While some companies are looking to innovative solutions to purify the air, others are transforming the villain CO2 into sustainable products.
This may be difficult to imagine, yet it’s the idea of ecoLogicStudio, a London-basedarchitecture and design innovation firm that specializes in biotechnology for the built environment. As part of a collaboration with nasal healthcare brand Otrivin to create an open laboratory (the Otrivin Air Lab) that showcases biodegradable polymers to the public made using a circular air-purification process.
The truth is, despite their efficiency, air purifiers might not be an ideal solution in the long run, given their carbon footprint. To address this issue, the team at the Otrivin Air Lab turns microalgae into algae-based bioplastic, bio-filament for 3D printing and finally into new biodegradable products.
The lab itself is made of a timber structure that houses 12 photobioreactors, each of which measuring one metre tall and filled with 10 litres of microalgae. In total, the photobioreactors are said to be able to adsorb 240g of CO2, release 180g of oxygen, and produce 84g of biomass daily.
“With the Otrivin Air Lab, we want to enable urban dwellers to design new nature-based circular economies,” Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, co-founders of ecoLogicStudio state. “At the lab we harvest carbon dioxide, purify polluted urban air and 3d print plastic-free biodegradable products. Essentially, we convert air pollution into products that help protect our breathing!”
The team is also working on a catalogue of material samples with diverse properties extracted from the daily harvest of microalgae.
“ecoLogicStudio & Otrivin are partners in the belief that no action is too small when it comes to mitigating the impact of poor air quality on our breathing health, and that experimentation is a key part of the journey towards uncovering innovative ideas that can inspire thought and be a template for a sustainable manufacturing future,” reads a press release.
The Otrivin Air Lab is being presented at the Building Centre in London from June 15 to September 17, 2022.
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