Comments on: Canadian Cement Plant Becomes First to Capture CO2 in Algae

By: Canadian Cement Plant Becomes First to Capture CO2 in Algae |

Canadian Cement Plant Becomes First to Capture CO2 in Algae | — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:37:03 +0000

[...] out the full article. This entry was posted in Energy, Environment and tagged biofuel. Bookmark the permalink. [...]

By: asam aziz

asam aziz — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:51:42 +0000

Cement Plants emit Co2 at high temperature from stacks at a high level of about 100 meters. How do you bring it down to the algae growing area at griound level. Are you blowing it down by mechanical means at the Canadian Plant.

By: David

David — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:25:55 +0000

Now the question is, which CO2 emissions are being captured by the company? 60%, 40%, or all?

By: E&I

E&I — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:13:57 +0000

We appreciate your insight but your comment was not deleted to "censor the truth", it was deleted for the insults it was peppered with. Taking note of your original concern, we updated the post yesterday to reflect a more nuanced picture of how much CO2 is released via the chemical processes of cement making and how much is released by burning fuel for the kilns. We based our rough estimates on a a 2004 EPA study. See: Hanle, J. (2004) "CO2 Emissions Profile of the U.S. Cement Industry"(pdf) Thanks. -Ed.

By: David

David — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:45:08 +0000

Deleted my post? It’s a plain fact that most CO2 emissions from concrete production are caused by the chemical process, NOT the energy intensity. The first two sentences made me want to throw up all over my computer. That’s the truth! Don’t censor the truth! http://www.concretethinker.com/technicalbrief/Concrete-Cement-CO2.aspx

By: eva

eva — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:17:16 +0000

I think the title of this article is misleading…. what is happening is they are capturing the CO2 from the cement plant and using that to grow the algae. photosynthetic algea are like plants, they require high amounts of CO2 and release O2. Certain types of algae produce oils as a waste product and that is what is valuble to us as a bio fuel.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:59:45 +0000

Joe, I suggest you check this part of the story out before commenting on the pitfalls of previous biofuels projects (although I agree that many have been bogus ideas):

“The algae will be grown at a facility adjacent to the stacks, harvested, dried using industrial waste heat, from the cement plant and then used along with the fossil fuels that are currently used in its cement kilns”

The algae processing is using waste heat, which would be lost energy regardless. Also, no need for trucks/shipping as the fuel is then being consumed on site. Essentially this delays the use of fossil fuels, decreasing the rate of carbon dioxide emmisions. For every BTU of fuel generated from recaptured C02 there is one less BTU of fuel mined, so the overall carbon footprint goes down.