The Phytofire Squadron
Rebranding Blue Tech Base, Synoxis Algae chats, and algae-tech in the news
G’day everyone!
Today is Wednesday, January 19th and welcome back to our weekly round-up!
If you’re looking for some easy reading, why not head over to Blue Tech Base (soon to be Paxtier) to get your daily dose of algae and climate-tech?
In the meantime, as promised, here are 3 memes, 2 of our innovation reviews, and 1 algae-tech chat to consider this week...
Into the climate-technical archives
Spicing your life up through our reviews of awesome climate-tech papers and innovations, both old and new.
Marimosa!
Interested in the weird and wonderful? Check out this wacky piece of algae-tech.
Published at the start of 2022, this fascinating investigation sought to exploit the unique photosynthetic properties of marimo, a rare growth form of Aegagropila linnaei in which the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance, like so:
What could they do with that?!? I hear you cry…
Well, not what you might expect.
Dr Phillips and his team decided to build it a hamster ball.
I know right? This little thing goes by the name of a "Marimo-Activated Rover System" (MARS), and has quite the function.
Once marimo is placed inside this 3D-printed exoskeleton, a peculiar thing happens.
As the algae goes about it’s photosynthetic business, it begins to release oxygen, resulting in the gradual accumulation of the gas within the ball. The ensuing pressure change from this process creates torque, and drives the MARS structure forward, propelling it across the lake bed.
If it happens to encounter an obstacle, oxygen will simply build up to the point the ball becomes buoyant, whereupon it will leap over the obstacle:
What use is all this?
Remarkably, the structure could prove useful in monitoring pollution. The team suggests fitting it with low-powered sensors in order to gather environmental data from lakes (monitoring things like pH, or pollution). Allegedly, the ball’s kinetic energy would be sufficient to power these sensors, creating a completely off-grid system. What’s more, this could be done for a long period of time as the oldest living marimo is over 200 years old!
The team want to redesign the structure now for seawater, and potentially replace marimo with seaweed!
Algae powered underwater rovers! Whatever next??
The Phytofire Squad
How does the planet deal with wildfires? In this episode, we take a look at Tang et al.'s epic piece from 2021, which investigates the final destination of emissions from the 2019-20 Australian wildfires.
Summary
Recognise this?
That's an aerial view of Sydney in 2020, when wildfires ripped through Australia, burning millions of hectares of vegetation. It's estimated that 715 million tonnes of CO2 (195 Tg C) were released into the atmosphere during the fire period, alongside an enormous amount of aerosols. That fire massively exceeded Australia’s total 2018 anthropogenic CO2 emissions of 537.4 million tonnes (147 Tg C)!
Upon noting that figure, the all-important question became... "well where did all that end up then?"
Among the teams looking for answers was Tang et al., who published their interesting findings in the paper "Widespread phytoplankton blooms triggered by 2019–2020 Australian wildfires".
In this brilliant investigation, the team describes how Australian phytoplankton came to the rescue, reveling in the aftermath of the event. According to the research, the fires facilitated the atmospheric transportation of macronutrients and bio-essential trace metals way out into the Southern Ocean, creating an algal bloom bigger than the continent itself.
The aerosols released were notably high in iron content. As a result, upon landing on the iron-limited waters of the Southern Ocean, a mass fertilisation took place, allowing phytoplankton populations to boom.
The blooms were so large that they ended up absorbing the equivalent of 50 to 150 percent of the carbon released by the actual fires, potentially offsetting the impact directly.
Science fact or fiction
Now for some "Science fact or fiction". In this section we'll draw your attention to hypothetical or real innovations based on badass climate-tech research. Read the paragraph below and decide for yourself if it's real, or make-believe.
Based on Tang et al.'s research, a Tasmanian algal team called Phytofire are taking action. With the help of drones and large nets, the team has assembled the "Phytofire Response Global Task Force". This group collects wildfire phytoplankton blooms and ensures the sequestration of carbon by proceeding to lock the organisms away in underground vaults.
True or false?
Fireside Chats
This week we sat down with the fantastic Amélie Robin from Synoxis Algae, a start-up which designs and manufactures new generation photobioreactors to facilitate the culture of microalgae for industry. In this edited conversation, Amélie spoke about her perspective on microalgae-tech, the sector’s growth journey, and the importance of diving deep into your industry. Here are some highlights:
How has Synoxis Algae evolved to this point?
“Before Synoxis Algae, this team was simply known as Synoxis, a company based in the west of France. Synoxis were originally subcontractors in the automotive and marine industries, where they transformed plastic sheets into useable, valuable elements. They’d always been involved with labs and universities, so eventually they were approached by a research team in 2007 who were hoping to create a prototype photobioreactor for a thesis project. Despite lacking prior knowledge of biology or microalgae, the company managed to create a functional prototype.
In spite of this progress, the product lacked certain features, rendering it useless to the wider microalgae market. As a result, this microalgae product line was left to one side. That remained the case until 2008, when the financial crisis crippled world economics, and made subcontracting in the plastic industries unsustainable. Due to this, the team decided to launch their own product lines in 2015 with the creation of two new subsidiary companies: Synoxis Medical, and Synoxis Algae.
What's your take on the microalgae space, where do you see demand increasing, and what risks remain?
“The demand is definitely increasing quickly, which is great. However, that comes with certain risks. Firstly, because the microalgae industry is still nascent, it’s vitally important that operators choose sensible business strategies. That’s because the industry can change quickly, as it has in the past, which can make it risky to overextend oneself in the wrong area.
For example, in the USA, the market first sought to produce microalgae for green-chemistry purposes, like biofuel. This all changed suddenly when researchers realised the cost of production was too high, and the value of biofuels was too low. As a result, academia rapidly pivoted R&D towards the production of food, which generally has higher value.
When it comes specifically to Synoxis Algae, demand has been increasing across the board. Back in 2018, we started out by creating smaller photobioreactors. Over time, we noticed more teams were seeking out big bioreactors, as a result, we now juggle between the two, doing what we are experts in (small-scale), alongside some industrial-scale projects.
One thing to note for these bigger installments is economics. Clients often want to work with microalgae but aren’t aware of the feasibility. It can be costly.”
What advice might you give to yourself starting out with microalgae work?
“Seek to understand the microalgae market in depth. You only have so many resources, so you need to stay focused. In order to do that, you must create a sound and solid business strategy which understands the market and the demand. A large part of this understanding will come from speaking to people in the space, so get out there and chat to people!”
More algae-tech in the news
-Singapore-based start-up seeks to revolutionize seaweed value chain.
-Sozyë launches seaweed-based alternatives to fish, soya, and oyster sauces.
-Notpla’s new seaweed-based paper packaging gets a review.
-AlgiKnit announces opening of innovation hub in The Research Triangle area of North Carolina.
-Research indicates seaweed investments have doubled in the last year.
-Seaweed-eating sheep pave the way for a sustainable future in Scotland.
-Seaweed thrown At French MP
-Scottish firm creates green and guilt-free vegan snacks from seaweed.
-Indigenous communities reconnecting to the ocean using seaweed.
Thanks again for joining us this week! Looking forward to seeing you soon, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested in hearing more.
Best,
Peter
Paxtier