Final Draft - Reader response

In the article “This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans for a Car-Free, Algae-Powered City”, Peters (2016). Peters states that Liberland will be built on a basis of being able to minimize pollution through a genetically engineered version of algae and other forms of renewable energy to power the city. In addition, Peters mention that Ani, the designer, propose that the city will be a car-free zone with main transportation only through the bike, train, and pedestrian path. Peters indicates that the city will be developed in multiple layers of compact buildings to utilize the land space. The city buildings will be designed to counter the effects of heat wave by integrating green walls and roofs to reduce the temperature. Peters also mentions that Vit Jedlicka, the president, keeping the city as green as possible. The president says "The first-place design ensures we can minimize pollution while using renewable energy to keep the land intact." Therefore, I agree with the article that Ani’s design is feasible to build an algae-powered city.

I believe that genetically engineered algae can be utilized to power up the city as a form of renewable energy.

Firstly, Peters (2016) mentions that the design team will pile the city up in numerous levels of platforms and overlay the underneath of each platform with genetically engineered algae. The design concept of overlaying algae on all layers of the city can supply a sustainable amount of algae that can constantly power up the city. Peters (2016) explains that the genetically engineered algae are able to grow without the need of sunlight. Therefore, the article is convincing that the city's designs concept is able to harvest a large amount of algae to power up the city.

Secondly, Ani’s design concept of the Algae-powered building is similar to a green building in Hamburg named BIQ (“BIQ”, n.d.). As such, the concept closely relates to Ani’s design concept of utilizing algae to power up the city. An article on (“Microalgae prove ideal for green facades”, 2013) states that the company, ARUP, has built the world’s first ever bio-adaptive facade building that generates biomass from algae which can be collected and utilize as a form of renewable green energy to power up the building. The existence of this building in Hamburg proves that it is possible to utilize algae as a form of energy source on a smaller scale which indicates that even though Ani’s concept is much larger, it is practical that algae can power up the city.

Lastly, Peters (2016) mentions that Liberland is an Algae-Powered city. As such, it is important that the amount of algae must be able to constantly provide sufficient quantities of biomass in order to power up the entire city. According to (“Algae Curtain” n.d.), it explains that algae are one of the biological matter that grows rapidly on earth, it is capable of increasing twice of their amount every six hours. The article also mentions that the biomass from algae contains over 50 percent of oil which can be processed to obtain feasible biofuels, that yields renewable electricity to power urban facilities (“Algae Curtain” n.d.). Therefore, it is evident the production rate of algae in Liberland is adequate to power up the entire city.

In conclusion, I strongly feel that algae are a viable source of renewable energy that can power up Liberland. In addition, I believe that Liberland serves as an excellent role model for the world whereby algae are a form of renewable energy.

(580 words)

Online references

Peters, A. (2016, June 14). This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans For A Car-Free, Algae-Powered City. Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3060800/this-self-proclaimed-micronation-has-plans-for-a-car-free-algae-powered-city/3

BIQ. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://www.iba-hamburg.de/en/themes-projects/the-building-exhibition-within-the-building-exhibition/smart-material-houses/biq/projekt/biq.html

Microalgae prove ideal for green facades. (2013, April 25). Retrieved October 13, 2016, from 

http//www.arup.com/news/2012_09_september/14_sep_micro_algae_prove_ideal_for_making_green_facade

Algae Curtain. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://loop.ph/portfolio/algae-curtain/

Third Draft - Reader Response

In the article “This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans for a Car-Free, Algae-Powered City”, Peters (2016) shared that Liberland will be built on a basis of being able to minimize pollution while using a genetically engineered version of algae and other forms of renewable energy to power the city. In addition, the designer proposed that the city will be a car-free zone with main transportation only through the usage of bike, train, and pedestrian path. The city will be developed in multiple layers of compact buildings to utilise the land space. The city buildings will be designed to counter the effects of heat wave by integrating green walls and roofs to reduce the temperature. The Economists were also part of the design team that proposed the three economic hubs in the area of sustainability, media, and technology to facilitates the economic growth of the city. All these designs are in accordance with the main vision of Vit Jedlicka, the president, to keep Liberland as green as possible through renewable energy.

I believe that Ani’s design concept of genetically engineered Algae could be utilised to power up the city using renewable energy.

Firstly, Ani’s design concept of the Algae-powered building is very similar to a green building in Hamburg. According to Whitlock (2013), an article on “IBA Hamburg opens the first algae biomass building”, he stated that Germany company, International Building Exhibition (IBE) Hamburg has built the world’s first ever algae powered building that runs on biomass. This building was named as Algae Building and was launched for residential purposes with 15 units available. Whitlock also stated that the microalgae are well maintained in the glass container filled with water that is able to generate the required biomass and heat required for producing energy sources to supply the building.

Secondly, according to sources from Hay (2014), an article named “Hamburg Now Has An Algae-Powered building”, he stated that the Algae absorb in CO2 gases which allowed them to produce gases which can be further cultivated in a process that creates renewable green energy sources. In addition, he also states that algae could be collected and made into biofuel, which can be processed in a generator to produce electricity power. He further elaborated that the Algae powered building was able to reduce pollution and provide an alternative source of renewable energy in areas such as heat and electricity. 

Lastly, due to the fact that fossil fuels will eventually run out in future, it is essential for the world to find alternative sources of energy. According to sources from the Invigorate website, it states that algae were able to generate electricity itself. The process of it dividing the water into hydrogen and oxygen allows the hydrogen to be obtained. By using the ‘hydrogen fuel cells’ to generate electricity, it does not produce unnecessary greenhouse gases that harm the environment. In addition, algae give out hydrocarbons which are molecules that can be found in fossil fuels. This allows the usage of algae as a source of biofuel to supply power. The benefits of algae were the abilities to grow quickly and to get replenish easily whenever required. 

In conclusion, the examples provided above about algae were evident in showing the effectiveness of producing an alternative source of renewable energy. With the rise of technology, it is possible that we can continue to harvest energy sources from algae and explore other forms of renewable energy that can eventually power the world in future.

References

Whitlock, R. (2013, May 14). Biomass - IBA Hamburg opens the first algae biomass building - Renewable Energy Magazine, at the heart of clean energy journalism. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/article/iba-hamburg-opens-the-first-algae-biomass-20130514

Hay, M. (2014, September 23). Hamburg Now Has an Algae-Powered Building. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from https://www.good.is/articles/algae-powered-building

Why is this important? (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2016, from http://invigorate.royalsociety.org/ks4/meet-the-algae-diversity,-biology-and-energy/why-is-this-important.aspx