• MonkderZweite@feddit.ch
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    1 year ago

    Wouldn’t it be more efficient to use algae for that and stuff the slime directly in the borehole?

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Possible not, you need to maintain the growth conditions for the algae, that has some meaningful energy cost.

        • Aleric@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I actually helped research this as an undergrad. The problem we’d always face is there are certain microorganisms, like rotifers, that can just decimate a tank of algae. Many rotifer species are parthenogenic, so it literally only takes one rotifer to knock out an entire algae tank.

          • oatscoop@midwest.social
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            1 year ago

            What if we genetically modified the algae to be impossible to kill and survive in extreme conditions. Like the algae equivalent of kudzu.

            • runefehay@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              Now coming to everyone soon: algae world! All algae all the time! Covered in slime? That’s worth a dime! There is no escaping it, not even a bit.

              • oatscoop@midwest.social
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                1 year ago

                It’ll be fine.

                If it gets out of hand we’ll just engineer an equally hardy and aggressive rotifer to kill all the algae.