0:00:00.051,0:00:03.014
What I'm going to do is,[br]I'm going to explain to you

0:00:03.014,0:00:05.066
an extreme green concept

0:00:05.066,0:00:08.058
that was developed[br]at NASA's Glenn Research Center

0:00:08.058,0:00:10.060
in Cleveland, Ohio.

0:00:10.060,0:00:12.490
But before I do that, we have to go over

0:00:12.490,0:00:14.027
the definition of what green is,

0:00:14.027,0:00:17.024
'cause a lot of us have a[br]different definition of it.

0:00:17.024,0:00:19.017
Green. The product is created through

0:00:19.017,0:00:21.480
environmentally and socially[br]conscious means.

0:00:21.480,0:00:24.668
There's plenty of things that[br]are being called green now.

0:00:24.668,0:00:26.280
What does it actually mean?

0:00:26.280,0:00:29.923
We use three metrics to determine green.

0:00:29.923,0:00:33.015
The first metric is: Is it sustainable?

0:00:33.015,0:00:36.539
Which means, are you preserving[br]what you are doing for future use

0:00:36.539,0:00:39.034
or for future generations?

0:00:39.034,0:00:43.007
Is it alternative? Is it different[br]than what is being used today,

0:00:43.007,0:00:45.812
or does it have a lower carbon footprint

0:00:45.812,0:00:48.396
than what's used conventionally?

0:00:48.396,0:00:51.231
And three: Is it renewable?

0:00:51.231,0:00:54.987
Does it come from Earth's[br]natural replenishing resources,

0:00:54.987,0:00:58.087
such as sun, wind and water?

0:00:58.087,0:01:01.619
Now, my task at NASA is to develop

0:01:01.619,0:01:04.815
the next generation of aviation fuels.

0:01:04.815,0:01:07.644
Extreme green. Why aviation?

0:01:07.644,0:01:11.001
The field of aviation uses[br]more fuel than just about

0:01:11.001,0:01:16.017
every other combined. We[br]need to find an alternative.

0:01:16.017,0:01:19.017
Also it's a national[br]aeronautics directive.

0:01:19.017,0:01:21.685
One of the national aeronautics[br]goals is to develop

0:01:21.685,0:01:24.381
the next generation of fuels, biofuels,

0:01:24.381,0:01:28.091
using domestic and safe,[br]friendly resources.

0:01:28.091,0:01:30.959
Now, combating that challenge

0:01:30.959,0:01:33.849
we have to also meet[br]the big three metric —

0:01:33.849,0:01:37.662
Actually, extreme green[br]for us is all three together;

0:01:37.662,0:01:40.052
that's why you see the plus[br]there. I was told to say that.

0:01:40.052,0:01:45.049
So it has to be the big three at[br]GRC. That's another metric.

0:01:45.049,0:01:51.000
Ninety-seven percent of the[br]world's water is saltwater.

0:01:51.000,0:01:55.010
How about we use that?[br]Combine that with number three.

0:01:55.010,0:01:58.042
Do not use arable land.

0:01:58.042,0:02:00.222
Because crops are already[br]growing on that land

0:02:00.222,0:02:03.019
that's very scarce around the world.

0:02:03.019,0:02:06.026
Number two: Don't compete with food crops.

0:02:06.026,0:02:10.443
That's already a well established[br]entity, they don't need another entry.

0:02:10.443,0:02:14.391
And lastly the most precious[br]resource we have on this Earth

0:02:14.391,0:02:19.051
is fresh water. Don't use fresh water.

0:02:19.051,0:02:22.022
If 97.5 percent[br]of the world's water is saltwater,

0:02:22.022,0:02:25.299
2.5 percent is fresh water.[br]Less than a half percent

0:02:25.299,0:02:27.060
of that is accessible for human use.

0:02:27.060,0:02:31.021
But 60 percent of the population[br]lives within that one percent.

0:02:31.021,0:02:36.013
So, combating my problem was,[br]now I have to be extreme green

0:02:36.013,0:02:38.261
and meet the big three.[br]Ladies and gentlemen,

0:02:38.261,0:02:42.007
welcome to the GreenLab Research Facility.

0:02:42.007,0:02:44.942
This is a facility dedicated[br]to the next generation

0:02:44.942,0:02:48.087
of aviation fuels using halophytes.

0:02:48.087,0:02:51.065
A halophyte is a salt-tolerating plant.

0:02:51.065,0:02:55.093
Most plants don't like salt,[br]but halophytes tolerate salt.

0:02:55.093,0:02:58.088
We also are using weeds

0:02:58.088,0:03:01.019
and we are also using algae.

0:03:01.019,0:03:03.010
The good thing about our lab is, we've had

0:03:03.010,0:03:06.020
3,600 visitors in the last two years.

0:03:06.020,0:03:08.022
Why do you think that's so?

0:03:08.022,0:03:12.028
Because we are on to something special.

0:03:12.028,0:03:14.597
So, in the lower you see[br]the GreenLab obviously,

0:03:14.597,0:03:17.049
and on the right hand[br]side you'll see algae.

0:03:17.049,0:03:20.002
If you are into the business[br]of the next generation

0:03:20.002,0:03:22.322
of aviation fuels, algae[br]is a viable option,

0:03:22.322,0:03:24.001
there's a lot of funding right now,

0:03:24.001,0:03:26.022
and we have an algae to fuels program.

0:03:26.022,0:03:28.022
There's two types of algae growing.

0:03:28.022,0:03:31.015
One is a closed photobioreactor[br]that you see here,

0:03:31.015,0:03:35.036
and what you see on the other[br]side is our species —

0:03:35.036,0:03:39.006
we are currently using a species[br]called Scenedesmus dimorphus.

0:03:39.006,0:03:43.312
Our job at NASA is to take the[br]experimental and computational

0:03:43.312,0:03:48.007
and make a better mixing for[br]the closed photobioreactors.

0:03:48.007,0:03:50.044
Now the problems with closed[br]photobioreactors are:

0:03:50.044,0:03:52.775
They are quite expensive,[br]they are automated,

0:03:52.775,0:03:55.803
and it's very difficult[br]to get them in large scale.

0:03:55.803,0:03:57.428
So on large scale what do they use?

0:03:57.428,0:04:00.921
We use open pond systems.[br]Now, around the world

0:04:00.921,0:04:04.442
they are growing algae,[br]with this racetrack design

0:04:04.442,0:04:06.891
that you see here. Looks like an oval with

0:04:06.891,0:04:09.028
a paddle wheel and mixes really well,

0:04:09.028,0:04:13.086
but when it gets around the last turn,[br]which I call turn four — it's stagnant.

0:04:13.086,0:04:15.076
We actually have a solution for that.

0:04:15.076,0:04:18.040
In the GreenLab in our open pond system

0:04:18.040,0:04:21.055
we use something that happens[br]in nature: waves.

0:04:21.055,0:04:24.747
We actually use wave technology[br]on our open pond systems.

0:04:24.747,0:04:29.431
We have 95 percent mixing[br]and our lipid content is higher

0:04:29.431,0:04:32.049
than a closed photobioreactor system,

0:04:32.049,0:04:34.030
which we think is significant.

0:04:34.030,0:04:38.062
There is a drawback to algae,[br]however: It's very expensive.

0:04:38.062,0:04:43.165
Is there a way to produce[br]algae inexpensively?

0:04:43.165,0:04:45.026
And the answer is: yes.

0:04:45.026,0:04:48.049
We do the same thing[br]we do with halophytes,

0:04:48.049,0:04:52.004
and that is: climatic adaptation.

0:04:52.004,0:04:54.816
In our GreenLab we have[br]six primary ecosystems

0:04:54.816,0:04:58.787
that range from freshwater[br]all the way to saltwater.

0:04:58.787,0:05:02.546
What we do: We take a potential[br]species, we start at freshwater,

0:05:02.546,0:05:05.274
we add a little bit more salt,[br]when the second tank here

0:05:05.274,0:05:07.406
will be the same ecosystem as Brazil —

0:05:07.406,0:05:10.502
right next to the sugar cane[br]fields you can have our plants —

0:05:10.502,0:05:14.745
the next tank represents Africa,[br]the next tank represents Arizona,

0:05:14.745,0:05:17.056
the next tank represents Florida,

0:05:17.056,0:05:20.919
and the next tank represents[br]California or the open ocean.

0:05:20.919,0:05:25.014
What we are trying to do is to[br]come up with a single species

0:05:25.014,0:05:31.019
that can survive anywhere in the[br]world, where there's barren desert.

0:05:31.019,0:05:33.057
We are being very successful so far.

0:05:33.057,0:05:35.701
Now, here's one of the problems.

0:05:35.701,0:05:41.428
If you are a farmer, you need five things[br]to be successful: You need seeds,

0:05:41.428,0:05:45.043
you need soil, you need[br]water and you need sun,

0:05:45.043,0:05:48.613
and the last thing that you[br]need is fertilizer.

0:05:48.613,0:05:52.168
Most people use chemical fertilizers.[br]But guess what?

0:05:52.168,0:05:54.868
We do not use chemical fertilizer.

0:05:54.868,0:06:00.023
Wait a second! I just saw lots of greenery[br]in your GreenLab. You have to use fertilizer.

0:06:00.023,0:06:04.228
Believe it or not, in our analysis[br]of our saltwater ecosystems

0:06:04.228,0:06:08.028
80 percent of what we need[br]are in these tanks themselves.

0:06:08.028,0:06:12.027
The 20 percent that's missing[br]is nitrogen and phosphorous.

0:06:12.027,0:06:14.083
We have a natural solution: fish.

0:06:14.083,0:06:17.971
No we don't cut up the fish[br]and put them in there.

0:06:17.971,0:06:21.854
Fish waste is what we use.[br]As a matter of fact

0:06:21.854,0:06:26.019
we use freshwater mollies, that we've[br]used our climatic adaptation technique

0:06:26.019,0:06:29.041
from freshwater all the way to seawater.

0:06:29.041,0:06:36.037
Freshwater mollies: cheap,[br]they love to make babies,

0:06:36.037,0:06:37.846
and they love to go to the bathroom.

0:06:37.846,0:06:40.001
And the more they go to the[br]bathroom, the more fertilizer we get,

0:06:40.001,0:06:42.540
the better off we are, believe it or not.

0:06:42.540,0:06:47.805
It should be noted that we use[br]sand as our soil,

0:06:47.805,0:06:52.030
regular beach sand. Fossilized coral.

0:06:52.030,0:06:56.001
So a lot of people ask me,[br]"How did you get started?"

0:06:56.001,0:07:01.006
Well, we got started in what we[br]call the indoor biofuels lab.

0:07:01.006,0:07:05.401
It's a seedling lab. We have 26[br]different species of halophytes,

0:07:05.412,0:07:08.684
and five are winners. What we do here is —

0:07:08.684,0:07:11.509
actually it should be called[br]a death lab, 'cause we try to

0:07:11.509,0:07:14.098
kill the seedlings, make them rough —

0:07:14.098,0:07:16.418
and then we come to the GreenLab.

0:07:16.418,0:07:18.176
What you see in the lower corner

0:07:18.176,0:07:20.364
is a wastewater treatment plant experiment

0:07:20.364,0:07:24.057
that we are growing, a macro-algae[br]that I'll talk about in a minute.

0:07:24.057,0:07:28.043
And lastly, it's me actually working[br]in the lab to prove to you I do work,

0:07:28.043,0:07:31.775
I don't just talk about what I do.

0:07:31.775,0:07:35.005
Here's the plant species.[br]Salicornia virginica.

0:07:35.005,0:07:38.564
It's a wonderful plant. I love that plant.

0:07:38.564,0:07:42.030
Everywhere we go we see it. It's[br]all over the place, from Maine

0:07:42.030,0:07:45.041
all the way to California.[br]We love that plant.

0:07:45.041,0:07:50.006
Second is Salicornia bigelovii. Very[br]difficult to get around the world.

0:07:50.006,0:07:52.052
It is the highest lipid[br]content that we have,

0:07:52.052,0:07:56.042
but it has a shortcoming: It's short.

0:07:56.042,0:08:01.163
Now you take europaea, which is the[br]largest or the tallest plant that we have.

0:08:01.163,0:08:03.081
And what we are trying to do

0:08:03.081,0:08:07.462
with natural selection or adaptive[br]biology — combine all three

0:08:07.462,0:08:11.578
to make a high-growth, high-lipid plant.

0:08:11.578,0:08:18.842
Next, when a hurricane decimated the[br]Delaware Bay — soybean fields gone —

0:08:18.842,0:08:21.706
we came up with an idea:[br]Can you have a plant

0:08:21.706,0:08:27.017
that has a land reclamation positive[br]in Delaware? And the answer is yes.

0:08:27.017,0:08:30.991
It's called seashore mallow.[br]Kosteletzkya virginica —

0:08:30.991,0:08:34.009
say that five times fast if you can.

0:08:34.009,0:08:41.597
This is a 100 percent usable plant. The[br]seeds: biofuels. The rest: cattle feed.

0:08:41.597,0:08:45.036
It's there for 10 years;[br]it's working very well.

0:08:45.036,0:08:48.363
Now we get to Chaetomorpha.

0:08:48.363,0:08:51.585
This is a macro-algae that loves

0:08:51.585,0:08:54.007
excess nutrients. If you[br]are in the aquarium industry

0:08:54.007,0:08:56.818
you know we use it[br]to clean up dirty tanks.

0:08:56.818,0:09:01.029
This species is so significant to us.

0:09:01.029,0:09:05.000
The properties are very close to plastic.

0:09:05.000,0:09:10.378
We are trying right now to convert[br]this macro-algae into a bioplastic.

0:09:10.378,0:09:15.051
If we are successful, we will[br]revolutionize the plastics industry.

0:09:15.051,0:09:18.573
So, we have a seed to fuel program.

0:09:18.573,0:09:21.530
We have to do something with[br]this biomass that we have.

0:09:21.530,0:09:26.039
And so we do G.C. extraction, lipid[br]optimization, so on and so forth,

0:09:26.039,0:09:29.726
because our goal really is to come up with

0:09:29.726,0:09:33.636
the next generation of aviation fuels,[br]aviation specifics, so on and so forth.

0:09:33.636,0:09:38.056
So far we talked about water and fuel,

0:09:38.056,0:09:45.000
but along the way we found out[br]something interesting about Salicornia:

0:09:45.000,0:09:48.686
It's a food product.

0:09:48.686,0:09:51.499
So we talk about ideas[br]worth spreading, right?

0:09:51.499,0:09:58.353
How about this: In sub-Saharan[br]Africa, next to the sea, saltwater,

0:09:58.353,0:10:03.212
barren desert,[br]how about we take that plant,

0:10:03.212,0:10:08.044
plant it, half use for food,[br]half use for fuel.

0:10:08.044,0:10:11.845
We can make that happen, inexpensively.

0:10:11.845,0:10:14.543
You can see[br]there's a greenhouse in Germany

0:10:14.543,0:10:17.007
that sells it as a health food product.

0:10:17.007,0:10:22.233
This is harvested, and in the middle here[br]is a shrimp dish, and it's being pickled.

0:10:22.233,0:10:26.846
So I have to tell you a joke.[br]Salicornia is known as sea beans,

0:10:26.846,0:10:30.319
saltwater asparagus and pickle weed.

0:10:30.319,0:10:33.050
So we are pickling pickle[br]weed in the middle.

0:10:33.050,0:10:35.852
Oh, I thought it was funny. (Laughter)

0:10:35.852,0:10:39.225
And at the bottom is seaman's mustard.[br]It does make sense,

0:10:39.225,0:10:41.612
this is a logical snack. You have mustard,

0:10:41.612,0:10:44.760
you are a seaman, you see the[br]halophyte, you mix it together,

0:10:44.760,0:10:47.022
it's a great snack with some crackers.

0:10:47.022,0:10:54.022
And last, garlic with Salicornia,[br]which is what I like.

0:10:54.022,0:10:58.997
So, water, fuel and food.

0:10:58.997,0:11:02.548
None of this is possible[br]without the GreenLab team.

0:11:02.548,0:11:07.529
Just like the Miami Heat has the big[br]three, we have the big three at NASA GRC.

0:11:07.529,0:11:13.008
That's myself, professor Bob Hendricks,[br]our fearless leader, and Dr. Arnon Chait.

0:11:13.008,0:11:17.537
The backbone of the GreenLab is students.

0:11:17.537,0:11:21.452
Over the last two years[br]we've had 35 different students

0:11:21.452,0:11:24.607
from around the world working at GreenLab.

0:11:24.607,0:11:29.016
As a matter fact my division chief says[br]a lot, "You have a green university."

0:11:29.016,0:11:31.551
I say, "I'm okay with that,[br]'cause we are nurturing

0:11:31.551,0:11:36.575
the next generation of extreme[br]green thinkers, which is significant."

0:11:36.575,0:11:41.896
So, in first summary I presented[br]to you what we think

0:11:41.896,0:11:48.023
is a global solution[br]for food, fuel and water.

0:11:48.023,0:11:51.017
There's something missing to be complete.

0:11:51.017,0:11:55.808
Clearly we use electricity.[br]We have a solution for you —

0:11:55.808,0:11:59.057
We're using clean energy sources here.

0:11:59.057,0:12:03.478
So, we have two wind turbines[br]connected to the GreenLab,

0:12:03.478,0:12:07.005
we have four or five more[br]hopefully coming soon.

0:12:07.005,0:12:10.615
We are also using something[br]that is quite interesting —

0:12:10.615,0:12:15.238
there is a solar array field at[br]NASA's Glenn Research Center,

0:12:15.238,0:12:18.380
hasn't been used for 15 years.

0:12:18.380,0:12:21.143
Along with some of my electrical[br]engineering colleagues,

0:12:21.143,0:12:23.286
we realized that they are still viable,

0:12:23.286,0:12:26.042
so we are refurbishing them right now.

0:12:26.042,0:12:31.078
In about 30 days or so they'll be[br]connected to the GreenLab.

0:12:31.078,0:12:34.004
And the reason why you see[br]red, red and yellow, is

0:12:34.004,0:12:37.271
a lot of people think NASA employees[br]don't work on Saturday —

0:12:37.271,0:12:40.189
This is a picture taken on Saturday.

0:12:40.189,0:12:44.814
There are no cars around, but you see my truck[br]in yellow. I work on Saturday. (Laughter)

0:12:44.814,0:12:46.647
This is a proof to you that I'm working.

0:12:46.647,0:12:50.547
'Cause we do what it takes to get the[br]job done, most people know that.

0:12:50.547,0:12:53.425
Here's a concept with this:

0:12:53.425,0:12:58.981
We are using the GreenLab[br]for a micro-grid test bed

0:12:58.981,0:13:03.044
for the smart grid concept in Ohio.

0:13:03.044,0:13:08.951
We have the ability to do that,[br]and I think it's going to work.

0:13:08.951,0:13:14.044
So, GreenLab Research Facility.

0:13:14.044,0:13:19.067
A self-sustainable renewable energy[br]ecosystem was presented today.

0:13:19.067,0:13:25.014
We really, really hope this[br]concept catches on worldwide.

0:13:25.014,0:13:34.064
We think we have a solution for food,[br]water, fuel and now energy. Complete.

0:13:34.064,0:13:40.189
It's extreme green, it's sustainable,[br]alternative and renewable

0:13:40.189,0:13:44.027
and it meets the big three at GRC:

0:13:44.027,0:13:49.018
Don't use arable land, don't[br]compete with food crops,

0:13:49.018,0:13:52.080
and most of all, don't use fresh water.

0:13:52.080,0:13:57.054
So I get a lot of questions about,[br]"What are you doing in that lab?"

0:13:57.054,0:14:02.807
And I usually say, "None of your business,[br]that's what I'm doing in the lab." (Laughter)

0:14:02.807,0:14:06.350
And believe it or not, my number one goal

0:14:06.350,0:14:09.060
for working on this project is

0:14:09.060,0:14:14.011
I want to help save the world.