Photosynthesis energy factory: analysis, synthesis, and demonstration. Final report

Technical Report · Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6439328· OSTI ID:6439328

This quantitative assessment of the potential of a combined dry-land Energy Plantation, wood-fired power plant, and algae wastewater treatment system demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of recycling certain by-products and effluents from one subsystem to another. Designed to produce algae up to the limit of the amount of carbon in municipal wastewater, the algae pond provides a positive cash credit, resulting mainly from the wastewater treatment credit, which may be used to reduce the cost of the Photosynthesis Energy Factory (PEF)-generated electricity. The algae pond also produces fertilizer, which reduces the cost of the biomass produced on the Energy Plantation, and some gas. The cost of electricity was as low as 35 mills per kilowatt-hour for a typical municipally-owned PEF consisting of a 65-MWe power plant, a 144-acre algae pond, and a 33,000-acre Energy Plantation. Using only conventional or near-term technology, the most cost-effective algae pond for a PEF is the carbon-limited secondary treatment system. This system does not recycle CO/sub 2/ from the flue gas. Analysis of the Energy Plantation subsystem at 15 sites revealed that plantations of 24,000 to 36,000 acres produce biomass at the lowest cost per ton. The following sites are recommended for more detailed evaluation as potential demonstration sites: Pensacola, Florida; Jamestown, New York; Knoxville, Tennessee; Martinsville, Virginia, and Greenwood, South Carolina. A major possible extension of the PEF concept is to include the possibility for irrigation.

• Research Organization: InterTechnology/Solar Corp., Warrenton, VA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EX-76-C-01-2548
• OSTI ID: 6439328
• Report Number(s): HCP/T3548-01
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
BIOMASS PLANTATIONS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
ALGAE
DEMONSTRATION PLANTS
FERTILIZERS
SITE SELECTION
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WASTE WATER
WATER TREATMENT
ECONOMICS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
POWER PLANTS
WASTES
WATER
140504* - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)
090400 - Solid Waste & Wood Fuels- (-1989)