Princeton, New Jersey & Cambridge, Massachusetts [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] NRG Energy, Inc. and GreenFuel Technologies Corporation announced the commencement of field testing GreenFuel’s proprietary Emissions-to-Biofuels technology at NRG’s Big Cajun II, a 1,489-net megawatt (MW) coal-fueled power plant in New Roads, Louisiana.
GreenFuel’s Emissions-to-Biofuels process uses naturally occurring algae to capture and reduce flue gas carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. The energy-rich algae are harvested daily and can be converted into a broad range of biofuels or high-value animal feed supplements. Power generators can choose to dry and store the carbon-rich algae biomass for use as renewable fuel for the power plant or convert it to valuable transportation fuels such as biodiesel or ethanol. The process requires no re-engineering of the power plant. In the initial field testing, which will last approximately four months, algae species will be selected to optimize biofuel production based on the site’s flue gas composition, local climate and geography toward an ultimate goal of construction of a commercial-scale facility. A full scale commercial deployment could recycle enough CO2 to yield as much as 8,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre annually under optimum conditions. “We at NRG and Big Cajun are very proud of our environmental record and want to do more to support responsible baseload electricity generation,” said Jeff Baudier, President of NRG’s South Central Region. “There is currently no commercial-scale technology to address the discharge of carbon post combustion. Through this test, we hope to help advance GreenFuel’s technology that could potentially reduce carbon emissions from the hundreds of existing coal plants that are so important to our electrical infrastructure.” “With the help of forward thinking and environmentally responsible companies like NRG, we can use algae to recycle power plant CO2 emissions safely and economically into a continuous supply of clean, renewable fuels,” said GreenFuel Technologies CEO, Cary Bullock.NRG Energy Testing GreenFuel Technologies’ Algae Bioreactor System
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