“The only profitable way to capture carbon right now is utilization, to grow something with it.”
That’s what Tim Burns, CEO of BioProcess Algae, says in a new article in E&E News about the algae industry’s desire to use carbon dioxide from power generation to grow algae that can be transformed into valuable fuels, foods and chemicals. The process can remove CO2 destined for the atmosphere, displace petroleum that would have to be drilled from underground, and create revenue from CO2 mitigation, rather than the costs that come from disposal options such as sequestration.
The E&E News story is about the increasing number of voices coming from algae entrepreneurs that are concerned about what kind of technologies the EPA will allow as it begins to regulate carbon dioxide emissions:
Algae companies need to feed their microorganisms a steady diet of carbon dioxide, but EPA has not formally recognized their technologies in its proposals to stem greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants. The companies worry that without government endorsement, power plants would have little incentive to give away their carbon for reuse.
Without a clear policy that carbon capture and utilization is an acceptable way to reduce CO2 emissions the algae industry is faced with another barrier just as a number of companies are stepping into commercial production.
Some of the ABO members that will soon be looking for large amounts of CO2 include BioProcess Algae, as well as Sapphire Energy, Algenol and Cellana.
Read the full article and watch an interview with ABO’s executive director Matt Carr on the topic here.