Biosolar algae covered panels Credit: Imperial College London/Thomas Glover

At Imperial College London’s new campus in West London, some rooftops will soon hold bright green “biosolar” panels covered with algae. The plants suck carbon dioxide out of the air and produce fresh oxygen at a rate 100 times faster than trees covering the same amount of land–and then the microscopic organisms can be harvested to be used in food.

“We call it a ‘BioSolar Leaf,’” says Julian Melchiorri, CEO of Arborea, the company that designed the new technology. “It uses solar energy, but instead of converting solar energy into electricity [like a solar panel], we convert solar energy into food.”

Melchiorri, who graduated from a joint masters program at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art in 2014, is primarily focused on using the technology at a larger scale to produce ingredients. It’s a way to produce more protein in a given area than any other type of food production; the algae are also a source of antioxidants and other nutrients. In pasta, for example, […]