Algae have enormous appetite for carbon dioxide
Margaret Munro
Sun
Pond scum may not jump to most people’s minds as an environmental saviour, but some, including Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn, say it could do wonders for the Canadian environment.
Lunn and other proponents estimate that tiny green microbes commonly associated with scummy lakes could capture as much as 100 million tonnes of CO2 now wafting out of coal-fired power plants and oilsands projects each year. That’s more than 10 per cent of all the CO2 pumped out of Canada’s smokestacks and exhaust pipes.
It is a mental — and arithmetical — leap to see algae as a serious weapon against climate change. But the head of the Canadian “microalgae” initiative announced by Lunn earlier this week says the organisms also have the potential to generate such valuable byproducts as methane gas, biofuel and animal feed.
“Algae are some of the fastest growing organisms out there,” says Brent Lakeman of the Alberta Research Council, who is managing the $400,000 project funded largely by the federal and provincial governments.
He says the idea is to divert the CO2 heading up smokestacks into ponds to boost the growth of algae that have an enormous appetite for the gas. Not only do they consume CO2 faster than plants like soybeans or corn, but they can be grown almost anywhere there is water.
Ponds could be built close to big CO2 emitters, such as Saskatchewan’s coal-fired power plants or Alberta’s oil upgraders, and designed to optimize algal growth, says Lakeman. “It’s not like a wild Alberta lake or something.”
The ponds would, however, use fast-growing algae native to the Prairies. Scientists are already searching for good candidates to put to work, says Lakeman.
Lunn cited the algae initiative as more evidence the Conservatives are “serious about delivering real results to Canadians and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Johanne Whitmore, a climate policy analyst at the Pembina Institute in Ottawa, sees it as evidence of the Conservative’s delaying tactics.
“It is fine to talk about new technology and invest in research and development,” says Whitmore. “But if they were serious about reducing emissions, they would do as much as they can now to start using technologies that reduce emission in the near-term and not just talk about the potential for reducing emissions.”
Lakeman agrees algae will not make a substantial dent in emissions anytime soon. But he and his colleagues see “potential for reducing CO2 emissions by 100 million tonnes per annum by 2012.”
Within six months, Lakeman says, he hopes to better understand the economic and environmental pros and cons of using microalgae to capture industrial carbon. If it looks promising, he says the plan is to move ahead quickly with demonstration and field projects.
Plenty of details need to be clarified, such as how much land would have to be covered with ponds to soak up 100 million tonnes of CO2 a year. It could be upwards of 2,000 square kilometres, judging by microalgae systems in other countries.
Lakeman says Canada’s long summer days are ideal for growing algae, and waste heat from industrial operations near the ponds could help prevent them from freezing in winter.
While biofuels and other salable products are a bonus, Lakeman says another advantage is that algae could recycle CO2 heading up the smokestack at any large facility.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007