Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevoditelj: SIBELA KESAC Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

I collaborate with bacteria.

Ja surađujem s bakterijama.

And I'm about to show you

Pokazati ću vam neke od snimaka

some stop-motion footage that I made recently

dobivenih spajanjem fotografija

where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals

na kojima možete vidjeti kako bakterije nakupljaju minerale

from their environment

iz svoje okoline

over the period of an hour.

kroz period od sat vremena.

So what you're seeing here

Dakle, ono što ovdje vidite

is the bacteria metabolizing,

su bakterije koje metaboliziraju

and as they do so

i u tom procesu

they create an electrical charge.

stvaraju električni naboj.

And this attracts metals

A to privlači metale

from their local environment.

iz njihove okoline.

And these metals accumulate as minerals

Ti se metali akumuliraju kao minerali

on the surface of the bacteria.

na površini bakterija.

One of the most pervasive problems

Jedan od najraširenijih problema današnjice

in the world today for people

za ljude u cijelom svijetu

is inadequate access

jest nedovoljan pristup

to clean drinking water.

čistoj pitkoj vodi.

And the desalination process

Procesom desalinizacije

is one where we take out salts.

iz vode vadimo soli.

We can use it for drinking and agriculture.

Tu vodu koristimo za piće i za navodnjavanje.

Removing the salts from water --

Izdvajanje soli iz vode --

particularly seawater --

pogotovo morske --

through reverse osmosis

reverzibilnom osmozom

is a critical technique

je presudna tehnologija

for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water

za sve zemlje svijeta koje nemaju dovoljno

around the globe.

čiste pitke vode.

So seawater reverse osmosis

Dakle, reverzibilna osmoza morske vode

is a membrane-filtration technology.

jest proces membranske filtracije.

We take the water from the sea

Uzimamo morsku vodu

and we apply pressure.

i izlažemo ju visokom pritisku.

And this pressure forces the seawater

Zbog tog pritiska

through a membrane.

morska voda prolazi kroz membranu.

This takes energy,

Proizvodnja čiste vode

producing clean water.

zahtjeva mnogo energije.

But we're also left with a concentrated salt solution, or brine.

A kao nusprodukt imamo koncentriranu otopinu soli, ili rasol.

But the process is very expensive

Ovaj postupak je veoma skup

and it's cost-prohibitive for many countries around the globe.

i za mnoge zemlje svijeta zbog toga nedostupan.

And also, the brine that's produced

Isto tako, dobiveni rasol

is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea.

se veoma često jednostavno vraća natrag u more.

And this is detrimental to the local ecology

To je veoma štetno za morski okoliš

of the sea area that it's pumped back out into.

u kojeg se rasol baca.

So I work in Singapore at the moment,

Trenutno radim u Singapuru.

and this is a place that's really a leading place

Singapur je vodeće mjesto

for desalination technology.

kada govorimo o tehnologiji desalinizacije.

And Singapore proposes by 2060

Namjera im je do 2060. godine

to produce [900] million liters per day

proizvoditi 900 milijuna litara

of desalinated water.

desalinizirane vode na dan.

But this will produce an equally massive amount

No, to će stvoriti jednako ogromne

of desalination brine.

količine rasola.

And this is where my collaboration with bacteria comes into play.

I ovdje ulazi u igru moja suradnja s bakterijama.

So what we're doing at the moment

Dakle, ono što u ovom trenutku činimo

is we're accumulating metals

jest to da akumuliramo metale

like calcium, potassium and magnesium

kao što su kalcij, kalij i magnezij

from out of desalination brine.

iz rasola ostalog nakon desalinizacije.

And this, in terms of magnesium

U primjeru magnezija

and the amount of water that I just mentioned,

i sa količinom vode koju sam sada spomenuo

equates to a $4.5 billion

to iznosi i do 4,5 milijardi američkih dolara.

mining industry for Singapore --

Rudarstvo u Singapuru --

a place that doesn't have any natural resources.

mjestu koje nema nikakvih prirodnih resursa.

So I'd like you to image a mining industry

Pokušajte zamisliti rudarstvo

in a way that one hasn't existed before;

kakvo do sada nikada nije postojalo:

imagine a mining industry

zamislite rudarstvo

that doesn't mean defiling the Earth;

koje ne oskrvnjuje Zemlju;

imagine bacteria helping us do this

zamislite kako nam u tome pomažu bakterije

by accumulating and precipitating

kroz akumulaciju

and sedimenting minerals

i ubrzanu sedimentaciju minerala

out of desalination brine.

iz desalinizacijskog rasola.

And what you can see here

Ovo što gledate

is the beginning of an industry in a test tube,

jest početak industrije u epruveti

a mining industry that is in harmony with nature.

rudarstvo koje je u harmoniji s prirodom.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)