CAPTURING CARBON WITH ALGAE

The amount of carbon in the atmosphere is growing day by day and scientists and entrepreneurs are exploring ways to take it out, from planting more trees to making giant filters to suck carbon out of the air and pump it into underground rock formations.

Perhaps the most cost-effective way is Brilliant Planet’s plan to let algae soak it up.

The company’s method starts with securing desert land less than two miles from an ocean coast and big enough to accommodate four ponds of 130,000 square feet each.

Biologists then sift through local varieties of algae, finding those that grow fastest and make the most of carbon. Only native critters are used; no alien species are introduced.

The algae is introduced to the ponds, which are filled with “upwelling” seawater, which is cold, nutrient-dense, and drawn from the depths to the surface by winds blowing across the water’s surface. 

The water’s natural rise supplies most of the system’s energy. The rest is easily provided by solar panels soaking up the desert sun, Brilliant Planet says.

The algae multiplies quickly, because their entire surface is devoted to photosynthesis and it doesn’t waste resources by growing roots, branches, or leaves.

When the algae mature, they’re skimmed from the ponds, dried in the sun, and buried several feet below the desert floor.

But wait, there’s more.

The oceans are absorbing a significant amount of the extra carbon entering the air, which acidifies the water.

However, as the algae use the water, they de-acidify it. The “used” water is returned to the ocean, where it creates a more hospitable environment for sea creatures. 

The company has earmarked about 300,000 square miles of coastal desert where it could set up shop, eventually grabbing two billion tons of carbon from air every year—about 5.5 percent of humanity’s annual carbon emissions, Brilliant Planet figures.

The company has tested its method in Morocco, Oman, and South Africa and has calculated its operating cost at $50 to $100 per ton of carbon captured, as low as a tenth of what some other companies, such as Switzerland’s Climeworks would cost.

Brilliant Planet recently collected $12 million in funding from Toyota Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and other bold venture capitalists. 

TRENDPOST: As the planet continues to warm and governments fail to address the issue, carbon capture technologies will draw greater interest.

Brilliant Planet’s technology will be an early contender, given its low cost, use of land unsuitable for most other purposes, and the extra benefit of de-acidifying seawater.

Brilliant Planet’s seaside demonstration facility.

Photo credit: Brilliant Planet