An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet Season 2 Episode 3

Reality Insight Hub

An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet Season 2 Episode 3  #2025 #RealityInsightHub   🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️ 👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/TrailerBolt 👉 THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Transcript

00:00It kind of looks like we're going to a rave.

00:03I'm a father to two beautiful daughters.

00:06I'm also a husband, a son, a cyclist, a citizen.

00:12Thank you so much. It's going to look amazing.

00:14All right, let's go.

00:17Our inventions have built the world as we know it.

00:21Concrete is the second most used material in the world.

00:25Unfortunately, some of them come with an environmental price tag.

00:28They do a lot of illegal mining on that river.

00:32We have many environmental contaminants.

00:34But I believe that our drive to innovate can meet the moment.

00:41Inventors are the key, not only for the environment, but also for the humanity.

00:46We are genetically enhancing plants to absorb metal in the soil.

00:50The moment that you actually have CO2 stored is a very happy moment.

00:54The people and science will see us through.

00:58We're trying to leave the world better than what we found it in.

01:03We changed the world.

01:04Yes.

01:05This is very nice.

01:06I'm Nikolai Koster-Waldau, and this is an optimist's guide to the planet.

01:10To be human is to innovate.

01:22That is a basic human quality.

01:27Always finding ways to make things work, and we see that over and over again.

01:30Our inventions have given us both wonders of the modern world and threats to our very existence.

01:40Innovation and science is also what gives you hope and reason for optimism,

01:56because there's always someone who's able to find a solution, to crack a problem.

02:02One huge challenge here in Lima is that water is too scarce to waste, yet often too polluted to drink.

02:13We always assume that water is in this, whatever pollution goes into it, it's just a drop in the ocean, that classic saying, right?

02:25But what do you do once it's really polluted?

02:27How do you then reverse that?

02:29We're meeting inventors who are taking on the challenge of water pollution.

02:35And the best thing?

02:37My wife Nugaga is with me.

02:40And she makes the show better.

02:42She makes my life better.

02:44Yeah, at least.

02:45I try to.

02:47No, it's on camera.

02:49Yeah, yeah, I know.

02:56Marino?

02:57Hi, Nikolai.

02:58And Yoshi, nice to meet you.

03:00It's a pleasure to meet you, Yoshi.

03:03So what's wrong with this?

03:05Yeah, it's beautiful.

03:06Yeah, it's beautiful.

03:07It's like green water.

03:08Yeah.

03:09I mean, it's beautiful right now, but once we explain what is the problem, you'll be shocked that green is not good.

03:22So this place, what is unique about it?

03:25Estamos en los pantanos de Villa.

03:27Uno de los humedales costeros más importantes de nuestro país.

03:33And it's one of the most important wetlands in our country.

03:37In los humedales costeros, alberga una biodiversidad inmensa.

03:44A verga, a miles de miles de abres migratorias.

03:53Since ancient times, pre-inca and inca times, it is the major source of water here in Lima, not only for human consumption, but also for agricultural aspects.

04:03So is there a problem here in this water?

04:06What is the problem?

04:08Aquí en Perú tenemos muchas problemáticas de contaminación ambiental.

04:12Uno de los principales problemas que tenemos en todos los humedales son las aguas residuales, industriales, domésticas y hasta la misma basura que botan.

04:21It's affecting not only this wetland, but all the wetlands around.

04:27You don't have big wastewater treatment centers here.

04:29The wastewater treatment plants in Peru are built to only treat 5 to 10 percent of the wastewater.

04:35Hay muchos especialistas que curan humanos, pero hay pocos especialistas que curan a nuestra propia madre naturaleza.

04:43Es por eso que me convertí en un médico de la naturaleza.

04:48Se puede decir, el primer trabajo que hice en el Perú es por un amor a mi terruño.

04:55I have to ask you, what is this relationship?

04:58Oh, family.

04:59Uncle and...

05:01And nephew.

05:01Yeah.

05:02How long have you guys worked together?

05:04From 2010.

05:06Yeah.

05:06So you were very young when you started.

05:08Yeah.

05:0815 years ago.

05:09As a young teenager.

05:10As a kid.

05:11As a kid.

05:12Yeah.

05:12For him, it was like, I'm his nephew, but also kind of like his son.

05:18Since my mom separated from my dad at a very young age, the only father figure I had was my uncle.

05:24He used to carry me to the wetlands so I can learn from nature and to respect it and value it as the same way he learned from his father.

05:34My grandfather.

05:34So you lived here and then you went to Japan and studied.

05:42Yeah.

05:43What were you studying?

05:44My PhD degree.

05:45Yeah.

05:45Nanotechnology, I understand that it's very small things.

05:53Nanotechnology, I understand that it's very small things.

05:53Nanotechnology, nano, is 10 to the minus 9.

05:56Any kind of molecule or component that is 10,000 times smaller than the normal bubble that we see in the Sauracans.

06:02Why he started working with that is because it's very easy to work with the visible parts, the visible pollutants.

06:09But what happens to the ones that we cannot see on the naked eye?

06:12But today we'll be focusing on the protest technologies we have.

06:15Okay.

06:15Which is the micronutrient bubble system.

06:17How can we see it?

06:18I'm so curious.

06:19Let's go.

06:19So actually, we need to go to the testing field.

06:22It looks nasty.

06:28It is.

06:29Yeah.

06:31The introduction of polluted water from the wastewater generates micronutrients.

06:36And that micronutrient will contribute to more algae formation.

06:40And because there's more algae formation and more bacterial formation, it will take out all the oxygen in the water.

06:47Is there any way to measure how polluted this is?

06:49Of course.

06:50Uh-huh.

06:50If you want, you can help Marino.

06:54Well, I would love to help.

06:58It looks like lemonade.

07:00Yeah.

07:00Or morning urine.

07:02Yeah.

07:04You probably won't like the flavor if you drink it.

07:07I can already smell it.

07:08It's a portable equipment for medicine to know how much oxygen the water has.

07:14Whenever we talk a healthy level for the biodiversity,

07:17it must be above 10 milligrams per liter.

07:21All right.

07:22Let's try it.

07:26So if you see on the screen, it's around seven, and that means that it's low on oxygen.

07:31How do you clean that?

07:32It's not an easy thing to do, is it?

07:34We don't want to brag about it, but actually, for us, it's very easy.

07:37I mean, that is a humble brag if ever there was one.

07:39People say I don't want to brag, you know, you're about to brag, but I want to seek.

07:45Can you help me, Foto?

07:46Yeah, of course.

07:48Can I touch it?

07:49Yes, of course.

07:49So this actually is our secret formula of organic compounds.

07:53It's called PM, which is a powder that we develop with only plants.

07:57Okay, it's a little heavy.

08:00It's just easier with just one.

08:01Oh, okay.

08:03So this is a secret ingredient?

08:06Mm-hmm.

08:07You told your nephew, right?

08:08No, no, no, no.

08:09No, no, no.

08:10So how many people know this?

08:13Uh, only me.

08:19It's just a little teaser.

08:20Oh, that's perfect.

08:21Yeah.

08:24A little shake.

08:25You're seeing the bigger particles right there?

08:29Mm-hmm.

08:29All of the spurs algae are getting gathered up.

08:33Getting thicker and thicker, huh?

08:34Yeah.

08:35The algae that we trapped are the algae that are capturing all the oxygen, which is lethal

08:40to the aquatic life.

08:42Para nosotros no es nada malo.

08:45Yeah?

08:45Porque lo podemos reutilizar, ya sea para compost.

08:48It's full of nutrients.

08:49It's full of nutrients.

08:50And then you have all this stuff floating on the surface, and you can just scoop it up.

08:54Yeah, like this.

08:54Look at that.

08:56Like this.

08:56Yeah.

08:57You can just grab it.

08:59For me.

08:59Yeah.

09:00No smell.

09:01No smell.

09:02Yeah.

09:03Different.

09:03And now it's much clearer.

09:05But what happens to the invisible components, virus, bacteria, microorganisms, that still

09:11lives in this water, that one will attack with the micronanobubble system.

09:17Would you like to know what a micronanobubble is?

09:19I would very much like to know what a micronanobubble is.

09:22It involves getting into the water.

09:24Yes.

09:25Would you like it?

09:25Yes.

09:26Yes.

09:26Of course.

09:26Great.

09:27Oh, yeah.

09:27Let's get in the water.

09:28Okay.

09:30I'm a little too tall for this.

09:33This is very nice.

09:34It's great.

09:37Oh, it's fine.

09:38It's perfect.

09:38Let's go.

09:39Okay.

09:39Let's go.

09:40Oh, well, first.

09:41Machine.

09:42Yeah.

09:42Machine.

09:43Oh, my God.

09:43So, when we develop any kind of technology, we always think that this must not disrupt

09:50the natural healing process.

09:52It must boost it.

09:53It must not threaten the good microorganisms, but kill or eliminate the bad microorganisms.

10:00Okay.

10:00Let's go to the water.

10:02Okay.

10:04Oh, yeah.

10:05This is, you sink in.

10:07Okay.

10:08Oh, and the smell.

10:09Yeah.

10:09Oh, yeah.

10:10Okay.

10:13I'm not going to dance with you right now.

10:17Come on.

10:18No.

10:19Oh, go.

10:21Be careful.

10:22Be careful.

10:39You have to see a difference.

10:40This is a fine bubble.

10:42Yeah.

10:42Yes.

10:52You put your hand here.

10:53So, you can submerge your hand right there.

10:55Ajá.

10:55Entonces, si sientes una pequeña corriente.

10:57Yeah.

10:58This is an electromagnetic property.

11:00When the bubbles rise to the surface, the sun's UV rays destroy the attached control.

11:3010 minutes.

11:32Also, those bubbles, the nanobubbles, will help oxygen all the lake here.

11:39You see all the bubble.

11:40Yeah.

11:41Yeah.

11:41All over.

11:42Yeah.

11:42So, how long has this been here now?

11:4710 minutes?

11:47Yes.

11:48Yeah.

11:48No, yeah, yeah.

11:49Yeah.

11:49So, how long has this been here?

11:50You can see a white layer, right?

11:51Right?

11:52Right?

11:52Now it would be perfect to use the organic substrate and...

11:57The powder?

11:58Yes.

11:58The magic powder.

11:59Yeah, magic powder.

12:00Yeah.

12:01Yeah.

12:02I...

12:03Into my kitchen?

12:05Oh, thank you.

12:06Oh, thank you.

12:07Yes.

12:08You try.

12:09You try.

12:10You try.

12:11Okay.

12:12There you go.

12:13Oh, my God.

12:15You try.

12:16You try.

12:17Come on.

12:18Come on.

12:19It's empty.

12:20Hold it.

12:21It's empty.

12:22Uh, hold it.

12:24Feel it.

12:25Huh?

12:26Yeah.

12:27Look at that.

12:28It's everywhere now.

12:29Yeah.

12:30The foam.

12:31Those floating things.

12:33The foam.

12:34If you look at that.

12:36Yeah.

12:37You look at that.

12:38It's everywhere now.

12:40Yeah.

12:41With the foam.

12:42Yeah.

12:43Those floating things.

12:44things, the foam, are the organic particles that are gathered up.

12:49How long will it take for you to clean this whole thing up?

12:56And then you have to scoop up?

12:58Yeah.

12:59That's a great job, Bill.

13:01Yes.

13:02I have a machine to vacuum.

13:03Yeah, vacuum.

13:04Really?

13:05Yeah.

13:06That's what I thought.

13:07This magic powder, you put it in the water with the cool gun, and then you clean it.

13:18I love the idea that this will work.

13:20And I love the energy of these guys.

13:22Amazing energy.

13:23Everything is possible.

13:24He has a depth of knowledge.

13:26Yeah.

13:27And an enthusiasm, which is just what we need.

13:29And very optimistic.

13:30Yeah.

13:31And next time, they're going to have maybe your size.

13:33That would be great.

13:34But we...

13:35In Denmark, we call this...

13:37An Alford.

13:40Oh, a wedgie?

13:41A wedgie.

13:42Exactly.

13:43Yeah, they gave me a wedgie.

13:45How proud are you of this machine?

13:57And we're up to 70% close to develop that technology.

14:00Oh, so when do you think you'll have that?

14:03When do we call you?

14:04We'll call you.

14:13A scientist, I'd like to improve the technology so that the time reduces and be able to recover

14:18those natural lives faster.

14:20And what are my goals?

14:22Obviously, to recover all the home markets in Peru.

14:25Normalmente el agua de lima no es bebible. Tratar correctamente significa para que pueda ser bebible.

14:34We have already cleaned with our technology 25 wetlands.

14:39For us, it is important to treat it because it's the greatest gift we can give to the biodiversity here,

14:47the birds, the fishes, the land creatures, and that for us, for the next generation.

14:55For communities without the infrastructure or resources for water treatment plants,

15:01Marino's invention, if scaled up, could potentially be transformative.

15:09But true change can't stop at the water's edge.

15:15Over the last century, the number of people living in cities has increased dramatically,

15:20by four to five hundred percent.

15:29As more of us crowd into urban spaces, how we live and build matters more than ever.

15:37Rotterdam is known for its bold, modern architecture.

15:40Modern architecture.

15:41All built in the last 80 years, because the city was almost completely destroyed in World War II.

15:46The city was destroyed in World War II.

15:47The city was destroyed in World War II.

15:48The city was destroyed in World War II.

15:49The city was destroyed in habages.

16:12discernment of burns, burns, burns, burns, burns, CIAo ideas, through words,

16:16all Ojai as the��.

16:17Event happening

16:47This town and so many towns were completely rebuilt

16:58Which speaks to the incredible spirit of humans, right?

17:02Like, you know, Nagastown will come right back up

17:05Now, what we know is

17:07We need so much more construction globally

17:10The problem, of course, is that

17:13It's one of the biggest polluters when it comes to CO2

17:15Construction drives 36% of global CO2 emissions

17:21And concrete alone makes up 8%

17:24Now, a startup says it can flip that

17:30By reinventing concrete

17:32Now, this is very setting

17:42Marta?

17:43Oh, hi!

17:44Sorry

17:44I'm sorry

17:45Hi

17:45Hi, I'm Nikolai

17:46Hi, I'm Marta

17:47Nice to meet you

17:47Welcome to Pebble

17:48Just like a pebble on the beach

17:50That's right

17:50Just like a pebble on the beach

17:51Welcome

17:52Safety first

17:53Safety first?

17:55Oh, I need one of these

17:56It's going to look amazing

17:57And here is a safety jacket

18:00This is fireproof

18:02And also kind of fashionable

18:03In a nutshell

18:05What do you do?

18:06What do Pebble do?

18:07We turn concrete into a material

18:09That can store CO2 forever

18:11And concrete is

18:13I don't know if you know this

18:14But it's the second most used material in the world

18:17We use a lot

18:18We use a lot of it

18:19And we need to use a lot more in the future

18:21That's right

18:21So the more we build

18:22The more we'll pollute

18:23Unless we can turn it into a carbon sink

18:25And therefore do good by building more

18:28In concrete you have three main solid ingredients

18:31Yeah

18:32You have cement

18:33Which is the big polluter

18:34You have fine sand

18:36And you have gravel

18:37Yeah

18:38And what we do

18:39Is that we've invented a way

18:41To trap CO2

18:42In a substitute

18:43For traditional cement

18:44So what we do here

18:47We harness a process

18:50That happens in nature already

18:52Certain rocks like olivine

18:54Absorb CO2 from the atmosphere

18:56We just accelerate it

18:58By about 10 million times

18:5910 million times

19:00Yeah

19:01Wow

19:01But it all starts in there

19:02It all starts in here

19:03Yes

19:04This is our mineralization lab

19:07Do you know what this reminds me of?

19:09What?

19:10Skin products

19:10When they do campaigns

19:11Like a commercial

19:12There's always people in white lab coats

19:14And you know they're actors

19:16Are they actors or are they real?

19:18I'm pretty sure that they're employed by us

19:21Yes, Louise?

19:23Hi

19:23How are you doing?

19:24Nice to meet you

19:25I'm doing Nikolai

19:25Nice to meet you

19:26Yeah, very nice to meet you

19:27So you're not an actor?

19:28No, I'm not an actor

19:29No, no, no

19:29They didn't pay me to be here before

19:31Yeah, this is our real thing

19:33How long have you been here?

19:35I've been here for one and a half year already

19:36I was lucky to find Pebble

19:38And that Pebble was looking for a researcher

19:40And what I do here

19:41Is try to work on the accelerated mineralization process

19:45That we're doing here

19:46It's that whole thing she

19:47Marta was talking about

19:49Like you have been able to accelerate nature's

19:52The normal thing that happens in nature

19:54By a million times

19:56Exactly

19:56But how do you do that?

19:58So shall we walk to the next route?

19:59Yes, let's go

20:00Let's go

20:00So everything starts with this

20:04This is a rock that contains olivine in it

20:06And which naturally absorbs CO2 from atmosphere

20:09We have engineered a way to inject a lot of CO2 into olivine

20:13Really fast

20:15So it's locked away for good

20:16You want to see how it's done?

20:18Yes, I want to see how it's done

20:19So first we have our prototype reactors

20:22Which we call coffee cup reactors

20:24All right, what is going on here?

20:26So right now I'm filling up the coffee cup reactor

20:29That's very finely ground olivine

20:32I'm going to put in the secret additives

20:35You're not going to tell me what it is?

20:37I'm not going to tell you

20:38No, no, no

20:39So this is our olivine with the chemicals

20:42Yeah

20:42Then I'm injecting CO2

20:45And with the help of the secret additives

20:48It reacts with the olivine

20:50We are going to increase the pressure and temperature

20:54All of that olivine will be transformed into new minerals

20:58And then what happens?

21:03After an hour and a half

21:04This stuff turns up

21:06It's like this gray slurry

21:07If we want to make concrete out of our product

21:11We have to convert it back to a powdered form

21:14All right, so now we create a vacuum

21:17So the whole slurry is going to get pushed through

21:19Do you have some of this after it's gone through?

21:22Yes

21:23Okay

21:24So this is what we're looking at

21:26This is the final product

21:28Which is, you can see it's a bit more fluffy

21:30Okay

21:31And this is what stores CO2?

21:34This is the material that already contains CO2

21:36And this is the material that replaces traditional cement

21:40It's a lightweight powder

21:41That can be used to produce concrete

21:45And I think this can have a deep impact on society

21:48With construction materials in general

21:50Why did you study concrete in the first place?

21:54It's a good question

21:55Well, concrete, as I told you

21:56If you look around, everything is made of concrete

21:58So concrete is a very important piece for our lives

22:01I come from Brazil

22:02I think last year we had floodings that had never been seen before

22:06This can have an immediate impact for my nieces, my nephews, my children in the future

22:11So it's a very fulfilling thing to do

22:14The moment that you actually have CO2 stored is just a very happy moment

22:20It's not just the research

22:22It's not just for fun

22:24We're not just playing around

22:25We are really, really doing this

22:27You've got to have your hat on

22:43There you go

22:45So now we're going to move from a coffee cup scale to a big reaction

22:50Who's Diego?

22:58In our amazing operations team

22:59Hi

23:00Nice to meet you

23:01Nice to meet you

23:01I'm very excited

23:03But now I want to see

23:04This is the big coffee machine

23:05Exactly

23:06Let's go to the reactor part

23:08Where are you from, by the way?

23:10I'm from Colombia

23:10So I've got Brazil

23:12Poland

23:13Yes

23:14Colombia

23:15It's like 50 nationalities in this small office

23:19Wow, that's incredible

23:20No one in the world has this kind of technology

23:23We have a partner that are bringing our CO2 here

23:26And we inject the CO2 that you see behind that

23:30And in the future we're going to scale up end-to-end solution

23:33That means that we're going to have a system capturing the CO2 from the atmosphere

23:38So how much do you produce in 24 hours?

23:41In a day we are producing 3 tons

23:44We are scaling up to 10 tons

23:46So in here still

23:48Yeah

23:48And in the future we are scaling up even bigger

23:50That is incredible

23:51Where does it come out?

23:54I will tell you

23:55Be careful

23:58Can I touch it?

23:59Yeah, you can take it

24:00That is almost dry

24:02That is 76% dried

24:04This is what you then put into the concrete?

24:09Correct

24:10A bag of this is one ton

24:12One ton

24:12So how much CO2 is captured here?

24:14So we are capturing around 250 kilos per ton

24:17So one quarter of this is CO2 captured

24:20Correct

24:20I'm just applauding

24:23Yeah

24:23We have a lot of potential just to grow up everywhere

24:28It will change the world

24:30Yes

24:31Hello again

24:33Hello again

24:34So this is where we make sure that the product that is done over there

24:39Performs in concrete

24:41Now we are going to measure the strength of this material

24:48I'm starting to work hard now

25:00Nice

25:04Okay

25:04After all the tests you do

25:08Your stuff is as good as anything

25:10Yes

25:11That's what we are trying to prove to our customers

25:14And that's what we are observing

25:16And you have the added benefit

25:18Yes

25:19This piece here has CO2 that was in the air stored inside it

25:23And that will be stored?

25:25Permanently

25:25It's a little souvenir

25:30Yeah

25:30Pebble's technology could permanently trap hundreds of millions of tons of CO2

25:38Inside the buildings we live and work in

25:40The potential is obvious

25:42We're so deep into climate change that we are seeing

25:51Yeah

25:51The effects, right?

25:53That's right

25:53Negative effects

25:54Do you think that we are acting in time?

25:57Are we all too late?

25:59I actually believe that

26:00Given that it's taken us five decades to make the mess

26:03Roughly

26:04Five, six decades, let's say

26:05Yeah

26:06I think we can actually get rid of the mess in half the time

26:10Wow, I hope you're right

26:12I think

26:13I think it's feasible

26:14And I think it's just about

26:16How many brains we put to the task

26:18Working hard towards doubts

26:20Thank you

26:24I look at cities, at urban jungles

26:34And I get a lot of anxiety of

26:37You know, what is the environmental footprint

26:39That our decisions have brought about

26:41But also I'm very hopeful

26:43I mean, technology, if built for the right reasons

26:47And in the right ways

26:48Is there to help us thrive

26:49I'd like to see society move from a place of survival

26:53To a place of thriving

26:54And not just for a select few percent

26:57But actually for a much bigger part of the world

26:59I think I want to make the world better

27:03It's one of the biggest challenges of our time

27:08And a profound change in mindset

27:10From putting technology first, no matter the cost

27:15To inventions that reverse the damage we have done

27:18It's a race against time

27:23We need to make sure innovation benefits everyone

27:29Everywhere

27:31We're on our way to meet an inventor

27:44Who has a plan to save the rainforest

27:46Ground zero for the climate crisis

27:49But the weather is not cooperating

27:52So we need to improvise

27:54The weather is getting bad

27:58And sometimes the unplanned moments

28:02Turn out to be the most meaningful ones

28:05Thank you so much

28:25You're welcome

28:26I don't know what the plan is

28:30But I know there's a reason

28:30They call it the rainforest

28:32You see, this is all forest

28:46I don't know if you actually managed

28:48To see a little bit of a river

28:50And there

28:51Sure

28:51These rivers are a source of life

28:53For all the local communities

28:54Water, fishing

28:55They do a lot of illegal whining

28:59On that river

29:00Is it gold or after mainly?

29:03Are these rivers?

29:05Yeah, they're going to gold

29:06Okay

29:07Considering it's illegal

29:09You would think it was much more hidden

29:11And secret

29:12And nobody would know about it

29:14But it was just happening

29:15Yes

29:16But you all know about it

29:17As everybody knows

29:19Corruption is a certain thing

29:20That is like

29:21Common people like us

29:22There's very little that we could do

29:24It's putting ourselves at risk

29:25If we did something

29:27There is a spot ahead

29:30That would probably be able to stop

29:34And have a look

29:35If you're interested

29:36Let's hope the rain stops

29:39So we can get the drone out

29:40I brought you here

29:43Because this is a safe location

29:45For us to try to fly the drone

29:46And you can see from above

29:49The extent of the damage

29:50It has been raining

29:52So I don't know how

29:53How it will be

29:54But we can try

29:55Sure

29:56Can I talk to her for a second?

29:59Is that okay?

30:02My name is Nicolai

30:03What's your name?

30:04Janet

30:05Janet

30:06Janet

30:06Is this your place?

30:08No

30:09No

30:10No

30:10Yo vendo snacks

30:12Oh you sell snacks?

30:13Snacks

30:13Those are your snacks?

30:17Yes

30:17Con chiples

30:20De yuca

30:20De papa

30:21She makes chips out of potato

30:23Plantain

30:24Yuca

30:24All right

30:26All right

30:29Maybe you can

30:34Can you show me

30:34Because we're seeing this

30:36Can you explain what I'm seeing here?

30:37These are the machines

30:40Yes

30:41Look at the things

30:42Although nature

30:43The river grows

30:45And it almost takes them

30:48To do so much damage

30:50But it has changed

30:51A lot

30:52This river

30:53It goes to the Amazonas

30:54Before it was so beautiful

30:58The plants

31:00The trees

31:00Now it's not

31:01Everything looks like a desert

31:04There are no fish

31:05It's terrible

31:06The problem is

31:07It's great

31:08So what can we do?

31:11Here we can't do anything

31:12And if you speak a lot

31:13You say a lot

31:14You say a lot

31:15Ah

31:16And careful

31:18They put the drone

31:20Because there can't be

31:20A drone flying

31:22God

31:22Don't get shut down

31:23What is this?

31:26Máquinas

31:27Máquinas

31:27Vienen

31:28Sacan el oro

31:29Y dejan ahí

31:29Toda la tierra

31:30Está

31:31Volteada

31:32Pero también hay que dar

31:33La recompensa

31:34O la restitución

31:36Hay gente que vive

31:38En la ribera del río

31:39Y con todo lo que están

31:41Destruyendo

31:41Está la gente

31:42Enfermándose

31:43Muriéndose

31:44Porque está

31:44Consumiendo el agua

31:45Con todos esos materiales

31:48Que botan

31:49Por lavar el oro

31:50Cianuro

31:51O qué sé yo

31:51Bueno, un tanto

31:52Ah

31:52History repeating itself

31:54Again and again

31:55The Spanish came for the gold

31:56That's correct

31:57No you're coming for the gold

31:58It's like constant

31:59Yeah

31:59It never benefits the people

32:01Minimo

32:02Yeah

32:02Nada

32:03This is not the only place

32:06In Ecuador

32:06This is happening

32:07Many places

32:08Many places

32:09In Ecuador

32:09The mining we come across

32:18In Ecuador

32:18Is an age-old problem

32:21We're sacrificing

32:24The environment

32:25For the sake

32:26Of extracting resources

32:27But what if we could invent

32:32A way

32:32To flip that equation

32:34Extract resources

32:37And benefit the environment

32:39Our chance encounter

32:46In Ecuador

32:47Takes us to France

32:48Where a team of scientists

32:50Are working

32:51On doing just that

32:52I think optimism

32:54Is not giving up

32:56That's what

32:57What I refuse to do

32:59The idea that we should

33:00Just like

33:00Be complacent

33:02And go

33:02Oh well

33:02It's all pretty bad

33:05So there's nothing

33:06We can

33:07We can

33:07No am I going too early

33:09Is the wrong turn

33:11See now

33:11This could really

33:12Give me cause

33:13For ang

33:13Ah

33:14But I'm still optimistic

33:18That we will

33:20Make our final destination

33:22We will just be

33:23A little delayed

33:23We are in an electric car

33:33We have this massive shift

33:35Towards electric cars

33:39One thing that we need

33:41Of course

33:42Batteries

33:42And a big component

33:44Of batteries

33:44Is nickel

33:45We need to mine

33:47A lot of nickel

33:47And mining is dirty

33:49But we need to mine

33:53We need to do that

33:54Which is of course

33:55The big paradox

33:57Around the world

33:59We mine millions

34:00Of tons of metal

34:01Every year

34:013.7 million tons

34:04Of that are nickel

34:05It's only going to

34:06Skyrocket from here

34:07It's interesting

34:09Then of course

34:10If you can

34:10Do it in a way

34:12That's not invasive

34:13Where you don't have

34:14To dig up

34:15Mountains

34:15Genomines

34:28Fabian

34:29Hi

34:30How are you doing

34:31I'm good

34:32So why is it called

34:34Genomines

34:34Well it's a wordplay

34:36Between genomes

34:38And mining

34:39Because we are

34:41Genetically enhancing

34:42Plants

34:42To absorb metal

34:44In the soil

34:44It's a tricky thing

34:45Because we need it

34:46We need all these

34:47Metals and minerals

34:48Yeah

34:49But we would love

34:50If we could do it

34:51Without the mining bit

34:52Absolutely

34:53You're completely correct

34:54So how did you

34:55Discover this

34:56When I was working

34:57On mining

34:57There were plants

34:58Growing on top

35:00And around

35:01Around the mine

35:02Yeah

35:02I met with my co-founder

35:04Deli

35:05She's a doctor

35:06In plant biotechnology

35:06And she told me

35:08Oh actually

35:08I worked on these plants

35:09I worked on this

35:10Phenomena

35:11This genetic phenomena

35:12Of hyperaccumulation

35:13Hyperaccumulation

35:14Hyperaccumulation

35:15Exactly

35:16And the fact that

35:16Some plants can

35:17Absorb this metal

35:18But store it

35:19As well

35:20And at the beginning

35:21We were very skeptical

35:22Because we thought

35:23It sounds a bit like sci-fi

35:25Yeah

35:26It does

35:27It's probably like sci-fi

35:28Can we go to the

35:29And look at something

35:30Yeah

35:30Absolutely

35:31I'm after you

35:34Well I don't know

35:35Where I'm going

35:35This way

35:38Yeah

35:38Sorry

35:38This way

35:39Sorry

35:42Have you been here before

35:45Sorry

35:45No it's the outside

35:45You've been here before

35:46You haven't been here before

35:47I'm sorry

35:47Hey guys

35:52Hello

35:53Hello

35:53Deli

35:54Yeah

35:55How's you

35:55Hi

35:56Pleasure to meet you

35:56Nice to meet you

35:57What was your first thought

35:58When you met him

35:59I thought this individual

36:01Is equally as crazy

36:02As I am

36:03That's exactly what you said

36:04Wow

36:06Wow

36:07And we can actually

36:07Make this work

36:08We realized very early on

36:10That each of us

36:10Brings a different aspect

36:11To the story

36:12And it's very complimentary

36:13It's very rare

36:14That you get

36:15A plant scientist

36:16And a mining engineer

36:16To sit at the same table

36:17And basically bridge

36:19The both

36:19Both of the sectors

36:20Fabio was telling me

36:22The whole story

36:22And now

36:22The science

36:24Now the science

36:26Yes

36:26So

36:27What kind of plant is this

36:28This is a plant

36:29That is called

36:30And it's a plant

36:32That is endemic

36:33To South Africa

36:34And it's a hyper-reconulated plant

36:35They are like

36:37Very few in the world

36:37Yeah

36:38They have this awesome

36:39Capacity

36:40Of actually taking up

36:41The metal

36:41From the roots

36:42And into the

36:43Roboblombinus

36:44So basically

36:46The first step for us

36:47Was because this plant

36:48No one cared about

36:49I mean

36:50That's not true

36:51I think

36:52It's sad

36:53But it's not a crop

36:54It's a weed

36:55So basically

36:56Science did not really

36:57Care about this plant

36:58So when we started

36:58With this project

36:59We started from scratch

37:00No one actually

37:01Looked inside the plant

37:02To understand

37:03Why genetically

37:04Does it do that

37:05It's a very special

37:05Phenomenal

37:06Oh

37:06No this got to

37:07Genetically enhanced already

37:09So what you're saying

37:10Is an actual mutant

37:11It's a mutant

37:12Yeah

37:12We isolated the genes

37:14That were responding

37:15When there is nickel

37:17In the soil

37:17And then we started

37:18Basically

37:19This is where

37:20The genetic manipulation

37:21Starts

37:22So you did

37:23The genetic manipulation

37:24Yes

37:25You've now come to a point

37:26Where you can

37:26You've boosted it

37:29And you might be able

37:29To boost it even more

37:30We're trying to make it

37:31More efficient

37:32And faster

37:33So the function

37:35Already is there

37:35We're trying to enhance it

37:36And is this something

37:37That will continue

37:38To enhance

37:39You can

37:40Or is there a natural limit

37:43I'll tell you something

37:44That is very funny

37:46We for the past three years

37:48We have been trying

37:48To kill this plant

37:49With nickel concentration

37:50We never managed

37:51Oh wow

37:52We have already increased

38:01The plant's performance

38:02Three to four folds

38:03From what it originally

38:04Was doing

38:05We actually look forward

38:08To further optimise

38:09Our plants

38:10So that's where

38:11The science keeps going

38:12So here is the step

38:16Where we are

38:17Multiplying the plants

38:18This is where

38:19You scale up

38:19The propagation

38:20To make more and more

38:21Copies of those

38:22Genetically enhanced lines

38:23What do you mean?

38:25Bonnie

38:25Bonnie?

38:26Yeah

38:26Nice to meet you

38:27What are you working on?

38:28We take the stem

38:29Cuttings of a plant

38:31Which grows

38:31In our greenhouse

38:33We grow them

38:35Into making more plants

38:37Out of each of these

38:38Cuttings

38:38Actually if you want

38:39You can try

38:40But this is

38:40What can I try?

38:42Doing this

38:43Yes please

38:44Okay

38:44Should I wear a lab coat

38:47Just to look

38:47A little more

38:48This is too small

38:49It's too small

38:50Try this one

38:52Yep

38:54Yeah

38:55It works

38:56This is perfect

38:57Okay

38:58Alright so what do I do?

39:00You hold the plant

39:01With one clamp

39:02Oh

39:02Yes

39:03Yeah

39:03And you have to cut

39:04On the node

39:05Okay

39:06You hold it with one hand

39:07And you cut with the other

39:08Well this is

39:09Yeah you can put force

39:09I don't want to kill this plant

39:12That's fine

39:13And then?

39:14Yeah

39:14You can stick it

39:15A bit in the gel

39:16What is this gel?

39:20This gel

39:20That we are putting

39:21The plant on

39:22It has different

39:23It has different

39:24Problems

39:24Get in there

39:25And that's it

39:29If you look there

39:30This combination

39:31In the gel

39:32Is asking the plant

39:33To form a shoot

39:33So we're capable

39:36Of propagating it

39:37A lot

39:37So we can go

39:38From one plant

39:39To a hundred million

39:40In a year

39:40And we're gonna go

39:41Put them somewhere

39:42Where they can grow

39:43We'll go plant

39:43Not yet

39:45Oh okay

39:46I'm gonna give you

39:51Another

39:51Another lab coat

39:52Kind of looks like

39:54We're going to a rave

39:55Or something

39:55So you have

39:58The sticky mat

39:59And this is just

39:59To remove anything

40:00From the bottom

40:01Of our feet

40:01Okay

40:01So that we don't

40:03Bring anything inside

40:04And then you'll have

40:05Rooms that look like this

40:07Which are growth chamber rooms

40:08Basically this is where

40:12We give them

40:13The right light signals

40:14To trigger the growth

40:15So they become green

40:16And strong

40:16And all of that

40:17Just put them

40:18For everyone

40:19Yeah

40:19How much nickel

40:23Can you produce now?

40:24We're capable

40:25Of extracting

40:26Up to 2.5 tons

40:27Of nickel

40:28Per hectare

40:29Per year

40:292.5 tons

40:32Of nickel

40:33Is enough

40:34To produce

40:3460 to 80

40:35Electric vehicle

40:36Batteries

40:37With far less

40:38Land disruption

40:39Waste

40:40And carbon emission

40:40Than the traditional mines

40:42Oh wow

40:43Yeah

40:43The numbers are

40:45Mind-boggling

40:45Yeah

40:46They're a lot

40:46Are there any

40:48Negative impacts

40:49On the fields

40:50Where you're planting them?

40:51We plant

40:52On soils

40:52That are naturally

40:53Polluted in nickel

40:54They are too

40:55Contaminated for agriculture

40:56So basically

40:57Agriculture cannot work there

40:58And they are too diluted

41:00For mining

41:00To work there

41:01So basically

41:02This is our sweet spot

41:03And we're taking

41:04These sources

41:05That are polluted

41:06That are causing an issue

41:07And turning them

41:08Into something valuable

41:09After sprouting

41:13In the lab

41:14The plants

41:15Are moved

41:15To Jenna Mine's

41:16Greenhouse

41:17Yes

41:21Your chariot

41:22Awaits you

41:22Sir

41:23Let's go

41:25We need to produce

41:36This

41:36In a very cheap way

41:37Yeah

41:38Access to

41:39Cheaper nickel

41:40Would potentially

41:41Impact the price

41:42Of cars

41:43It could be cheaper

41:44And much better

41:45For the environment

41:45This is what

41:47We're trying to prove

41:47So here's the greenhouse

41:54And we have

41:57Danish

41:57Somewhere

41:58Hey Danish

41:59How are you?

42:00I'm good

42:00Ah

42:01Hello

42:02Hello

42:04Hello

42:04Hi

42:05And this is

42:06These are the plants

42:08Yeah

42:09These are the plants

42:09Exactly

42:09Here we just executed

42:12A new experiment

42:12With some gamma rays bombardment

42:14We increased the uptake

42:16Of heavy metals

42:18These look quite big

42:20Compared to the one

42:21I saw in the other

42:22In nature

42:22It's like

42:23Below more than

42:2512 feet

42:2516 feet

42:26Like so tall

42:26Wow

42:27They go up to

42:27A few meters

42:28Yeah

42:28It's very big

42:29It's bigger than

42:30This greenhouse

42:31Do you always like plants?

42:34Yeah

42:34Basically like

42:35I have a master's

42:36In plant breeding

42:37And horticulture

42:38Where's that passion from?

42:40I belong from Pakistan

42:41And in Pakistan

42:42I was living

42:43In a countryside

42:44We have a huge field

42:45I was going to the field

42:47With my grandfather

42:48And after that

42:49I joined this

42:51As a passion

42:51And field

42:52And now I am there

42:53And now you're a scientist

42:54In plant

42:55Yeah

42:55What is this?

42:57Basically like

42:58If I want to test

43:00The nickel concentration

43:01To know about

43:01Like what

43:02Out of the uptake

43:03So I use this one

43:04You have a strip

43:05Like pH paper

43:06Yeah

43:07You can see this one

43:07You can just break this

43:09Yeah

43:09Leave

43:10And then you have to

43:11Put here like this

43:12You can see

43:14Yeah

43:15Approximately like

43:16200

43:17So this is really good

43:19That's what you're saying

43:20You saw the plants

43:21With VIP

43:22They have more than

43:23Thousand

43:24Did you say VIP?

43:25Yeah

43:25Very important plants

43:26Bye bye

43:27Bye bye

43:27So now we're going to call

43:38Celia

43:39Director of operation

43:40She's based in Johannesburg

43:42And there's all fields there

43:44So she's going to show you

43:44Where it is

43:45The actual operations

43:46Hello

43:48My name is Nikolai

43:50Nice to meet you

43:50Nice to meet you too

43:52We're in a nursery

43:53In a nursery

43:54Where we're growing our plants

43:56Do you understand?

43:56I would love to see

43:58Yes please

43:58Okay

43:59I'm going to turn the camera on

44:00With you

44:01Okay

44:02So

44:03Here we've got our little babies growing

44:07All the seedlings

44:08To plant them all in the field

44:10After winter

44:11So this year

44:13Start small

44:14And then we'll keep on ramping up

44:15Every year

44:16Opening up a mine

44:22Takes enormous amount of time

44:2412 to 15 years on average

44:26When you operate with plants

44:29You don't need to build

44:30A huge infrastructure

44:32That's all very complex

44:33Because of that

44:34You can operationalize the field

44:35In one to two years

44:36When it comes to places

44:38Where we could do that

44:39We estimate that there's

44:4030 to 40 million hectares

44:42That are very high potential

44:44Would you like to see the finished product?

44:47Oh my god

44:48I was going to ask you about this

44:49Is this nickel?

44:55Yes it is

44:55Nickel sulfate

44:56Exactly

44:57Nickel sulfate

44:57So how do you get this out of the plants?

44:59You process the biomass

45:00Like burning the biomass

45:02Yeah

45:02Okay

45:02You have an ash

45:04In this ash

45:05You have very high level of concentration

45:07Of nickel

45:08Which is around 18 to 20%

45:10Okay

45:11And then after you sell this concentrates

45:13Yes

45:14To smelters

45:15Basically the infrastructure

45:17That's already in place for mines

45:19Exactly

45:19Right

45:20Yeah

45:20So from there on

45:21It's the same process

45:22Yeah

45:23And then this is what comes out of this

45:25After the smelting

45:26Yes exactly

45:27It's a crystal of nickel

45:28Yes

45:29That is used directly in batteries

45:30In lithium-ion batteries

45:31So this is nickel sulfate

45:33Which we get from the market

45:35So you can see they are almost the same

45:37So this is

45:38If I wanted to buy this

45:39Yeah

45:40Yeah

45:40It's the same

45:41How exciting was it

45:44The first time you received this?

45:46So the moment that we managed to get this

45:48We were all shouting etc

45:49Yeah

45:49So excited

45:50Because when you can do it once

45:52It means like it's possible

45:53Yeah

45:54It's all about the plants

45:55Yeah

45:56Exactly

45:56By 2030

46:03General Mines aims to produce 150,000 tons of nickel a year

46:08Enough for 2 million electric vehicle batteries

46:12We're trying to change the way people think about mining

46:16So when they think about where is this nickel coming from

46:20They have in their mind fields that are green and it's beautiful

46:24And you say okay this is mining rather than a mountain being destroyed

46:28You want to have these stories

46:32You want to share this

46:33You meet people that have a passion that do something that they believe in

46:37And that is exciting

46:38And that is exciting, that inspires you

46:39In pocos años va a haber mejores tecnologías

46:45Va a haber más jóvenes haciendo diversos inventos para aportar en todo el Perú y a nivel mundial

46:51So trust these people

46:55Have hope

46:56Humans can do everything

46:58We're trying to leave the world better than what we found it in

47:02And I think this is our duty not only as scientists but also as human beings

47:08And that's a wrap

47:11Um

47:12Oh

47:12Goodbye

47:14¿Sabesúcar?

47:143

47:15No

47:16No

47:17No

47:19No

47:20No

47:23No

47:29No

47:30No

47:32Rob

47:37No

47:39Type

47:40No

47:43No

47:44No

47:44Transcription by CastingWords

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended