Does anybody have access to this paper link " Sustainability of algae derived biodiesel:A mass balance approach"?

The abstract says "CO2 to foster algae growth should be supplied from a sustainable source such as a biomass-based ethanol production. Reliance on fossil-based CO2 from power plants or fertilizer production renders algae diesel non-sustainable in the long term." Can somebody explain what the authors of the paper are saying?

Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852410015634

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Can someone point out universities anywhere in the world undertaking serious work in algae based CO2 capture for biodiesel or for other products?

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An Australian company (MBD Energy) is developing a technology based on Biological Algal Growth System. Bellona, 21/09-2011

Not only the abbreviation of the name is ‘BAGS’ but the system itself is based on plastic bags - synthesising captured CO2 emissions, on a continuous basis, in a fully enclosed proprietary plastic membrane. The company states that the technology is relatively low-cost to produce, deploy and operate. The BAGS membranes are supposed to provide the algae with a controlled environment in which they should double in mass every 24 to 48 hours.

http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2011/Using_algae_to_capture_CO2

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Keith Heyde '11 is developing a prototype waste-to-energy system that would use boiler exhaust as food for energy-producing algae.

Keith Heyde '11 doesn't want to get his innovative algae-to-energy project off the ground. He wants to get it on the roof.

A student in Bowdoin College's 3-2 engineering option with Columbia University, he is developing a filtration system that would harness emissions of household CO2 to turn waste to energy.

Heyde is developing a prototype biomass system that attaches to a residential chimney and uses boiler exhaust as food for energy-producing algae.

http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1academicnews/008820.shtml

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An Australian company that's trialling the use of algae to capture carbon dioxide from coal fired power stations says the benefits are much broader than carbon capture and storage (CCS).

CCS is the process of burying carbon emissions underground.

Melbourne company MBD Energy uses 50 metre by 3.5 metre plastic bags filled with micro-algae to trap the CO2.

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201109/s3319434.htm

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"The advocates of "direct air capture," however, seemingly were dealt a blow when a two-year study released in June by a committee of the American Physical Society (APS) cast doubt on whether the technology could ever be cost-effective.

Undaunted, air capture researchers are continuing their work toward demonstration of the technology and commercialization.

A committee estimated the cost of direct air capture with chemicals at $600 per ton of CO2, seven times more expensive than proposed technologies to remove CO2 from a coal plant smokestack. At some point, it might make sense to try direct air capture to grapple with the problem of CO2 emissions from "distributed emissions" (such as those from planes, trucks, and cars), the panel said. But it wouldn't make sense to try to capture CO2 from the air until CO2 was already being captured from concentrated sources."

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110811-quest-to-capture-carbon-dioxide/

Why would someone try to capture CO2 directly from air, when it is at 390 PPM? Beats me!

Algae-based CCS, while in itself appearing like fantasy, appears to be a rock solid business model when compared to this direct air capture lunacy...

What do you think?

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National Geographic - Out of Thin Air - Out of Thin Air: The Quest to Capture Carbon Dioxide -

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110811-quest-to-capture-carbon-dioxide/

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Algae-based CO2 Capture Section @ PowerPlantCCS - http://www.powerplantccs.com/ccs/cap/fut/alg/alg.html

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A distinctive feature of the cycle of any substance in the biosphere is its lack of balance. It gives possibility to intensify process. According to le Chatelier’s principle: “If a chemical system at equilibrium experiences a change in concentration, temperature, volume, or partial pressure, then the equilibrium shifts to counteract the imposed change and a new equilibrium is established”. Thus the saturation of water solution by carbon dioxide should intensify capturing of this substance.

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