Making bio-fuel from Algae – by Guest Blogger Anil

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.