How algae can harvest precious metals and biofuel from mining’s toxic sludge

[malaise]

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/27/algae-biofuel-wheal-jane-mine-cornwall
<snip>
A groundbreaking research project to clean up a flooded Cornish tin mine is using algae to harvest the precious heavy metals in its toxic water, while simultaneously producing biofuel.

If the project, which is at a very early stage, is proven to work, it could have huge environmental benefits around the world.

The GW4 Alliance, which brings together the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, in collaboration with Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), the Coal Authority and waste management group Veolia, is taking untreated mine water samples from the Wheal Jane tin mine in Cornwall and growing algae in them in a laboratory.

The alliance is exploring whether the algae is effective in removing harmful materials, such as arsenic and cadmium, from the mine water. Researchers hope to convert the algae into a solid from which heavy metals can be extracted and recycled for use in the electronics industry. The remaining solid waste will then be used to make biofuels.

“It’s a win-win solution to a significant environmental problem,” said Dr Chris Chuck from the University of Bath’s Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies. “We’re putting contaminated water in and taking out valuable metals, clean water and producing fuel.”
-----------------------
Ths would be great - hope they succeed

[bemildred]

1. Yep, I think microbes are our best shot.

An exponential solution for environmental problems is the only way one can clean things up in a "short" time. With a little practice we might even be able to "manage" climate that way.

I was reading a piece a few months back that says they can't find about 90% of the plastic that "ought" to be in the oceans, and I have a suspicion that something or other has figured out how to eat it.