Comments on: Why the Stimulus Stake in Carbon Capture Neglects Algae Startups

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:50:45 +0000

Sadly, capturing carbon from a power plant in algae then using the algae for fuel or cattlefeed is not sustainable, and could even make the problem worse than not capturing at all!
There are effectively two carbon cycles on earth: on a decades scale it cycles between air, ocean, soil, and biota. Over millennia, it can be bound into minerals as rocks weather and as some organisms are buried instead of decaying, and released later by tectonics. Our key problem is that burning coal and oil rapidly adds to the carbon in the short cycle. Capturing it in algae does not take it back out of the short cycle unless you then bury it. And if you do that, you may as well run the power station on the algae and leave the coal in the ground.
So algal capture is hardly a solution. If used as cattle cake it may reemerge as methane, and that could be worse than not having captured it at all.

By: Biofuels Fell Off a Cliff, Now Where Are the Opportunities?

Biofuels Fell Off a Cliff, Now Where Are the Opportunities? — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:07:32 +0000

[...] developers should work on commercial-ready products like ingredients for medicine, as well as carbon capture technology, which Lux expects to generate revenue “long before” the mechanics of fuel production [...]

By: House Dems Unveil Climate Plan: Carbon Cuts, National RPS and More $$$

House Dems Unveil Climate Plan: Carbon Cuts, National RPS and More $$$ — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:16:03 +0000

[...] well as carbon recyclers like Ternion Bio and GreenFuel Technology (which we’ve written about before) have large stakes in the outcome. Markey and Waxman call for Congress to fund a demo program and [...]

By: Bionavitas to Grow High-Density Algae — Secret Weapon? Light Rods « Earth2Tech

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:01:27 +0000

[...] business has shot up recently, largely due to looming carbon pricing legislation and programs in the stimulus package. “If you’re making algae this dense,” Weaver said, “you have to have a CO2 [...]

By: Productive Scum | VoxStimuli

Productive Scum | VoxStimuli — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:16:20 +0000

[...] to lowering carbon emissions, the primary contributer to global warming. The author of this article makes the case for stimulus funding of such scummy endeavors. [...]

By: Big Win for Carbon Recyclers, Startups in Compromise Stimulus « Earth2Tech

Big Win for Carbon Recyclers, Startups in Compromise Stimulus « Earth2Tech — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:00:35 +0000

[...] am in Policy Just a few days ago, it looked like carbon recyclers and startups would get the short end of the stimulus stick — doomed to an uneven battle with coal companies and their preferred strategy for carbon [...]

By: Carbon Capture Investment Could Top $70B by 2030 — Who Wins? « Earth2Tech

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:48:56 +0000

[...] at the front of the line to benefit from this growing investment (much of it through stimulus packages) in the U.S., western Canada, Europe and Australia? None other than the six global supermajors: BP, [...]

By: Sequoia Breaks Into Carbon Capture, Backs Stealthy C12 Energy « Earth2Tech

Sequoia Breaks Into Carbon Capture, Backs Stealthy C12 Energy « Earth2Tech — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:01:39 +0000

[...] a slice of the billions of dollars set aside for carbon capture in both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill could help take House’s scheme out [...]

By: Cool Green Science: The Conservation Blog of The Nature Conservancy » Cool Green Morning: Thursday, Feb. 10

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:15:53 +0000

[...] start-ups won’t qualify for carbon sequestration funding under the new stimulus package, and Earth2Tech explains why that’s a bad thing. (Hat-tip: The [...]

By: Quick Hits: Dinosaur Bonanza Edition - Environment and Energy

Quick Hits: Dinosaur Bonanza Edition - Environment and Energy — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:24:21 +0000

[...] cars or hydrogen fuel cells? Hmm. * Speaking of sequestration, Josie Garthwaite of Earth2Tech elaborates on why Congress should pay more attention to algae as a means of storing (or, more accurately, [...]