IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v37y2009i9p3428-3437.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Algal capture of carbon dioxide; biomass generation as a tool for greenhouse gas mitigation with reference to New Zealand energy strategy and policy

Author

Listed:
  • Packer, Mike

Abstract

The use of algae to capture carbon dioxide as a method for greenhouse gas mitigation is discussed. A small fraction of the sunlight energy that bathes Earth is captured by photosynthesis and drives most living systems. Life on Earth is carbon-based and the energy is used to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide into biological material (biomass), indeed fossil fuels that we consume today are a legacy of mostly algal photosynthesis. Algae can be thought of as marine and freshwater plants that have higher photosynthetic efficiencies than terrestrial plants and are more efficient capturing carbon (Box 1). They have other favourable characteristics for this purpose. In the context of New Zealand energy strategy and policy I discuss progress in growing algae and seaweeds with emphasis on their application for exhaust flue carbon recycling for possible generation of useful biomass. I also introduce schemes utilising wild oceanic algae for carbon dioxide sequestration and the merits and possible adverse effects of using this approach. This paper is designed as an approachable review of the science and technology for policy makers and a summary of the New Zealand policy environment for those wishing to deploy biological carbon sequestration.

Suggested Citation

  • Packer, Mike, 2009. "Algal capture of carbon dioxide; biomass generation as a tool for greenhouse gas mitigation with reference to New Zealand energy strategy and policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3428-3437, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:9:p:3428-3437
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(08)00762-3
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roseanne J. Sension, 2007. "Quantum path to photosynthesis," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7137), pages 740-741, April.
    2. Babcock, Bruce A. & Beghin, John C. & Mohanty, Samarendu & Fuller, Frank H. & Fabiosa, Jacinto F. & Kaus, Phillip J. & Fang, Cheng & Hart, Chad E. & Kovarik, Karen & Womack, Abner W. & Young, Robert E, 2000. "FAPRI 2000 U.S. Agricultural Outlook," FAPRI Staff Reports 32054, Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI).
    3. Jonathan Woodward & Mark Orr & Kimberley Cordray & Elias Greenbaum, 2000. "Enzymatic production of biohydrogen," Nature, Nature, vol. 405(6790), pages 1014-1015, June.
    4. James E. Lovelock & Chris G. Rapley, 2007. "Ocean pipes could help the Earth to cure itself," Nature, Nature, vol. 449(7161), pages 403-403, September.
    5. Philip W. Boyd & Andrew J. Watson & Cliff S. Law & Edward R. Abraham & Thomas Trull & Rob Murdoch & Dorothee C. E. Bakker & Andrew R. Bowie & K. O. Buesseler & Hoe Chang & Matthew Charette & Peter Cro, 2000. "A mesoscale phytoplankton bloom in the polar Southern Ocean stimulated by iron fertilization," Nature, Nature, vol. 407(6805), pages 695-702, October.
    6. Gregory S. Engel & Tessa R. Calhoun & Elizabeth L. Read & Tae-Kyu Ahn & Tomáš Mančal & Yuan-Chung Cheng & Robert E. Blankenship & Graham R. Fleming, 2007. "Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7137), pages 782-786, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Flanders, Archie & Smith, Nathan & Fonsah, Esendugue & McKissick, John C., 2009. "Simulation Analysis of Double-Cropping Vegetables and Field Crops," Journal of the ASFMRA, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, vol. 2009, pages 1-10.
    2. Reda M. El-Shishtawy & Robert Haddon & Saleh Al-Heniti & Bahaaudin Raffah & Sayed Abdel-Khalek & Kamal Berrada & Yas Al-Hadeethi, 2016. "Realistic Quantum Control of Energy Transfer in Photosynthetic Processes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Adams, Gary M. & Richardson, James W., 2001. "Exploring Options for a New Farm Bill," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 261-270, August.
    4. Carsten Lippe & Tanita Klas & Jana Bender & Patrick Mischke & Thomas Niederprüm & Herwig Ott, 2021. "Experimental realization of a 3D random hopping model," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    5. Di Molfetta, Giuseppe & Brachet, Marc & Debbasch, Fabrice, 2014. "Quantum walks in artificial electric and gravitational fields," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 397(C), pages 157-168.
    6. Tang, Wenliang & Yang, Mian & Duan, Hongbo, 2023. "Temperature and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Patel, Anil Kumar & Vaisnav, Neha & Mathur, Anshu & Gupta, Ravi & Tuli, Deepak Kumar, 2016. "Whey waste as potential feedstock for biohydrogen production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 221-225.
    8. Gabor Vattay & Stuart Kauffman & Samuli Niiranen, 2014. "Quantum Biology on the Edge of Quantum Chaos," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-6, March.
    9. Thomas J. Browning & C. Mark Moore, 2023. "Global analysis of ocean phytoplankton nutrient limitation reveals high prevalence of co-limitation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Sergio H. Lence & Dermot J. Hayes, 2002. "U.S. Farm Policy and the Volatility of Commodity Prices and Farm Revenues," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(2), pages 335-351.
    11. Sołowski, Gaweł & Shalaby, Marwa.S. & Abdallah, Heba & Shaban, Ahmed.M. & Cenian, Adam, 2018. "Production of hydrogen from biomass and its separation using membrane technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3152-3167.
    12. Schumann, Keith D. & Feldman, Paul A. & Richardson, James W. & Smith, Edward G., 2001. "Comparison of Alternative Safety Net Programs for the 2000 Farm Bill," Working Papers 42781, Texas A&M University, Agricultural and Food Policy Center.
    13. Ratnarajah, Lavenia & Melbourne-Thomas, Jessica & Marzloff, Martin P. & Lannuzel, Delphine & Meiners, Klaus M. & Chever, Fanny & Nicol, Stephen & Bowie, Andrew R., 2016. "A preliminary model of iron fertilisation by baleen whales and Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean: Sensitivity of primary productivity estimates to parameter uncertainty," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 320(C), pages 203-212.
    14. Shekaari, Ashkan & Jafari, Mahmoud, 2020. "Non-equilibrium thermodynamic properties and internal dynamics of 32-residue beta amyloid fibrils," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 557(C).
    15. Alharbi, Fahhad H. & Kais, Sabre, 2015. "Theoretical limits of photovoltaics efficiency and possible improvements by intuitive approaches learned from photosynthesis and quantum coherence," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1073-1089.
    16. Yiyang Liu & Jingluo Min & Xingyu Feng & Yue He & Jinze Liu & Yixiao Wang & Jun He & Hainam Do & Valérie Sage & Gang Yang & Yong Sun, 2020. "A Review of Biohydrogen Productions from Lignocellulosic Precursor via Dark Fermentation: Perspective on Hydrolysate Composition and Electron-Equivalent Balance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-27, May.
    17. Halkos, George & Gkampoura, Eleni-Christina, 2021. "Where do we stand on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? An overview on progress," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 94-122.
    18. Vasileios Kapsalis & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Miltiadis Zamparas & Athanasios Tolis, 2021. "Investigation of the Photon to Charge Conversion and Its Implication on Photovoltaic Cell Efficient Operation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-16, May.
    19. Yiwen Pan & Long You & Yifan Li & Wei Fan & Chen-Tung Arthur Chen & Bing-Jye Wang & Ying Chen, 2018. "Achieving Highly Efficient Atmospheric CO 2 Uptake by Artificial Upwelling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    20. MacCracken, Mike, 2009. "Beyond mitigation : potential options for counter-balancing the climatic and environmental consequences of the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4938, The World Bank.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:9:p:3428-3437. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.