Algae Fueled Airplanes - Incredible!

I bet you have never thought that the answer to tackling our worldwide dependence on fossil fuels and limiting carbon dioxide emissions (linked to climate change) would reside in the hands of a simple photosynthetic plant/microorganism like algae. Yes I said it, ALGAE. 

The latest quest for biofuel manufacturers around the world is to produce clean jet fuel from algae. Why you may ask? Beyond the improved efficiency, biofuels are the only way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the airline sector. Furthermore, The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (part of the U.S. Department of Energy) recently reported that renewable fuel from algae could eventually replace 17% of the U.S. oil imports. There's no question that algae are productive little creatures, capable of yielding 10 to 100 times more fuel per hectare than a traditional crop like corn. 

What makes algae so unique is that its tissues are not organized into the many distinct organs that are found in land plants. Thus, they are more versatile and under certain conditions and able to produce small quantities of ethanol. In fact, up to 50% of an algae's body weight can be comprised of oil vs. oil-palm trees (largest produce of biofuel) yeild only ~20% of their weight in oil.[1] Algae are the least publicized source of biofuel feedstock yet may hold the greatest potential for simultaneously tackling a lot of the problems related to our reliance on petroleum based resources.  

“Put quite simply, microalgae are remarkable and efficient biological factories capable of taking a waste (zero-energy) form of carbon (CO₂) and converting it into a high density liquid form of energy (natural oil).”
-A Look Back at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

 

For as long as I can remember I was interested in the topic of algae and biofuels. However, the wave of interest has been a long time coming, as scientists have been researching algae and ethanol since the 1980's. The push really came though when oil prices began falling in the early 1990's and with peak oil on the rise.[2]  Today, dozens of start-ups have sprung out of Universities, government labs and corporate R&D divisions, all hoping to break the world’s addiction to oil in a way that’s economical and doesn’t compete with food production. 

COMPANIES LEADING THE WAY

Solazyme and Cellana are two very interesting biotech companies that I have been following for a while now. They are involved in the research and manufacturing of algae in the form of fuel, chemical, health and beauty products. I recently read a really interesting article in The Atlantic magazine with the CEO of Solazyme and the interviewer asked him "what new idea or innovation is having the most impact on the sustainability world"...his response was:

"...With a planet that is now heading towards nine billion people in the next 40 years, we are going to have to find new and different ways of doing things. Solazyme's technology provides one important link in that chain, as we are changing the oil paradigm with renewable and sustainable solutions for both food and fuel ...The trend happening across the industry is that these breakthrough technologies will be entering the market soon and are designed to fit seamlessly into existing infrastructure."

Solazyme, is now supplying algae based fuel (along with Dynamic Fuels LLC and Syntroleum Corp.) to the U.S. Navy. In fact, the Navy spent $12 million last year to buy 450,000 gallons of alternative fuel for aircrafts, ships and unmanned vehicles. This was the biggest government purchase of advanced biofuels according to the Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. 

Furthermore, according to Bloomberg.com: "Dynamic Fuels will process algal oil supplied by Solazyme and used cooking oil into 100,000 gallons of jet fuel and 350,000 gallons of marine distillate fuel at its plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The facility opened in November 2010 and has a 75 million gallon a year capacity. The Navy will receive the fuel in May 2012, the companies said today in a joint statement distributed by Globe Newswire. Both companies previously supplied fuel to the military for testing."

DOESN'T ALGAE ONLY GROW WITH THE SUN? 

PRODUCING ALGAE ON LARGE SCALE -RESEARCH!

What I find most interesting was when Solazyme realized that they didn't need the sun and photosynthesis to let algae multiply. They were able to leverage decades of industrial fermentation expertise and equipment to grow algae quickly and inexpensively -in the DARK- using standard fermentors. All it took was SUGAR!! Algae feed on sugar which allows them to grow, just as they can grown in the sun. With this unique approach, they are able to scale rapidly to descend the cost curve and meet today's needs for renewable and sustainable oils.

Magnetic Field

Another approach to making algae grow without photosynthesis is still the early stages of development at the University of Western Ontario, but worth mentioning. Wankei Wan, who is a professor of biochemical engineering has found a way to increase growth of algae through MAGNETIC FIELDS! How neat!! In his work an algae pond was circulated through an area exposed to static magnetic fields. What they found was that the algae produced dramatically more antioxidants, such as Astazanthin (often used as a food supplement) when exposed to the magnetic fields. They coined this process "milking algae". Overall, the researchers noticed that the growth would increase steadily as the field strength grew. Then, once peak growth was reached, there would be a steep decline. Further research is still needed but great progress is making way.

COMPETING WITH AGRICULTURE?

Biofuels - whether it be related to biodiesel or ethanol - have gotten a bum rap over the past two years. This is mainly because most of the ethanol comes from corn. Indeed, a fierce debate has emerged over whether prime agricultural land should be used to grow crops for fuel instead of food. Also, with the amount of energy put into the entire life-cycle of producing ethanol from cord, many even wonder if it is worth it at all. 

Biofuels themselves are not the problem, it is more in relation to how they are produced...AND THAT IS WHY ALGAE HAVE RE-ENERGIZED INTEREST IN THIS EMERGING MARKET. Specifically, when comparing the amount of acreage to the product, algae can produce up to 15,000 gallons per acre per year, while soy only produces some 50 gallons of oil per acre per year; canola -15 gallons; and palm, 650 gallons. That's a substantially more! [1]

Algae production in no way competes with food and requires no agricultural land to grow. By some estimates, algae uses one-tenth the land required for growing corn. The biggest challenge is to develop an approach to producing oil or ethanol from algae that can be done on a cost competitive, massive global scale.

References
1. http://cellana.com/why-algae/
2. http://www.thestar.com/article/671615--algae-the-next-biofuel-bet





© new wave ideas -Sara Bonham