Spa­tial modu­les as bioreactors

We pre­sent the Eco-Pad pro­ject as an inspi­rati­o­nal pro­ject bey­ond the possi­bi­li­ties of modu­lar con­structi­on that uti­li­ses the modu­les for the growth of algae direct­ly abo­ve the heads of Bos­ton resi­dents. The Eco-Pod pro­ject was designed by the Höweler + Yoon Archi­tectu­re Group that is spe­ci­a­li­sed in the inte­grati­on of archi­tectu­re and new tech­no­lo­gies in pub­lic spa­ces. This bio­re­ac­tor is inten­ded to ser­ve as a sour­ce of bio­fu­els and as micro-incu­ba­tors for fle­xi­ble research and deve­lo­p­ment pro­gra­m­mes. Micro­al­gae are one of the most pro­mi­sing pro­ducts for bio­fu­els as they pro­vi­de more than thir­ty times more ener­gy per acre than any other crop. Unli­ke other crops, algae can grow in a ver­ti­cal posi­ti­on and do not need ara­ble land for the­ir growth. In addi­ti­on, algae are bio­de­gra­da­ble and experts claim that they can be the only via­ble method for pro­du­cing a suf­fi­ci­ent amount of fuels and for repla­cing the current sour­ces of die­sel oil. The pro­po­sed modu­lar bio-reac­tors for the growth of algae also con­tri­bu­te to redu­cing car­bon dio­xi­de emis­si­ons sin­ce it repla­ces CO2 with oxy­gen during pho­to­syn­thesis. You can learn more about this unique pro­ject here.