ABO Applauds Department of Energy for Funding Algea-Based Carbon Capture

Recently, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) selected 16 projects to receive funding through NETL’s Carbon Capture Program. ABO is proud that two were algae-focused projects! This is great news for the algae industry and for the growing momentum behind carbon capture and utilization technologies.

The project descriptions are below, and you can check out the full list of awardees here.

Biological CO2 Use/Conversion

A Microalgae–Based Platform for the Beneficial Reuse of CO2 Emissions from Power Plants

The research team at University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, KY) – with University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (Newark, DE) and ALGIX, LLC (Meridian, MS) – will study microalgae-based CO₂ capture with conversion of the resulting algal biomass to fuels and bioplastics. Scenedesmus acutus algae will be cultured in an innovative cyclic-flow photobioreactor; the algae will be harvested and dewatered using a University of Kentucky technology based on flocculation (a process where fine particles clump together)/sedimentation/filtration. The project will yield a conceptual design for an algae-based CO₂ capture system suitable for integration with a coal-fired power plant. The project will last 24 months.

Microalgae Commodities from Coal Plant Flue Gas CO2

MicroBio Engineering, Inc. (San Luis Obispo, CA) will integrate microalgal production systems into the Orlando (Florida) Utilities Commission Stanton Energy Center coal-fired power plant and study their ability to use and mitigate CO₂ emissions from flue gas. Experimental work at the plant and the University of Florida, Gainesville will test the growth of native microalgae under local conditions with actual flue gas and pure CO₂. Other partners include Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (La Jolla, CA), Life Cycle Associates LLC (Portola Valley, CA), and SFA Pacific, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA). The project will last 24 months.

Congratulations to both of these projects!