Arizona Public Service Co. and a partner alternative-fuels company will try to create biofuels from algae grown using carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-burning power plant, following a successful experiment at a natural gas-fired plant.

APS and GreenFuel Technologies Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., this summer successfully grew algae at APS' Redhawk natural gas power plant at levels 37 times higher than corn and 140 times higher than soybeans — the two primary crops used for biofuel. The Redhawk plant is near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix.

 

The growth rate surpassed previous lab growth rates and exceeded all expectations going into the project, APS said.

The project is now moving to APS' Four Corners generating station, a coal power plant located in Farmington, N.M.