Energy Saving Trust channels
Top shortcut links
Main navigation starts here
You are here:
A system to use carbon emitted by a Scottish distiller to make renewable oil has won a £40,000 prize.
The Scottish Bioenergy Cooperative Ventures project to develop a system that uses algae to convert carbon dioxide emissions into valuable fuel, was awarded the Shell Springboard Climate Change Innovation prize.
Its trial system passes carbon dioxide from the Glenturret Distillery's exhaust and percolates it through algae to produce oil and protein which the distillery can then use as fuel.
David Van Alstyne from Scottish Bioenergy Cooperative Ventures said: "This is a fantastic endorsement of the project and the financial award means that we can push ahead immediately with construction of the full system. The UK has a large number of brewers and distillers who use heavy oil in the production of alcohol and who are seeking new methods to reduce their CO2 output."
"One distiller burning over 200 tonnes of oil per day at a single facility equates to over 500 tonnes of CO2 output. Our technology would reduce the CO2 emissions whilst creating useful and sellable biodiesel."
The energy industry is considering ways to capture carbon and store it to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.
Recently the National Grid announced plans to develop a network of pipelines to transmit collected carbon from power plants to undersea storage facilities.
Sign up for regular email updates to help you save money and energy
For regular email updates please submit your email address below.
Call 0800 512 012 for free, independent and local energy saving advice
Click here to request a call back from your local advice centre.
Latest News