Linde and US Sapphire to cooperate on CO2 for algae-based fuels

11 May 2011 13:56  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Industrial gases major Linde and US biofuels technology firm Sapphire Energy have agreed to cooperate on developing a low-cost system to deliver carbon dioxide (CO2) to commercial-scale algae-to-fuel cultivation projects, they said on Wednesday.

The firms aim to use CO2 from power stations, chemical plants and other emitters to produce fuel from algae, they said.

“Producing fuel by algae using CO2 from large emitters like power stations and chemical plants is a very promising way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Aldo Belloni, member of Linde’s executive board.

A single commercial algae-fuel production facility is estimated to require about 10,000 tonnes/day of CO2 – a volume that is equivalent to about 30% of current US merchant demand for CO2, according to the companies.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Germany-based Linde is an international industrial gases firm. It claims a large share of the US merchant market for CO2.

California-based Sapphire Energy is focused on technologies and processes to produce biofuels from algae.

Check out Doris de Guzman’s Green Chemicals Blog for views on sustainability issues
For more on Linde and other producers visit ICIS company intelligence

By: Stefan Baumgarten
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