Can algae power our economies?

DW (English)

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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00:00Slimy algae floats in water-filled glasses and dishes at this laboratory at the University of Santiago de Chile.

00:08Scientists here aim to transform algae into an efficient source of energy.

00:13To do that, they're developing bio-photovoltaic panels.

00:18Bio-photovoltaic panels are a way to produce electric energy through algae.

00:27We're placing the algae on electrodes, and they use light to oxidize water.

00:33And in the process, they release electrons.

00:36We collect these electrons by generating a potential difference, and then electricity flows.

00:46The generation of electricity works similar to the process in solar cells,

00:51except that here, oxygen is also produced, and that's an extra advantage.

00:56Until now, single-celled organisms known as microalgae were used.

01:00Here in Santiago de Chile, they're using seaweed.

01:03It's a macroalgae, a multicellular organism.

01:09Macroalgae are hardier, easier to work with, easier to harvest.

01:15So that makes all the operations behind the creation and the construction of the bio-photovoltaic panel a lot simpler.

01:27Someday, such panels could power light bulbs or LED lights in places where no alternative energy source is available.

01:37I've always said that algae, or what's in the sea, in this case the photosynthetics found in the sea like marine macroalgae,

01:47they're all like a treasure. It's as if there was a treasure buried at sea.

01:52They're full of genes and molecules that we still don't know enough about that could have some use for human health.

01:59Or for animals, too. They're molecules with unique properties.

02:06Still, it could take a few more years before the technology to generate energy from the sea is ready for market.

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