Erik Jepsen/ UC San Diego Publications
Biology students created the algae surfboards by replacing the foam core commonly crafted of petroleum oil with algae oil
Algae Surfboards are a new addition to the long list of innovations coming into the surfing industry. The surf industry is drawing inspiration from an underrated aquatic organism. In celebration of 2015 Earth Day, Avila Surfboards, and environmentalist Rob Machado, unveiled the world’s first sustainable algae based surfboard.
Most people don’t realise that petroleum is algae oil hellip; always been muses for surfing technologies. From the dorsal fin of a dolphin inspiring the surfboard fin, just fossilized 300 million to 400 million years old and buried deep in underground, says professor of biology and algae geneticist at UC San Diego, Dr. Stephen Mayfield. Over time, Dr. Mayfield and the clever bunch at UCSD hope to develop the surfboard to be made entirely of sustainable materials, having already utilisedv a renewable resin in the surfboard’s construction.
The use of biotechnology and sustainable approaches to surfboard production are fast becoming trends in the surfing industry, with surfers wanting to respect Mother Nature (or Hue y). According to Dr Mayfield, this new wave of environmentally conscious surfers is driving surf companies to become greener.
As surfers more than any other sport, you are totally connected and immersed in the ocean environment he says. And yet your connection to that environment is through a piece of plastic made from fossil fuels. Algae oil only requires 30 minutes to process into a crude oil, eliminating the fossil-fuel heavy procedures that are used with petroleumbased foam. US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Researcher Douglas Elliot states,In a sense, we are duplicating the process in the Earth that converted algae into oil over the course of millions of years. We’re just doing it much, much faster. In the process, called hydrothermal liquefaction, algae’s texture transforms from a pea soup consistency, to a clear substance similar to vegetable oil. At the present, researchers are attempting to make algae oil more commercially available for construction purposes such as that in the recently developed surfboard. Algae oil only requires 30 minutes to process into a crude oil, eliminating the fossil-fuel heavy procedures that are used with petroleum based foam.
US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Researcher Douglas Elliot states.
In a sense, we are duplicating the process in the Earth that converted algae into oil over the course of millions of years. We’re just doing it much, much faster. In the process, called hydrothermal liquefaction, algae’s texture transforms from a pea soup consistency, to a clear substance similar to vegetable oil. At the present, researchers are attempting to make algae oil more commercially available for construction purposes such as that in the recently developed surfboard.
Algae board collaborator Rob Machado leads the troops towards a sustainable surfing future. Will your future stick be made from algae oil ? The prosare testing the algae blanks now, so only time will tell.