Biomass Producers Today, Carbon Kings Tomorrow

Algae/Other Aquatic Organisms/Seaweed, Business News/Analysis, Carbon Capture, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Agency, Feedstocks, Opinions, Policy, R & D Focus, Rhode Island, Sustainability, West Virginia

December 11, 2014

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by Matt Carr (Biomass Magazine/Algae Biomass Organization) … To control carbon dioxide (CO2), the agency (Environmental Protection Agency) places a significant emphasis on burying emissions underground (carbon capture and sequestration or CCS), but I believe it should equally encourage the beneficial reuse of carbon dioxide emissions (carbon capture and utilization, or CCU).
Just about every biomass company has CO2 emissions in its portfolio, whether producing CO2 in fermentation processes or consuming it by growing a crop. While the EPA’s new rule is mostly focused on coal plants, emissions are emissions, and the biomass industry could find a challenge in future regulations.
To ensure that the EPA is casting a wide net in approaches to reduce emissions, the Algae Biomass Organization and its members spent the past several months making the case for reusing CO2 emissions to manufacture valuable products. The mission: convince the EPA to explicitly endorse CCU technologies.
Regardless of the outcome from the EPA, the breadth of support we found has convinced me that the carbon kings of the future won’t be the fossil fuel extractors of the past, they will be the innovators who build value from the waste gas streams the world is so desperate to dispose of.
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In a sign of growing awareness on Capitol Hill, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., visited ABO platinum member BioProcess Algae in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, to learn how algae can be used to convert waste CO2 into valuable products at cost-competitive prices. According to the Los Angeles Times, Manchin was excited to see firsthand a technology that could be adopted by coal plants in his home state. “As he left BioProcess Algae’s facilities, he turned and said, ‘This is what it’s all about.’ ” READ MORE

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