First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online: April 1, 2008
PetroSun has announced it will begin operation of its commercial algae-to-biofuels facility on April 1st, 2008.
The facility, located in Rio Hondo Texas, will produce an estimated 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million lbs. of biomass per year off a series of saltwater ponds spanning 1,100 acres. Twenty of those acres will be reserved for the experimental production of a renewable JP8 jet-fuel.
Gordon LeBlanc, Jr., CEO of PetroSun, had this to say:
“Our business model has been focused on proving the commercial feasibility of the firms’ algae-to-biofuels technology during the past eighteen months. Whether we have arrived at this point in time by a superior technological approach, sheer luck or a redneck can-do attitude, the fact remains that microalgae can outperform the current feedstocks utilized for conversion to biodiesel and ethanol, yet do not impact the consumable food markets or fresh water resources.”
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Microalgae have garnered considerable attention, since acre-by-acre microalgae can produce 30-100 times the oil yield of soybeans on marginal land and in brackish water. The biomass left-over from oil-pressing can either be fed to cattle as a protein supplement, or fermented into ethanol.
The big problem has been figuring out how to collect and press the algae, and in the case of open ponds, to prevent contamination by invasive species. PetroSun seems to have figured it out, and this may be the first algae biofuel plant to get off the ground.
we will be so happy to produce algae biodiesel but,we must try it previously on pre-equiped cars and see results
I am happy to learn that Petrosun has commercialised production of BioDiesel. How I wish they team up with Indian company to facilitate mfr and extensive use of Bio Diesel in India. It will help a huge population and help the global environment.
This is very possible. What about the idea of encouraging algal producers in romote countries the world over whose potentials are great but lack facilities to perform large-scale production?
biofuel….i am intrested with biofuel from algae. please give me detail information, cause i want to applicate in my country. thanks
hi
i wonder is its cost high? i calculate the cost based on required CO2 and nutrients, it seems so expensive.
please tell me the cost.
This is nice but a lot more is needed and potentially better ways of doing it. Their process is simply not efficient enough. For instance at 4.4million gallons/year and 1,100 acres they would need approximately 2.1 million square miles of land to cover just the 2006 consumption of diesel alone. That is just diesel.. that doesn’t even touch the other fuel sources (gasoline). To put that in perspective they would need an area equal to 59.37% of the entire US landmass to cover just diesel consumption…. from 2006. The process simply needs to be more efficient. More biodiesel needs to be harvested per square mile in order to make it more practical to really put a dent in world oil consumption.
For an even better perspective:
For those that would like to try it at home lets say you devote a 10×10 ft patch of your own land to make your own biodiesel. At their current rate of return per land then you would be able to produce a whooping 0.918 gallons of fuel in a year all by yourself. Need to increase that by a factor of 10 before you are really talking about a good process.
Algae fuel research has its history,popular pablications.We know about the problem of CO2 and invention of Isaack Berzin from GreenFuel.I understand nothing about this pond technology
> Heather M
Perhaps their processing method is too dark so that aren’t allowed to work in open river.
Or second think is necessary equipment that is difficult to install and guard on river, far from consuming/processing plant.
Anyway, it’s a big future in gathering-conservation-transportation of algae for 3d-part companies.
Yahoo press release link is broken…
l think this is the best project ever,it does not compete with the food and the good thing about algae is that it removes NOX and CO in the air,but l was wondering if you used cyanobacteria which grows best at high temperatures and that would mean contamination is very little ?