Using algae to clean up industry emissions

The Challenge

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) and other waste gases contribute to local and global industrial Carbon Footprints, which has a direct impact on climate change and the evolving climate crisis.

Dr Preedy is based at the Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) and is part of the Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions (RICE) project. Her research focuses on using waste carbon dioxide to help grow algae to clean up waste fumes from local industry.

To combat the emissions, Dr Preedy, along with her fellow researchers at RICE, will design, build and employ an Integrated Bio-refinery.

The bio-refinery will use microalgae (grown and circulated through tall tubes held in frames) to consume nitrates, phosphates and CO₂ found in industrial, domestic, and agricultural waste to produce useful high-value products.

As trees and plants can capture CO₂ for photosynthesis, so can algae which has an ability to capture and re-use up to 1.8 kg of CO₂ per kilogram of algal biomass.

The more algae that can be grown means the more CO₂ that can be captured from the waste emissions and the more products that can be harvested and produced from the plant material.

_{Reduced Industrial Carbon Emissions (RICE) Operation has been partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.}

The impact

Greener processes and a reduced Carbon footprint

• With the aim of zero carbon emissions by 2050, growing microalgae is a step in the right direction to reducing the emissions released into the atmosphere, i.e. 1.8kg of CO₂ per kilogram of algal biomass, and achieving a cleaner future.

High-value products

• Pigments are present in microalgae, such as chlorophyll which is common to all plants, but certain species of algae contain pigments such as Phycocyanin which has a value of approximately £72000 per kilogram.
• Harvested algae is also rich in nutrients such as Omega-3 which, once purified, can be used to produce a range of nutrients and supplements.
• The production of such high-value products could therefore act as an incentive for industry, enabling them to recoup initial set-up costs and profit from their production.