Algae

The ALGAE PROJECT under the patronage of biotecIasia and science partners in Germany is used to create a clean - green process which uses only light, water and air to create fuel in form of Hydrogen and other Biofuels.

Current data from our science partners in Germany, project high yield results of algae biomass, which will be harvested and processed into several algae products as biofuels and ingredients in food, pharmaceutical, health and beauty products at a significantly lower cost than comparable oil-producing crops such as palm and soya bean (soybean).

Production of micro-algae using power plant flue gases to bind CO₂
The capture of CO₂ from the waste gases of CO₂-emitting industries will in future play an important role in lowering CO₂ emissions. Besides the options available for capturing CO₂ from processes and for storage below ground, specialist circles, and the general public as well, are increasingly thinking about the possibilities of converting and making use of CO₂. Our science partners in Germany have studied in detail various options for climate-beneficial recycling and trapping CO₂ in order to identify potentials and obtain recommendations for action. One result of these investigations is a cooperation project launched by the Institute of Environmental Process Engineering, University Bremen and the University Hannover, Institute of Biotechnology for binding CO₂ using micro-algae. Micro-algae are unicellular, plant-like organisms that absorb CO2 by photosynthesis in order to grow. One crucial advantage is that they have much higher growth rates than any land-based plant, enabling them to convert CO₂ into biomass faster than plants on land.

Moreover, marine micro-algae grow in saltwater, which significantly increases the stability of production compared with freshwater algae. In our latitudes, micro-algae produces 60 to 100 t/(ha x a) dry substance, with 120 to 200 t/(ha x a) of CO₂ being bound. The growth rate of micro-algae is much higher than that of fast-growing energy crops, like willows or poplars from short-rotation plantations with 12 t/(ha x a) or Miscanthus with 15 t/(ha x a) dry substance.

Marine micro-algae can be produced in closed systems, and use can be made of locations which, owing to their soil characteristics, are not suitable for growing plants. This avoids site competition with the cultivation of food and feed. The aim is to use the specific capabilities of microalgae to bind CO₂ from flue gases at lignite-fired power plants. Before commercial-scale deployment becomes feasible, however, numerous points still have to be resolved. Besides technical issues associated with the development of this technology, it will have to be shown above all that the total energy balance from algae production to conversion is positive and that a net CO₂ reduction is obtained.