| Manchester - iGEM 2022


BloomAid

Bringing the potential of microalgae to life with synthetic biology

BloomAid is a genetically modified, smart bacteria that lives symbiotically with microalgae. It trades Oxygen for Carbon Dioxide with the microalgae.

This means that they can grow together in closed-loop systems found in biofuel production plants

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It can respond to the needs of microalgae by changing its genetic structure, using optogenetics

BloomAid can detect changes of light colour, and can act accordingly to suit the needs of the microalgae

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It can help to boost microalgae growth

By secreting auxin, a natural chemical signal that tells the microalgae to grow more

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It can then help the microalgae to make lipids, by depleting available phosphate in the medium

By depleting phosphate within the wastewater medium, the bacteria can promote a stress response in the microalgae, causing it to accumulate lipids.

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These lipids can then be harvested for biofuel production

Through harvesting and processing, these biolipids become an enery-rich fuel to use in place of diesel

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We hope that our solution will make microalgae cheaper to cultivate, and reduce the cost of biofuel production

The world is heading towards an energy crisis

We are using more energy today than ever before

+77%

Projected global energy demand from 2000 to 2040

+6.3%

Coal consumption in 2021 from 2020

Our means of generating energy are polluting the atmosphere

They produce CO2, which stays in the atmosphere and heats up the planet

We need to switch to renewable, green sources of energy

However, when comparing the price of petrol compared to renewable energy sources, it is not always economically favourable...

£0.05 per kWh
£0.13 per kWh
£0.09 per kWh
£0.10 per kWh

Making it difficult to get people to switch to them.

Likewise, we are using more water than ever before

+600%

Rise in global clean water demand in the last 100 years

Water that we use becomes wastewater

This must be treated before it is reused

This process is expensive

£2.1 billion

Invested in England and Wales from 2013-2014 for water treatment

As it requires a lot of energy to conduct

This means that there are many worldwide without access to clean water

As our population size increases, we need to find better ways of getting clean water

Microalgae can help us to solve both of these problems

It can be grown on wastewater

helping to treat it into clean water while reducing cultivation costs

It can be used to produce Biofuels 

From the lipids that it generates when growing

However, it requires specific conditions to produce lots of lipids

+87%

Increase in conventional biofuel feedstock costs between 2005 and 2012

This means expensive machinery and facilities

$55,057,000

Operating cost of a sugarcane to ethanol biofuel facility in 2010

which can increase costs dramatically

This means that it is not economically viable

+60%

The production cost of biodiesel compared to petrol in 2017

Meaning it will not replace fossil fuels

For algae to help us solve our energy and water crises, it needs to get a lot cheaper.

That's the role of BloomAid

Reference list

Theworldcounts.com. 2022. The World Counts. [online] Available at: https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/climate-change/energy/global-energy-consumption [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Rapier, R., 2022. Global Coal Consumption Surged In 2021. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2022/08/09/global-coal-consumption-surged-in-2021/ [Accessed 3 October 2022].

GlobalPetrolPrices.com. 2022. United Kingdom energy prices | GlobalPetrolPrices.com. [online] Available at: https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/United-Kingdom/ [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Irena.org. 2022. Bioenergy for Power Costs. [online] Available at: https://www.irena.org/costs/Power-Generation-Costs/Bioenergy-for-Power [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Irena.org. 2022. Wind Power. [online] Available at: https://www.irena.org/costs/Power-Generation-Costs/Wind-Power#:~:text=The%20global%20weighted%2Daverage%20cost,%2FkWh%2C %20without%20financial%20support. [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Charles, E., 2022. Are Solar Panels Worth It in 2022? Yes, Solar Power Costs 10p/kWh!. [online] Blog.spiritenergy.co.uk. Available at: https://blog.spiritenergy.co.uk/homeowner/are-solar-panels-worth-it#:~:text=Are%20Solar%20Panels%20Worth%20It,Solar%20Power%20Costs%2010p%2FkWh! [Accessed 3 October 2022].

IEA. 2022. Boretti, A. and Rosa, L., 2019. Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report. npj Clean Water, 2(1).

GOV.UK. 2022. Water and treated water. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-and-treated-water/water-and-treated-water [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Irena.org. 2022. Biodiesel. [online] Available at: [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Apec.org. 2010. Biofuel Costs, Technologies and Economics in APEC Economies. [online] Available at: https://www.apec.org/docs/default-source/Publications/2010/12/Biofuel-Costs-Technologies-and-Economics-in-APEC-Economies/210_ewg_Biofuel-Production-Cost.pdf [Accessed 3 October 2022].

IEA. 2017. Biofuel and fossil-based transport fuel production cost comparison, 2017 – Charts – Data & Statistics - IEA. [online] Available at: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/biofuel-and-fossil-based-transport-fuel-production-cost-comparison-2017 [Accessed 3 October 2022].