MINIMIZING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM COAL-BURNING SMOKESTACKS

By Tom Slattery

Let me propose the following idea because it would seem to help. But I don't know
how much it might help. Perhaps you engineering and biological science numbers-
crunchers might give it a whirl.

Current practical solutions for minimizing release of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere from coal-burning electricity-generating services and similar coal-
burning industries seem unrealistically expensive and sometimes a little bizarre.

This proposed practical solution to the enormous amounts of carbon dioxide being
dumped into the atmosphere and causing catastrophic environmental problems from
global warming takes the following two things into account.

1. As many of you probably know, there are algae that produce oil – sometimes
called oilgae.

2. As a practical matter, as much as we might hope for it, coal fired plants
probably won't be decommissioned soon. There is too much dependency on this source
for our electricity, too much money invested and involved, and too little
alternative to quickly replace it.

So here might be a way to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired
power plants and at the same time produce oil, some of which could be direct
biodiesel, and/or some of which might be used to make plastics, tires, etc.

Use algae to produce oil. Bubble carbon dioxide emissions from smokestacks through
tanks or tubes of algae-filled solutions that "eat up" the carbon dioxide.

I have no idea what maximum densities of these oil-producing algae in water and
nutrient solutions might be or how much "oil" could be produced in a given volume
of solution. And thus I have no idea how big "tank farms" of these algae would
have to be. But my gut says it seems possible and practical.

The idea would be to create enormous "tank farms" adjacent to coal-fired plants.
The transparent tanks or transparent tubes (to capture sunlight) would be filled
with water, nutrients and oil-producing algae. Cooling towers would seem to be
necessary. And more acid-tolerant algae might have to be bred.

The basic idea is this. Carbon dioxide from the power-plant emissions would be
bubbled through the algae solutions.

The algae would turn the carbon dioxide gas into organic material, including oil.
The algae would also grow ultra-fast in this carbon-dioxide-rich solution.

The algae might be harvested daily for direct diesel fuel (possibly without
refining) and/or other petroleum-similar oil products.

You may ask how this improves anything for global warming?

Well, it doesn't. Someone might still burn the oil as, say, diesel fuel and re-
emit the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But that assumes that all of the
algae-produced oil is to be burned.

In a worst-case scenario where it is indeed all burned, there would still be some
net savings in carbon dioxide production for the same amount of work done.
For one thing, this oil produced in algae-filled transparent tanks or tubes burns
more efficiently and causes less other pollution than petroleum products.

In addition, ships transporting petroleum burn a huge amount of oil. Refining

petroleum burns additional oil.

Moreover, tragic environment-damaging oil spills from shipping the stuff make the
news annually. Pollution from petroleum refining dumps hazardous substances into
the water and atmosphere. And dependence on petroleum from unstable parts of the
planet incurs military-economic-political costs, and in these costs are additional
burnings of fuels and thus additional carbon dioxide production.

There is also this. Some of the algae-made oil would not be burned for work or
heating. Some of it would probably be used to make plastics, tires, fabrics, etc.
There would seem to be a net carbon-dioxide advantage over the present uses of
petroleum because there would be less or even no burning of fuel to refine and
purify the algae-produced oils. o there could be a net environmental gain.

In addition, in the case of coal-fired electricity-generating plants, the sale of

algae-made oil products could offset the costs of producing electricity in coal-
fired plants and lower costs to electricity consumers.

Plug-in electric cars would thus be ultra-cheap to operate and LED-lit cities
could produce money-surpluses that could more than pay for health care and a
number of other needs.

If push comes to shove, eventually legislation could forbid the "burning" of any
of this algae-produced oil. This algae-based oil and its oil-based solid products
would represent an economical and practical method of storing carbon dioxide
produced by burning coal. It could be pumped into depleted oil wells in much the
same way as the present national defense petroleum reserve is now stored.

It would seem worthy of a crash national research program to ascertain whether

carbon-dioxide from coal-fired plants could be massively reduced by bubbling
smokestack output through enormous tanks or tubes of oil-producing algae.

At very least, if it works it would appear to buy us all some time.

April 2009
Bay Village, Ohio