Design

Facebook used 86 percent renewable energy in 2019

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In 2018, Facebook declared a goal to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2021. Ahead of that deadline, the company appears to be on track. In its first ever sustainability report, published today, Facebook announced t...

Tesla receives permission to continue working on its German Gigafactory

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Work on Tesla's German Gigafactory is back on. The company received permission from the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg to continue clearing 91 hectares of forest in preparation for its fourth factory, where it plans to build batter...

Lily the Lake Purifier

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Lily the Lake Purifier, a submission for the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, addresses the problem of mercury in our lakes with a nature-inspired solution! It helps to make our fish and water safer for eating and recreation by utilizing a unique, specialized filter that traps mercury.

The filter itself is made out of a new synthetic coral that effectively absorbs and traps mercury. The solar-powered design harnesses the sun’s energy to drive a fan that ensures water is always passing through as well as a light that indicates when the filter is full and ready to be changed. The filter can be exchanged hands-free for safe and easy disposal.

Designed with protecting us and the environment in mind, its top buoy section keeps it visible to boats and swimmers to avoid collisions. Under the water, a special shell allows water to pass through but keeps fish and turtles at bay.

Designers: Emily Gawronski, Molly Beaghan, Kelsey Hill & Nicole Zyweic

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