Acronym CO2ALGAEFIX
Category
Marine Biotechnology
Title CO2 capture and bio-fixation through microalgal culture Programme LIFE
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source European Coordinator Augusto Rodriguez-Villa Matons Coordinator email arv@algaenergy.es
Coordinator institution
NA
Institutions involved
NA - Exeleria SL (Spain) ,
NA - Iberdrola SA (Spain) ,
NA - Madrid Network (Spain) ,
NA - Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Spain) ,
UAL - University of Almeria (Spain) ,
USE - University of Seville (Spain) ,
Start year 2011 End year 2015 Funding (€) € 2,980,594 Website https://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.dspPage&n_proj_id=4013#AD Summary According to the European Environment Agency, energy consumption accounts for 80% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU. It is one of the primary risk factors for climate change and for most forms of air pollution. The EU is committed to reducing GHG emissions to a level that will contribute to limiting the global temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels (European Commission COM(2007)1). Biofixation of CO2 by microalgae has been the subject of extensive investigations in the U.S., Japan and Europe (IEA-GHG Biofixation Network). In particular, researchers have examined its potential application in the treatment of flue gases from power plants. However, no projects have yet successfully demonstrated the feasibility of this concept at a pre-industrial scale. In previous pilot projects, the CO2 fixation efficiency - whether in open and raceway ponds or in enclosed photobioreactors - has always been quite low. The key objective of the CO2ALGAEFIX project is to demonstrate, at a one hectare surface scale, an efficient way to capture CO2 from stationary sources (in this case, a power plant that uses natural gas). It aims to demonstrate that CO2 emissions can be used as a substrate for biomass algae production. The project will use a 10 000 m2 pilot plant constructed by Algaenergy for experiments in microalgae cultivation. It aims specifically to test and demonstrate a new photobioreactor concept based on flat panels as the basis for a highly efficient large-surface culture plant. The process proposed will include novel technologies to capture and concentrate CO2, and make it available for culturing microalgae. Through ongoing evaluation and optimisation of the pilot plant's design, and its connection to the CO2-generation plant, the project hopes to achieve increased CO2 bio-fixation and the photosynthetic efficiency of microalgal cultures. The 1 ha demonstration plant is expected to capture and fix more than 200 tonnes of CO2 per year. If successful, the technology should easily scale-up to industrial level. CO2ALGAEFIX will also evaluate possible uses of the microalgae, for example, in the production of energy, or in the production of valuable compounds for different economic sectors.
The objective of the CO2ALGAEFIX project is to study the economic and technical viability of a capture process and biological fixation of CO2 through microalgae in an industrial power generation plant, specifically in the combined cycle of Iberdrola in Arcos de la Frontera (Province of Cádiz). For this, a new flat vertical reactor design will be used, whose efficiency, production capacity and CO2 fixation is greater than that of conventional open reactors. The construction of the prototype (demonstration plant, prior to industrialisation) of Capture and CO2 Bio-fixation will represent a milestone at world level, both for its dimensional characteristics as well as for the techniques that will be applied and will allow testing, in the best possible conditions, the technical-economical capacity of this process to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time obtaining high value products, such as biogas, fertilizers, animal feed and products, raw material for the cosmetics sector. Demonstrating the viability and commercial value of the biomass at "demonstrative scale" is the second objective. For this, the different options for the use of this biomass will be evaluated technically and economically. In addition, starting from the concentrated algal biomass (microalgae paste) that is obtained, there could be different ways of commercialising depending on the intended final use, as for example, for the aquaculture sector. Currently, ALGAENERGY produces and markets two types of microalgae strains (Nannochloropsis and Isochrysis) in this sector. This biomass has an optimal lipid profile, contained of omega-3 fatty acids and high protein content. This product is obtained after a drying process (lyophilized) and is packed as a final product. While the reactors used in this case are closed systems, the application of the cultivation of these strains in semi-open reactors will allow demonstrating its application to obtain these high added value products. Other sectors (cosmetic, nutritional) will require extraction processes of certain fractions within the general biochemical composition of the algae biomass. The final organic waste (estimated at 40-60% of the biomass produced) will be used in the CO2ALGAEFIX project, through its use in a process for biogas production.
Keywords
Biogas;
Waste valorization;
Prototype;
Bioprospecting;
Technology;
Wastes;
Land-based aquaculture;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
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