SYDNEY, July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In what is
understood to be a world first, Algae.Tec (ASX: AEB, OTCQX: ALGXY)
has signed a deal with Australia's
largest power company to site an algae carbon capture and biofuels
production facility alongside a 2640MW coal-fired power station
near Sydney.
Macquarie Generation, one of the largest power companies in the
world and owned by the New South Wales Government, has signed an
agreement to site the Algae.Tec facility next to the Bayswater
coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley NSW, and feed waste
carbon dioxide into the enclosed algae growth system.
The announcement was made today by NSW Energy Minister,
Chris Hartcher in the presence of
Macquarie Generation CEO and Managing Director Russell Skelton and Algae.Tec Executive Chairman
Roger Stroud.
"This deal is an innovative means of capturing and reusing
carbon emissions and providing the Hunter region with a locally
produced green fuel source," Mr Hartcher said.
Macquarie Generation CEO and Managing Director Russell Skelton said:
"Our agreement with Algae.Tec is another example of MacGen
finding creative ways to improve our business and improve our
environmental performance." "It's new technology improving a
traditional power plant."
"Carbon is now our single largest cost. This technology should
reduce our carbon output, reduce our carbon bill, and at the same
time improve our bottom line."
Bayswater uses approximately 7.5 million tonnes of coal per year
and delivers power to eastern Australia, from South Australia to Northern Queensland. It is the centre-piece of
the New South Wales energy system.
The algae will feed on "waste" carbon dioxide emitted by the power
station and the resulting algal oil is converted to biodiesel and
hydrogenated to grade A jet fuel.
Roger Stroud said algae biofuels
offers NSW and Australia a new
level of fuel security.
"At a time when all the petroleum refining capacity is closing
down in NSW, this is the beginning of an era of renewable fuel
which can be 'grown' in the State and can substitute imported
petroleum products," said Roger
Stroud.
Added benefits of the deal are the creation of hundreds of
regional jobs in a new and emerging industry for the Newcastle and
Hunter region.
"With this announcement today, NSW stands out as a global leader
in the adoption of renewable technologies that makes our existing
power generation infrastructure cleaner and produces valuable fuel
oil."
Roger Stroud said this deal
reflects a genuine desire on the part of the NSW Government and the
NSW power industry, to support solutions to mitigate carbon dioxide
emissions from fossil fuelled power stations.
Images:
http://algaetec.com.au/news-room/image-gallery/
Vision:
https://www.yousendit.com/download/WFJWZGlrdkc5eFdybHNUQw
Macquarie Generation www.macgen.com.au
About Algae.Tec www.algae-tec.com Algae.Tec Ltd,
founded in 2007, is an Australian advanced renewable oil from algae
company that has developed a high-yield enclosed algae growth and
harvesting system, the McConchie-Stroud System. The Company has
offices in Atlanta, Georgia and
Perth, Western Australia. The Algae.Tec bioreactor,
an enclosed modular engineered technology, is designed to grow
non-GMO algae on an industrial scale, and produce biofuels that
replace predominantly imported fossil fuels. The Algae.Tec solution
is less than one tenth the land footprint of pond growth options,
while its enclosed module system is designed to deliver the highest
yield of algae per hectare, and solves the problem of
food-producing land being turned over for biofuel production.
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SOURCE Algae.Tec Limited