Different Algae for Different Strokes
One of the big advances we’ve seen in moving towards a renewable future is in the field of biofuels. And one of the sources of biofuels currently being studied is algae. It grows on your pond, or at the lake near your house, but it might also one day keep your car running and your plane in the air.
And a joint venture between Rose Ann Cattolico at University of Washington and investment company Recently Allied Minds might soon see a different type of algae for different types of situations.
"People don’t realize how many types of algae there are – from single cells to large kelp – and each one develops differently," Cattolico said. "What we’re trying to do is choose the best of the best, the ones that produce the right lipids for a particular type of fuel."
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When I first read about this, I was absolutely fascinated. So often we just read that “algae biofuels” is going to be an option for us down the track. Now I find out that different types of algae will be better suited to power different types of things.
Corn has recently gone out of favor as a possible mass-produced biofuel, due to the massive amount of pollution that its growth will make, and the corn that it will take away from people’s mouths. And where corn produces starch as a result of photosynthesis, algae make lipids, a naturally occurring molecule such as fats, waxes, and oils.
Some oils created by algae might be appropriate for fueling a motor vehicle; another might be more suited for home heating oil; and yet another might be the right type to power an airplane. While we’re at it, some algae oils might also provide useful for other products, in the same vein that omega 3 fatty acids make fish such a popular and healthy product.
In fact algae’s are quickly turning into the star of the biofuel world. It does not require masses of farmland to produce, and can use wastewater instead of diverting freshwater. And with fuel prices skyrocketing, water availability a real and present issue, and the loss of farmland for these products a concern, algae comes out on top in all categories.
And though it could take 10 to 25 years before algae-based biofuel is readily available to the public, the possibilities are huge. Erick Rabins, vice president of Allied Minds, based in Quincy, Mass, and interim manager of the startup company between Allied Minds and UW, says that "The most optimistic assessment that I’ve heard is that it could be six to eight years before there’s something that’s useable, but the tools and techniques to make it possible are being created right now.”
Cattolico knows that algae can be a real answer to many prayers in this day and age of high fuel prices. But she also doesn’t believe it is the only answer. She wants to see a wide sweeping commitment by government and industry to ensure a quick development of alternate energy sources.
"What we need is a Manhattan Project for fuel," Cattolico said. "If we can get a Manhattan Project for fuel, it won’t take 25 years."
credit: jurvetson at Flickr under a Creative Commons license
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Hey Josh, you left out the best part - namely that the only other requirement for algae growth besides water and sunlight, is - carbon dioxide. That’s the required feedstock for any plant growth of course, so think of it as all that nasty CO2 (indirectly) fueling your vehicle or heating your home.
Various pilot projects have been built next to power plants and factories where the CO2 emissions are used as the fuelstock.
How’s that for carbon sequestration?
greeneyes, it’s great for sequestration, but only if you don’t burn the algae made from that CO2 as fuel. I think it makes WAY more sense to bury algae though, than to try to bury liquid CO2
@Greeneyes-
From what I understand, algae does require CO2 for the production of the actual fuel, but the combustion of the algal fuel actually produces CO2, just like other hydrocarbons. However, the difference with this fuel is that it essentially recycles the existing CO2 whereas fossil fuels produce CO2 in addition to the CO2 already in the atmosphere. Algal biodiesel is actually only carbon neutral (not that this is a bad thing at all!).
Once again, this is just my basic understanding so please correct me if I am wrong here.
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Corn ethanol has NOT gone out of favor. Two thirds of Americans favor biofuels, including corn ethanol. They support buying domestic fuels as a means of reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing our massive Trade Deficit. They would rather pay American farmers than Arab Sheiks and Dictators. Read an article called “Minnesota Gasoline Sales Drop 9% in July, E85 Sales Up 16%.” Corn ethanol is increasing in popularity all across the Corn Belt. In Nebraska, for example, it is the driver of the economy. We consume 170 billion gallons of gasoline and about 65 billion gallons of diesel fuel a year. Therefore, biodiesel alone will only provide one third of the liquid fuels we need today. Although we are all riding on the future promise of algae, ethanol is here today and already in your tank. The byproducts of algae oil are starch and protein, which translate into algae based ethanol and high protein animal feed. The byproducts are just as important as the primary oil product in making algae production feasible and cost effective. Algae can also go into biogas digesters to produce natural gas derived from methane. The 96% starch variety of algae would be used to produce biogas and ethanol. The 60% protein varieties such as spirulina and chlorella will be used to produce animal feed, with the remaining byproducts going to both ethanol and biodiesel. These two transition fuels are symbiotic, in that they will both be co-produced in algae production facilities
Biodiesel is a significant fuel with high BTUs, but it is Not superior to ethanol, which has high octane and is water soluable. These are the words of Phil Ratte, Mechanical Engineer, BME University of Minnesota: “From 1981 to 1989, I worked with Herb Hansen, who had been an engineer on a WW II submarine, and a former captain of a nuclear submarine. We developed two prototype cars, a Ford Pinto Station Wagon and a Mitsubishi Sedan, that ran as well on 65 proof ethanol, 2/3 water and 1/3 ethanol, as they did on unleaded regular gas.” Try that with biodeisel fuel.
Researchers at Solazyme have devised a way to grow algae without sunlight, by feeding them sugar in fermentation tanks. This is something that could possibly be adapted to corn ethanol refineries, with the corn sugar feeding algae in adjacent tanks. Algae being cultivated on the waste products of corn ethanol: CO2, nutrient rich waste water (aka: thin stillage), production gas exhaust, and waste heat. All the elements are there. The prolific growth rate of sugar fed algae would leverage corn sugar into 10 or more times the amount of biofuels and byproducts. Then the oil rich algae would be processed into cheap biodiesel sold back to local farmers, ethanol for local and regional distribution, biogas for plant production power, co-generated electric power for the local grid, and high protein algae animal feed to sell along side distillers grains. Imagine if you could replace all imported oil by integrating onsite algae production into the existing corn ethanol industry.
The corn ethanol industry is still evolving. It’s becoming cleaner, more efficient, and more cost effective. Less than half of the corn kernel is used to make ethanol, only the starch. The other half is made into distillers grain, which is fed to animals to produce food. It is also possible to make distillers grains into high protein foods for direct human consumption. Corn ethanol is food and fuel and always has been.
No body is starving because the starch is being removed from one third of the feed corn crop. We fulfill all of the corn used for direct human consumption, which is a rather small percentage. What has thrown the cost of corn way out of whack is the high cost of transportation fuels. When corn is shipped long distance or exported, the transportation cost is a bigger factor than the cost of the product itself.
America is a nation plagued by over consumption. If you are overeating, consider this: You too are contributing to the higher demand for food and impacting the price. While Americans are stuffing their faces, less fortunate people are starving. Everyone get down to your ideal weight. That will drop your food bill and solve world hunger faster than anything.
To Jeff Baker, above:
Corn ethanol is terrible for the environment as well as the economy.
Yes, there is increasing demand for it, strictly due to the fact that people are ignorant, and are not given any other options.
Would you top off your tank with corn ethanol if you knew the crazy amount of energy involved in rendering it useful, as well as the fact that it takes food off the plates of those who are unable to, say, fill up a car gas tank with corn-juice?
Looks like McDonalds again, kids.
But don’t worry, that stuff is full of corn crap too!
We have wayyy to much corn being grown, like it or not, know it or not. The effects of such horrible policy, without any eye towards the future, are not visible unless you know where to look.
Globally, commodity prices have skyrocketed, as we export less and less corn, all while growing more and more of the stuff for a market that has been artificially sponsored from the start by government special interest.
Besides all of this, corn is causing deadly-serious health problems across the country.
YAYY DIABETES!
When farmers EVERYWHERE in the US grown corn (due to govt. subsidizing intervention), they ignore other crops that were previously brought to market.
THEY ARE DECREASING THE SUPPLY OF THE BYPASSED CROPS, AND THUS INCREASE THE PRICE. SIGNIFICANTLY.
Corn Ethanol is Bad for the environment. Reasons:
It requires large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which cause apoxia in the gulf of Mexico (the Dead Zone)
It requires fossil fuels to create those fertilizers and pesticides.
It requires machinery for harvesting, transporting, and distilling that uses fossil fuels.
The alcohol conversion compared to sugar cane is extremely low. It makes more sense for tropical countries where sugar cane can be grown, but not for our temperate climate.
It is subsidized by government (tax payers). The real cost of creating it and the harm to the environment may not be worth it at all.
Look into solar, wind, fuel vehicle efficiencies, mass transportation, algae fuels, and for those daring maybe Tesla free energy models.