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Algae to Produce Biofuels and Cleanse Carbon Dioxide Effects
October 18, 2007 at 7:35 PM
General Health News
One idea put forward by researchers in Germany could see algae being used to soak up carbon dioxide emissions from power plants to eventually produce biofuels.
"In 10 years' time we could see areas of 20 to 30 km along the Mediterranean coast being used to transform carbon dioxide," says Professor Laurenz Thomsen from Jacobs University in Bremen.
Laurenz envisions the construction of so-called algae-based bioreactors where carbon dioxide emissions are sucked from power plants' exhausts and mixed with salt water.
The algae not only withdraw the harmful carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere, but it also produces biomass, which could be used for fuels like ethanol in powering motor vehicles.
According to Thomsen, biomass could also find another use in the construction industry where it could be turned into insulation material for homes and other buildings.
"But we still require more research in this direction," he says.
The north German city of Bremen's main power plant operator SWP is watching the project closely, according to its spokeswoman Petra Gaebe.
There are already carbon-capturing systems in operation where carbon dioxide emissions from power plans are sequestered underground in shafts and mines.
"But it is more attractive if these emissions are destroyed by algae," Gaebe says, adding that her company would be interested once the project becomes marketable.
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