BIOFUEL AIRPORT TRIAL:The project is an early trial - if it works there, why not anywhere?

A START-UP company that combines biofuel and carbon capture technologies will this month begin work on a project that will capture waste carbon dioxide (CO2) from large buildings and use it to help produce biofuel on-site.

Origo Industries, a privately owned British company, will trial its Ecobox technology at Liverpool's John Lennon airport, which plans to use the biofuel it makes to run some of its ground-based vehicles.

Any waste biomass produced in the refining process will be dried and fed into a burner that will supply some of the airport's heating and hot water.

The trial involves CO2 from the airport terminal building's air-handling units being passed through a photo-bioreactor containing algae. The CO2 will then be absorbed by the algae, accelerating its development to a point where it can be refined to produce a biofuel.

Origo aims to produce up to 250 litres of biofuel a day using the system when it starts operating this summer. It plans to scale up the technology to make larger amounts, if the trial is successful, and also to make aviation-grade biofuel if the results prove positive.

Ian Houston, chief executive of Origo Industries, said the technology had the potential to work in any large building.

"The project at John Lennon airport is an early trial of a system which we believe could have a significant impact on the way companies today can obtain fuel and manage carbon emissions," he said.

"If it works there, then why not anywhere?"