Carbon Farm 碳汇农场

Jiabao Li, Ben J Evanson, 2024

Contribute the CO2 from your breath and speech to our Carbon Farm. We transform it into nourishment for thriving algae cultures. These algae are then processed into bioplastics, a bioplastic uniquely made from your breath. 

Speak or breathe into our specialized CO2 collector. For those who wish to articulate their thoughts, we provide a range of prompts: excerpts from the Paris Climate Accord, highlighting our critical mission to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C within the next seven years; examples of corporate greenwashing with their catchy yet hollow phrases; or a space for personal confession on your carbon footprint. In real-time, you will see how much CO2 your breath or speech is emitting and how much algae can grow out of it. Our advanced direct air carbon capture and sequestration (DACCS) system will then take your CO2 through heating, spinning, bathing in chemicals, and finally turning it into nutrition for the algae. 

To remove CO2, Carbon Farm(er) blows air over a chemical sorbent bed that forms a weak bond with CO2 molecules. This chemical bed is the widest part of the metal hourglass, and is where the CO2 you breathe into the system gets trapped! Like a sponge, this chemical eventually gets saturated, which then prompts our desorption cycle. In this state, the chemical is heated which has the effect of squeezing our chemical sponge, releasing concentrated CO2 which is more readily taken up by our algae. What matters most, though, is what we do with that algae, since algae left to decompose will be digested by microbes, re-releasing the carbon that we just stored.

In that vein, we harvest this algae regularly, converting it into eco-friendly, degradable bioplastics. In recognition of your contribution, you will receive an algae bioplastic badge with your last name. Moreover, our Carbon Farm also nurtures Spirulina, a nutrient-rich algae. This edible variant of your contributions is transformed into delectable culinary creations, served during our unique dining performances. It's a full-circle experience: your words and breath transformed into nourishment, returning to sustain you. 

By contributing their CO2 to the Carbon Farm, participants are invited to reflect on their relationship with non-human living systems, the planet, the atmosphere, and their individual impact on climate change. Beyond its artistic value, the Carbon Farm serves a practical purpose as a household-scale carbon sequestration unit. Similar to the widespread adoption of rain catchers, the Carbon Farm could be implemented in homes to capture atmospheric CO2, converting it into edible algae-based snacks. However, it's important to note that carbon removal, in its current form, is not a comprehensive solution to climate change. Carbon removal is only useful in creating a net-neutral world if there are massive amounts of emissions mitigation from world leaders, companies, and consumers. Though a necessary tool, carbon removal cannot be used as an excuse by nations as a false panacea providing the moral ease of mind for our fossil fuel addiction. For perspective, one would need to capture every breath into the Carbon Farm for an entire year to offset the personal carbon footprint of a one-way cross-country flight in China.

将你的呼吸和说话时排放的二氧化碳贡献给我们的碳农场。我们将其转化为养殖海藻的营养。这些海藻会被加工成可降解生物塑料，一种独一无二的、由你的呼吸制成的材料。

请对着二氧化碳收集器呼气或发表演说。演说内容可以是巴黎气候协定、一些公司的绿色洗脑和吸引人但空洞的口号、或是你对你个人碳足迹的忏悔。你将实时看到你的呼吸或演说排放了多少二氧化碳，以及有多少藻类可以从中生长。我们的碳捕获和封存系统将通过加热、旋转、化学浸泡，最终将您的二氧化碳转化为藻类的营养。

为了移除二氧化碳，”碳汇农场“将空气吹过一个化学吸附床，该床与二氧化碳分子形成弱键。这个化学床是金属沙漏的最宽部分，也是您呼入系统的二氧化碳被困住的地方。像海绵一样，这种化学物质最终会饱和，然后启动我们的解吸循环。在这种状态下，加热化学物质，就像挤压我们的化学海绵一样，释放出浓缩的二氧化碳，藻类更容易吸收。然而，最重要的是我们如何处理这些藻类，因为如果藻类被分解，就会被微生物消化，重新释放我们刚刚储存的碳。

秉承这一理念，我们定期收获这些藻类，将其转化为环保、可降解的生物塑料。为了表彰你的贡献，你将获得一个印有你的姓的藻类生物塑料徽章。此外，我们的碳农场还培育着富含营养的螺旋藻。这种可食用的藻类会被转化为美食，在我们的用餐表演中供应。这是一个完整的循环体验：你的言语和呼吸转化为养分，最终回归滋养你。

通过将他们的二氧化碳贡献给碳农场，我们邀请参与者们反思自己与非人类生命系统、地球、大气以及他们对气候变化的个人影响之间的关系。除了艺术价值外，碳汇农场还作为家用级碳封存单元发挥实际作用。就像普遍采用的雨水收集器一样，碳汇农场可以安装在家庭中，捕获大气中的二氧化碳，将其转化为可食用的藻类零食。然而，重要的是要注意，当前形式的碳移除并不是应对气候变化的全面解决方案。碳移除只有在世界领导者、公司和消费者大量减少排放的情况下，才能创造一个净零排放的世界。尽管碳移除是必要的工具，但不能被国家作为对化石燃料成瘾的道德安慰剂和虚假灵丹妙药来使用。作为参考，一个人需要将自己一整年的每一口气捕获到碳农场中，才能抵消中国一次单程跨国飞行的个人碳足迹。

Credits:

Lead engineer: Ben J Evanson 

Algae bioplastic design: Siyu Fang, Ceren Ozgen

Team: Aly Hirani, Miguel Esteva, Alan Hash, The UT Greenfund, Aidan Aalund, Tommy Brigham, Chas Cole, Brady Goar, Sophia Dai , Alex Gomez, Jacob Matthew, Kaylan Tchamdjou, Vishnu Nair, Julian Wearden, David Huo, Noah Lewis, Wulian Martinez, Vishrudh Sriramprasad, The UT DAC Team, Dr. Daniel Breecker, Dr. Michael Webber, Dr. Hugh Daigle, Dr. Schonna Manning, Dr. David Nobles, Dr. James Burrow.