CARS:

C ARS: Carbon Algae

Carbo n A Recycling
lgae R ecycling SSystem
y stem
The Carbon Algae Recycling System (CARS) is an excellent Stage II will focus on optimizing the technical features that
investment opportunity in green technology. It offers the will make CARS economically viable by:
potential to turn a profit from turning greenhouse gas (GHG) v Delivering lighting throughout the pond to enable

emissions into a valuable renewable fuel. increased photosynthesis and enhance algae productivity.
year.
v Maintaining the temperature throughout the year.

CARS consumes flue gas and low grade heat to grow algae.
v Minimizing the system footprint.

The resulting biomass is then converted into value-added
attainable
v Identifying an algae species with the highest attainable

products. Innoventures Canada (I-CAN)—the research
lipid (oil) content.
network leading this project—expects that the system will:
 Create valuable products (biodiesel, methane, bioethanol,
v Depending on algae productivity, an economic model of the
fertilizer, animal feed). CARS showed that the system could produce biodiesel at $0.59
 Avoid the cost of CO22 disposal.
v to $0.91 (USD) per litre. This compares favourably to the 2008
 Likely be eligible for GHG offset credits and credits for
v ($2.89/ USgallon)
average price of $0.76/litre ($2.89/US gallon)for
forfossil
fossil diesel
diesel (US
(US
SOx and NOx emission reductions. Gulf Coast). By-products from the protein and carbohydrates
streams..
contents of the algae would provide additional revenue streams
The research team conceptualized an innovative design that
integrates the best features of open racetrack ponds and
uses the
Below: A schematic of the CARS. The system uses the
enclosed bioreactors. The deep, lighted, and covered hybrid photosynthetic mechanism to biofixate carbon dioxide
system is specifically intended to work in the harsh extremes to microalgae in a pond. The algae are harvested
and converted into products like biodiesel.
of the Canadian climate. In Stage I of the CARS project, the
team established the “proof of concept” and the economic
feasibility of the system. Industrial and government
sponsors are now being invited to participate in
further technology development in Stage II.

Innoventures Canada (I-CAN) members

involved in advancing research on the
microalgae
biofixation of carbon dioxide to microalgae
in Stage I were:
 Alberta Research Council (ARC)
n

 Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC)

n

Technology
 Manitoba’s Industrial Technology
n

Centre (ITC)
 le Centre de recherche industrielle du
n

Québec (CRIQ)
For more information on how to join
join this
project, contact:
Quinn Goretzky, l-CAN, (780) 450-5210
goretzky@arc.ab.ca
CARS:
CARS: Carbon
Carbon Algae
Algae Recycling
Recycling System
Sy stem
Stage 1 Synopsis of the I-CAN Study: CO2
233k–388k tonnes / yr
Value-Added Processing System
Technical
Technical and
and Economic
Economic Questions
Questions
Algae Diesel
Algae Genetics
Algae Genetics &
& Strain
Strain Selection
Selection CARS Production Cost =
System $0.59–0.91
Biodiesel
Biodiesel enjoys
enjoys an
an existing
existing market
market and
and aa broad
broad usage.
usage. As
As
Capital Cost = Algae = (USD) per litre Net Revenues
well,
well, competitively
competitively priced
priced production
production of
of biodiesel
biodiesel will
will help
help $1.2–$2.4 million / ha biodiesel Sells at same price Up to
the
the Canadian
Canadian and
and provincial
provincial governments
governments meet
meet their
their goals
goals Operating Cost = as fossil diesel $26.8 million
for
for boosting
boosting use
use of
of renewable
renewable fuels.
fuels. $27k / ha per year
Algae productivity = 50%
2 Algae Methane
The I-CAN
The I-CAN research
research team
team modeled
modeled biodiesel
biodiesel as
as the
the main
main 30–50 g / m / day algae
in each of three Sells at same price
value-added product
value-added product from algae.
algae. The
The team
team therefore
therefore sought
sought biomass
30-cm-deep layers left over as NG in $/MMBtu
aa high
high lipid
lipid (oil)
(oil) content
content in
in the
the algal
algal strain.
strain. Five
Five strains
strains of
of
Canadian algae were
were characterised for growth rate and
Stage I Economic
Economic Assessment
Assessment
composition (carbohydrates,
composition (carbohydrates, fatty
fatty acids
acids and
and proteins).
proteins). The
The
The CARS was
was modeled
modeled using algae biodiesel as the primary
level of lipids extracted from one of the algal strains
strains was
was
product and methane as the secondary product. Algae
an encouraging
an encouraging 34.8%.
34.8%.
productivity was assumed to range from 30 to 50 g/m2/day
Engineering and
Engineering and Production
Production (low to high productivity) for each of three 30-cm-deep layers.
The I-CAN
The I-CAN team
team used
used innovative
innovative engineering
engineering and
and systems
systems
The modeled price of algae diesel ranged
ranged from $0.59
$0.59 to
to $0.91
design solutions
design solutions to
to address
address Canada’s
Canada’s climatic
climatic challenges.
challenges. The
The
(USD) per litre, corresponding to high and low productivity,
CARS was
CARS was designed
designed to:
to:
which compares
compares favourably
favourably to the 2008 average
average price
price of
of
 Minimize heat losses.
v
$0.76/litre ($2.89/gallon) for fossil diesel (US Gulf Coast). This
 Minimize the ecological footprint of the facility.
v
shows that the system is close to economic viability on the
 Optimize capture of solar energy, particularly low-angle,
v
basis of a single product
product stream. The secondary methane
high-latitude sunlight.
stream was
was modeled
modeled as
as earning,
earning, on
on the
the basis
basis of
of $6/MMBtu,
$6/MMBtu,
The resulting
The resulting hybrid
hybrid covered
covered pond
pond system
system has
has the
the following
following additional revenues
revenues between
between $1.6
$1.6 million
million and
and $2.7
$2.7 million/yr.
million/yr.
advantages not
advantages not offered
offered by
by any
any other
other algae
algae system:
system:
Our model indicated that, given the
the above
above assumptions
assumptions and
and
 Lower capital costs.
v
depending on productivity, the CARS could generate
generate an
 Optimized light conditions.
v
annual net
net profit
profit as
as high
high as
as $26.8
$26.8 million.
million. This
This estimate
estimate does
does
 Protection from contamination.
v
not include the impact of carbon and NOx/SOx
NOx/SOx credits,
credits,
 Reduced evaporation.
v
which would further improve the
the bottom
bottom line.
line.
 Effective temperature control.
v
 Higher productivities.
v
Steps —
Next Steps — Stage
Stage IIII
System Footprint
System Footprint  Construct lab-scale demonstration facility and conduct
v
Shrinking the
Shrinking the footprint of the CARS is a key technical and laboratory-based experiments.

economic goal of this work. The system is designed to

economic  Carry out research related to strain selection/genetics for
v

consume about 233,000 or more tonnes per year of CO2— optimizing biomass production.
equivalent to
equivalent to taking
taking about
about 50,000
50,000 cars
cars off
off the road. If the  Complete engineering design for an integrated field pilot.
v
system were designed as a conventional 30-cm-deep pond, it  Build and operate a field pilot demonstration facility at an
v
would require a surface of 1200 ha. Deepening the pond to
would industrial site.
90 cm shrinks the footprint to 400 ha to capture this same
amount of
amount of CO22.