The magic of algae and potential of peat fuel
Saturday, January 14th, 2006
The Christian Science Monitor has an update on Cambridge, Mass.-based GreenFuel Technologies Corp., which is trying to commercialize a method of growing algae with CO2 emitted by power plants. The algae, ideally produced on massive farms, would then be harvested and used to create biodiesel and ethanol. The approach is being hailed as a way of reducing CO2 emissions from coal and natural gas power plants while creating a steady, potentially massive feedstock for biofuel production. The article is worth a read, and GreenFuel is worth checking out.
Also, if you’re interested in the potential of using peat as an alternative fuel, there’s a company in Ontario called Peat Resources Ltd. that has been pushing the idea for years. Apparently Canada has the largest fuel-grade peat deposits in the world, which the company says is comparable in size to the Alberta oil sands in energy content.
“Fuel grade peat, which is usually found at the deeper levels underneath the horticultural variety, is in a more advanced stage of decomposition,” the company says on its Web site. “Currently, there is no fuel peat harvesting operations in Canada.”
Fuel-grade peat has less than 10 per cent of the sulphur content of coal, no mercury and produces less waste ash and dust emissions. The company says the resource is classified as a slowly renewable biomass fuel in Europe and the United States.
“Peat is usually found in un-drained stagnant areas called bogs or fens that can produce large amounts of methane, a gas that has 21 times the negative greenhouse impact of carbon dioxide. Harvesting the peat from the bogs halts these methane emissions,” the company claims.
Here’s a thought — create a massive energy-from-waste facility handling all of southern Ontario’s post-diversion solid municipal waste. As we divert more and more waste from landfills through reduce, reuse and recycling programs, we can use fuel-grade peat alongside the residual waste to operate the facility at its fullest, most efficient capacity. We tackle a major waste issue and add a few hundred megawatts to the grid in one shot.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
