Mimicking Nature: Stabilizing Climate Change

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Rethinking Development and Sustainable Design

9 min readMay 6, 2020

Our world is in constant change. At the time of writing we are fighting together agains Covid-19, an infectious disease causing severe acute respiratory syndrome [1]. In modern times, nothing has ever created repercussions like this pandemic— combining economical recession, social remodeling and human lethality. Together we stand to collectively decrease the spread and eliminate this threatening disease.

Change is often ambivalent — it facilitates opportunities and challenges where for most of the time, the collective aim of best possible outcome is usually favored. As we see today, the human specie is threatened by one virus causing the socio-economic world to freeze. On one side, the economic growth of societies is threatened. Many people are struggling with both their personal and professional life. On the other side, there is about 8.6 million other species that benefit from this crisis[2]. Why? With reduced pollutants and greenhouse gasses emitted we are decelerating the artificial man-made climate change, therefore we reduce the increasing temperatures threatening valuable ecosystems[3].

Satellite image showing pollution over China before vs during Covid-19. — Image 1: Satellite image showing pollution over China before vs during Covid-19[4].

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, we have contributed with large increasing amounts of emitted gases into the atmosphere[5]. New ways of extracting materials and processing has driven our world for over 70 years. Nevertheless, does increased living standards equate to increased quality of life? Overpopulation, urbanism and division are three key factors to climate change. More people equals more transportation, more production and more consumption. For instance; the CO2 level in our atmosphere has increased from 315 parts per million to over 400 in only 70 years[6]. The earth’s heartbeat has been drastically disrupted, ancient global climate cycles are now radically remodeled and all happening in a blink of an eye compared to the globes history. What will this mean for our future generations?

Image 2: Illustration showing carbon dioxide level last 450,000 years[6].

Stabilizing and stopping big challenges like global warming, global pandemic and climate change can be hard to understand how to contribute to on a personal level. The perception of how you can help is very individual. Janine M. Benyus, biological scientist and writer, says it well:

«The better people understand the genius of the natural world, the more they will want to protect it.»

She has dedicated her professional life to Biomimicry. “Biomimicry is the practice of learning from and then emulating life’s genius to solve human problems and create more sustainable designs”[7]. Unlike the Industrial Revolution, which is about extracting and processing from nature, the Biomimicry Revolution is about learning and adapting from it. In her book «Innovation by Nature» [8], she states that there are nine basic laws underpinned for the concept of Biomimicry:

Nature runs on sunlight
Nature uses only the energy it needs
Nature fits form to function
Nature recycles everything
Nature rewards cooperation
Nature banks on diversity
Nature demands local expertise
Nature curbs excesses from within
Nature taps the power of limits

As a biologist, the question for Benyus is not whether our technology is natural, but how well adapted it is to life on Earth over the long term. She says that «Engineers, scientists, architects and designers are often humbled, and then excited, when they discover how nature already has solutions to their challenges, and how it generally outperforms their traditional solutions, showing the creative alternatives. Nature knows what works, what is appropriate, and what lasts here on Earth»[8]. Biomimicry is often used in technical and technological solutions to for example increase speed or create something new and disruptive.

If we take a closer look at the nine «laws» of biomimicry - how are we doing today? These statements are judging all alike but it is the reality in most of todays societies.

1. Nature runs on sunlight — we extract and use fossil fuel

2. Nature uses only the energy it needs — we use the energy we can sell

3. Nature fits form to function — we fit form to where we can make profit

4. Nature recycles everything — we do landfills and burn it up

5. Nature rewards cooperation — we reward competition

6. Nature banks on diversity — we build monocultures

7. Nature demands local expertise — we relay on global expertise

8. Nature curbs excesses from within — we relay on exponential growth

9. Nature taps the power of limits — we exceed global capacity all over

Nature carries a lot of great concepts for industries to adapt. Crossing nature with industrial solutions often leads to new disruptive inventions and blue oceans for markets to expand into. Mimicking nature follows the laws of biomimicry — and if compared to today, it will most likely contribute to a better future. In a design thinking way, a bio-mimicking product could both be disruptive and discursive. This means that it can have features that brings something new and totally different to the market as well as being a product that questions e.g. sustainability and climate change. For designers, it is important to think of what the values of both themselves and their products are. For instance; If you are designing something commercial, how could the service or product explore possibilities of energy saving material-minimalism for a greener future in a responsible matter? Questions like these are important to ask to drive the projects into wider research and get a deeper understanding of how these values will be perceived by the consumer. Using recycled materials has for example been a sales argument in the last couple of years, but it does not necessary mean that it is more sustainable than a non-recycled product when counting the products lifecycle.

Let us take a look at some successful biomimicry projects using the 3rd law as example, «Nature fits form to function». This law is the most easily explained when biomimicry is used in design because it is physical and revolves only around form and the advantages of it. Combined with law number 2, «Nature uses only the energy it needs», — the form has to give value to the function to remain energy saving and minimalistic.

These are all great examples of how we should look more to nature for answers when solving problems, but could it be applied to daily life targeting big challenges like climate change? When looking into how nature functions, it is all about diversity and cooperation (ref. law 5 & 6). It is when we work together that we succeed, combining local and global expertise through diversity. An example of this is how the global population has worked to decrease the infection curve of the corona virus[10]. It is under major challenges like this we see the strengths and weaknesses of our system which gives us an overview effect of who we are and where we are heading. It is the awareness created through change that is making us act together, and if that is the case — why are we not acting enough towards climate change to stabilize it?

The answer lies in rate of change. A sudden change in the way we live has shown to be what makes us act. During Covid-19, we can see the change and challenges right in front of us, how it is spreading globally and the consequences of contamination. We have no other option but to show respect by keeping distance — that is currently the only right thing to do. Compared to a rising climate change we do not have that sense of awareness because it is happening slowly. It is still something that is «invisible» in our daily life — it is hard to understand how small changes on a personal level can inflict the entire globe. Though if we view the problem in the same matter as we view the ongoing pandemic, the problem becomes trivial — flatten the curve — every person can make a small change. The general consensus in the world is that climate change leads to global warming. Everyone knows that. But what most people do not know is that warmer climate again leads to a handful of equal catastrophic challenges like e.g. the spread of tropical diseases like Malaria from the Tiger mosquito, spreading wider because of increasing temperatures[11]. If everyone saw the climate change consequences as catastrophic as the pandemic, maybe we would actually flatten the curve?

Can biomimicry be used as a tool to increase awareness and invite to better contribution towards stabilization of the environment?

During my 4th year at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, this is a question that I have been working towards solving. Designing a product that would both contribute to a better climate but at the same time be discursive in the way of bringing awareness and sense of helping to the people around it. The project is called LEAF, a non emission energy production tile that produces hydrogen gas while absorbing emitted greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It splits H2O into 2H2 and O2, while using sunlight to split CO2 into glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen using H2O. To the consumer this means hydrogen gas and electricity to hydrogen fuel in e.g. cars and other hydrogen products while they are contributing to clean air and energy through carbon capture. The LEAF tile is mimicking the photosynthesis of plants and the structures of spider webs to collect humidity to use as needed water in the chemical reactions. The form is designed by combining the organic leaf with a stackable geometric shape (hexagon) (to create product patterns/structures) and leaf cell patterns to increase the feeling and sense of a natural leaf. As a technological concept, this solution could be adapted into e.g. wall-tiles, public sculptures or hydrogen/electricity charging stations for cars.

Examples of use and exploded product renderings.

So, what is the difference between this project and the others that I mentioned earlier? LEAF is not just disruptive with the technology but designed to be discursive in forms of bringing awareness. The “green circle” — how the product captures carbon from the atmosphere and produce zero emission fuel is only the technical part of it, the knowing that you are contributing to stabilization is something bigger. As creators, it is important to find ways to enlighten social issues and spark a light in our communities. We have been living in a change for better standards of living since the industrial revolution, not being thoughtful enough to see the consequences of it. We have to find ways to educate people in order to decelerate climate change and secure a sustainable future. Using nature as inspiration to look at what we can learn and adapt is a good way to make people understand the genius of the natural world and increase our willingness to protect it. Climate change is constantly ongoing and it is all about how we contribute, both individual and collectively, in order to secure a stable and healthy planet. A planet where:

1. We run on sunlight
2. We use only the energy we needs
3. We fit form to function
4. We recycle everything
5. We reward cooperation
6. We bank on diversity
7. We demand local expertise
8. We curb excesses from within
9. We tap the power of limits