Jared Bouck’s algae bioreactor project

Energy & Sustainability
Jared Bouck’s algae bioreactor project
bioReactor.JPG

We’ve posted about Jared Bouck’s algae bioreactors in the past, but he’s redone the project and made improvements. Here he explains his long-term goal for the project:

Our goal is to place algae bio reactors in many homes in a neighborhood, to both raise awareness of the potential of algae and start a harvesting and growing program that is grass roots, with the goal of producing bio fuel from a small sustainable footprint.

Algae Farms for every home


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20 thoughts on “Jared Bouck’s algae bioreactor project

  1. vital says:

    I hope that Jared Bouck still develops his bioreactor project, I find it is a fantastic idea. In the long term it could wake not only the consciousness of the potential of algae in the neighborhood, but in the completely USA. And unexpected possibilities of the development, up to a solution of food problems are there still in many countries.

  2. vrandy.myopenid.com says:

    There have been a couple of projects about algae reactors on Make in the past, and I have to ask a stupid question :

    What do algae reactor enthusiasts do with their algae once they grow it? Anything? I know it could one day be used for fuel, but can the enthusiasts do that now? Or is the joy in the pleasure of successfully growing the stuff, like a high-tech microscopic gardener?

  3. craig says:

    I’ve been in the pool/spa industry for a decade. Many backyards already DO have an alge reactor going on. YUCKISH!

  4. cfosp1 says:

    Is it growing algae for food, generating energy, generating oxygen or simply looking cool? The project looks easy to realize and the instructions are very clear but there should be a sentence on the useful purpose of the resulting reactor. Thanks!

  5. John B says:

    I agree with cfosp1 and vrandy…what exactly do you do with it? I understand it’s cool looking and might be integrated into a backyard garden or something..but can it generate energy? what is it used for?

  6. Gareth Branwyn says:

    I emailed Jared and asked him to drop by and explain the project more fully. As I understand it, it can be used to do a number of things: fix atmospheric CO2, create a biomass that could potentially be used in biofuels (that grows much faster than agricultural biomass), and you can grow edible algae (tho I don’t know if this rig can do that). But I think it’s mainly a proof of concept for something what could be a serious source of biomass if done on a large scale. But we’ll see what Jared has to say.

  7. Anonymous says:

    To produce the algae, two main systems are:
    1. Open bond system
    2. algae bioreactors

    But photobioreactor algae is best than open band system because by this  way we can produce more algae.

  8. Anonymous says:

    nice

  9. Ian says:

    That’s where a lot of things like this start, at the grass roots level. Remember in every revolution there’s a man with a vision

  10. AlGen says:

    Love it! Go for it – algae biotechnology needs visibility!

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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