Plant Would Let Algae Turn Carbon Dioxide to Fuel


As we've detailed, CO2 can be directly recovered from the atmosphere, or coal plant flue gasses, and then chemically processed into useful hydrocarbons - up to and including gasoline.
 
But, we've also documented the use of algae, as cultivated in "bio-reactors" and "fed" with Carbon Dioxide, and other nutrients, from coal-fired power plants, to recycle emissions into useful substances.
 
There are many strains of algae, and they produce a variety of compounds. Herein is documented an effort undertaken by Dow Chemical and an algal science company, Algenol Biofuels, to produce ethanol by recycling Carbon Dioxide.
 
Some excerpts:
 
"Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol as a vehicle fuel or an ingredient in plastics."     
 
(Note the "synergy" mentioned in the following excerpt.)                                                        

"The ethanol would be sold as fuel, the companies said, but Dow’s long-term interest is in using it as an ingredient for plastics, replacing natural gas. The process also produces oxygen, which could be used to burn coal in a power plant cleanly, said Paul Woods, chief executive of Algenol, which is based in Bonita Springs, Fla. The exhaust from such a plant would be mostly carbon dioxide, which could be reused to make more algae...."