Biochemist creates CO2-eating light that runs on algae | Hacker News Reader

Biochemist creates CO2-eating light that runs on algae

geek.com

40 pointsukdm16 comments

Algae eats carbon dioxide, emits light. That is not photons eating a greenhouse gas like the title seems to imply. Lamp, as wickedchicken suggests, would be a clearer term.

Back to the topic: is this novel? I'm totally clueless in this field but this looks rather mediocre.

I couldn't find enough information to figure that out. I started by looking for Calleja's articles on PubMed, but nothing popped up. Eventually I found his LinkedIn profile, but all it had was the link to his company:

http://www.fermentalg.com/

The parts of that website that aren't in french were useless for figuring out how it works. To speculate based on my incredibly limited information, it looks like he might have some GFP-transgenic algae that fluoresce when the light inside the apparatus hits them. This means his setup isn't necessarily carbon-neutral since you still need electricity to power the lamp. Assuming I'm right it may also be way more expensive than it looks. I remember the bulbs for fluorescent microscopes were one or two hundred dollars back when I was in graduate school, and the one they're using is way bigger.

The stuff about algae consuming carbon dioxide is true. They're photoautotrophs. But I'm not sure what the advantage of this is over just putting giants vats of algae everywhere, or letting them do their business in the ocean.

No idea if it's novel or not but I read it as:

Biochemist makes light[1]. The light is made of CO2 eating algae.

[1] As in lamp, torch, bulb, etc.

>However, as the algae can also produce energy from carbon, sunlight isn’t required for the process to work.

Can someone clarify on what is meant by carbon ? My science is at highschool level but if it converted CO2 to oxygen carbon and light without sunlight it would violate conservation of energy ? So what does it consume to break down CO2 ?

Some parts of this story are contradictory. The story suggests that the algae emits photons, while the video narrator said the lamp is lighted - the algae simply grows using "a lighted aquarium" along with outside CO2, letting a fraction of the light through in the process.

In the latter case, this is just a lamp with (micro)algae in it. The only catch would be the part where sunlight is required to charge up the internal lamp during the day.

Could you change the title to 'CO2 eating lamp' instead? Much less confusing.

>This story, based upon information we’ve been seeing, holds some viability questions as to whether or not the lamps are powered by energy from photosynthesis, or simply C02 scrubbers. As such, we’ve positioned it more as a C02 scrubber, with thoughts on what it might take to evolve into an actual self-powered device.

Apparently it's mostly an algae tank on top of normal, battery-powered light. The algae isn't actually involved in producing light/electricity/anything useful. Or that's how I've understood reading about this around the web.

In the video we see the lamp being connected to the power. But the text says "Calleja has developed a lighting system that requires no electricity for power."... confusing.

This is the most confusing title for "bioluminescent algae that burns CO2" imaginable

Wait. Is the algae bioluminescent or does it create create energy that's stored in a battery that then powers a normal lamp?

Afaik neither. The algae mostly just sits there blocking the little light the lamp produces.

Not bioluminescent:

  "Cajella’s lamps consist of algae-filled water along with
  a light and battery system. During the day the algae
  produce energy from sunlight that is then stored in the
  batteries. Then at night the energy is used to power the
  light. However, as the algae can also produce energy from
  carbon, sunlight isn’t required for the process to work."

Sunlight/carbon -> Energy -> Light if I'm reading this correctly. Also:

  "However, the good news is algae can also act as a biofuel
  once separated from the water, so even if the lights need
  a water change out every so often, the waste algae just
  forms another type of fuel where as the water can be
  recycled."

So once it sequesters all that CO2, it can be released back into the atmosphere by burning it?

It looks like a radioactive lava lamp, would like to try it in my house.

One question, though. What happens when this organism ends up in local ponds or rivers as happens often with aquarium plants and animals?

I'm more worried about how difficult it is to keep them alive than them taking over the native environment.

I'd prefer glowing ponds to your ordinary algae ponds...

Can I ask the stupid question... where does the carbon go?

I'm laughing so hard at the mental contortions that went into thinking up this title.

guys, this title is LITERALLY equivalent to introducing a processor as

engineers invent electricity-eating heat that runs on silicon

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