Underwater living possible with clean energy

The Australian marine biologist who lived for 12 days in an underwater, self-sustaining habitat relied on renewable energy for the success of his experiment.

In an effort to prove that an adult could live underwater in an environmentally friendly way, Lloyd Godson developed and lived in the world's first self-sufficient, self-sustaining, completely submerged home.

Called the BioSub, the habitat used a solar array, a methanol fuel cell and a bicycle to power a monitor, camera, wireless internet connection and a dive compressor.

"I had to generate my own oxygen, grow some food, obtain fresh water, deal with my waste and generate power," Mr Godson said.

"My safety and the success of experiment relied heavily on battery power. It was essential that our battery charger was reliable and durable and the EFOY was an ideal fit for this task," he said.

The EFOY fuel cell operates like a battery by converting chemical energy in the fuel directly to electricity at a relatively low temperature. The EFOY runs on methanol, and the only by-products are water and a small amount of carbon dioxide.

The experiment was a great success, coming at a time when the climate change debate is in every daily newspaper and there is increased emphasis on 'clean living'. Godson used an internet connection for daily links to school children, to raise awareness of closed ecological systems and living with minimal impact on the environment.

The BioSub project recently won the Australian Geographic 'Live your dream' Wildest Adventure Competition, and received attention from around the world.

"It's such an unusual adventure compared to many of the adventures we sponsor. And yet, in terms of gaining understanding in science while trying something pretty extreme, it's actually very similar to the great adventurous quests of many of our legendary explorers," said Australian Geographic editorial director Dee Nolan.

"Because of the implications for space exploration, there's been keen interest from students and researchers around the world, including a representative from NASA."

The project was a testing ground for an oxygen-producing system developed at Cascade High School, in the US state of Idaho. Called Biocoil, it is a system of algae that removes carbon dioxide from the air and provides oxygen.

"It is going to be like living in Antarctica in the summer again," said Godson, in an interview with ABC local radio Goulburn Murray region, prior to his isolation.

"Lights are going to be used to grow the micro-algae... So if the lights aren't going, the algae stops photosynthesis and my oxygen supply will start to diminish, so I need 24 hours of light. I will have to get used to sleeping in the light again."

Godson used NASA-designed software to monitor his mood, memory, attention, depression and problem-solving abilities, to measure how humans might be affected living in alien environments.