What if our walls served more than just to protect us from the outside, to keep us safe from cold, heat, rain and prying eyes? What if we could get more out of windows than good views? The Mexican startup Greenfluidics is convinced that it is possible and has designed panels that, it says, are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide and generating biomass, energy and oxygen. Its main “ingredient”: microalgae.
What they propose is to use panels, small tanks full of carbon nanoparticles and microalgae that give it a bright greenish color. The devices capture CO2 and make it pass through water with strains of selected species that are responsible for absorbing it.
In theory, it requires New Atlasfor every 0.45 kilos of algae, approximately 0.9kg CO2. It is not its only function. Thanks to sunlight, they also carry out photosynthesis, which allows them to generate oxygen and gain volume, gradually accumulating biomass that is then filtered as pulp, removed and reconverted into biofuel that is reused for the building.
His proposal is presented as a solution to improve the efficiency of our homes, one of his great pending tasks. A 2015 report from the Ministry of Industry estimated that eight out of ten buildings in Spain were wasting energy: 84% of properties had obtained an E, F or G rating after completing energy efficiency certificates.
With an eye on the aerospace industry
Being arranged as a kind of greenish “skin” on the facades, the panels also capture heat that the system is responsible for reusing. According to the CEO of the company, Miguel Mayorga, their designs incorporate carbon nanoparticles that are added to the water to improve its thermal conductivity. With a thermoelectric generator, heat is transformed into electricity.
“Thermal conductivity increases when the particles are added to the water. The solar heat concentrated in the panel is thermoelectrically transformed into an electrical current. This basically translates into useful electricity”, Mayorga explained in 2020 to Mexico Business News.
Another advantage of the panels is that they generate a shadow that helps keep rooms cool, which can reduce the use of air conditioning in summer. The company calculates that the “thermal comfort” provided by the device can help us save up to 90 KWh/m2 per year. On its website, Greenfluidics also ensures that each panel generates up to 328 KWh/m2 per year.
The idea of absorbing carbon dioxide and generating energy at the same time is now a reality.
Learn more at https://t.co/YF5pQ72LRJ, about the Biopanel we have created. #WeSaveTheWorld#FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike pic.twitter.com/jISQqMPXkp
— GREENfluidics (@greenfluidics) February 7, 2020
The company has its sights set on the energy sector and even the aerospace industry and aspires to its expansion beyond Mexico. “As the private sector reaches into space, stations need to efficiently produce energy, oxygen and biomass. Our solution is a good way to achieve it. It could also be implemented in a building as a window”, he comments.
Beyond spatial modules, design can also help improve the efficiency of our own homes. Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that energy-related emissions from buildings have grown in recent years and are still far from achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century.
“The buildings and construction sectors combined are responsible for nearly a third of total global final energy consumption and about 15% of emissions direct carbon dioxide. Building and construction energy demand continues to rise, driven by better access in developing countries, growing demand for air conditioning in tropical countries, increased use of energy-consuming appliances, and rapid growth in total floor area. buildings”, warn the experts of the international organization.
Greendfluidics is not the first proposal to take advantage of tanks with microalgae in architecture. Almost a decade ago Splitterwerk Architects and Arup actually designed BIQ, a pilot building with which they intended to demonstrate precisely the benefits of their ideas.
There are those who also view some details of the Mexican approach with skepticism. New Atlas points for example the challenges that he will have to face in order for his proposal to be viable and the big questions posed by the model: What will be the useful life of the panels? What maintenance will they require and how complex will it be? How will the microalgae system adapt depending on the climate?
Even on a practical level, will it be attractive to have green window panes? How much will it cost to install and run? Will they be more attractive than solar panels, now that perovskites make it even easier to be semi-transparent? Another of its great challenges will be to demonstrate the efficiency data it shares on its website in daily and widespread use.
Cover image | Greenfluidics
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism