April 17, 2013

Turning Algae into Clean Energy and Fish Food; Helping Africans to Irrigate Crops




Two Johns Hopkins Student Teams Will Present ‘Green’ Projects on D.C.’s National Mall

Could algae that feast on wastewater produce clean bio-fuels and a healthful supply of fish food? Can impoverished African community gardeners learn to use and maintain a simple centuries-old, non-electric water pump to grow more vegetables?
Two Johns Hopkins student teams are working hard to move these “green” ideas off the drawing board and into the real world. Both teams will showcase their progress at the 2013 National Sustainable Design Expo, scheduled April 18 and 19, in Washington, D.C. The event, which will be open to the public on the National Mall, is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provided $15,000 initial grants to each of the Johns Hopkins teams and to more than 40 other students groups that will also participate.

During the Expo, student teams will compete for follow-up grants of up to $90,000 to bring their concepts closer to real-world applications. The awards are part of an EPA program called P3: People, Prosperity and Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability.