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Can algae power our economies?
DW (English)
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9/16/2024
Scientists in Chile are generating electricity from algae in a process similar to solar cell energy production. They're even using sturdier types of macro-algae, but it will take time to get the results ready for market.
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00:00
Slimy algae floats in water-filled glasses and dishes at this laboratory at the University of Santiago de Chile.
00:08
Scientists here aim to transform algae into an efficient source of energy.
00:13
To do that, they're developing bio-photovoltaic panels.
00:18
Bio-photovoltaic panels are a way to produce electric energy through algae.
00:27
We're placing the algae on electrodes, and they use light to oxidize water.
00:33
And in the process, they release electrons.
00:36
We collect these electrons by generating a potential difference, and then electricity flows.
00:46
The generation of electricity works similar to the process in solar cells,
00:51
except that here, oxygen is also produced, and that's an extra advantage.
00:56
Until now, single-celled organisms known as microalgae were used.
01:00
Here in Santiago de Chile, they're using seaweed.
01:03
It's a macroalgae, a multicellular organism.
01:09
Macroalgae are hardier, easier to work with, easier to harvest.
01:15
So that makes all the operations behind the creation and the construction of the bio-photovoltaic panel a lot simpler.
01:27
Someday, such panels could power light bulbs or LED lights in places where no alternative energy source is available.
01:37
I've always said that algae, or what's in the sea, in this case the photosynthetics found in the sea like marine macroalgae,
01:47
they're all like a treasure. It's as if there was a treasure buried at sea.
01:52
They're full of genes and molecules that we still don't know enough about that could have some use for human health.
01:59
Or for animals, too. They're molecules with unique properties.
02:06
Still, it could take a few more years before the technology to generate energy from the sea is ready for market.
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