Iceland Goes Green(er)

To label me an environmentalist is laughable but I did think this piece was quite interesting. Don't get me wrong, I believe it's an issue to grapple with (although not the most important issue in the upcoming election according to Al Gore). Anyway, back to the interesting bit.

202Collaborative, a Philadelphia based design firm has put out a proposal that helps assemble and conceptualize about hydrogen-powered urban design in Iceland. "The project, originally intended for a design competition, imagines carefully engineered algae ponds and balloons of hydrogen gas fueling the Icelandic city of the future."

As the designers note:

It has long been known that algae produce small amounts of hydrogen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. In 1999, researchers in Berkeley observed that algae alternate between hydrogen production and normal photosynthesis depending on the chemical environment. Depriving algae of oxygen and sulfur, the researchers greatly increased the hydrogen production and triggered the algae to produce hydrogen for an extended period of time. Another research group also discovered that algae will sustain simultaneous production of hydrogen and oxygen from water by illuminating the algae and depriving it of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Researchers estimate that a small pond (1.5 acre or 10 meter diameter) will produce enough hydrogen on a weekly basis to fuel 12 cars.

With fuel prices where they are, I could handle an algae powered car. Check out the whole concept and process over at BLDGBLOG.