{"id":1282,"date":"2009-11-27T08:47:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-27T08:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oilgae.com\/blog\/?p=1282"},"modified":"2015-01-13T11:54:17","modified_gmt":"2015-01-13T11:54:17","slug":"nasa-launches-with-algae-systems-on-eve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/nasa-launches-with-algae-systems-on-eve.html","title":{"rendered":"NASA Launches with Algae Systems on Eve Of COP 15: Carbon-negative Fuel from Sewage and CO2"},"content":{"rendered":"

You are at: Oilgae Blog<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Press release<\/strong><\/p>\n

As several industrialized nations rush to dampen the expectations of Copenhagen, NASA has launched a new mission. The payload: Algae Systems \u2013 a new company started by NASA engineers and seasoned biofuel industry veterans to launch a profitable global solution for reducing greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n

Algae Systems: Producing Carbon-Negative Diesel and Jet Fuel from Sewage and CO2 The founders of Algae Systems accepted NASA\u2019s challenge to prove, commercialize and bring to market a unique and revolutionary technology \u2013 a byproduct of space missions \u2013 that produces a renewable carbon-negative fuel from algae that feeds on sunlight, sewage and CO2.<\/p>\n

The NASA-developed technology, called OMEGA (Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae) is a low-cost and low-tech method for growing algae. Unlike other approaches to growing algae, which require construction of massive energy-intensive facilities, OMEGAs are relatively inexpensive. OMEGAs are inflatable plastic membranes filled with processed wastewater, CO2 gas, and freshwater algae. OMEGAs float in water, and can be anchored off the coast of any ocean or salt lake. As the algae grow, using the energy of the sun, they convert wastewater and CO2 into biomass, and oxygen. OMEGA\u2019s uniquely utilize forward-osmosis membranes to permeate purified water out of the OMEGA and into the surrounding water.<\/p>\n

When coupled with Algae Systems\u2019 solutions for the production of liquid transportation fuels, the combined \u201cintegrated biorefineries\u201d can make high-value fuels while treating wastewater and drawing down CO2. \u201cThe OMEGA technology has the power to transform. In conjunction with our fuel conversion technologies, we can transform sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels,\u201d said Matthew Atwood, the President of Algae Systems. \u201cTogether the
\ntechnologies create an integrated biorefinery that is simple and scalable, generating sustainable-energy supplies and local green-collar jobs.\u201d Designing Fuels that Draw Down CO2 Algae Systems\u2019 Dr. Zoa Hough-Maguire, a COP 15 delegate representing the State of Florida and her company\u2019s planned commercial project in that state, characterizes the revolutionary benefits of the OMEGA technology, \u201cAlgae Systems\u2019 fuels are radically different. They actually draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.\u201d The company has utilized the U.S. Department of Energy GREET model for carbon lifecycle to validate the fuels will be carbon-negative. With this new technology in hand, Algae Systems specifically addresses the most critical issues on the agenda of the Copenhagen climate conference: the reduction of CO2 and other GHG emissions, sustainable-energy production, waste disposal, and protecting fragile marine ecosystems and water resources.<\/p>\n

Readying for Commercial Launch
\nIn making the announcement, NASA\u2019s, Lisa Lockyer, Deputy Director of New Ventures and Communications for the Ames Research Center, has echoed Algae Systems\u2019 determination and confidence by announcing the center\u2019s support for the commercialization of the technology.
\nAccepting the challenge and signaling his company\u2019s capacity to meet it, Atwood said, \u201cRapid deployment is anticipated. We are building a U.S.-based commercial pilot to prove the scalability of the technology up to 100 million gallons of wastewater throughput per year. Once successful, we will begin offering the technology to industrial and municipal clients.”<\/p>\n

Technology That Gives Back
\n“The concept is simple,” says John Perry Barlow, a Managing Partner of Algae Systems, “If you can take problems that the world has in abundance, like sewage and CO2, and transform them into resources, like diesel fuel that works in existing machinery, you can create economic fountains within local markets that become a positive incentive to draw down significant quantities of greenhouse gases.”<\/p>\n

Mission Critical: On the Front Lines of Global Warming with a technology so readily adaptable to the immediate needs of the developing world, Algae Systems has become a rallying point for those who are most at risk from sea-level rise due to increasing CO2 emissions: AOSIS, the 42 member Alliance of Small Island States. In the words of U.N. Ambassador Demissa Williams of Grenada, leading member of AOSIS, \u201cWe have to worry today, not tomorrow.\u201d With help of NASA and forward-thinking partners around the world, Algae Systems has moved past worry and is taking action.<\/p>\n

Algae Systems, LLC (Algae Systems) is an American, full-service carbon-negative energy production, engineering, and technology company, soon offering turn-key solutions for C02 and sewage conversion to diesel-manufacturing plants worldwide for commercial and municipal clients. Algae Systems is a signatory with the UN Global Impact and its official and approved \u201cCaring for Climate\u201d list of international businesses committed to the development of environmentally-friendly technologies.<\/p>\n

Additional information about Algae Systems and its technology can be found at algaesystems<\/a> and NASA site<\/a><\/p>\n

The term “Carbon-Negative” describes a process for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the earth’s atmosphere. COP 15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, between December 7 and December 18, 2009.<\/p>\n

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?<\/a>; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?<\/a>; and our forum to discuss on with others<\/a>?<\/p>\n

See also:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Small algae with great potential<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You are at: Oilgae Blog. Press release As several industrialized nations rush to dampen the expectations of Copenhagen, NASA has launched a new mission. The payload: Algae Systems \u2013 a new company started by NASA engineers and seasoned biofuel industry veterans to launch a profitable global solution for reducing greenhouse gases. Algae Systems: Producing Carbon-Negative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-algae-carbon-capture","category-algae-energy-investments","category-algae-fuel-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1282"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5268,"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions\/5268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oilgae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}