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Using the biological organisms, grown in vast quantities in open-air ponds on coastal land, could be an affordable way of permanently capturing carbon at the gigatonne (billion-tonne) scale, according to London-headquartered Brilliant Planet.
According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon capture technologies could play a crucial role in efforts to tackle climate change.
Brilliant Planet claims that its microalgae systems could sequester 30-times more carbon from the atmosphere than the same area of forest. It aims to install ponds in coastal deserts, using just sea water, nutrients and carbon dioxide.
Following eight years of research and development, including four years of trials at its 30,000m2 facility in Morocco, the company is now developing a scalable platform that will be deployed at sites worldwide.
To do so, it is using EcoStruxure Automation Expert, a 'universal automation system' from Platinum Electrical Engineering, a Schneider Electric Alliance Certified Partner.
“To scale at the speed required, we need to be able to modularise our application,” said Adam Taylor, CEO at Brilliant Planet. “The Schneider Electric and Platinum Electrical Engineering solution enables us to copy, paste, and scale at each site. This means we can utilise resources more efficiently, while seeing drastic improvements in control. We hope this system provides the foundation for further expansion in the coming years.”
The universal automation solution will ensure efficient use of resources while also reducing the time spent on integrating and testing control software at each site, Schneider Electric said.
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