Flights of imagination

Imagination has never seen such flights of fantasy as pressed on by the search for energy! Get ready for living, breathing buildings in the future.

A report recently released by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers suggests that sealed containers of algae photobioreactors could be integrated into the sides of buildings to produce biofuels and sequester carbon, adding a whole new meaning to the term ‘green building’.

Algae feed on CO2 from the surrounding air which can then be stored and processed as biofuel.

One of the benefits to harnessing algae is that it can use waste-water and ocean water, and it is relatively harmless to the local environment should it spill or leak. Algae also have a much higher production rate per acre than soy or corn. Some studies have shown that up to 99% of the CO2 introduced to the solution can be converted or sequestered.

At this point, photobioreactors are much more expensive to use than conventional open-pond systems but companies are working around that.

In another advance on the green front, Reva, the Indian car company known for the manufacturing of small, eco-friendly commuter cars is about to release two new vehicle models with an invisible reserve fuel tank that can be activated when necessary by sending a text message or making a phone call to a specified number, so that drivers are never left stranded should they run out of charge! On display at the ongoing Frankfurt International Motor Show, Reva has at present around 3,000 vehicles on the road in over 24 countries.