CO.sub.2, and other gases are utilized with mineral feedstock to synthesize products. The synthesized products, as the result of liquid, solid, gas photo-chemical reactions within the advanced bioreactor of the disclosed embodiment, are precipitated raw material for multiple consumer and industrial products. Waste heat, pressure and torque produced from the bioreactor are utilized for generating electricity and/or heat through a combination of energy recovery devices. Energy recovery devices offsets and lower the cost of operating the reactor as the disclosed reactor integrates photolysis via ultra-violet light, as an integral component, of a reactor system, composed also of an active mixer-agitator assembly, pressure and vacuum vessel chamber, heat source, and ports for media ingestion. The disclosed reactor is designed be conducive to transforming gaseous, solid, and liquid feedstock, like carbon dioxide —CO.sub.2, and other feedstocks that are inorganic and/or organic in an aqueous medium, into inorganic and organic products.

A biogas plant includes a fermenter, a biogas processing unit and a thermal engine. The biogas processing unit includes a gas separation unit and a compression unit for the separation of raw biogas from the fermenter into two gas streams, whereby the first gas stream includes a product gas that is enriched in biomethane with respect to the composition of the raw biogas and the second gas stream includes a residual gas that is enriched with carbon dioxide with respect to the composition of the raw biogas and has a biomethane concentration of less than 20%. The thermal engine produces energy that is used for operation of the compression unit.

A biological battery consists of uniformly-polarized biological cells capable of generating an electrochemical gradient compartmentalized into single layers which are separated from each other by sections of membrane capable of converting the energy contained within an electrochemical gradient into electrical current. This arrangement of stacked cell layers is encapsulated by an ultrafiltration membrane permeable to monosaccharides and amino acids but not large proteins. This enables the biological cells contained within to survive and generate the electrochemical gradients needed for power, but prevents an immune response against them by the organism it is implanted in. Biological batteries produce electrical energy capable of powering a circuit from an organism's own bodily chemical energy, thus eliminating the need for external power sources to power an implanted electronic device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe bioreactor systems that integrate phototrophic organism cultivation with energy harvesting, methods of using said bioreactor systems, and the like. The bioreactor systems can comprise a bioreactor, wherein the bioreactor is configured to cultivate a phototrophic organism in a liquid growth medium, and at least one transparent photovoltaic panel positioned between the bioreactor and a light source, where the transparent photovoltaic panel transmits select wavelengths of light and absorbs select wavelengths of light.

The present invention relates to an anaerobic process for biogas upgrading and hydrogen utilization comprising the use of acidic waste as co-substrate. In this process, H.sub.2 and CO.sub.2 will be converted to CH.sub.4, which will result in lower CO.sub.2 content in the biogas. The invention relates to both in situ and ex situ methods of biogas upgrading. The invention further relates to a bioreactor comprising hollow fiber membranes.

Provided is a method of capturing and recycling carbon dioxide from on-island combustion emissions using sustainable solar energized aquaculture of algae, including the steps of: generating electrical power from at least two renewable power producing systems, wherein the renewable power producing systems comprise at least a solar photovoltaic cell and a water turbine; and storing the electrical power in a battery array.

Disclosed is a process and system for generating hydrogen from carbon dioxide. The process and system for generating a hydrogen gas stream from a carbon dioxide gas stream comprises converting a first waste carbon dioxide gas stream to an organic feedstock using an algal source in a photosynthesis step. The organic feedstock is then converted using an organism to the hydrogen gas stream and gaseous by-products in a biodecomposition step. The generated hydrogen gas may then be collected.

A bioreactor including a containment structure containing a liquid culture medium for cultivating seaweed. The containment structure includes a sidewall extending vertically between a top and bottom section where the bottom section has an effluent arranged to allow extraction of cultivated seaweed. A spiral liner is positioned adjacent to an inside surface of the sidewall. The recirculator includes a pump arranged to continuously receive a portion of the liquid culture medium via an inlet from the bottom section and output the liquid culture medium via the outlet at the top section. Sensors monitor environmental conditions within the bioreactor. Light emitters are arranged along a surface of the spiral liner. Flow generators, positioned within the containment structure in a spiral configuration between the top section and bottom section, are configured to direct a flow of the liquid culture medium from the top section toward the bottom section of the containment structure.

Systems and methods for growing vegetation are provided. The disclosed systems (100) and methods (1100, 1200) use rotating growth mats (102) and a cutting device (112). The rotating growth mats and cutting device can be coupled to an anaerobic digester (402) to generated methane gas using vegetation grown on the growth mats. The systems and methods may further use C artificial light sources (108) and a nutrients delivery system (110) to assist growth.

A decentralized based biowaste treatment system for treating biowaste (i.e., organic matter type/based waste such as manure, sawdust and/or food scraps) by manner of anaerobic digestion (e.g., an anaerobic digestion based waste-to-resource system) and a method of biowaste treatment in association with the biowaste treatment system.