University of Kentucky Algal Biofuels Reaches China

The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) is partnering with Lianhenghui Investment Co. to construct an algae production facility in Zhengzhou, China.

The facility will feature the center's novel photobioreactor technology for growing algae, which will produce fuels, nutraceuticals, and bioplastics. Lianhenggui is also constructing a second, smaller facility in Zhengzhou, which will use the same technology for the exclusive production of nutraceuticals.

Microalgae have attracted considerable interest as a high-yield renewable feedstock for the production of fuels and chemicals. Algae have also been proposed as a way to capture and utilize power plant emissions, as photosynthetic algae can use the CO₂ in flue gas as a carbon source.