Green Art: Designers Create PhotoBioReactor Sculpture

The PhotoBioReactor Sculpture is the latest work of BIOS Design Collective, a group of both professional and academic designers, and is created to act as a piece of art, a renewable fuel source, and a bio-remediation plant. Designed by Charles Lee, the sculpture is described as artistic and functional meshing well with the landscape in which it is installed to "evoke thought and stimulate the imagination".

A photobioreactor is a system that is either a closed or semi-closed system that has both light and nutrients supplied to it in an effort to maximize algal biomass. The nutrients are provided through pollutants thus allowing the sculpture to facilitate bio-remediation, which allows an environment that has been contaminated to return to its original state. And yes, a photobioreactor can also utilize carbon dioxide to aid in the reduction of greenhouse gases.

According to the designers, the bioreactor towers are attached to a machine that is designed to harvest and extract the algae biomass. As a result, the algae can be used to produce biodiesel, which could be used to run machinery or vehicles that maintain the park in which the sculpture is located.

It is not difficult to see that these photobioreactor sculptures could deliver an artistic and eye catching feature to a park. They are made using an aluminum carriage that has a continuous spiraling tube cascading from the peak to the bottom of the sculpture. Other greentech could add many artistic touches, such as solar-powered lights.