peebee.

The emergent need to use the ocean in removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has led us to find solutions in land and sea species. This will help keep the planetary warmth below 2°C. The ocean has the largest capacity for CO2 removal. One of the most efficient processes of CO2 sequestration is done through algae. With its natural process of photosynthesis, algae sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converts it into oxygen. Algae in the ocean is also eaten by other marine species which intake that CO2 that would eventually end up in the deep sea and far from our atmosphere.

In order to approach this subject we wanted to familiarize with algae and its properties. Our aim for this project is to understand algae to be able to grow it and create an interspecies collaboration in which we can benefit from the algae and viceversa. We chose to approach spirulina first and see what needs it has and how can we grow it. Spirulina needs to be constantly stirred but not too much in order for the spirulina spirals not to break. We set up a pump with a timer making it pump air for 5 minutes every 25 minutes. We've been able to see the spirulina grow and become a bit darker.

After understanding our spirulina, we decided to design a photobioreactor in which we could place it and grow it. We are a team of 4 designers looking to collaborate with spirulina in different ways. We want to grow the spirulina and then use the grown algae to create food, art, bioremediation, energy, biomaterials and even biofuel. A photobioreactor is a space in which the proper conditions are given to the algae for optimal growth and to promote its natural process of photosynthesis. Spirulina needs a certain amount of light, temperature and turbidity in order to grow, which we are able to control through the electronics and code designed for this system.