Environment: Canadians tap algae to clean Alberta oil sands May 8, 2008 1:21 PM PDT

Posted by Martin LaMonica Post a comment

Canadian researchers hope algae offers them "la grande solution" to greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental havoc caused by oil extraction in the Alberta tar sands.

The project is called CARS, Carbon Algae Recycling System, and it's backed by a consortium of researchers.

Canadians researchers believe they can grow microalgae to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, clean toxins, and make valuable products. Click on the image to see a video explanation.

(Credit: Alberta Research Council)

The idea is to grow algae next to a source of carbon dioxide, like a power plant. A number of algae start-ups plan to or are already doing exactly that to "feed" their algae the CO2 they need to grow.

Algae can be used for toxic cleanup as well, researchers tell clean-tech reporter Tyler Hamilton.

more ...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9939463-54.html