AI-solutions company creates bioreactors to optimise algae growth and carbon sequestration

The bioreactors are 400 per cent more effective at absorbing CO2 than trees and are designed to be hooked up to large polluters

Spotted: Hypergiant, a machine learning solutions company, has created a bio-reactor which uses AI to optimise algae growth and carbon sequestration.

Like trees, algae uses carbon dioxide to carry out photosynthesis, absorbing CO2 as it grows. Hypergiant’s bioreactor draws on machine intelligence to create the optimal conditions for the algae to grow. Through continuous monitoring, the system adjusts the light, temperature, pH levels and bio-density. It also controls CO inputs to desired harvest cycles. With this method, the system is 400 per cent more effective at absorbing CO2 than trees.

The bioreactor then creates algae outputs — ‘carbon hockey pucks’. The beauty of algae is its versatility, producing everything from biofuels and bioplastics, to food and beauty products. The bioreactors are also designed to be hooked up to large polluters, such as industrial buildings, skyscrapers and apartment buildings, which are some of the biggest contributors to global warming. This means that C02 emissions and existing pollution could be turned into ecologically useful products such as shoes and C02-based meat.

Hypergiant aims to commercialise the bio-reactor, and plans to release the design to the public with the hope that the power of collaboration will fuel further innovation and entrepreneurship. 

“A problem as big as climate change needs a concerted and global effort on multiple fronts. We decided to open-source the algae bioreactor technology as a means of accelerating its innovation and scale” said Ben Lamm, Hypergiant Industries CEO.

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