Filed under: Biodiesel, Emerging Technologies, Carbon Capture
CO2 captured to feed biodiesel-producing algae
Two companies, Holcim and Aurantia are starting a new project to reuse CO2. They take the CO2 produced by a cement plant in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain and "feed" it to microalgae which then turn around and produce biodiesel. The results of this project will be tested to assess if the carbon dioxide supplied by the cement plant is suitable for the algae. The two companies will also select the best type of algae for the project as well as assessing the viability of the project. The test will be performed on an-almost industrial scale, so once the final green light is given, it could start working immediately.
[Source: Econoticias]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tankd0g 10:45AM (4/12/2008)
When is that thing scheduled for lift off?
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rgseidl 10:57AM (4/12/2008)
Cement production is essential but approx. 10x as energy intensive as the economy as a whole.
http://www.malvern.com/ProcessEng/industries/cement/energy.htm
The location in southern Spain is part of Europe's sun belt. Note that the CO2 will be piped to the algaculture location near Cadiz on the coast, some 20 miles from the cement plant. It's not clear if the system will use open ponds or bioreactors and if the algae will be fresh or salt water species.
The companies involved must be fairly confident of success if they're building such a large pilot plant. Annual capacity is expected to be 20,000 metric tons (~6.3 million US gallons) of biodiesel.
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GoodCheer 11:12AM (4/12/2008)
This is huge news. I had no idea that this technology was ready for such a program, I thought algal biodiesel was still several years out.
If this works, and can be done efficiently, it will really change the equation.
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GreyFlcn 12:21PM (4/12/2008)
Before you get all giddy about it, perhaps read this:
http://greyfalcon.net/algae4
This is just GreenFuels all over again, but this time with a cement plant supplying the CO2, instead of a Coal plant.
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Enoch 1:13PM (4/12/2008)
Greyflcn, I am not sure what your problem is, but you are constantly agitating against Algae. Don’t you think that these people already know about the Green Fuel experience, and yet they are putting their money where their mouth is. Are you upset that they didn’t consult the utmost expert on Algae, namely you?
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meme 1:55PM (4/12/2008)
The big problem is that algae is farming for fuel, with more efficient use of the sun, but you can't just put crops in the soil; you need tanks. That means significant capital costs that are hard to overcome.
GreyFalcn's article is good, although a bit overly pessimistic. Obviously, giant heavy bioreactors will never be economical. But that's not the only way to farm capital costs. Something more like how they farm spirulina would be more appropriate (it's like fish farming). But even still, it's way too expensive.
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EVan 2:51PM (4/12/2008)
Energy's getting more expensive though, so hopefully the falling cost of algae farming will intersect with the rising cost of energy sometime in the near future.
I hear there's a lot of CO2 on Mars. Without reading the article it looks like from the picture that's where they're going to 'capture' it from. :)
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Mik_Cal 3:22PM (4/12/2008)
The problem with algae farming, along with the capital cost of the tanks, is that it requires an enriched source of Carbon dioxide, at lest in the designs that I have seen. So it means a continued dependence on carbon emitting energy or industrial sources. It's not a particularly green fuel in these configurations: it has neither the low capital requirements of land-grown biofuels, nor a sustainable source of nutrients.
The people who are enthusiastic about it must be terribly short-sighted: they have glommed onto the idea of biofuels and then fixated on the fact that algae are more efficient photosynethically than land-based plants, ignoring the two boundary conditions cited above that are expensive and unsustainable.
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A.Brien 10:53PM (4/12/2008)
Im optimistic that it's economical and it's less polluting then petroluem diesel.Less particulate matters.
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Vanessa 2:57AM (4/16/2008)
The progress that is being made in the biofuel sector is remarkable. As Goodcheer has said I thought fuel from algae would be in the far off future. But technology is advancing in a rapid pace. But one also has to be cautious about it. Mik Cal has mentioned certain drawbacks that has to be researched upon.
We want fuel that is economical and also environment friendly. To find if algae is the solution, more research has to be carried out.
You can also take a look at the resources we provide for the latest in Bio - Fuels @ our Future of Engineering Blog.
http://www.engineeringservicesoutsourcing.com/b/fe/labels/Energy-Environment-Engineering.html
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