Plant fuels that could power a jet
-
0:03 - 0:06What I'm going to do is,
I'm going to explain to you -
0:06 - 0:08an extreme green concept
-
0:08 - 0:11that was developed
at NASA's Glenn Research Center -
0:11 - 0:13in Cleveland, Ohio.
-
0:13 - 0:16But before I do that, we have to go over
-
0:16 - 0:17the definition of what green is,
-
0:17 - 0:20'cause a lot of us have a
different definition of it. -
0:20 - 0:22Green. The product is created through
-
0:22 - 0:25environmentally and socially
conscious means. -
0:25 - 0:28There's plenty of things that
are being called green now. -
0:28 - 0:29What does it actually mean?
-
0:30 - 0:33We use three metrics to determine green.
-
0:33 - 0:36The first metric is: Is it sustainable?
-
0:36 - 0:40Which means, are you preserving
what you are doing for future use -
0:40 - 0:42or for future generations?
-
0:42 - 0:46Is it alternative? Is it different
than what is being used today, -
0:46 - 0:49or does it have a lower carbon footprint
-
0:49 - 0:52than what's used conventionally?
-
0:52 - 0:54And three: Is it renewable?
-
0:54 - 0:58Does it come from Earth's
natural replenishing resources, -
0:58 - 1:01such as sun, wind and water?
-
1:01 - 1:05Now, my task at NASA is to develop
-
1:05 - 1:08the next generation of aviation fuels.
-
1:08 - 1:11Extreme green. Why aviation?
-
1:11 - 1:14The field of aviation uses
more fuel than just about -
1:14 - 1:19every other combined. We
need to find an alternative. -
1:19 - 1:22Also it's a national
aeronautics directive. -
1:22 - 1:25One of the national aeronautics
goals is to develop -
1:25 - 1:28the next generation of fuels, biofuels,
-
1:28 - 1:31using domestic and safe,
friendly resources. -
1:31 - 1:34Now, combating that challenge
-
1:34 - 1:37we have to also meet
the big three metric — -
1:37 - 1:41Actually, extreme green
for us is all three together; -
1:41 - 1:44that's why you see the plus
there. I was told to say that. -
1:44 - 1:48So it has to be the big three at
GRC. That's another metric. -
1:48 - 1:54Ninety-seven percent of the
world's water is saltwater. -
1:54 - 1:58How about we use that?
Combine that with number three. -
1:58 - 2:01Do not use arable land.
-
2:01 - 2:03Because crops are already
growing on that land -
2:03 - 2:06that's very scarce around the world.
-
2:06 - 2:09Number two: Don't compete with food crops.
-
2:09 - 2:14That's already a well established
entity, they don't need another entry. -
2:14 - 2:18And lastly the most precious
resource we have on this Earth -
2:18 - 2:22is fresh water. Don't use fresh water.
-
2:22 - 2:25If 97.5 percent
of the world's water is saltwater, -
2:25 - 2:282.5 percent is fresh water.
Less than a half percent -
2:29 - 2:30of that is accessible for human use.
-
2:30 - 2:34But 60 percent of the population
lives within that one percent. -
2:34 - 2:39So, combating my problem was,
now I have to be extreme green -
2:39 - 2:41and meet the big three.
Ladies and gentlemen, -
2:41 - 2:45welcome to the GreenLab Research Facility.
-
2:45 - 2:48This is a facility dedicated
to the next generation -
2:48 - 2:51of aviation fuels using halophytes.
-
2:51 - 2:54A halophyte is a salt-tolerating plant.
-
2:54 - 2:58Most plants don't like salt,
but halophytes tolerate salt. -
2:58 - 3:01We also are using weeds
-
3:01 - 3:04and we are also using algae.
-
3:04 - 3:06The good thing about our lab is, we've had
-
3:06 - 3:093,600 visitors in the last two years.
-
3:09 - 3:11Why do you think that's so?
-
3:11 - 3:15Because we are on to something special.
-
3:15 - 3:18So, in the lower you see
the GreenLab obviously, -
3:18 - 3:20and on the right hand
side you'll see algae. -
3:20 - 3:23If you are into the business
of the next generation -
3:23 - 3:26of aviation fuels, algae
is a viable option, -
3:26 - 3:27there's a lot of funding right now,
-
3:27 - 3:29and we have an algae to fuels program.
-
3:29 - 3:31There's two types of algae growing.
-
3:31 - 3:34One is a closed photobioreactor
that you see here, -
3:34 - 3:38and what you see on the other
side is our species — -
3:38 - 3:42we are currently using a species
called Scenedesmus dimorphus. -
3:42 - 3:47Our job at NASA is to take the
experimental and computational -
3:47 - 3:51and make a better mixing for
the closed photobioreactors. -
3:51 - 3:54Now the problems with closed
photobioreactors are: -
3:54 - 3:56They are quite expensive,
they are automated, -
3:56 - 3:59and it's very difficult
to get them in large scale. -
3:59 - 4:01So on large scale what do they use?
-
4:01 - 4:04We use open pond systems.
Now, around the world -
4:04 - 4:08they are growing algae,
with this racetrack design -
4:08 - 4:10that you see here. Looks like an oval with
-
4:10 - 4:12a paddle wheel and mixes really well,
-
4:12 - 4:16but when it gets around the last turn,
which I call turn four — it's stagnant. -
4:16 - 4:18We actually have a solution for that.
-
4:18 - 4:21In the GreenLab in our open pond system
-
4:21 - 4:24we use something that happens
in nature: waves. -
4:24 - 4:28We actually use wave technology
on our open pond systems. -
4:28 - 4:33We have 95 percent mixing
and our lipid content is higher -
4:33 - 4:35than a closed photobioreactor system,
-
4:35 - 4:37which we think is significant.
-
4:37 - 4:41There is a drawback to algae,
however: It's very expensive. -
4:41 - 4:46Is there a way to produce
algae inexpensively? -
4:46 - 4:48And the answer is: yes.
-
4:48 - 4:51We do the same thing
we do with halophytes, -
4:51 - 4:55and that is: climatic adaptation.
-
4:55 - 4:58In our GreenLab we have
six primary ecosystems -
4:58 - 5:02that range from freshwater
all the way to saltwater. -
5:02 - 5:06What we do: We take a potential
species, we start at freshwater, -
5:06 - 5:08we add a little bit more salt,
when the second tank here -
5:08 - 5:11will be the same ecosystem as Brazil —
-
5:11 - 5:14right next to the sugar cane
fields you can have our plants — -
5:14 - 5:18the next tank represents Africa,
the next tank represents Arizona, -
5:18 - 5:20the next tank represents Florida,
-
5:20 - 5:24and the next tank represents
California or the open ocean. -
5:24 - 5:28What we are trying to do is to
come up with a single species -
5:28 - 5:34that can survive anywhere in the
world, where there's barren desert. -
5:34 - 5:36We are being very successful so far.
-
5:36 - 5:39Now, here's one of the problems.
-
5:39 - 5:45If you are a farmer, you need five things
to be successful: You need seeds, -
5:45 - 5:48you need soil, you need
water and you need sun, -
5:48 - 5:52and the last thing that you
need is fertilizer. -
5:52 - 5:55Most people use chemical fertilizers.
But guess what? -
5:55 - 5:58We do not use chemical fertilizer.
-
5:58 - 6:03Wait a second! I just saw lots of greenery
in your GreenLab. You have to use fertilizer. -
6:03 - 6:07Believe it or not, in our analysis
of our saltwater ecosystems -
6:07 - 6:1180 percent of what we need
are in these tanks themselves. -
6:11 - 6:15The 20 percent that's missing
is nitrogen and phosphorous. -
6:15 - 6:17We have a natural solution: fish.
-
6:17 - 6:21No we don't cut up the fish
and put them in there. -
6:21 - 6:25Fish waste is what we use.
As a matter of fact -
6:25 - 6:29we use freshwater mollies, that we've
used our climatic adaptation technique -
6:29 - 6:32from freshwater all the way to seawater.
-
6:32 - 6:39Freshwater mollies: cheap,
they love to make babies, -
6:39 - 6:41and they love to go to the bathroom.
-
6:41 - 6:43And the more they go to the
bathroom, the more fertilizer we get, -
6:43 - 6:46the better off we are, believe it or not.
-
6:46 - 6:51It should be noted that we use
sand as our soil, -
6:51 - 6:55regular beach sand. Fossilized coral.
-
6:55 - 6:59So a lot of people ask me,
"How did you get started?" -
6:59 - 7:04Well, we got started in what we
call the indoor biofuels lab. -
7:04 - 7:09It's a seedling lab. We have 26
different species of halophytes, -
7:09 - 7:12and five are winners. What we do here is —
-
7:12 - 7:15actually it should be called
a death lab, 'cause we try to -
7:15 - 7:17kill the seedlings, make them rough —
-
7:17 - 7:20and then we come to the GreenLab.
-
7:20 - 7:21What you see in the lower corner
-
7:21 - 7:24is a wastewater treatment plant experiment
-
7:24 - 7:27that we are growing, a macro-algae
that I'll talk about in a minute. -
7:27 - 7:31And lastly, it's me actually working
in the lab to prove to you I do work, -
7:31 - 7:35I don't just talk about what I do.
-
7:35 - 7:38Here's the plant species.
Salicornia virginica. -
7:38 - 7:42It's a wonderful plant. I love that plant.
-
7:42 - 7:45Everywhere we go we see it. It's
all over the place, from Maine -
7:45 - 7:48all the way to California.
We love that plant. -
7:48 - 7:53Second is Salicornia bigelovii. Very
difficult to get around the world. -
7:53 - 7:55It is the highest lipid
content that we have, -
7:55 - 7:59but it has a shortcoming: It's short.
-
7:59 - 8:04Now you take europaea, which is the
largest or the tallest plant that we have. -
8:04 - 8:06And what we are trying to do
-
8:06 - 8:11with natural selection or adaptive
biology — combine all three -
8:11 - 8:15to make a high-growth, high-lipid plant.
-
8:15 - 8:22Next, when a hurricane decimated the
Delaware Bay — soybean fields gone — -
8:22 - 8:25we came up with an idea:
Can you have a plant -
8:25 - 8:30that has a land reclamation positive
in Delaware? And the answer is yes. -
8:30 - 8:34It's called seashore mallow.
Kosteletzkya virginica — -
8:34 - 8:37say that five times fast if you can.
-
8:37 - 8:45This is a 100 percent usable plant. The
seeds: biofuels. The rest: cattle feed. -
8:45 - 8:48It's there for 10 years;
it's working very well. -
8:48 - 8:52Now we get to Chaetomorpha.
-
8:52 - 8:55This is a macro-algae that loves
-
8:55 - 8:57excess nutrients. If you
are in the aquarium industry -
8:57 - 9:00you know we use it
to clean up dirty tanks. -
9:00 - 9:04This species is so significant to us.
-
9:04 - 9:08The properties are very close to plastic.
-
9:08 - 9:14We are trying right now to convert
this macro-algae into a bioplastic. -
9:14 - 9:18If we are successful, we will
revolutionize the plastics industry. -
9:18 - 9:22So, we have a seed to fuel program.
-
9:22 - 9:25We have to do something with
this biomass that we have. -
9:25 - 9:29And so we do G.C. extraction, lipid
optimization, so on and so forth, -
9:29 - 9:33because our goal really is to come up with
-
9:33 - 9:37the next generation of aviation fuels,
aviation specifics, so on and so forth. -
9:37 - 9:41So far we talked about water and fuel,
-
9:41 - 9:48but along the way we found out
something interesting about Salicornia: -
9:48 - 9:52It's a food product.
-
9:52 - 9:55So we talk about ideas
worth spreading, right? -
9:55 - 10:02How about this: In sub-Saharan
Africa, next to the sea, saltwater, -
10:02 - 10:06barren desert,
how about we take that plant, -
10:06 - 10:11plant it, half use for food,
half use for fuel. -
10:11 - 10:15We can make that happen, inexpensively.
-
10:15 - 10:18You can see
there's a greenhouse in Germany -
10:18 - 10:20that sells it as a health food product.
-
10:20 - 10:25This is harvested, and in the middle here
is a shrimp dish, and it's being pickled. -
10:25 - 10:30So I have to tell you a joke.
Salicornia is known as sea beans, -
10:30 - 10:34saltwater asparagus and pickle weed.
-
10:34 - 10:36So we are pickling pickle
weed in the middle. -
10:36 - 10:39Oh, I thought it was funny. (Laughter)
-
10:39 - 10:42And at the bottom is seaman's mustard.
It does make sense, -
10:42 - 10:45this is a logical snack. You have mustard,
-
10:45 - 10:48you are a seaman, you see the
halophyte, you mix it together, -
10:48 - 10:50it's a great snack with some crackers.
-
10:50 - 10:57And last, garlic with Salicornia,
which is what I like. -
10:57 - 11:02So, water, fuel and food.
-
11:02 - 11:06None of this is possible
without the GreenLab team. -
11:06 - 11:11Just like the Miami Heat has the big
three, we have the big three at NASA GRC. -
11:11 - 11:16That's myself, professor Bob Hendricks,
our fearless leader, and Dr. Arnon Chait. -
11:16 - 11:21The backbone of the GreenLab is students.
-
11:21 - 11:25Over the last two years
we've had 35 different students -
11:25 - 11:28from around the world working at GreenLab.
-
11:28 - 11:32As a matter fact my division chief says
a lot, "You have a green university." -
11:32 - 11:35I say, "I'm okay with that,
'cause we are nurturing -
11:35 - 11:40the next generation of extreme
green thinkers, which is significant." -
11:40 - 11:45So, in first summary I presented
to you what we think -
11:45 - 11:51is a global solution
for food, fuel and water. -
11:51 - 11:54There's something missing to be complete.
-
11:54 - 11:59Clearly we use electricity.
We have a solution for you — -
11:59 - 12:02We're using clean energy sources here.
-
12:02 - 12:07So, we have two wind turbines
connected to the GreenLab, -
12:07 - 12:10we have four or five more
hopefully coming soon. -
12:10 - 12:14We are also using something
that is quite interesting — -
12:14 - 12:18there is a solar array field at
NASA's Glenn Research Center, -
12:18 - 12:22hasn't been used for 15 years.
-
12:22 - 12:24Along with some of my electrical
engineering colleagues, -
12:24 - 12:26we realized that they are still viable,
-
12:27 - 12:29so we are refurbishing them right now.
-
12:29 - 12:34In about 30 days or so they'll be
connected to the GreenLab. -
12:34 - 12:37And the reason why you see
red, red and yellow, is -
12:37 - 12:40a lot of people think NASA employees
don't work on Saturday — -
12:40 - 12:43This is a picture taken on Saturday.
-
12:43 - 12:48There are no cars around, but you see my truck
in yellow. I work on Saturday. (Laughter) -
12:48 - 12:50This is a proof to you that I'm working.
-
12:50 - 12:54'Cause we do what it takes to get the
job done, most people know that. -
12:54 - 12:57Here's a concept with this:
-
12:57 - 13:02We are using the GreenLab
for a micro-grid test bed -
13:02 - 13:06for the smart grid concept in Ohio.
-
13:06 - 13:12We have the ability to do that,
and I think it's going to work. -
13:12 - 13:17So, GreenLab Research Facility.
-
13:17 - 13:22A self-sustainable renewable energy
ecosystem was presented today. -
13:22 - 13:28We really, really hope this
concept catches on worldwide. -
13:28 - 13:37We think we have a solution for food,
water, fuel and now energy. Complete. -
13:37 - 13:43It's extreme green, it's sustainable,
alternative and renewable -
13:43 - 13:47and it meets the big three at GRC:
-
13:47 - 13:52Don't use arable land, don't
compete with food crops, -
13:52 - 13:55and most of all, don't use fresh water.
-
13:55 - 14:00So I get a lot of questions about,
"What are you doing in that lab?" -
14:00 - 14:06And I usually say, "None of your business,
that's what I'm doing in the lab." (Laughter) -
14:06 - 14:10And believe it or not, my number one goal
-
14:10 - 14:12for working on this project is
-
14:12 - 14:17I want to help save the world.
- Title:
- Plant fuels that could power a jet
- Speaker:
- Bilal Bomani
- Description:
-
Algae plus salt water equals … fuel? At TEDxNASA@SiliconValley, Bilal Bomani reveals a self-sustaining ecosystem that produces biofuels -- without wasting arable land or fresh water.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:26
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet | ||
tom carter approved English subtitles for Plant fuels that could power a jet |