Wuxi Uses Blue-green Algae to Generate Power

Jun 23, 2008 - SinoCast

Blue-green algae that is damaging the water quality of the Taihu Lake will soon become a new raw material for power generation in Wuxi, a beautiful city in Jiangsu Province.

On June 18, 2008, Wuxi put its first blue-green algae-based biogas thermal power generation device into operation, which is able to process 300 tons of blue-green algae per day, or 30,000-40,000 tons per year.

Mixed blue-greed algae with pig dejecta, the device will generate biogas via anaerobic fermentation and then one ton of blue-green algae could contribute electricity of 40 KWH on average.

Wuxi, as a scenic city aside of the Taihu Lake, has spent huge in fighting with blue-green algae, which not only worsens the water quality further, but also kills fishes. Salvage is an effective way to defeat blue-green algae pollution, but how to deal with captive is difficult problem, given the huge amount.

Experts suggest that large-sized livestock and poultry farms around the Taihu Lake to set up such devices to generate biogas with blue-green algae, and therefore the lake will regain its beauty earlier.