Microalgae are grown here with traffic noise as fertiliser
Quieter cities with cleaner air and locally produced energy. That’s the idea behind the new advanced noise plank that students at Imperial College London have developed.
The plank must be able to be installed along motorways and on facades in noisy urban environments.
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Microalgae are small organisms that use light and carbon dioxide to carry out photosynthesis and create biomass, i.e. organic material that can be used for fuel or for the production of energy. Microalgae grow quickly in relation to plants and are therefore more efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide.
Now researchers from England show how microalgae can grow even faster while improving the environment in our cities. The invention is called Algeawave and is a soundboard with built-in greenhouses with microalgae. They get the extra nourishment from something as unexpected as city noise.
– The system utilizes the noise from our cities and creates vibrations that cause them to grow even faster, says Peter Lindblad who is professor of microbial chemistry at Uppsala University.
Grows 30 percent faster
The sound is captured by a speaker which feeds it into an amplifier. There, the frequency, i.e. the pressure of the sound waves, is increased to 400 Hertz. The vibrations are then channeled into cultures of microalgae. As a result, a mechanical stress occurs in the cells, which increases their activity.
According to the research group, the microalgae grow 30 percent faster in these cultivations, compared to algae in a natural environment. In addition, it can be up to 27 percent cheaper than traditional cultivations because the system requires less energy and is easy to maintain.
