A prime focus of the Yarra Link Project is the development of technologies suited to conservation, we like to consider it as high tech combined with biological efficiency, Eco-tech.

In many cases, nature has already done the work for us, yet we often underestimate the sophistication of ecological solutions.

trees_on_bank

Eco-tech can be leveraged to a number of aims

  • land improvement – particularly soil quality and biodiversity
  • carbon negative end points
  • self-propagating and renewing systems
  • energy conversion into useful forms

For example, let’s compare two technologies to capture CO2 with solar energy:

  1. solar formic acid generator
  2. trees as carbon collectors

The engineered solution involves manufacturing, transporting and maintaining a CO2 sequestration infrastructure.  These processes all have their own, generally carbon emitting, costs.

If we consider the properties of an ideal carbon dioxide gathering technology, trees (a naturally engineered solution) have distinct advantages:

  • convert water and CO2 into complex carbohydrates, useful proteins and even medicines.
  • self propagating system without need to transport to site
  • can be “installed” in a variety of environments.
  • existing harvesting infrastructure
  • produce high quality building material (wood)

The theme of utilising, adapting and improving the functioning of such systems is a driving principle of how we do Eco-tech. We hope to apply this technology on site for management of energy, water, fuel and more complex endpoints including biodiversity, complex self-sustaining systems and human enjoyment (you might know such systems as… gardens).

Further reading: