The Problems:

Power plants vs. the earth's atmosphere

Millions of people are dependent upon the power grids of our modern cities. The combined energy consumption of mankind's inefficient technologies, wasteful habits and skyrocketing population draws more electricity every day. Subsequently more power plants are being built every day. When we generate electricity using coal or natural gas combustion, massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the atmosphere. While it is possible to address these emissions through carbon offsets, wouldn't it be better to keep them out of the air in the first place?

Petroleum dependency and Greenhouse gas emissions

Biofuels are all over the news these days as a non-toxic way to help eliminate our dependency on petroleum and lower greenhouse gas emissions. But, to grow enough fuel for the entire U.S. using only land crops (soybeans, switch-grass, "waste" cellulose, etc.) it would require more than the entire area of the country and cause massive ecological damage. Also, today's ecological standards of ethanol production are devastating the atmosphere before the fuel ever reaches your gas tank. How can we grow all the fuel we need without further injuring our precious atmosphere, cropland, topsoil, and water supplies?

THE SOLUTIONS:

The Chlorophyll Collective proposes a solution based on a proven living technology that is truly green: algae.

Algae are unique in their CO2 eating properties, because they thrive on concentrated CO2 which other plants can't handle. Cooling and bubbling power-plant exhaust through vertical columns of algae would capture most of the pollutant-rich exhaust from power plants, particularly the carbon dioxide, which is the primary greenhouse gas and cause of global warming. This means algae can eat the pollutant rich exhaust before it reaches the atmosphere. This technology is far superior to carbon offsets, which only deal with pollutants after they have caused atmospheric damage. Algae use photosynthesis to transform this otherwise destructive waste CO2 into oxygen, compostable biomass to build soil, and a variety of other useful byproducts, including bioplastics and sustainable biofuels such as ethanol, butanol and even biodiesel.

Through our exhibits, workshops and consulting, the Chlorophyll Collective demonstrates and educates the use of algae technology to stop global warming and end dependency on petroleum.

Our exhibit, "the Single Cell Solution", showcases an exhaust-eating algae farm and teaches the technology of a closed-loop energy-producing system. This mobile algae-farm exhibit demonstrates this concept live, by capturing exhaust from an on-site diesel-powered generator, cooling it, pressurizing it and blowing it directly into a vertical array of bubbling green algae photo-bioreactors (PBR). Curious onlookers learn about algae by listening to an algae enthusiast explain our system, reading algae literature on posters, watching a projection microscope showing video of live algae micrographs, and watching a CO2 monitoring device which is a live display of measuring the reduced amount of CO2 left after the algae have had their meal.

At our PBR workshops we educate about algae's natural role on the planet, how we can use algae in combination with other existing technologies to clean up air and water pollution, and how we can filter and enrich the air we breathe indoors while generating valuable algae byproducts. When you attend or download the Chlorophyll Collective Photobioreactor Workshops you get to learn: design parameters that are specific to attaining optimal conditions for algae growth (CO2 sequestration), harvesting and oil extraction, about useful algae byproducts, and the basics of algae research (including the importance of researching native algae species). This is your opportunity to build and take home a functioning algae photobioreactor. Imagine the conversations you will inspire!

In our consulting work the Chlorophyll Collective supports and encourages schools, institutions, municipalities and even Do-It-Yourselfer's to begin their own scalable algae farms so they learn how to capture and convert the CO2 from their power plants, homes, schools and office buildings.

The Chlorophyll Collective's mission is greening our cities from the inside out. Join the revolution.

"If you think mitigated climate change is expensive, try unmitigated climate change."

- Dr. Richard Gammon, University of Washington , on the steps of the US Congress, 6/28/99