Algae for bioenergy
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Bioenergy > Feedstocks > Biodiesel feedstocks > Algae for bioenergy
The term algae encompasses a wide variety of mostly aquatic photosynthetic organisms. The potentially high biomass production potential of algae has drawn a lot of attention form researchers, particularly the possibility that algal oils could be used for biodiesel production. Biofuels produced from algae are known as "algal biofuels." (Algae can also be considered a type of "aquatic biofuel".)
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Production
There are several options for large-scale production of algae.
- Several companies are trying to commercialize technologies to harvest various forms of wild algae.
- Wild algae can be harvested from municipal waste and other man made sources
- Algal blooms that form naturally or as a result of pollution in the ocean can also theoretically be harvested for algae.
- Open-air ponds: Algae has been grown commercially for 20 years in open-air ponds for many applications including Spirulina production in both Hawaii and California. For the production of biodiesel[1] commercial open-air ponds were dicussed by the Aquatic Species Program Close Out Report as the most cost effective way to produce algae for biofuels.
- Closed ponds: Algae can be grown in covered ponds
- Photo-bioreactors: One of the more promising areas for bioenergy production is growing algae in sealed bioreactors. These allow for much greater control of conditions for the algae, but have much greater capital costs and technical challenges.[1]
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News
- Algae-based oil would save 160m tonnes CO2, 24 October 2008 by LowCarbonEconomy.com: "Algae-based transportation fuel could reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by over 160 million tonnes, according to the Carbon Trust."
- "The organisation has set up a funding initiative to boost research and development into algae biofuels with the aim of creating an alternative to fossil fuels by 2020."
- "It has set up the Algae Biofuels Challenge, which it will fund with up to £6 million and will also have the backing and funding of the (U.K.) Department of Transport.
- "According to the Carbon Trust, algae could produce between six and ten times more energy per hectare than conventional biofuel feedstocks, while generating just 20 per cent of the carbon emissions of fossil fuels."[1]
- Boeing, Virgin join group committed to biofuel for commercial jets, 26 September 2008 by WBCSD/ENN: "Boeing joined Virgin Atlantic Airways and eight other airlines this morning to pledge to speed up the development of sustainable, second-generation biofuels for use in the commercial aviation industry."
- "The group has announced two initial sustainability research projects to judge the viability of two leading contenders for biomass-based renewable jet fuel: Jatropha curcas and algae."[2]
- Saline County Missouri Approves $141 Million Revenue Bonds for Alternative Energy, 31 July 2008 by iStockAnalyst: "Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI) today announced that EcoAlgae USA, LLC, has received a signed resolution from Saline County Missouri commissioners to construct a commercial Algae Production Facility in conjunction with an Integrated Biorefinery Complex."
- New, "better" biofuels are no magic bullet, 4 June 2008 by Reuters: "commercial production of [second generation] biofuels, for instance using woody cellulose, grasses or algae, is years away" and such biofuels "'are not expected to be produced on a commercial basis' in the next decade, according to a report by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development."
- Green Star secures algal biodiesel license, 31 January 2008, from Biofuel Review. A license was granted to use the process developed by Green Star to convert algae biomass to biodiesel, and to use cellulose sugars to produce ethanol.
- Continuous microalgae bio-oil process developed, 29 January 2008, Biofuel Review, the new process allows the separation of the bio-oil feedstock from the algae biomass.
- Shell joins venture to produce biodiesel from algae from the Financial Times, 12 December 2007. Shell and HP Biopetroleum, a Hawaii-based algal biofuels company, collaborate to grow marine algae for conversion into biodiesel.
- Algae Blooms Again (subscription required) 30 May 2007, from Nature about Solix' growing of algae in enclosed chambers to make biodiesel.
- PetroSun licensing biofuel-from-algae process to... itself?, 9 April 2007, from Insidegreentech.com. A blog article on PetroSun's announcement that it is liscensing its algae to biodiesel technology to an Australian subsidiary.
- Algae biofuel company's claims questioned, 3 April 2007 from Biopact.com. A report has questioned South African company De Beers Fuel claims of having produced large quantities of biodiesel from algae.
- GSPI Consortium to Construct "Algae-to-Biodiesel" Facilities in Two Countries, 15 March 2007, from CSRwire.com. "Green Star Products, Inc. announced today that its Consortium of independent companies will begin construction of two demonstration "algae-to-biodiesel" production facilities in the US and abroad."
- Venture Capitalists Want to Put Some Algae in Your Tank (login required), 7 March 2007, New York Times, reports on California-based inventors from LiveFuels Inc. working to develop algae that could be "superheated or pressurized into fuel." The company, which has the slogan “from pond to pump,” works with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Labs, and estimates that it will be able to produce an initial amount of algae-based biofuel within three years [i.e., by 2010].
- PetroSun announces final testing for algae biofuel proocess, 5 February 2007 from Biofuel Review. PetroSun has announced that the field testing of the cultivation of algae for biodiesel production has now progressed to the final stage prior to the construction of a commercial cultivation facility.
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Companies
- Algodyne Corp. - Has developed an algae photo-bioreactor system that can produce ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, electricity, (synthetic) coal and animal feed. They are also developing a direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC), that produces electricity from ethanol directly.
- Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation - A New Zealand based company that is the first to harvest wild algae (from waste-water treatment plants) for biodiesel production.
- Circle Biodiesel & Ethanol Corporation - manufacturing and consulting for algae biodiesel and photobioreactors for algae biofuel production, etc.
- GreenFuel Technologies Corporation - Provides algae bioreactor technology that can capture carbon dioxide emissions to support algae-based biofuel production.
- Green Star Products Inc. - A holding company with investments in various ethanol and biodiesel producers. They are building demonstration algae-to-biodiesel facilities.
- Petrosun Incorporated - a diversified energy company dealing with both traditional fossil fuels and renewable energy resources, including algae biodiesel, through their subsidiary, Algae Biofuels.
- Solix Biofuels - Makes algae photo-bioreactors that capture CO2 from power plants to produce biodiesel.
- XL Biorefinery - A new generation biorefinery combines a dairy operation with a bioufels plant and fractionation mill to produce renewable biofuels, quality animal feeds, and milk products. They currently use corn as a feedstock but are developing an algae to biofuels component.
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Organizations
- Algal Biomass Organization - ABO is a not-for-profit organization that "promotes the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from microalgae."[4]
- National Algae Association - NAA is "the first national trade association for the algae industry in the United States".[5]
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Publications
See books, reports, scientific papers, position papers and websites for additional useful resources.
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Websites
- Oilgae.com - Biodiesel from algae site.
- Oilalgae.com - Oil from algae blog.
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Reports
- Aquatic Biofuels (PDF file), by T. Piccolo.
- Widescale Biodiesel Production from Algae by Michael Briggs; University of New Hampshire, Physics Department, revised August 2004.
- A Look Back at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae, by John Sheehan, Terri Dunahay, John Benemann, Paul Roessler; USDOE, July 1998.
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Events
- 14 May 2008, Manila, Philippines: A - Z Algae Biomass Workshop. (Themes: algae, biomass)
- 17 July 2008, The Woodlands, Texas: Algae Commercialization Business Plan, Research, and Networking Forum. (Themes: algae, commercialization)
- 17-19 September 2008, New Delhi, India. Algae Biofuel Summit 2008. (Themes: biofuels, algae)
- 23-24 October 2008, Seattle, Washington, USA: 2008 Algae Biomass Summit.
- 17-18 November 2008, Singapore: AlgaeWorld. (Theme: Algae)
- 3-4 December 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: International Algae Congress. (Theme: algae)
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