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US (MA): Rooftop farm powered by CO2 from people inside the building

The fifth floor stairwell at Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences opens up to the sky.

Here, amid heating and air conditioning vents and ducts, an unusual crop is being collected, says Nathan Phillips, professor of earth and environment.

"We're growing food on the rooftop at BU and we're harvesting the carbon that comes out of the breath of all of the people inside of the building," he says. "And we're breathing it out every day at 40,000 parts per million in our breath."

About a decade ago, Phillips got the idea of putting the high levels of CO2 that build up in classrooms to good use.

"We supercharge the photosynthetic process when we breathe on our plants," he says.

Read more at Bostonomix (Bruce Gellerman)
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