Damian Palin: Mining minerals from seawater

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Theodore Konjevic Lektor: Ivana Korom

I collaborate with bacteria.

Ja sarađujem sa bakterijama.

And I'm about to show you

Sada ću vam pokazati

some stop-motion footage that I made recently

jednu stop-motion animaciju koju sam nedavno napravio

where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals

gde ćete videti kako bakterije prikupljaju minerale

from their environment

iz svoje okoline

over the period of an hour.

kroz period od jednog časa.

So what you're seeing here

Ono što vidite ovde su

is the bacteria metabolizing,

bakterije kako vrše metabolizam

and as they do so

i dok to rade

they create an electrical charge.

stvaraju elektronski naboj.

And this attracts metals

I ovo privlači metale

from their local environment.

iz njihove okoline.

And these metals accumulate as minerals

Ovi metali se akumuliraju kao minerali

on the surface of the bacteria.

na površini ovih bakterija.

One of the most pervasive problems

Jedan od najrasprostranjenijih problema

in the world today for people

za ljude, danas u svetu

is inadequate access

je neodgovarajući pristup

to clean drinking water.

čistoj, pitkoj vodi.

And the desalination process

I proces desalinizacije

is one where we take out salts.

je onaj u kome vadimo soli.

We can use it for drinking and agriculture.

Možemo ga koristiti za piće i za poljoprivredu.

Removing the salts from water --

Vađenje soli iz vode --

particularly seawater --

posebno morske vode --

through reverse osmosis

kroz proces obrnute osmoze

is a critical technique

je važna tehnika

for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water

za zemlje koje nemaju pristup čistoj vodi za piće

around the globe.

širom sveta.

So seawater reverse osmosis

Znači, obrnuta osmoza morske vode

is a membrane-filtration technology.

je tehnologija filtriranja kroz membrane.

We take the water from the sea

Uzimamo vodu iz mora

and we apply pressure.

i vršimo pritisak.

And this pressure forces the seawater

I ovaj pritisak tera vodu

through a membrane.

kroz membranu.

This takes energy,

Ovome treba energija,

producing clean water.

da bi se proizvela čista voda.

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

Ali nam takođe ostaju rastvori zasićeni solima ili rasol.

But the process is very expensive

Ali proces je veoma skup

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

i zemlje širom planete ne mogu da ga priušte.

And also, the brine that's produced

Takođe, taj rasol koji se proizvede

is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea.

se često samo pumpa cevima, nazad u more.

And this is detrimental to the local ecology

I ovo je štetno za lokalnu ekologiju

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

morske okoline u koju se pušta taj rasol.

So I work in Singapore at the moment,

Ja radim u Singapuru trenutno,

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

i ovo je mesto koje je stvarno vodeće

for desalination technology.

u polju desalinizacionih tehnologija.

And Singapore proposes by 2060

Singapur predlaže da do 2060.

to produce [900] million liters per day

proizvede 900 miliona litara na dan

of desalinated water.

desalinizovane vode.

But this will produce an equally massive amount

Ali ovaj proces će proizvesti jednako mnogo

of desalination brine.

desalinizacionog rasola.

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

I ovde stupa na scenu moja saradnja sa bakterijama.

So what we're doing at the moment

Trenutno radimo

is we're accumulating metals

na vađenju metala,

like calcium, potassium and magnesium

kao što su kalcijum, kalijum i magnezijum

from out of desalination brine.

iz desalinizacionog rasola.

And this, in terms of magnesium

I ovo, u slučaju magnezijuma

and the amount of water that I just mentioned,

i količine vode koju sam sad spomenuo,

equates to a $4.5 billion

iznosi oko 4.5 milijardi dolara

mining industry for Singapore --

industrije rudarstva za Singapur --

a place that doesn't have any natural resources.

mesto koje nema prirodne resurse.

So I'd like you to image a mining industry

Želim da zamislite industriju rudarstva

in a way that one hasn't existed before;

na način koji nije postojao pre;

imagine a mining industry

zamislite industriju rudarstva

that doesn't mean defiling the Earth;

koje ne znači skrnavljenje Zemlje;

imagine bacteria helping us do this

zamislite kako nam bakterija pomaže da ovo postignemo

by accumulating and precipitating

tako što akumulira i ubrzava

and sedimenting minerals

taloženje minerala

out of desalination brine.

od desalinizacionog rasola.

And what you can see here

I ono što ovde možete da primetite

is the beginning of an industry in a test tube,

je početak industrije u jednoj epruveti,

a mining industry that is in harmony with nature.

industrije rudarstva koja je u harmoniji sa prirodom.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)