US DOE awards US$8 million for algae-based carbon capture and recycling

FECM funds research and development (R&D) projects to reduce the cost of and decarbonize power generation and industrial sources, and to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to further the sustainable use of the nation’s energy resources.

Using algae, the selected projects will develop conversion technologies to decrease emissions, helping to reach the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Capturing and utilizing CO2 from sources across power and industrial sectors is critical to fighting climate change — and to creating new jobs and opportunities in hard-hit communities across the country. These projects represent an important step in those efforts, said Dr Jennifer Wilcox, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.

These projects will support the goals of FECM’s Carbon Utilization Program to lower the near-term cost of carbon capture through the creation of value-added products from the conversion of CO2. FECM and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the following four projects:

Carbon Capture and Utilization for Protein and Fatty Acids — Global Algae Innovations, San Diego, California (CA) will develop a technology suite to lower production costs, making algae products competitive in commodity food, chemical, polymer, and animal feed markets that are commensurate with utility- and industrial-scale application.
DOE Funding: US$2 million; Non-DOE Funding: US$0.5 million; Total Value: US$2.5 million.

Engineering-Scale Validation of Novel Algae CO2 Capture and Bioproducts Technology — Helios-NRG, LLC, Amherst, New York (NY) plans to develop a novel algae technology to capture CO2 from carbon-based power plants and convert it to valuable products that generate revenue.
DOE Funding: US$1 999 228; Non-DOE Funding: US$499 802; Total Value: US$2 499 030

Continuous Algae-based Carbon Capture and Utilization (CACCU) to Transform Economics and Environmental Impacts — Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas (TX) aims to integrate cutting-edge sorbent-based CO2 capture and algae-based technologies to produce value-added products and algal biomass from flue gas at ultra-high yield and low costs. The project features (1) a synthetic biology design that triggers algal cells auto-sedimentation with high solid load, which allows continuous cultivation by periodic auto-cell removal/harvesting to maintain optimal growth rate and low energy cost; (2) a high-capacity, low-cost, and energy-efficient sorbent that allows CO2 storage at night and controlled release during daytime cultures; and (3) hydrogel-based phosphate, ammonia and bicarbonate controlled delivery, which will greatly enhance algae productivity, reduce CO2 loss and media cost and mitigate the need for high alkaline-based CO2 storage, enabling the utilization of a rapidly growing strain. Moreover, Texas A&M AgriLife Research will use machine learning, process control and techno-economic analysis (TEA), and life cycle analysis (LCA) models to evaluate and optimize carbon capture and utilization efficiency, costs, and scale-up feasibility for producing biomass and byproducts from flue gas.
DOE Funding: US$2 million; Non-DOE Funding: US$507 202; Total Value: US$2 507 202

Improving the Cost-Effectiveness of Algal CO2 Utilization by Synergistic Integration with Power Plant and Wastewater Treatment Operations — University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois (IL) plans to demonstrate an engineering-scale open raceway pond algae cultivation system, including the integration of technologies that utilize carbon-based power plant CO2 and wastewater nutrient inputs, as well as decrease CO2 emissions and cost.
DOE Funding: US$1 997 436; Non-DOE Funding: US$501 660; Total Value: US$2 499 096