Diagram of a typical Prokaryotic microbe

At some point in the geologic history of this planet, primitive, unicellular organisms (prokaryotes) emerged and proliferated. These primitive microbes were able to harness the Sun’s energy and convert it to food. The metabolic “waste product” of this photosynthetic (light-making) activity–Oxygen (O)–filled the Earth’s atmosphere over the course of vast time scales. This is sometimes referred to as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE).  This geologically long event enabled the “explosion” of oxygen-breathing life forms in nearly every environment where it was present.

However, the precise date (within a few million years or so) of this event has been a point of contention amongst scientists for decades. Most have held that such life did not emerge until (no earlier than) 2.4 billion years ago. A few have radically asserted an even earlier date of nearly three and half billion years ago.

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At the Aspen Environment Forum today, MIT professor Dan Nocera gave a revolutionary picture of the new energy economy with an assertion that our homes will be our power plants and our fuel stations, powered by sunlight and water. And it’s not science fiction.

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Hydrogen (H) fuel cell technology could perhaps become the cleanest form of energy, both in terms of generating the gas and in terms of combustion products (which are just heat and water). The biggest problem has been making the process of H generation clean, efficient, and cheap, as the current, main source of H gas is coal.

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Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a new way of storing energy from sunlight that could lead to ‘unlimited’ solar power.

The process, loosely based on plant photosynthesis, uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. When needed, the gases can then be re-combined in a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity whether the sun is shining or not.

According to project leader Prof. Daniel Nocera, “This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for years. Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now, we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.”

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It’s not only the Gulf of Mexico that’s suffering from “dead zones” caused by  excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus used as fertilizers.

Marine dead zones are spreading in the Baltic sea, and that could cause the entire ecosystem to collapse for lack of oxygen.  Dire warnings from Lasse Gustavsson, Swedish head of the World Wildlife Funds branch in Sweden.

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What is with these chemicals that create bad air? Most importantly how do we rid our sacred spaces of them? Well,

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How do you take a damaging substance and evolve it into something beneficial?

In 2005, the United States produced 6,008.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

So, how do you turn 6,008.6 million metric tons of CO2 into something essential for human existence?

From the experts at the Chlorophyll Collective, the answer is simple: Take a bunch of algae, submerge it in water, blast it with carbon dioxide and sunlight, and get our essential OXYGEN as a waste product. (You may remember the basic equation for photosynthesis from your early days in Bio/Chem101)

In fact, did you know over 70% of the oxygen in the atmosphere is not produced by trees, but by algae? This means our very lives depend on algae for existence!

Given that we are now in an age where the U.S. contributes at least 6,008.6 million tons of CO2 to global warming every year, the Chlorophyll Collective has decided to start acting locally by creating basic air and water-cleansing machines using our CO2 emissions as fertilizer for the algae that in turn, give us back oxygen (as their waste product!) The machine, called a bioreactor, is pictured above and can be made very easily with plastic tubing and chicken wire.

Additionally, algae expert and CC counfounder Aaron Baum points out that algae are unique in their CO2 eating properties,

…because they thrive on concentrated CO2, which other plants can’t handle. This means they can eat the exhaust before it gets into the atmosphere! Algae also remove other damaging greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and can also clean our waste water, such as agricultural run-off, sewage, and animal manure, transforming it into clean air, water, and fertilizer.

Taking it one step further with various experiments with intensive research, the Chlorophyll Collective has also discovered the benefits of growing algae with our CO2 waste far exceed original intentions to provide us with cleaner air and water. Using fat lipids and other algal nutrients for the latest clean technology, “We will be able to open up entirely new arenas in biodiesel, bioplastic, fertilizer, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, & other health foods, or neutriceuticals,” says Baum. Potentially, we could even be making biofuel fertilized by its own waste products.

Using our CO2 waste to fuel the natural oxygen-giving processes of algae, the Chlorophyl Collective is creating natural global cooling methods to combat global warming while increasing our air and water quality to help us breathe better. In the city, this means setting up a bioreactor (or many) would help counterbalance the pollution and sickness that results from oxygen deficiency (or CO2 overload, depending on your view).

If you're interested in learning more about the Chlorophyll Collective, or want to start making you're own simple algae-based oxygen-machines, check out http://tribes.tribe.net/chlorophyllcollective