LIFE + TECHNOLOGY
The global approach to counteract climate change, is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Not a bad call, but it won't stop the train.
If we really want to stop climate change, we either redesign every industrial and socio-economic structure we have, or we find way capture CO2 from the atmosphere.
The later seems reasonable, however, due to the innert nature of carbon dioxide, the fixation of this gas is everything but trivial.
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That's where Biology enters the scene.
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Photosynthesis is the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into biomatter. Organisms such as plants, algae and cyanobacteria capture CO2 through their metabolism, and fix vast amounts of carbon in their bodies.
The only problem is the speed at wich they do this.
Most plants just grow too slow to provide an immediate answer to climate change.
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Azolla however is not like other plants.
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Over the course 2022, the Living Technology Project is dedicated to find out, if we can team up with the fastest growing plant to stop climate change.
PHASE I
The Biology of growth
In our laboratory, we are interest in the growth limitations of Azolla. We want to understand what conditions need to be provided, to tap into the full growth potential of the plant that ended global warming 49 million years ago.
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Our studies simulate different environmental stresses, such as wave exposure, temperature extremes, as-well as variety of different growth media and their respective biochemical compositions.
PHASE II
Engineering a symbiont
Having derived a precise growth protocol, phase II is dedicated to engineer a silicon based symbiotic partner for azolla.
Our technological design will incorporate our research findings and strives to deliver the exact conditions azolla requires to grow under optimal conditions.
PHASE III
Beyond the Laboratory
The final step is dedicated to open the laboratory doors, and to refine our prototype into a system, that can be utilised on an industrial scale.
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Our vision is a living machine, that synthesises its own energy through the capture carbon dioxide.
A cheap and scalable technology, that can operate in metropoles and rural areas alike.
No greenhouse gas emissions.
No toxic waste.
No need for external energy supply.
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Simply cleaning the atmosphere with the fastest growing plant on the planet.
