Think algae is just that stinky gunk that litters some lakeshores?

It’s so much more, according to Steve Martin and his team at Pond Technologies.

“I’m the guy who has the crazy idea that we can grow algae off of the industrial emissions and help to save the world,” Martin said, as he was standing inside one of his company’s plants in St. Mary’s, Ont., about 170 kilometres west of Toronto. 

For about a year, Martin and a small crew have been running a demonstration algae plant out of a small tent at the sprawling site of St. Mary’s Cement factory.

“There’s this feeling that we see a smokestack and we say, ‘Look, that’s evil, that’s got to go,'” he said.

But he says cement is the most manufactured product in the world, used to build things like hydroelectric dams.

“For a tonne of cement, you make a tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2). So we need to find a way to use that and luckily nature has provided algae.” 

How it works

A series of pipes from the smokestacks at the cement plant run to Pond Tech’s tent, transporting CO2 into a giant, 22,000-litre tank known as a bioreactor.

The algae then does what it does best, according to project manager Tim Everett.

It gobbles up the CO2.  

The result is about 20 kilograms of a thick algae paste that is produced daily. 

“It really is almost a limitless byproduct,” said Everett, 40, a mechanical engineer.

The team then cooks up a series of green superfoods, including chlorella and spirulina, as well as feed for farm animals, and even cosmetics.

Martin admits the technology isn’t new, and Pond Tech isn’t the only one doing it.

But he thinks their methods are the most advanced and he’s hoping to make a serious dent in carbon emissions. 

“The potential is enormous,” he said.

“If we put this technology on just 10 per cent of the industrial emitters in North America, we are a long way to meeting the goals of CO2 reduction.”

Two other projects are underway, including one with Markham District Energy’s power plant and Stelco, the steel manufacturing plant in Hamilton, Ont.

Carbon removal pricey and limited, critic says

Still, some say the technology is expensive, and its use is limited.

“It’s kind of like using a mop to clean up water on the floor while the tap is still running. We need to be thinking of ways to turn off that tap,” said Sarah Buchanan with Environmental Defence, a watchdog group out of Toronto.

She says carbon removal technologies are helpful in a limited way, but the focus should be on clean alternatives that can produce energy without any carbon pollution. 

“The only silver bullet solution really is we have to stop burning fossil fuels. There’s a lot of great renewable clean technologies that can help us do that.”

Martin agrees, but he believes his project can play a vital role.

“I would say it’s not an a la carte menu, it’s a buffet,” he said. “We have to do it all.”

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