Microalgie purify Biogas
Schmack Biogas AG (Schwandorf) located at BioRegio Regensburg was founded in 1995 and since this time has developed into a technology and market leader in the German Biogas Industry with 140 employees and a turnover of 34.1 million €. The successful company is now going onto the German stock exchange (Frankfurt). With the release of 2.3 million shares the core business is to be expanded and the commencement of its own enterprise as a power and gas manufacturer is to be financed.
Together with the company Rent-a-Scientist GmbH located at Regensburg a unique research project in the area of regenerative energy forms has also been started. Biogas is produced in special facilities in which microorganisms decompose liquid manure or plants in closed air conditions. The more the energy yield, the higher the methane content and thereby the more pure the biogas. With algae in a photobioreactor the biogas is purified before the flow is commenced. The algae need CO2 to grow and remove this very efficiently from the biogas. In laboratory experimentation the energy content of the gas with EBSIE (increasing the efficiency of biogas use through solar energy) rose considerably. A further positive effect: the algae in the reactor grow faster and build up biomass, which is also fermented in the biogas plant or which can be used as feeding material or to deliver raw materials for basic chemicals. Use as a means of power or as a power interface to the natural gas network is also possible.
The close regional cooperation with Rent-a-Scientist GmbH founded at Regensburg in 1995 is now showing for the first time the fruits of its success. The research institute with 17 employees provides comprehensive scientific research and was recently selected as being a key location in the national competition "Germany – the Country of Ideas" award.
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