Imagine if we could reduce industrial carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent? Surely big business would balk at such a task. "It will hurt the economy!" cries the Republicans.
But, what if we can reduce carbon emissions by changing them into something useful, like say Biodiesel. Isaac Berzin, an MIT scientist, and his startup company are working on such a process
Dr. Isaac Berzin, MIT
The process involves tubes of algae mounted on the top of smoke stacks. Anyone with a fish tank knows that algae is prone to show up with sunlight and slightly warm waters. Basically, the warm smokestack gases, rich in carbon dioxide, pass through an "algae tank," in which algae photosynthesize the carbon into something more useful, like oil. At the end of the day, the tanks are drained, processed into biodiesel and ethanol, and a new seed culture is replaced in the tubes.
A summary of the process, via GreenFuel's website
Berzin is currently optimizing the process with strains of high-oil producing algae, and the initial results are promising. The Christian Science Monitor reports that a 20MW power plant's CO2 emissions were cut by 40%, up to 80% on bright sunny days, and the NOx emissions were cut by 86%.
And the yields are impressive. Also from the CSMonitor story:
For his part, Berzin calculates that just one 1,000 megawatt power plant using his system could produce more than 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol a year. That would require a 2,000-acre "farm" of algae-filled tubes near the power plant. There are nearly 1,000 power plants nationwide with enough space nearby for a few hundred to a few thousand acres to grow algae and make a good profit, he says.
Berzin has a startup company called GreenFuel. They've received $11 million in veture capital funding, and are beginning full-scale trials.
Now, think about the ramifications. Instead of buying CO2 credits, companies will be selling biofuel after an intial investment. You cannot dispute the economics. Yes, the carbon is still released into the air by combustion of said fuel, but if this process didn't exist, we'd be burning oil instead in said car. And yes, we are burning fossil fuels to make the CO2 for the algae, but that's not changing anytime soon either. And even if it did, the algae is said to produce 15,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre, conditions permitting.
Another con is that fuel and power industry would effectively be one; but at least our wealth is kept state-side, rather than being sent to the Middle East. Plus the power industrial somewhat regulated.
From the last section of the article,
For his part, Berzin calculates that just one 1,000 megawatt power plant using his system could produce more than 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol a year. That would require a 2,000-acre "farm" of algae-filled tubes near the power plant. There are nearly 1,000 power plants nationwide with enough space nearby for a few hundred to a few thousand acres to grow algae and make a good profit, he says.
That equals 40 billion gallons of biodiesel, and 50 billion gallons of fuel-ethanol. American drivers consume less than 146 billions of gasoline per year (via ConcoPhillips, highest daily consumption [August 2005] times 365). It is possible with efficient turbodiesels and ethanol engines, we could eliminate imported oil for transportation attogether.
I would call that pretty revolutionary.