Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BIORECYGAS (Farming high value algae with industrial gas emissions)

Teaser

\"\"\"The BIORECYGAS technology, developed and pilot tested by ALGING, has demonstrated that removes 95% of NOx and proportional amount of CO2 from a simulated flue gas, beating the average 70-90% efficiency of the BAT technologies from NOx elimination and reducing the need of...

Summary

\"\"\"The BIORECYGAS technology, developed and pilot tested by ALGING, has demonstrated that removes 95% of NOx and proportional amount of CO2 from a simulated flue gas, beating the average 70-90% efficiency of the BAT technologies from NOx elimination and reducing the need of CO2 emission allowances. These results have been validated by an independent source testing firm that is certified by the California Air Resources Board.
In addition, BIORECYGAS uses the extracted NOx and CO2 as feedstock to grow Chlorella and other algae strains producing a biomass stream. This is raw material for products currently available and demanded in the market like: protein and sugar-rich agricultural products, protein rich foods and nutritional supplements, selective food oils and biodiesel. BIORECYGAS transforms NOx and CO2 emissions into a source of income.

Thus, the objective of the overall innovation project is to scale-up the capacities of the BIORECYGAS technology and perform a market demonstrator relevant to the main target industries: steel industries, concrete companies, oil&gas refineries, chemical industries, heavy industries and agricultural facilities for the final deployment of BIORECYGAS to the global market. In order to make the demonstrator as replicable as possible in different industries and in different regulatory traditions, Alging has selected the incineration plant ZABALGARBI: www.zabalgarbi.com this plant, the best of its kind in the region was awarded by the European Commission Directorate General with the highest recognition and funding level through the THERMIE Programme. Zabalgarbi serves more than 100 municipalities in the Biscay region compounding more than 1 million citizens. A signed letter of commitment is annexed to this proposal.\"\"
\"

Work performed

\"\"\"The work done during the 6 months of the project has thoroughly been following the work plan signed in the Grant Agreement. In the following lines, the work plan is explained and detailed:
Objective: Perform a deep market search on international two-sided market of NOx and CO2 emitters and algae based product consuming industries, acquiring a deep comprehension of the particular dynamics of each market, key stakeholders, prescribers and distributors; identify and involve stakeholders for each demonstrator
Tasks: Three different tasks have been implemented during the project execution:
- Task 1: Market study and involvement of key stakeholders
- Task 2: Freedom to operate, value proposition and business model
- Task 3: Cost, revenues and funding scheme
Timetable: The work done has been executed from December 1st 2015 until May 31st 2016

Results: The main remarkable results that have been achieved are related to the study of the market and to the business model. The feasibility study done during this six months has help us to better understand the algae market and positioning in the value chain. As well, new customer relations have been started recently.
\"\"
\"

Final results

\"\"\"During the past century, the rapid rise of global industrial development has caused a steep increase in energy demand and the consumption of fossil fuels to meet that demand. Combustion of fossil fuels generates the emission of, among other harmful gasses, NOx and CO2. These fossil fuels have generated enough NOx to become a major health and environmental issue and enough CO2 to threaten global climate.
To reduce these threats, sovereign governments and their regulatory agencies have enacted increasingly stringent regulations to substantially and permanently reduce anthropogenic emission of these gases. The objectives and commitment of the European Union are ambitious in this field:
• NOx emissions should be 42% lower by 2020 and 69% lower by 2030, according to the Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (IED) and the Gothemburg Protocol of the UN.
• CO2 emissions should be 20% lower by 2020 (or 30% if other major economies commit to undertake their fair share of global reduction effort), and 80-95% lower by 2050, according to the commitment of the EU with Kyoto Protocol.
For these purposes, and in the case on industrial emissions, the EU has developed the regulations following two differentiated strategies:
- NOx and other pollutants: the EU has implemented a Best Available Techniques (BAT) principle based regulation.
- CO2 and greenhouse effect gases: the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

DIFFERENTIATION
NOx reduction technology: Main differentiation is related to: the % NOx removal (~95%) has revealed to be much higher than the one provided by the BAT technologies (~70-90%). In the same manner this efficiency reflects a direct relation to cost effectiveness meeting gas emission objectives.

Related to the added value product obtained, for animal feed the product is extremely high protein + sugar at a very competitive price.
On top of that, for human consumption, the algae obtained in the process it is guaranteed that has only been fed by pure CO2 and NOx. This ensures a much purer product than the one offered by competitors.
As explained in previous sections important savings are expected for companies betting on BioRecyGas as the business model is mainly oriented to obtain profit by the sales of chlorella instead of the system installation and operation.
\"\"
\"