The Algae Attraction

Clean coal is an imperative. Some breakthrough technologies to achieve that goal now exist while others are years away. One such concept is to use waste carbon emissions from power plants to grow algae, which is subsequently converted to energy and because those releases would re-cycled, carbon dioxide emissions would be cut in half.

Views range from enthusiastic to reserved. It’s a sensible alternative but one that will not end the debate over which fuel sources will best meet the global community’s future energy needs. In fact, if the theory can be scaled up and used at power plants, the subsequent reduced emissions might even encourage the use of coal.
Consider NRG Energy, which is field testing the technology at one of its coal-fired plants in Louisiana: It is using naturally-occurring algae to capture and reduce flue gas carbon dioxide emissions. The energy-rich algae are harvested daily and can be converted into a broad range of bio-fuels or high-value animal feed supplements.

Power generators can choose to dry and store the carbon-rich algae biomass for use as renewable fuel for the power plant or change it into valuable transportation fuels such as biodiesel or ethanol. Industry experts say that the rule of thumb is that it takes two million tons of algae to be able to capture one million tons of carbon dioxide. The process requires no re-engineering of the power plant, the utility says.

Energy Central