Arizona Public Service Company has recycled carbon dioxide from the stack gases of a power plant into transportation grade biofuels. Using GreenFuel’s Emissions-to-Biofuels algae bioreactor system connected to APS’ 1,040 megawatt Redhawk power plant in Arlington, Ariz., GreenFuel was able to create a carbon-rich algal biomass with sufficient quality and concentration of oils and starch content to be converted into transportation-grade biodiesel and ethanol.
The project won the Emission Energy Project of the Year award at the Platts Global Energy Awards ceremony in New York.
“This is the first time ever that algae biomass created on-site by direct connection to a commercial power plant has been successfully converted to both these biofuels,” said Isaac Berzin, GreenFuel’s founder and Chief Technology Officer.
GreenFuel’s Emissions-to-Biofuels technology uses safe, naturally occurring algae to recycle carbon dioxide from the stack gases of power plants and other commercial sources of continuous CO2 emissions. At the Redhawk Power Plant, specially designed pipes captured and transported the CO2 emissions coming out of the stack. The gas was then transferred to specialized containers holding algae.
“We estimate that this process can absorb as much as 80 percent of CO2 emissions during the daytime at a natural gas fired power plant,” said GreenFuel CEO Cary Bullock.
GreenFuel and APS have been conducting a field assessment program over the past 18 months, and have moved into the next phase of study with the construction of an Engineering Scale Unit that will be completed in first quarter of 2007.
