Nualgi - Diatom Algae - Oxygen by Nualgi-Diatom Algae
Please find below the
Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' ratings
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Judges'' comments
SUBJECT: Your proposal has been selected as a Finalist!
Congratulations! Your proposal in the Energy-Water Nexus contest has been selected to advance to the Finalists round.
Be proud of your accomplishment – more than 350 proposals were submitted and only a very small number have been advanced through these two rounds of judging.
As a Finalist, your proposal is eligible for the contest’s Judges Choice award, as well as the contest’s Popular Choice award, which is determined by public voting.
If you haven’t already, you will soon receive an email from the Climate CoLab staff with details about the voting period. If you don’t receive that email within the next day, or have other questions, please contact the Climate CoLab staff at admin@climatecolab.org
All winners will be announced the week after the voting period ends, on September 12, 2015 at midnight Eastern Time.
Both Judges Choice and Popular Choice will receive a special invitation to attend selected sessions at MIT’s SOLVE conference and present their proposals before key constituents in a workshop the next day, where a $10,000 Grand Prize will be awarded. A few select Climate CoLab winners will join distinguished SOLVE attendees in a highly collaborative problem-solving session. Some contests have additional prizes given by the contest sponsor.
We have attached the final judging comments below.
Thank you for your work on this very important issue. We’re proud of your proposal, and we hope that you are too. Again, congratulations!
2015 Climate CoLab Judges
This proposal builds on a market and action plan already in place. This project is indeed feasible and practical with clear benefits. The discussion regarding this products connection to the energy-water nexus is clearer in this revision and the inclusion of the costs was welcomed. This proposal has a lot of potential, and we appreciate using natural systems.
We would have liked to see a more specific plan with locations and testing facilities clearly drawn out and maybe tied into the timeline. This proposal would have been stronger if the time line had check points or clear goals rather than broad ones. I think a discussion regarding the policy/political implications that come with the use of this product would have made this proposal stronger. Also, a discussion on how this company would work with other industries or companies in the US or abroad to increase the viability/usage of this product would have made this proposal stronger. More consideration could be given regarding existing infrastructure challenges to using algae in current facilities as well as the problems from custom biology bred in one place.
Semi-Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' ratings
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Judges'' comments
SUBJECT: Your proposal has been selected as a Climate CoLab Semi-Finalist!
Proposal: Nualgi - Diatom Algae - Oxygen
Contest: Energy-Water Nexus
Congratulations! Your proposal submitted to the Energy-Water Nexus contest has been selected to advance to the Semi-Finalists round.
You will be able to revise your proposal and add new collaborators if you wish, from July 1st until July 14, 2015 at 23:59pm Eastern Time.
Judges' feedback are posted under the "Evaluation" tab of your proposal and below. Please incorporate this feedback in your revisions, or your proposal may not be advanced to the Finalists round. We ask you to also summarize the changes that you made in the comment section of the Evaluation tab.
At the revision deadline listed below, your proposal will be locked and considered in final form. The Judges will undergo another round of evaluation to ensure that Semi-Finalist proposals have addressed the feedback given, and select which proposals will continue to the Finalists round. Finalists are eligible for the contest’s Judges Choice award, as well as for public voting to select the contest’s Popular Choice award.
Thank you for your great work and again, congratulations!
2015 Climate CoLab Judges
This proposal is interesting and seems to be building on a market and implementation that already exists. A practical idea that is known to work. This is certainly a pretty feasibly concept with clear benefits. The idea of scaling up the use of algae in treatment is quite interesting. Such an approach could reduce electricity use in plants. Nice idea using natural systems.
Authors did not present costs and timelines. The proposal is not clear on addressing the energy-water nexus challenges sought out in this competition. Treating water is part of the equation, but there is an energy aspect as well. Clarifying Nualgi’s relationship to the energy aspect of the energy-water nexus equation would be helpful. As is, the impact of this product on the energy-water nexus challenge seems minimal.
It would also be helpful to address the existing infrastructure challenges to using algae in current facilities.
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 Bhaskar Mallimadugula Jul 10, 2015 03:26  | Proposal creator
The proposal has been edited and the answers to the queries by the Judges have been incorporated. A detailed example of the cost of Nualgi in treating water and on energy consumption is given.
The impact of the solution on energy - water nexus is that when wastewater is properly treated and reused, less water needs to be pumped, so less energy is consumed for pumping water - either from reservoirs far away or deep wells.
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Bhaskar Mallimadugula Jul 11, 2015 04:57 | Proposal creator
http://solve.mit.edu/pillars
The Four Pillars of Solve
"By midcentury, nearly 10 billion people will inhabit our planet. Where will we find the food and clean water to nourish everyone?"
Growing Diatom algae and fish using the nutrients in water is the simplest solution to secure food and clean water.
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Bhaskar Mallimadugula Aug 1, 2015 03:49 | Proposal creator
Answers to the final judging comments ( the comments are in ‘quotes’ )
‘This proposal builds on a market and action plan already in place. This project is indeed feasible and practical with clear benefits. The discussion regarding this products connection to the energy-water nexus is clearer in this revision and the inclusion of the costs was welcomed. This proposal has a lot of potential, and we appreciate using natural systems.’
Thank you.
‘We would have liked to see a more specific plan with locations and testing facilities clearly drawn out and maybe tied into the timeline. This proposal would have been stronger if the time line had check points or clear goals rather than broad ones.’
The proposal is simple to implement and does not require much planning, that is why we have only mentioned the broad goals, the specific goals are the same as for any water or wastewater treatment project, only the detailed engineering changes, we did not mention the detailed engineering and only focused on the technology.
‘I think a discussion regarding the policy/political implications that come with the use of this product would have made this proposal stronger.’
Acceptance of new idea is the only issue, there are no other policy or political implications. Since this solution is cheaper, more effective and safer than the alternatives.
‘Also, a discussion on how this company would work with other industries or companies in the US or abroad to increase the viability/usage of this product would have made this proposal stronger.’
We did not give these details since this is not a business plan contest or funding proposal. So we restricted our proposal to the technology and did not go into the commercial aspects.
‘More consideration could be given regarding existing infrastructure challenges to using algae in current facilities as well as the problems from custom biology bred in one place.’
Growing diatoms is not really custom biology, diatoms are the dominant micro-algae in nature. So we are only restoring the natural diatoms and not changing nature, therefore there are no infrastructure challenges. Modifications required to implement this solution in current facilities are quite simple and economical.
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