Masdar awards IMECO contract to build its desert bioenergy pilot project

In the UAE, based on research at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC) announced it is awarding a contract to International Mechanical & Electrical Co. L.L.C. (IMECO) to construct the world’s first bioenergy pilot project to use desert land – irrigated by seawater – to produce both bioenergy and food. The pilot project is expected to be operational by late summer.

Masdar Institute, together with Etihad Airways, The Boeing Company and Honeywell UOP, founded the consortium. Safran and GE have since joined.

The project is based upon an integrated, closed-loop system. The technology uses coastal seawater to raise fish and shrimp for food, whose nutrient-rich wastewater then fertilizes plants rich in oils that can be harvested for aviation biofuel production. The plants thrive in arid, desert conditions and don’t require fresh water or arable land to grow. Lastly, the effluent is diverted into cultivated mangroves being discharged back into the sea, further removing nutrients and providing valuable carbon storage.

The goal of this pilot project is to demonstrate the integrated bioenergy process as a commercially viable and sustainable system with respect to essential food and fuel production, suitable land use, reduced carbon emissions and wastewater clean-up.