0:00:03.271,0:00:06.210
What I'm going to do is,[br]I'm going to explain to you

0:00:06.234,0:00:08.262
an extreme green concept

0:00:08.286,0:00:11.254
that was developed[br]at NASA's Glenn Research Center

0:00:11.278,0:00:13.256
in Cleveland, Ohio.

0:00:13.280,0:00:15.686
But before I do that, we have to go over

0:00:15.710,0:00:17.234
the definition of what green is,

0:00:17.247,0:00:20.220
'cause a lot of us have a[br]different definition of it.

0:00:20.244,0:00:22.213
Green. The product is created through

0:00:22.237,0:00:24.676
environmentally and socially[br]conscious means.

0:00:24.700,0:00:27.864
There's plenty of things that[br]are being called green now.

0:00:27.888,0:00:29.476
What does it actually mean?

0:00:29.500,0:00:33.119
We use three metrics to determine green.

0:00:33.143,0:00:36.211
The first metric is: Is it sustainable?

0:00:36.235,0:00:39.735
Which means, are you preserving[br]what you are doing for future use

0:00:39.759,0:00:42.230
or for future generations?

0:00:42.254,0:00:46.203
Is it alternative? Is it different[br]than what is being used today,

0:00:46.227,0:00:49.008
or does it have a lower carbon footprint

0:00:49.032,0:00:51.592
than what's used conventionally?

0:00:51.616,0:00:54.427
And three: Is it renewable?

0:00:54.451,0:00:58.183
Does it come from Earth's[br]natural replenishing resources,

0:00:58.207,0:01:01.283
such as sun, wind and water?

0:01:01.307,0:01:04.815
Now, my task at NASA is to develop

0:01:04.839,0:01:08.011
the next generation of aviation fuels.

0:01:08.035,0:01:10.840
Extreme green. Why aviation?

0:01:10.864,0:01:14.197
The field of aviation uses[br]more fuel than just about

0:01:14.221,0:01:19.213
every other combined. We[br]need to find an alternative.

0:01:19.237,0:01:22.213
Also it's a national[br]aeronautics directive.

0:01:22.237,0:01:24.881
One of the national aeronautics[br]goals is to develop

0:01:24.905,0:01:27.577
the next generation of fuels, biofuels,

0:01:27.601,0:01:31.287
using domestic and safe,[br]friendly resources.

0:01:31.311,0:01:34.155
Now, combating that challenge

0:01:34.179,0:01:37.045
we have to also meet[br]the big three metric —

0:01:37.069,0:01:40.858
Actually, extreme green[br]for us is all three together;

0:01:40.882,0:01:43.644
that's why you see the plus[br]there. I was told to say that.

0:01:43.668,0:01:48.245
So it has to be the big three at[br]GRC. That's another metric.

0:01:48.269,0:01:54.196
Ninety-seven percent of the[br]world's water is saltwater.

0:01:54.220,0:01:58.206
How about we use that?[br]Combine that with number three.

0:01:58.230,0:02:01.238
Do not use arable land.

0:02:01.262,0:02:03.453
Because crops are already[br]growing on that land

0:02:03.477,0:02:06.215
that's very scarce around the world.

0:02:06.239,0:02:09.222
Number two: Don't compete with food crops.

0:02:09.246,0:02:13.639
That's already a well established[br]entity, they don't need another entry.

0:02:13.663,0:02:17.587
And lastly the most precious[br]resource we have on this Earth

0:02:17.611,0:02:22.247
is fresh water. Don't use fresh water.

0:02:22.271,0:02:25.218
If 97.5 percent[br]of the world's water is saltwater,

0:02:25.242,0:02:28.495
2.5 percent is fresh water.[br]Less than a half percent

0:02:28.519,0:02:30.256
of that is accessible for human use.

0:02:30.280,0:02:34.217
But 60 percent of the population[br]lives within that one percent.

0:02:34.241,0:02:39.209
So, combating my problem was,[br]now I have to be extreme green

0:02:39.233,0:02:41.457
and meet the big three.[br]Ladies and gentlemen,

0:02:41.481,0:02:45.203
welcome to the GreenLab Research Facility.

0:02:45.227,0:02:48.138
This is a facility dedicated[br]to the next generation

0:02:48.162,0:02:51.283
of aviation fuels using halophytes.

0:02:51.307,0:02:54.261
A halophyte is a salt-tolerating plant.

0:02:54.285,0:02:58.289
Most plants don't like salt,[br]but halophytes tolerate salt.

0:02:58.313,0:03:01.284
We also are using weeds

0:03:01.308,0:03:04.215
and we are also using algae.

0:03:04.239,0:03:06.239
The good thing about our lab is, we've had

0:03:06.263,0:03:09.216
3,600 visitors in the last two years.

0:03:09.240,0:03:11.218
Why do you think that's so?

0:03:11.242,0:03:15.224
Because we are on to something special.

0:03:15.248,0:03:17.793
So, in the lower you see[br]the GreenLab obviously,

0:03:17.817,0:03:20.245
and on the right hand[br]side you'll see algae.

0:03:20.269,0:03:23.198
If you are into the business[br]of the next generation

0:03:23.222,0:03:25.518
of aviation fuels, algae[br]is a viable option,

0:03:25.542,0:03:27.209
there's a lot of funding right now,

0:03:27.221,0:03:29.218
and we have an algae to fuels program.

0:03:29.242,0:03:31.218
There's two types of algae growing.

0:03:31.242,0:03:34.211
One is a closed photobioreactor[br]that you see here,

0:03:34.235,0:03:38.232
and what you see on the other[br]side is our species —

0:03:38.256,0:03:42.202
we are currently using a species[br]called Scenedesmus dimorphus.

0:03:42.226,0:03:46.508
Our job at NASA is to take the[br]experimental and computational

0:03:46.532,0:03:51.203
and make a better mixing for[br]the closed photobioreactors.

0:03:51.227,0:03:53.608
Now the problems with closed[br]photobioreactors are:

0:03:53.632,0:03:55.971
They are quite expensive,[br]they are automated,

0:03:55.995,0:03:58.999
and it's very difficult[br]to get them in large scale.

0:03:59.023,0:04:00.690
So on large scale what do they use?

0:04:00.714,0:04:04.117
We use open pond systems.[br]Now, around the world

0:04:04.141,0:04:07.638
they are growing algae,[br]with this racetrack design

0:04:07.662,0:04:10.087
that you see here. Looks like an oval with

0:04:10.111,0:04:12.224
a paddle wheel and mixes really well,

0:04:12.248,0:04:16.282
but when it gets around the last turn,[br]which I call turn four — it's stagnant.

0:04:16.306,0:04:18.272
We actually have a solution for that.

0:04:18.296,0:04:21.236
In the GreenLab in our open pond system

0:04:21.260,0:04:24.251
we use something that happens[br]in nature: waves.

0:04:24.275,0:04:27.943
We actually use wave technology[br]on our open pond systems.

0:04:27.967,0:04:32.627
We have 95 percent mixing[br]and our lipid content is higher

0:04:32.651,0:04:35.245
than a closed photobioreactor system,

0:04:35.269,0:04:37.226
which we think is significant.

0:04:37.250,0:04:41.258
There is a drawback to algae,[br]however: It's very expensive.

0:04:41.282,0:04:46.361
Is there a way to produce[br]algae inexpensively?

0:04:46.385,0:04:48.222
And the answer is: yes.

0:04:48.246,0:04:51.245
We do the same thing[br]we do with halophytes,

0:04:51.269,0:04:55.200
and that is: climatic adaptation.

0:04:55.224,0:04:58.012
In our GreenLab we have[br]six primary ecosystems

0:04:58.036,0:05:01.983
that range from freshwater[br]all the way to saltwater.

0:05:02.007,0:05:05.742
What we do: We take a potential[br]species, we start at freshwater,

0:05:05.766,0:05:08.470
we add a little bit more salt,[br]when the second tank here

0:05:08.494,0:05:10.602
will be the same ecosystem as Brazil —

0:05:10.626,0:05:13.698
right next to the sugar cane[br]fields you can have our plants —

0:05:13.722,0:05:17.941
the next tank represents Africa,[br]the next tank represents Arizona,

0:05:17.965,0:05:20.252
the next tank represents Florida,

0:05:20.276,0:05:24.115
and the next tank represents[br]California or the open ocean.

0:05:24.139,0:05:28.210
What we are trying to do is to[br]come up with a single species

0:05:28.234,0:05:34.215
that can survive anywhere in the[br]world, where there's barren desert.

0:05:34.239,0:05:36.253
We are being very successful so far.

0:05:36.277,0:05:38.897
Now, here's one of the problems.

0:05:38.921,0:05:44.624
If you are a farmer, you need five things[br]to be successful: You need seeds,

0:05:44.648,0:05:48.239
you need soil, you need[br]water and you need sun,

0:05:48.263,0:05:51.809
and the last thing that you[br]need is fertilizer.

0:05:51.833,0:05:55.364
Most people use chemical fertilizers.[br]But guess what?

0:05:55.388,0:05:58.064
We do not use chemical fertilizer.

0:05:58.088,0:06:03.219
Wait a second! I just saw lots of greenery[br]in your GreenLab. You have to use fertilizer.

0:06:03.243,0:06:07.424
Believe it or not, in our analysis[br]of our saltwater ecosystems

0:06:07.448,0:06:11.224
80 percent of what we need[br]are in these tanks themselves.

0:06:11.248,0:06:15.223
The 20 percent that's missing[br]is nitrogen and phosphorous.

0:06:15.247,0:06:17.279
We have a natural solution: fish.

0:06:17.303,0:06:21.167
No we don't cut up the fish[br]and put them in there.

0:06:21.191,0:06:25.050
Fish waste is what we use.[br]As a matter of fact

0:06:25.074,0:06:29.215
we use freshwater mollies, that we've[br]used our climatic adaptation technique

0:06:29.239,0:06:32.237
from freshwater all the way to seawater.

0:06:32.261,0:06:39.233
Freshwater mollies: cheap,[br]they love to make babies,

0:06:39.257,0:06:41.042
and they love to go to the bathroom.

0:06:41.066,0:06:43.197
And the more they go to the[br]bathroom, the more fertilizer we get,

0:06:43.221,0:06:45.736
the better off we are, believe it or not.

0:06:45.760,0:06:51.001
It should be noted that we use[br]sand as our soil,

0:06:51.025,0:06:55.226
regular beach sand. Fossilized coral.

0:06:55.250,0:06:59.197
So a lot of people ask me,[br]"How did you get started?"

0:06:59.221,0:07:04.202
Well, we got started in what we[br]call the indoor biofuels lab.

0:07:04.226,0:07:08.608
It's a seedling lab. We have 26[br]different species of halophytes,

0:07:08.632,0:07:11.880
and five are winners. What we do here is —

0:07:11.904,0:07:14.705
actually it should be called[br]a death lab, 'cause we try to

0:07:14.729,0:07:17.294
kill the seedlings, make them rough —

0:07:17.318,0:07:19.614
and then we come to the GreenLab.

0:07:19.638,0:07:21.372
What you see in the lower corner

0:07:21.396,0:07:23.560
is a wastewater treatment plant experiment

0:07:23.584,0:07:27.253
that we are growing, a macro-algae[br]that I'll talk about in a minute.

0:07:27.277,0:07:31.239
And lastly, it's me actually working[br]in the lab to prove to you I do work,

0:07:31.263,0:07:34.971
I don't just talk about what I do.

0:07:34.995,0:07:38.201
Here's the plant species.[br]Salicornia virginica.

0:07:38.225,0:07:41.760
It's a wonderful plant. I love that plant.

0:07:41.784,0:07:45.226
Everywhere we go we see it. It's[br]all over the place, from Maine

0:07:45.250,0:07:48.237
all the way to California.[br]We love that plant.

0:07:48.261,0:07:53.202
Second is Salicornia bigelovii. Very[br]difficult to get around the world.

0:07:53.226,0:07:55.369
It is the highest lipid[br]content that we have,

0:07:55.393,0:07:59.238
but it has a shortcoming: It's short.

0:07:59.262,0:08:04.359
Now you take europaea, which is the[br]largest or the tallest plant that we have.

0:08:04.383,0:08:06.277
And what we are trying to do

0:08:06.301,0:08:10.658
with natural selection or adaptive[br]biology — combine all three

0:08:10.682,0:08:14.774
to make a high-growth, high-lipid plant.

0:08:14.798,0:08:22.038
Next, when a hurricane decimated the[br]Delaware Bay — soybean fields gone —

0:08:22.062,0:08:24.902
we came up with an idea:[br]Can you have a plant

0:08:24.926,0:08:30.213
that has a land reclamation positive[br]in Delaware? And the answer is yes.

0:08:30.237,0:08:34.187
It's called seashore mallow.[br]Kosteletzkya virginica —

0:08:34.211,0:08:37.205
say that five times fast if you can.

0:08:37.229,0:08:44.793
This is a 100 percent usable plant. The[br]seeds: biofuels. The rest: cattle feed.

0:08:44.817,0:08:48.232
It's there for 10 years;[br]it's working very well.

0:08:48.256,0:08:51.559
Now we get to Chaetomorpha.

0:08:51.583,0:08:54.781
This is a macro-algae that loves

0:08:54.805,0:08:57.329
excess nutrients. If you[br]are in the aquarium industry

0:08:57.353,0:09:00.014
you know we use it[br]to clean up dirty tanks.

0:09:00.038,0:09:04.225
This species is so significant to us.

0:09:04.249,0:09:08.196
The properties are very close to plastic.

0:09:08.220,0:09:13.574
We are trying right now to convert[br]this macro-algae into a bioplastic.

0:09:13.598,0:09:18.247
If we are successful, we will[br]revolutionize the plastics industry.

0:09:18.271,0:09:21.769
So, we have a seed to fuel program.

0:09:21.793,0:09:24.726
We have to do something with[br]this biomass that we have.

0:09:24.750,0:09:29.235
And so we do G.C. extraction, lipid[br]optimization, so on and so forth,

0:09:29.259,0:09:32.922
because our goal really is to come up with

0:09:32.946,0:09:36.832
the next generation of aviation fuels,[br]aviation specifics, so on and so forth.

0:09:36.856,0:09:41.252
So far we talked about water and fuel,

0:09:41.276,0:09:48.196
but along the way we found out[br]something interesting about Salicornia:

0:09:48.220,0:09:51.882
It's a food product.

0:09:51.906,0:09:54.695
So we talk about ideas[br]worth spreading, right?

0:09:54.719,0:10:01.549
How about this: In sub-Saharan[br]Africa, next to the sea, saltwater,

0:10:01.573,0:10:06.408
barren desert,[br]how about we take that plant,

0:10:06.432,0:10:11.240
plant it, half use for food,[br]half use for fuel.

0:10:11.264,0:10:15.041
We can make that happen, inexpensively.

0:10:15.065,0:10:17.739
You can see[br]there's a greenhouse in Germany

0:10:17.763,0:10:20.203
that sells it as a health food product.

0:10:20.227,0:10:25.429
This is harvested, and in the middle here[br]is a shrimp dish, and it's being pickled.

0:10:25.453,0:10:30.042
So I have to tell you a joke.[br]Salicornia is known as sea beans,

0:10:30.066,0:10:33.515
saltwater asparagus and pickle weed.

0:10:33.539,0:10:36.246
So we are pickling pickle[br]weed in the middle.

0:10:36.270,0:10:39.048
Oh, I thought it was funny. (Laughter)

0:10:39.072,0:10:42.421
And at the bottom is seaman's mustard.[br]It does make sense,

0:10:42.445,0:10:44.808
this is a logical snack. You have mustard,

0:10:44.832,0:10:47.956
you are a seaman, you see the[br]halophyte, you mix it together,

0:10:47.980,0:10:50.218
it's a great snack with some crackers.

0:10:50.242,0:10:57.218
And last, garlic with Salicornia,[br]which is what I like.

0:10:57.242,0:11:02.193
So, water, fuel and food.

0:11:02.217,0:11:05.744
None of this is possible[br]without the GreenLab team.

0:11:05.768,0:11:10.725
Just like the Miami Heat has the big[br]three, we have the big three at NASA GRC.

0:11:10.749,0:11:16.204
That's myself, professor Bob Hendricks,[br]our fearless leader, and Dr. Arnon Chait.

0:11:16.228,0:11:20.733
The backbone of the GreenLab is students.

0:11:20.757,0:11:24.648
Over the last two years[br]we've had 35 different students

0:11:24.672,0:11:27.803
from around the world working at GreenLab.

0:11:27.827,0:11:32.212
As a matter fact my division chief says[br]a lot, "You have a green university."

0:11:32.236,0:11:34.747
I say, "I'm okay with that,[br]'cause we are nurturing

0:11:34.771,0:11:39.771
the next generation of extreme[br]green thinkers, which is significant."

0:11:39.795,0:11:45.092
So, in first summary I presented[br]to you what we think

0:11:45.116,0:11:51.219
is a global solution[br]for food, fuel and water.

0:11:51.243,0:11:54.213
There's something missing to be complete.

0:11:54.237,0:11:59.004
Clearly we use electricity.[br]We have a solution for you —

0:11:59.028,0:12:02.253
We're using clean energy sources here.

0:12:02.277,0:12:06.674
So, we have two wind turbines[br]connected to the GreenLab,

0:12:06.698,0:12:10.201
we have four or five more[br]hopefully coming soon.

0:12:10.225,0:12:13.811
We are also using something[br]that is quite interesting —

0:12:13.835,0:12:18.434
there is a solar array field at[br]NASA's Glenn Research Center,

0:12:18.458,0:12:21.576
hasn't been used for 15 years.

0:12:21.600,0:12:24.339
Along with some of my electrical[br]engineering colleagues,

0:12:24.363,0:12:26.482
we realized that they are still viable,

0:12:26.506,0:12:29.238
so we are refurbishing them right now.

0:12:29.262,0:12:34.274
In about 30 days or so they'll be[br]connected to the GreenLab.

0:12:34.298,0:12:37.200
And the reason why you see[br]red, red and yellow, is

0:12:37.224,0:12:40.467
a lot of people think NASA employees[br]don't work on Saturday —

0:12:40.491,0:12:43.385
This is a picture taken on Saturday.

0:12:43.409,0:12:48.010
There are no cars around, but you see my truck[br]in yellow. I work on Saturday. (Laughter)

0:12:48.034,0:12:49.939
This is a proof to you that I'm working.

0:12:49.963,0:12:53.743
'Cause we do what it takes to get the[br]job done, most people know that.

0:12:53.767,0:12:56.621
Here's a concept with this:

0:12:56.645,0:13:02.177
We are using the GreenLab[br]for a micro-grid test bed

0:13:02.201,0:13:06.215
for the smart grid concept in Ohio.

0:13:06.239,0:13:12.147
We have the ability to do that,[br]and I think it's going to work.

0:13:12.171,0:13:17.240
So, GreenLab Research Facility.

0:13:17.264,0:13:22.263
A self-sustainable renewable energy[br]ecosystem was presented today.

0:13:22.287,0:13:28.210
We really, really hope this[br]concept catches on worldwide.

0:13:28.234,0:13:37.260
We think we have a solution for food,[br]water, fuel and now energy. Complete.

0:13:37.284,0:13:43.385
It's extreme green, it's sustainable,[br]alternative and renewable

0:13:43.409,0:13:47.223
and it meets the big three at GRC:

0:13:47.247,0:13:52.214
Don't use arable land, don't[br]compete with food crops,

0:13:52.238,0:13:55.276
and most of all, don't use fresh water.

0:13:55.300,0:14:00.250
So I get a lot of questions about,[br]"What are you doing in that lab?"

0:14:00.274,0:14:06.003
And I usually say, "None of your business,[br]that's what I'm doing in the lab." (Laughter)

0:14:06.027,0:14:09.546
And believe it or not, my number one goal

0:14:09.570,0:14:12.256
for working on this project is

0:14:12.280,0:14:17.231
I want to help save the world.