Bio Fuel Systems Develops New Technique to Produce Bio-Oil from Algal Biomass
Bio Fuel Systems Inc., has established a 50-km square plant in Spain which produces bio-oil using a novel method. Almost 400 of the green tubes, filled with millions of microscopic algae, cover a plain near the city of Alicante, next to a cement works from which the CO2 is captured and transported via a pipeline. The microalgae reproduces at high speed in the tubes by photosynthesis and from the CO2 released from the cement factory. Every day some of this highly concentrated liquid is extracted and filtered to produce a biomass that is turned into bio-oil. The other great advantage of the system is that it is a depollutant — it absorbs the CO2 which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. BFS founder Bernard Stroiazzo-Mougin is cautious however and expects the technology to take atleast 5-10 years to commercialise.
In Germany, the Swedish energy group Vattenfall last year launched a pilot project in which algae is used to absorb carbon dioxide from a coal-fired power plant. US oil giant ExxonMobil plans to invest up to $600 million in research on oil produced from algae.
Companies, in particular those in the aeronautic sector, have shown keen interest in this research, hoping to find a replacement for classic oil.
For more refer
http://pda.physorg.com/news/2011-03-spanish-scientists-fuel-future.html
