When is a weed not a pot ? The simple answer is : when it ’s seaweed . Today , algae– which can take the chassis of a pee - carry grass or ordinary pond scum – holds immense hope for supplying us with everything from animal provender to green fuel .
Algacultureis the commercial-grade cultivation of algae . Algae ( the singular is " alga , " Latin for " seaweed , " but you ’ll rarely find just one ) are simple green plants that produce in water . Their green color mean they produce their own food using photosynthesis , just like grass , treesand corn . Algae descend in two primary forms . Macroalgaeare seaweeds . Kelp grows to more than 180 base ( 55 meters ) long in the ocean [ reservoir : Edwards ] . Nori is the variety you ’ll find wrapped around your sushi . Microalgaeare tiny , individual - celled works that float in the H2O , each one visible only through a microscope .
Algaculture is nothing raw . Seaweed was first train in Japan at least 1,500 years ago and algae production is still a big business there [ source : Guiry ] . Dulse has long been eat in the British Isles and the microalgae spirulina were harvested by the Aztecs of 16th - century Mexico . In addition to provide human solid food , seaweed have been used for fertilizers . They allow for the food thickener carrageen and other gel agents and stabilizers that show up in everything from soup to toothpaste . Worldwide , algae production is a $ 6 billion concern [ source : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ] .
Today , alga are attracting new interest and resarch investment because of their potential to furnish energy and combat environmental threats . Part of the organic mass of algae takes the form of oil , which can be squeeze out and converted to biodiesel fuel . Algae beat demesne plants hands down in the efficiency with which they raise oil . Some varieties of algae grant an oil that can be refined into petrol and even green fuel . The saccharide portion of the plants can be fermented for ethanol product .
Algae can convert permissive waste carbon dioxide , a glasshouse gas that pour from smokestacks , to operational products . They can avail clean dirty water , commute pollutants to biomass . They have extra uses in pharmaceuticals and cosmetic .
With all this voltage , this " skunk " sure seems to merit a closer look .
The Promise of Algae
Why have algae generated inflammation and attracted enquiry investment funds in late years ? Like all green industrial plant , algae containchloroplastsin their cells . These petite complex body part are charge with chlorophyll , a molecule that uses light energy to combine carbon and water into a simple sugar . The cells further transform some of these sugars into protein and lipids or fossil oil .
But if alga are doing the same thing as Zea mays , wheat and apple tree , why rag raising them ? After all , maize on the cob , sweet drum roll and apple pie taste better thanseaweedto most of us . Here are some of the thing algae have going for them :
attract by all these vantage , alga raiser have been working diligently to come up with effective and economic ways to produce and harvest the flora . The cost factor is currently the great challenge that must be overcome to make alga commercially viable .
Commercial Cultivation of Algae
All algaculture requires three BASIC : water , brightness and nutrient .
Water ’s the easiest . It does n’t need to be drinkable ; different types of algae rise nicely in fresh water , Strategic Arms Limitation Talks water and foul water . Sunlight , because it ’s destitute , is the preferred light . But sunshine achieve only 3 or 4 inches ( 7 to 10 centimeter ) into a muckle of alga , so grower must agitate the algae to expose all of it to the light [ source : Chemeurope.com ] . The main food is carbon dioxide , which can come from the line or other source . tempestuousness or eruct dissolves it into the water system . The cultivator must supply other food , like nitrogen and tracing elements , if they are n’t already in the water .
There are three introductory systems for cultivatingalgae , each with its advantages and disadvantages :
All of these system are designed for growing microalgae , the one - celled varieties that float in water . Growers usually work macroalgae in the candid sea . The water already bear the nutrient the alga involve and provides good grow conditions . The traditional method was simply to harvest wildseaweed , and this is still done in coastal arena around the world .
With increased demand , growers start to cultivate seaweed . For some varieties , such as kelp , spore are attached to ropes that are then anchored in the sea and the seaweed is allow to grow . Other types grow from pieces of seaweed that are set to net or deposited in pools .
Agriculture Department has been around for 10,000 years [ seed : Lienhard ] . Algaculture is relatively new . Scientists and applied scientist are actively take the practiced shipway to evoke algae efficiently . The harvesting of industrial plant is another subject of acute research .
Harvesting and Processing Algae
Harvesting microalgae means removing the microscopic plants from the water in which they grow and centre them into a paste . The grower then needs to slay the moisture , leave behind a heavy biomass . The minute size of microalgae presents a problem when it come to harvest .
One method isfiltration . The raiser can execute the H2O contain the algae through a cellulose membrane whose pores are small than the algae cell . This can be difficult because filter quickly fill up with algae and become clogged . Researchers are looking for better ways to efficiently dribble algae .
Flocculation , another method of harvest , mean getting thealgaeto clump together . total chemical substance or types of algae that of course clump can get microalgae to mould clumps that become easier to assemble .
Another path to harvest algae is byflotation . Here , the agriculturist uses compressed strain to create a froth of bubble and algae that take the tiny plant to the surface where they can be skimmed off .
A separator is yet another harvest method acting . spin around a container satisfy with water and algae causes the algae to collect in one remainder .
to harvest their crops most efficaciously , algaculture growers sometimes meld these methods . They might apply flocculation to form alga glob , then separate them with floatation or a centrifuge . Coming up with a truly efficient means to harvest microalgae is a tonality to bringing down the cost of cultivation .
Harvesting macroalgae involve different trouble . Gathering wildseaweedis a labour - intensive mental process . Some types of seaweed grow in controlled weather condition can be gathered in connection . Kelp raised on roach can be hauled out and hung up to dry out . Kelp forest in shallow sea can be mowed by simple machine , taking off the tops of submarine kelp beds .
Once harvest , algae must be drained of its piss and dry . A centrifuge can spin water out , but is relatively expensive . Some systems combine harvest and processing , propagate the algae on belt filter that let the water enfeeble through , then off more water supply using a hairlike medium that get out urine out of the biomass of algae .
The next step is to break down the cubicle walls of the algae to extract the oil inside . The alga are put through a screw or piston press . Chemicals , electromagnetic pulsation orultrasoundmay also be used to soften down the cells . When the oil color has been drained off , the persist biomass is press into a bar to be used as to supplement animal feed or as a fertilizer .
Algae have base a spacious range of use , the most exciting ones in the energy plain .
The Many Uses for Algae
The buzz about alga is that it ’s an ideal reference of renewable energy and could be the ultimate green fuel . enquiry by the U.S. government and fellowship like Boeing , Chevron and Honeywell are developing way of life to make algaculture an economically viable foundation for a new genesis of energy [ source : Chemeurope.com ] . Part of the attraction is the range of fuels into which algae can be change over .
Algae actually thrive on contaminated water supply , which mean they can be used for waste water treatment . alga grow pollutant from municipal , industrial or agricultural waste H2O into operational byproducts like fauna feed or biomass for transition to push . Algae naturally accumulate threatening metals for removal or recycling .
Because carbon dioxide , the greenhouse gas that put up to climate variety , is alga ’s favorite nutrient , the plant can be used forcarbon gaining control . They convert the gas to organic atomic number 6 compounds at a far faster magazine than land plants . One Syrian pound ( 453.6 grams ) of algae consumes 2 pounds ( 907.2 grams ) of carbon dioxide [ source : Edwards ] . flow the wastefulness gas of a ember - burn great power plant into a muckle of alga , and they literally eat it up . Waste gas can be put in for lasting elimination from the air , or converted to fuel to bring down the use of fossil fuels .
Algaecontinue bring a theatrical role as human food and postscript . masses eat seaweed in salads andsushiand take supplements made from the microalgae spirulina . Algae allow utter protein , omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin . Carageen is extracted from red seaweed known as Irish moss and used as a thickener .
alga are also being used as provender for cattle and for marine brute like shrimp and shellfish . The biomass left after algae have been processed can sometimes be apply as organic fertilizer to farm bailiwick . Algae find modest employment in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as well .
Research into grow , harvesting and processing algae is pass on on many fronts . Given its immense value , there ’s no question that this simple " locoweed " will play a growing role in the future of our order and economy .
Before researching this clause , I aboveboard did n’t know that alga and seaweed were unlike forms of the same little green plant life . I ’m amazed at alga ’s potential in so many directions : food , vigor , befoulment control . Pilot projects seem to be popping up everywhere , from seaweed experimentation in Long Island Sound to biodiesel efforts in West Virginia to a carbon copy - absorption undertaking in Oregon . I ’ve mother the feeling that we may very well be on the scepter of an algae revolution .
