A research project to produce large-scale biofuel from algae
The Institute for Marine Biosciences, part of the National Research Council (NRC-IMB), based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, announced funding of $ 4.6 million (3.6 million euro) for a pilot plant capable of producing 50,000 liters of algae-based biofuel. The aim is to achieve commercial production in 5-10 years.
According to reports from NRC-IMB, a key component that differentiates this project before, even internationally, is that only use local strains of algae. This, they say, will prevent the ecological risks associated with the importation of “alien species”, and will also be easier to grow these organisms, since they are already acclimatized to the environment of North America.
The Department of Energy United States is involved in the project through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories.
“With water, carbon dioxide and little else, the algae are able to convert sunlight into energy that can be used to produce fuel,” said Stephen O’Leary, a researcher at NRC-IMB is working on the project.
In fact, he says, the energy source for this crop is carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is a technology that produces the environment and also helps to reduce the existing CO2 in the atmosphere.
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