Posts Tagged by algae
From Guest Blogger Alia Haley: Algae–Can It Become the Renewable Energy Source of the Future?
| May 9, 2012 | Posted by Alia under Biomass |
The scientists at Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia have collected the draft genome of a marine algae sequence to support the researchers all over the United States in a project which aspires to find out the best algae species for creating biodiesel fuel. The need to develop an alternative and renewable fuel sources is to avert any energy crisis in the future along with reducing the greenhouse gas production. Researchers want to produce large quality of bio fuel in some small amount of space employing minimal resources. This will therefore to address the world’s fuel requirements.
Algae bio fuels is both promising and unique
Algae are simple microscopic organism which is generally seen in water and grows hydroponically. Read More
Can Algae Move the Needle in Biofuels?
| July 18, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
When I was lucky enough to meet the eminent Bulgarian scientist Dr. Boris Monahov at the Energy Storage conference last week, we spoke about the advanced battery solutions he and his team are developing. But Dr. Monahov is also a proponent of algal biofuels, and sent me the article linked here.
I remain skeptical. Algae, while it works fine in the laboratory, has presented one problem after another in the real world. And this article suggests that algae can replace 17% of US purchases of foreign oil. In my estimation, that’s good, but not good enough.
Bill Gates on Renewable Energy
| July 8, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
2GreenEnergy Business Director George Alger sent me this interview in which Bill Gates speaks on renewable energy.
George: Yes, he makes some good points, and he’s a fan (as am I) of Donald Sadoway’s work at MIT.
But as you can see from the comments, not everyone agrees with a lot of what he says. I, for one, completely disagree with a great deal of this. 
His position that biomass holds huge promise while solar is “cute” and “for rich people” is pretty far out there on the fringe.
It’s as if he said that Dorothy Hamill was his favorite ice hockey team. But when you have a guy of that stature, he can say that 2 and 2 are 5, and it will garner huge amounts of attention.
About Greg Mitchell, Contributor to “Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies” – Scripps Institution, Algae
| August 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
Dr. Mitchell contibuted to the book’s chapter on algae as biofuel.
Fundamentally, the photosynthetic process reduces inorganic compounds like carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, and phosphorous, and builds these biochemicals. Initially sugar, and then the sugar’s burned to build all sorts of other things, and nutrients are brought in and you build membranes with phosphorous and you build proteins with nitrogen and so forth. It is all ultimately derived out of the sunlight.
Liquid Ammonia as Fuel
| May 5, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
In a recent post, Bill Paul points out that the reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf should be algae-generated biofuels. But why not liquid ammonia, as Peak Oil pundit Matt Simmons would suggest? As Matt old me when I interviewed him for my book on renewables (and then reminded me in a phone call the other day) anhydrous ammonia is an ultra-clean, energy-dense alternative liquid fuel, for which an enormous delivery infrastructure is already in place. With the exception of hydrogen (for there is virtually no delivery infrastructure) ammonia is the only fuel that produces no greenhouse gases (GHG) on combustion. Ammonia will power diesel and spark-ignited internal combustion engines, and can be manufactured from simply water and air using clean renewable energy.
I’ll see if I can see Bill to comment on this.
After Gulf Oil Spill, Focus Should be On Biofuels
| May 5, 2010 | Posted by BillPaul under Biomass |
TV’s talking heads seem to think that wind and solar power are the answer to reducing America’s oil usage. How stupid can they be? Wind and solar make electricity, which won’t be ready to power large numbers of motor vehicles for many years. Biofuel is the only short-term answer — not fuel-blending ethanol but fuel-substituting algae. I’m still waiting for one of TV’s talking heads to talk about the need for a massive program to put algae-derived gasoline refining on the map.
Making bio-fuel from Algae – by Guest Blogger Anil – Continued
| March 14, 2010 | Posted by Anil under Biomass |
To continue the discussion on biofuels, there have been a number of oil companies who invested in algae fuel. The major ones are:
Exxon
The big oil firm was looking for projects with high returns to exploit its industry knowledge and infrastructure. Exxon chose bio-fuels and geothermal energy. The company invested US$600 million in the sector through a partnership with Synthetic Genomics. While the company acknowledges that the real challenge is to create economically viable algae bio-fuel in large volumes which will require significant advances in both science and engineering, it remains positive about the investment.
Solazyme
The company is leading in terms of producing algae fuel at scale. Solazyme was founded in 2003 with US$80 million in venture capital backing. The company had one of the first development deals with Chevron. The company now expects to be able to commercialize its technology by 2012-2013, with a production cost target at US$60 to US$80 per barrel.
Chevron
Chevron announced a collaborative research and development agreement with the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to study and advance technology to produce liquid transportation fuels using algae. Chevron and NREL scientists are trying to identify and develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into finished transportation fuels.
Shell
The company established a joint venture with bio-fuel company HR Bio-Petroleum in 2007. The joint venture, named Cellana is investigating different strains of algae, by cultivating them in ponds and seeks to process the algae into oil that can be used as a raw material for fuel.
ConocoPhillips
In July 2008, ConocoPhillips signed a US$5 million, multi year research agreement with the Colorado Center for Bio-refining and Bio-fuels (CCBB). CCBB is a joint venture of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State, Colorado School of Mines and NREL. Together they plan to develop new ways to convert biomass into low carbon transportation fuels.
BP
In February 2007, BP joined hands with University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The parties are developing technology to produce bio-fuels, including those made from algae. The collaboration formed the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), and BP has announced to support the Institute with a ten-year, US$500 million grant.
OriginOil
The objective of OriginOil is to break down the barriers to algae’s development at all the levels, that is, from plant growth to oil separation. The company has developed a novel, patented process for growing algae that introduces all the inputs — carbon dioxide, water, and nutrients — on a micron level. The company uses electric pulses to break down the algae cells and extract the oil using simple gravitational force. This system could save 90% of the energy used by traditional methods.
There are a lot of companies like the ones mentioned above who have already invested or are ready to invest in algae fuel. It is interesting to see big oil funds diverting towards research and development of an upcoming technology.
However, what’s noteworthy is that this is not the first time the oil companies are trying to wash away their much maligned image. For a long time now, oil firms are aware of the need to diversify the business portfolio as the market is likely to bet on renewable energy sources. Conspiracy theorists would be quick to point the possibility of the investments being made with the intention of sabotaging the technology. Chevron is still best known as the killer of the electric car in some circles by taking exclusive control of Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery licensing rights back in 1990s.
The principles that hold true for big oil firms as investors are equally true for other investors. Since the technology is in development phase and still not prime for applications in real world, investors putting their money into algae stocks might be risking their investment. The companies operating in this space might be garnering some brownie points such as Valcent Products’ vertical farming technology was named one of the best Innovations of 2009 by Time Magazine last month, but when it comes to hardcore financial numbers, companies don’t have anything else to offer except hopes of hitting it big-time. Some eventually might end up making superior returns, but 9 out of 10 companies look set for a shakeout. Who knows, big guys like Bill Gates and Exxon Mobil might be losing out on their investments in algae startups.
The option of perfecting a technology with long gestation periods doesn’t come without the risks. Almost invariably, the markets have managed to figure out replacements for the materials or technologies crossing their fair value. Algae fuel technology is running this risk and the long gestation period is already evident to be irksome for some investors. Vinod Khosla, one of the prominent cleantech investors maintains that he hasn’t found even one viable algae technology plan after looking at many options. “The economics of algae don’t seem to work” Khosla adds. What happened with the corn based ethanol technologies is matter of public knowledge now. These are still hay days for the technology, but the billions pouring into solar and wind energy could prove to be fatal for algae.
Making bio-fuel from Algae – by Guest Blogger Anil
| March 13, 2010 | Posted by Anil under Biomass |
With time ticking, the world is desperate to switch over to renewable sources of energy. And in a need to create one stable source of energy, all the options are being tried and tested. Thanks to the ongoing research, claims are being made of solutions replacing fossil fuels in one way or another.
In the light of the need to reduce in carbon emissions, there have been lot of attention to bio-fuels, especially those made from algae. There had been a flurry of venture capitalists (VCs), company investments and lots of attention from politics as well. Algae had been quite a promising option for preparing bio-fuels. It is assumed to be a low cost way to transform our current fleet so that they emit less carbon. The government is promoting algae fuel in a hope that it will cut down on the usage of mainstream fossil fuels.
Algae fuel production is a process in which during photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. Up to 99% of the carbon dioxide in solution can be converted in large scale open pond systems.
Recently, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced that they would offer up to US$85 million in funding for the development of algae based bio-fuels. The funding comes as a part of the funds released from the stimulus package, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The objective of the fund is to bring together a group of leading algae and advanced bio-fuels. Scientists and engineers from both universities and private firms are attempting to bring new technologies and fuels to market in an accelerated time frame.
The technology has its share of criticism as well. Researchers argue that algae fuel would not reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide because CO2 taken out from the atmosphere by the algae is released when bio-fuels are burned. However, they eliminate the introduction of new CO2 by displacing fossil hydrocarbon fuels. Algae fuel, due to some high profile investments in the recent past, is now being given utmost attention. However, researchers warn that too much shouldn’t be read into the future as of now. Despite all the efforts, algae fuel lags behind in the economies of scale.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at what some of the major players are doing in this space.
Algae as Biofuel and Protein Source
| January 20, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
I’ve promised myself that I’ll no longer procrastinate on my book on renewables. In truth, I’ve been pretty good about conducting the interviews and sending them off for transcription. But the sheer volume of words to process and edit has been a bit hard for me to deal with, considering the travel and all the other things going on here. This morning after breakfast, I spend three solid hours going through one eight-page interview — and that’s only one of 25 or 30.
Fortunately, it’s deeply rewarding work. The interview in question was conducted a couple of months ago with the Scripps Institution’s Dr. Greg Mitchell, one of the world’s most well-respected researchers on algae. The process of reviewing his thoughts on the biology and economics surrounding the subject was a learning experience, and it re-enforced some of the themes that were common to a great number of these conversations.
In particular, the single most frequently voiced point is the lack of congruity between our political imperatives and our true needs as a civilization. For something to make sense to a politician, it needs to show demonstrable results in 2 – 3 years; if it doesn’t, he’ll be looking for another job. By contrast, most of the changes that we need to make as a society require a longer-term focus — at least 10, and in some cases 20+ years.
And algae may be the textbook example. Algae and cyanobacteria (photosynthetic bacteria) produce biomass 10 – 50 times more efficiently than any terrestrial plant: corn, soy beans, etc. If you look at the economics of algae, you’re going to get almost 40% biofuel molecules from the original biomass. And what’s the other half or so? It’s protein — that can be used to feed animals far for efficiently that the way we’re going about it today. The whole subject shows incredible promise.
But where are the jobs — today — for algae? How long would a politician last who suggested diverting funds into an area that didn’t offer massive amounts of employment in the very short term — especially in his home state?
It’s a very difficult situation, which, to me, gets back to campaign finance reform. Until we have leaders who can do what they think is right, we’ll continue to have boondoggles like bridges-to-nowhere, corn ethanol and other obvious rip-offs.
Scripps Institution Speaks on Algae as Biofuel
| November 16, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
I just spoke with Dr. Greg Mitchell of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as the basis for my book’s chapter on biofuels. Dr. Mitchell’s focus is on algae and cyanobacteria (a related photosynthetic, aquatic organism). He generously gave me a solid hour’s worth of proof-points that algae represents a critically important component in finding answers to civilization’s toughest questions on energy and food supply.
Biofuels store chemical energy that is ultimately derived from the energy of the sun. This potential energy is carried in carbon bonds that are then oxidized (burned) to produce useful work, e.g., heat energy to warm our buildings or kinetic energy to drive our vehicles. As an alternative to growing plants in sunlight, algae can be fed macronutrients, but the energy in those nutrients comes ultimately from the sun as well. Dr. Mitchell favors algae over other forms of cellulosic biofuels because “small is efficient”; a given amount of biomass in algae contains 10 – 50 times more energy than the same mass of terrestrial plants. About 35% of the mass in algae is converted directly into biofuel, and most of the rest becomes useable food.
As I’ve written in the past, I have been openly skeptical of the wisdom of biofuels, since they themselves are hydrocarbons. Why make and burn more of them if we’re concerned about CO2 in the atmosphere? Dr. Mitchell acknowledged the intuitive merit of this idea (or was just being kind?). But he points out that there is a lot to like about algae. Here are few points I hadn’t considered. Algae:
- does not require arable land for production
- is irrigated with salt water
- can photosynthesize using CO2 that comes from an external and controlled source
Dr. Mitchell showed me that there is enormous promise as this industry develops. The challenge at this point is a combination of the technological and the financial. Right now, in fact, there is indeed no industry — nor should there be, he says, while we take the time to pose and resolve a few basic and vitally important questions, e.g., the exact species to be developed, the methods of production and harvest, and the modes of processing and distribution.
Fascinating stuff. And more coming soon.
