Algae

Due to the increasing concern about global warming, which is primarily attributed to the elevated level of CO2 in the atmosphere, the applicable legislation is increasingly strict, even for the case of biofuels. Internationally, it is working on the development of economically viable alternatives for CO2 fixation and in this line the photosynthetic microorganisms (microalgae and cyanobacteria) offer one of the more attractive alternatives, since they mainly use solar radiation, water and CO2, as a source of carbon, to develop its vital activity, generating biomass using CO2 capture that can be used in industrial processes.

The synergy of the biological systems of CO2 capture and the development of biofuels is clear. The CO2 generated in industrial processes of fermentation and/or combustion can be captured, generating biomass, carbohydrates, oils, animal feed and/or additionally other added value products, which can be sent to the production process of biofuels as raw material, reducing the GHG emission associated the productive activity. Currently, there are many questions to be answered in order to maximize this synergy, which specify, research, demonstrate and improve industrially the capture technologies and biological fixation of CO2.

The ultimate objective of ABNT in this area is to study the technical-economical viability and if applicable, develop technology suitable for the fixation of CO2 and the production of biofuels from microalgae and cyanobacteria biomass. For this purpose, Abengoa Bioenergía began in 2009 to develop an ambitious algae program that includes isolation, characterization, selection and breeding of organisms, development of laboratory scale techniques to grow them and process them into biofuels, optimization of the production systems to achieve viability, development of transformation processes subsequent to cultivation to transform them into the target products, and finally industrial integration of the process.

Within this effort, it is emphasized that in 2011 a pilot plant is being built in Cartagena where we will be testing various process configurations and technologies. The experimental results will be critical to consolidate the evaluation of the applicability of this technology as production of new raw materials for biofuel plants and animal feed and, synergistically, the CO2 capture of fermentation which is generated in the production of bioethanol, allowing additional savings of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector.