December 2013/January 2014 - PAWPRINT PUBLISHING

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
A glimpse into the future: can algae help reduce
The photobiocontactor at the University of Cambridge at work.
WITH the growing costs of fossil
fuels for heating, the landfill tax,
and the benefits of the Renewable
Heat Incentive (RHI), it
makes more sense than ever for
companies to consider installing
a wood waste burner. Not only
can it save money on skip hire
and transportation, the RHI allows
accredited businesses to
receive a quarterly payment
from Government for a period
of 20 years.
One counter argument has
been that burning wood releases
carbon dioxide (CO2) that had
been “locked up” in the wood back
into the atmosphere.
What if it were possible to absorb
up to 75% of the carbon dioxide
as it comes out of the flue,
using biological processes? In
other words, if the emissions from
a wood waste burner contained
4% CO2, processing would reduce
this to a mere 1%. These may seem
small numbers in the grand
scheme of things but, as a reference
point, the CO2 content of the
Earth’s atmosphere is about 0.04%
by volume.
Steve Skill, an EnAlgae collaborator
based at Plymouth Marine
Laboratory, has been working
with Boots in Nottingham on a
similar project since 2008; the
plant takes emissions from Nottingham
Boots’ gas turbine power
station, transports the emissions
via ducting to a photobioreactor
containing microscopic algae,
which absorb the CO2 and in turn
produce ingredients for cosmetics
and other products that would
otherwise need to be sourced
from petrochemicals.
Initally funded in 2008 by the UK
Technology Strategy Board, Boots,
Cognis GmbH (BASF) and Carlton
Power Ltd, the work at Boots continues
with support from the
EnAlgae project.
EnAlgae is a scheme funded for
four years seeking to reduce CO2
emissions and dependency on unsustainable
energy sources in
North West Europe by accelerating
the uptake of sustainable algal
technologies. It is a Strategic Initiative
of the INTERREG IVB North
West Europe programme, funded
via the EU's ERDF and local sponsors,
that brings together 19 partners
and 14 observers across
seven member states.
Steve has also designed a second,
smaller test facility in Cambridge,
which was unveiled during
the Cambridge Algae Symposium
on 2 September 2013, with guided
tours available to delegates.
This project is also supported by
EnAlgae and is the first instalment
of an Algal Innovation Centre.
The Cambridge Algae Symposium
provided an opportunity for
researchers and companies working
with algae to come together to
discuss the latest developments.
Steve, one of the invited speakers,
explained that he calls his process
a photobiocontactor, rather than
the general term of photobioreactor,
because it gently contacts an
air stream such as hot power station
flue gas with an aqueous suspension
of microalgae using
minimal energy input. All else that
is required to keep the microalgae
healthy is sunlight and nutrients.
In his talk to delegates during
the main conference and in response
to the questions that followed,
Steve explained that no
Algae can be made into many useful products, such as this pen.
RanHeat Engineering Ltd is a leading UK producer of wood waste
burning systems.
Page 24 Panel, Wood & Solid Surface December 2013/January 2014