Students at Illinois University have found a novel new way to produce biofuel and recycle unwanted electronic goods at the same time.
Using old computer parts, researchers at the university developed a new algae-growing tank they call Bio-Grow. Using various computer parts, the students developed a reservoir in which they could cultivate algae which could eventually make biofuel.
According to one of the students involved in the project, its something that individuals could use at home and then sell on the algae to an energy firm to extract the oil.
The team made a prototype algae-growing tank using side panels of an Apple G4 CPU tower, with PVC pipes and acrylic panels. They then used an Apple iMac CRT to emit the light and heat the algae needs to grow. Then a modified Dell Latitude CPX laptop was programmed to monitor and control the iMac CRT so that it would turn on a specific light spectrum at different intervals of time and adjust the temperature within the tank.
“The whole point of our project was two different concepts, to use electronic waste and to solve a green issue in the world,” Mark Schnitzer, one of the students involved in the project told Discovery News.
Rather remarkably the team calculated that if just 6.5 per cent of Americans had one of these tanks in their homes, it could generate enough of algae to enable algae supplemented biodiesel to replace the country’s petroleum demands.
The project won second place at the university’s International Electronic Waste Competition.
See the full story on Discovery News.
