Scientists at the world’s largest facility for testing and improving, Technology Centre Mongstad are using CO2 to grow a few key strains of algae, which is a rich source of Omega-3 which is an important ingredient in fish feeds.

Carbon capture typically involves trapping CO2 underground after it is released from gas and coal-fired plants to stop it from escaping into the atmosphere and warming up the planet. The idea has been around for years, but now scientists are trying to put that CO2 to some use, a bit like turning your leftover food into compost for a thriving garden, instead of throwing it in the garbage.

According to experts, the world’s food production needs to rise by 70 percent before 2050 so as to keep up with the growing population. As proven, fish is a great source of protein.

Fish farming is a great way to grow more protein, but the practice requires omega-3 to feed and produce healthy fish, and omega-3 typically comes from fish oil and by capturing krill. That puts pressure on the marine food chain and is ultimately unsustainable. Scientists hope this new method of recycling CO2 will lead to another, a large-scale way of mining the crucial, fatty oil.

The process of growing micro-algae with captured CO2 is essentially photosynthesis on steroids.

Svein M. Nordvik, Managing Director of CO2 Bio explained that there are 1,000 types of algae and only a few of them produces Omega-3.

“The CO2 goes into a tank with seawater and algae mass, and it’s mixed with a bioreactor system.

“There’s a little bit of light and after 10 days, approximately, we have a biomass which we can use for [fish] food.

“There are 1,000 types of algae, and there are only a few producing omega-3,” he says.

Capturing carbon and using it for things like fish farming might sound like an ideal way to tackle climate change, and the practice is still in its infancy. Scientists from GE Global Research in Niskayuna, New York, are competing to take one their own carbon-capture designs to Mongstad soon.

Phil DiPietro and Bob Perry, laboratory scientists have been experimenting with amino silicones, which are commonly found in bathrooms, laundry rooms, hair conditioners and textile softeners.

“Although they are in the same family, I wouldn’t recommend washing your hair or your laundry with the amino silicones we’ve developed.

“They’re specially formulated to scrub carbon,” Perry told GE Reports.

GE Power also just joined the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), the school’s hub for energy research, education and outreach. MITEI, pronounced “mighty,” runs eight low-carbon energy centres. Among other things, the centres are “trying to understand the cleanest ways and the cheapest ways to capture carbon dioxide from power plants,” says Robert Armstrong, the MITEI director.

In Norway’s Mongstad Centre, scientists are also looking at ways of using carbon dioxide to enhance the production of fertilisers and other chemical production.