Biocrude from Algae Breakthrough: Quick Pressure Cook

University of Michigan engineers have devised a quick pressure cooking method of converting algae biomass into biocrude. They are achieving unprecedented yields, according to the researchers.

U.S. researchers say they can do in minutes what Mother Nature needed millions of years to accomplish: turn algae into a source of crude oil.

Scientists at the University of Michigan report they can "pressure-cook" algae for as little as a minute and transform an unprecedented 65 percent of the green slime into biocrude.

...The biocrude created in the "pressure cooker" contained about 90 percent of the energy in the original algae, he said. "That result is near the upper bound of what is possible." _UPI

The researchers speculate that their quick high temperature approach may have hit a "sweet spot" of sorts, allowing just the right reactions, and preventing the unwanted chemical reactions which might decrease biocrude yields.

The findings will be presented Nov. 1 at the 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. Savage's ocean-going organism of choice is the green marine micro-alga of the genus Nannochloropsis. To make their one-minute biocrude, Savage and Julia Faeth, a doctoral student in Savage's lab, filled a steel pipe connector with 1.5 milliliters of wet algae, capped it and plunged it into 1,100-degree Fahrenheit sand. The small volume ensured that the algae was heated through, but with only a minute to warm up, the algae's temperature should have just grazed the 550-degree mark before the team pulled the reactor back out.

..."My guess is that the reactions that produce biocrude are actually must faster than previously thought," Savage said. Faeth suggests that the fast heating might boost the biocrude by keeping unwanted reactions at bay. _PO

The researchers suggest that their quick thermochemical approach is likely to prove more efficient and economical than the traditional methods of drying the algae and extracting the oil. Current costs for algal oil extracted from dried algae exceed $20 a gallon -- not even close to being competitive. Savage and Faeth seem to think they can do much better with their new approach.

Of course, the U. Michigan quick pressure cooking is somewhat similar to other catalytic fast pyrolysis approaches -- including the favourite of Al Fin algal energy analysts, the IH2 approach.

The IH2 process can convert virtually any type of non-food biomass feedstock – including wood, agricultural residues, algae, aquatic plants and solid waste – to a liquid transportation fuel that is interchangeable with crude-oil-derived fuels, and is compatible with current fueling and vehicle infrastructure. According to GTI, the IH2 process differs from other biofuel technologies that produce crude or oxygen-containing intermediates that need substantial upgrading to meet current specifications for transportation fuels. _GTI Pilot IH2 Plant

The challenge for all of these thermochemical biomass to liquid fuels (BTL) approaches is to be able to produce a high quality product in volume at a competitive price.

It is the opinion of most Al Fin algal fuels engineers that high quality algal biocrude will not be able to compete with fuels from cheap natural gas, until cheap process heat from high temperature gas cooled nuclear reactors becomes available.

In the meantime, it is important for this type of research to continue, so that when the proper technological and market ingredients come together, the industrial scale processes will be ready to go.

Advanced biofuels such as this are a good idea, and their time will come. But governments should stay out of the natural competition between fuels and forms of energy, and allow markets to work things out.

Algae Biomass to Natural Gas Conversion 65% Yield

There are different ways that algae can be used to create fuels and chemicals. The conventional way that most people talk about -- the conversion of algal oils to fuels -- will not be perfected for roughly a decade or so. A much better and more timely way of converting algae to fuels, is via thermochemical conversion such as pyrolysis or gasification. Swiss Scientists are attempting to perfect one method of converting algal biomass to methane: catalytic hydrothermal gasification and methanation, or SunCHem, pictured below.

SunCHem Process of Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification Methanation

Algae have one notable advantage over other sources of biomass: they "grow" much more rapidly. In favorable conditions, they can generate 30-55 tons of dry matter per hectare per year – five to ten times more than sources such as corn, soy, or sugar cane. "And above all, they can be cultivated without soil, simply in bioreactors exposed to sunlight, thus avoiding the use of fertile croplands that are needed for food production," Ludwig adds.

...The process presented this week, which goes by the name SunCHem, transforms the algal biomass into methane via catalytic hydrothermal gasification. "This device doesn't require any solvents and can use non-potable water," adds Mariluz Bagnoud, a scientist from EFPL's Environmental Engineering Institute. "In addition, the nutritive elements the algae need, such as phosphorus, are recycled in the process and re-injected into the culture medium. It is an important breakthrough because these resources are limited, too." Although the environmental impact is thus minimal, the yield is enormous: 60-70% of the potential energy of the biomass produced in these "photo-bioreactors" can be recuperated in the form of natural gas, with all the advantages that this represents in terms of transport and use – it can simply be injected into an existing gas distribution network. "We have examined the entire length of the chain, from the choice of algae type and how it's cultured to its transformation into natural gas, in order to identify the best solutions at every stage," explains Ludwig. "We're currently working on the regeneration of our ruthenium-based catalyzer." _Phys.org

Phys.org

The process depicted above is similar in many ways to the approach preferred by Al Fin bioenergy engineers: IH2 catalytic pyrolysis.

The biggest problem Al Fin analysts see with the SunCHem approach, is its plans to use expensive bioreactors, rather than much cheaper troughs or ponds. Growing algae for its biomass is much different than growing algae for its oil. With the biomass approach, you do not need to use expensive genetic engineering or maintain isolation of specific algal species. Instead, you are aiming for maximisation of biomass production, which may well occur with wild strains or mixed strains of algae.

Another problem with the process as pictured, is the dependency on methane to provide energy to the process. This parasitic use of methane to produce methane reduces yields and potential profits. Much better to find another, cheaper source of energy to drive the process.

As long as geological methane is relatively cheap, producing bio-methane makes little sense. Much better would be to produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and high value chemicals from the algae. That is the approach taken by those who plan to utilise IH2 pyrolysis and similar approaches.

Since algae is one of the most prolific producers of biomass known, and since we have the technology to convert biomass to methane at relatively high yields, it makes sense to optimise this technology for the future, when methane is likely to become a key centre-piece for the energy economies of many nations -- at least in nations that reject nuclear energy.

But how much more efficient it would be to utilise nuclear process heat to carry out biomass to fuels or biomass to chemicals conversions! The antinuclear hysteria which has infested Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, and other advanced nations, is incredibly destructive to their future well-being.

Much better for them to embrace the inevitability of nuclear power for the long term, and to work hard to develop cleaner, safer, more affordable and scalable forms of advanced nuclear power -- both fission and fusion.

Peak Oil: Meet $2 a Gallon Algal Biodiesel

We always take such announcements with a grain of salt. But sometime between the year 2020 and 2030, it is likely that algal biofuels will be competitive with synthetic fuels from natural gas and coal.

AFS BioOil announced that initial tests conducted by the company since startup of the system confirm that production costs of biodiesel will be in the range of $2 per gallon when produced in a commercial system of 1 millon gallons/yr and greater.

...AFS BioOil has recently partnered with a renewable electricity company that has the technology to convert waste heat into electricity at a cost of 6 cents/kWh and potential of reducing the cost to 4 cents/kWh in the future. Both companies are planning an integrated project of 5 MWe of renewable electricity and 1-3 millon gallons/yr of biodiesel. This will pave the way for future deployment of combined systems producing renewable low-cost electricity and biodiesel. The companies are at a design stage and will release the actual scope of the project in Q3. _GCC

Some analysts are projecting a 43% annual growth rate for algal biofuels over the next few years.

Elsewhere on the biofuels front -- just to remind us that this is not your grandfather's era of biofuels -- Amyris officially enhances its collaboration with French oil giant Total to produce fuels and chemicals precursor farnesene, from plant based sugars. The stock price for Amyris subsequently jumped.

The long term prospects for algal and microbe produced chemicals and biofuels is excellent, although in the shorter to intermediate term, competition from natural gas-based chemicals and fuels will be fierce.

Uninformed persons, along with the fringe doomer elements in the peak oil movement, remain largely ignorant of the multi-pronged efforts to produce a wide range of substitute fuels and chemicals, replacing crude oil as a feedstock.

Besides the fact that the global affordable hydrocarbon resource is much larger than previously imagined, biomass production and potential biofuels output, is subject to rapid growth as more of the Earth's surface -- including the oceans and deserts -- become viable for production of biomass.  This biomass resource will not be needed for a matter of decades, but by then the technology for optimal production, densification, and refinement, should be ready.

It is largely a matter of economics, although politics plays a significant role -- given the many highly placed lefty-Luddite green dieoff.orgiasts who occupy important roles in many western governments.

Robert Rapier: A Critical Look at Biofuels Costs

On the topic of advanced biofuels, Robert Rapier is one of the few internet commenters with both the expertise and the objectivity to provide an intelligent and trustworthy judgment. Robert published a recent column on a DOE presentation dealing with various methods of advanced biofuel production, and the associated costs -- both capital costs and operating costs.

I want to share several slides from the presentation to give an idea of what the DOE thinks about the costs for producing biofuels via the various pathways. The first slide below shows the projected cost of production of biofuels via MTG, pyrolysis, and FT for the “Nth Biorefinery Plant” — which is defined as the projected fuel cost after a number of plants have been built and the learning curve has been mastered.

This slide projects a future best case scenario of about $3.50/gallon for the MTG route, $2/gallon for the pyrolysis route, and $5/gallon for the FT route. So if that is for the Nth plant, where do costs currently stand? _Robert Rapier

This slide shows that in 2009 they were estimating costs of production for biofuel based on pyrolysis of $7.68/gallon. By this year (2012) they projected the cost dropping to $4.55, and then over the next 5 years they project costs will fall to $2.32 (again, the Nth plant cost for pyrolysis was projected at $2.00/gallon). They project that the largest savings will come from the upgrading step.

So what do they say about fuel from algae? _Robert Rapier

This slide shows the 2012 selling price for algal products in four categories: Triglycerides (TAG) from open ponds (OP) at $9.28/gallon and from photobioreactors (PBR) at $17.52/gallon, and then the finished diesel (which requires hydrotreating the TAG) at $10.66 from OPs and $19.89 from PBRs.

The following slide projects future algal fuel costs under a number of different scenarios: _Robert Rapier

.... I think the real story from this presentation is the DOE’s projections of the pyrolysis to fuel route. They clearly believe that this route can ultimately be competitive with petroleum. The technology currently exists to convert pyrolysis oil into transportation fuel, but it is fairly new and therefore should have room for some improvements. This is the type of route that KiOR is pursuing. A partnership between UOP Honeywell, Ensyn Corporation (those two formed a JV called Envergent) and Tesoro was awarded a DOE grant to build a demonstration facility based on pyrolysis at Tesoro’s refinery in Hawaii.

The overall ranking in terms of future costs would appear to be: pyrolysis < MTG < FT < OP algal << PBR algal. _Robert Rapier

More at the link above.

This is basically the same type of recommendation that Al Fin Energy analysts have been providing for a number of years, with the exception of the MTG process, which we have mainly looked at in conjunction with GTL and CTL processes.

It has been well over a year since one of our analysts discussed the idea of algal biomass pyrolysis for biofuels production with Robert Rapier, who stated that he was unfamiliar with that approach to algal biofuels, at that time.

The conventional approach to algal biofuels -- conversion of triglycerides to hydrocarbons or biodiesel -- suffers from too many problems for it to be considered viable before approximately 2020, if not later. Biomass pyrolysis to biofuels, on the other hand, is very near to viability today, with the proper catalysts.

And since micro-algae and macro-algae are two of the most prolific forms of biomass known, it makes sense that they would be used as feedstock for advanced catalytic biomass to biofuels pyrolytic processes.

Will it take 5 or more years to get production costs for advanced biofuels from catalytic pyrolysis below about $2 per gallon? Difficult to say. Certainly the explosion of dirt-cheap unconventional methane complicates the equation a bit.

It is likely that many operators will pursue F-T and MTG fuels from methane alone or from coal alone (or the two combined). But it is also likely that some operators will work on ways to combine biomass to liquids (BTL) with either GTL, CTL, or both. Yet other operators will attempt to create viable processes for BTL alone, without combination with either methane or coal. All of these approaches -- as well as all the the approaches to BTL discussed by Robert Rapier -- will have to shake themselves out in the market place. Unfortunately, government mandates, carbon taxes, credits, subsidies, and brainless regulations will also intrude on the market processes. But that is the world we live in.

Biofuels Technology Improves Rapidly, Despite NatGas Glut

Given the huge glut of natural gas in North America, you might think that biofuels developers and startups would throw up their hands and give up. Cheap, abundant natural gas produces electricity more economically than biomass, and can be used to make polymers, fuels, lubricants, and chemicals in a more straightforward manner than when using biomass or microbial approaches.

So why are biofuels and biomass companies persisting, swimming against the tide, as it were? Quite simply, it is because no matter how much natural gas exists in reserves, there are always limits. Natural gas prices are bound to increase as more and more uses are found for the valuable resource -- particularly gas to liquids (GTL) and the production of chemicals and polymers.

And when natural gas prices increase, biomass to liquids (BTL) and microbial fuels producers want to be ready to supply a high quality product -- using a feedstock that will never run out.

Two of the most promising projects in this area are UOP and Ensyn’s integrated biorefinery (IBR) pilot-scale project in Hawaii, and the IH2 project, led by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI),i with catalysts provided by CRI Catalyst.

Despite being pilot projects, both technologies are not far from commercialisation. Jim Rekoske, vice-president and general manager for Honeywell UOP’s Renewable Energy and Chemicals business, says UOP aims to be able to offer its system to customers for commercial sale in 3Q12, while the IH2 project is scheduled for commercial operation in 2014.

Vann Bush, managing director, energy conversion, GTI, told GTForum that based on an analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the anticipated cost on a product basis for fuel produced using the IH2 technology is around US$1.60/gallon for woody biomass, dropping to around US$1.36/gallon if a refiner has sufficient spare hydrogen capacity and opts to forego installing the reforming unit. This compares to the US Department of Energy’s goal of US$3/gallon.

...woody biomass tends to produce more gasoline than diesel via the IH2 process, while algael fuels tend to produce more diesel. Overall yields are also affected by feedstock. “The yields vary between say 70 gallons per ton to 157 gallons per ton. The worst yields we’ve had are with fairly high ash agricultural residues and the highest are with algae.”

Rekoske is particularly pleased with the yields UOP has seen so far – in the order of 300 gallons of renewable fuel per tonne of triglyceride feedstock, obtained from oil seed crops, algae and fats and greases. Given that overall yields are highly dependent on feedstock, direct comparisons between different biomass to oil product technologies cannot be made unless they both use the same feedstock.

“We’re achieving yields from the conversion facility and from our testing and laboratories that are much, much, higher than what we had anticipated, approaching the theoretical limits. We just did not expect to achieve yields that were that high,” he says

With both technologies, the final product slate is largely independent of the host-refinery’s complexity. This might make such systems more attractive to low-complexity refiners in regions with high biomass potential.

...In the future, there are two main options for refiners looking to use the IH2 technology. One involves the installation of both the main unit along with the components for conventional steam reforming/pressure swing absorption system, and the latter can be committed by a refinery with sufficient spare hydrogen capacity looking to reduce capital costs.

...Bush expects the IH2 technology to be built on a variety of scales. He expects that while many projects “would be at a scale that would be able to be fabricated in a shop and shipped to a site”, some “will be very large processing facilities and be built on site”. Bush says the scale would range between a few hundred tons per day to 2,000tpd “for most of the feed materials”. _Global Technology Forum

Here is another fascinating technological development in the quest for biomass energy. The biomass potential is immense, on this biological planet, and it is unlikely that entrepreneurs would overlook it for long.

There is always the problem of transporting large volumes of biomass from the field to the refinery. In the case of algae, you can always locate your growing facility close to the refinery, or vice versa. With bulkier biomass crops, you may have to use pyrolysis as a pre-treatment, as discussed in earlier postings here.

There is also the problem of hydrogen supply. The IH2 process is designed not to need outside hydrogen, although many other BTL processes will need outside sources of hydrogen to produce drop-in hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. As long as methane remains cheap, it is likely to be used as a hydrogen source for some BTL processes, as well as for CTL processes -- perhaps first in China, then spreading from there.

The potential global yield of advanced BTL is quite large, and should continue to grow as technologies improve and allow for larger yields on smaller areas of land or ocean. And since desert lands can be used for algae, drought-tolerant crops, and halophyte production, there will be no shortage of arable land for food production.

As you can see in the image above, it will take quite some time before humans exhaust the hydrocarbon resource -- particularly if they use high temperature gas-cooled modular nuclear reactors for industrial process heat in the conversion processes. But it is not likely that we will wait until finite resources are exhausted before we begin to utilise the essentially infinite resource of advanced BTL and microbial fuels.

Solazyme Aims to Get the Most Out of Algae

Solazyme's proprietary biotechnology platform creates renewable oils by harnessing microalgae's prolific oil production capabilities. Through world-class molecular biology and chemical engineering capabilities, we're able to cost-effectively produce high-value tailored oils. _SolazymeTechnology

Solazyme Technology
Al Fin analysts and consultants have been telling biofuels startups for years to focus on products with early profitability, while perfecting their processes for high volume, competitively priced biofuels -- which may not be ready for market until 2020 or later, in the case of algal oil-based biofuels.

It seems that algal oils company Solazyme may be listening. Instead of solely focusing on algal oil biofuels, solazyme is looking at a wide range of algal based products. Besides cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and industrial chemicals, solazyme is also developing algal food oil products, algal flours for bread and other baked goods, and even algae ice cream.

Solazyme has already found success in the cosmetics industry with its Algenist line of beauty products (tagline: "biotechnology from San Francisco), which rely on "alguronic acid," a compound produced by microalgae that can protect algae--and incidentally, human skin--from the environment. Since launching less than a year ago, Algenist products have become best-sellers at Sephora stores across the country.

...Solazyme’s algae-derived flour, which has a similar lipid profile to olive oil, can be used to create strikingly tasty foods.

The Almagin flour, a yellowish powder containing algae oil, can go anywhere butter, eggs, and oil are used. "It’s like having an oil on steroids," explains Morgan. "It acts like more oil than it is. You can take out three pounds of oil and put in one pound of our product."

... ice cream containing the algae flour, for example, has less fat and fewer calories than a traditional ice cream. It also contains more protein and dietary fiber. So while half a cup of regular ice cream contains 17% butter fat and 260 calories, that same ice cream made with algae flour has 6% total fat and 160 calories. Take it from someone (me) who has compared the algae ice cream with an ice cream from a big-name manufacturer: The algae stuff tastes almost exactly the same.

...Solazyme is currently testing whether the algae flour helps to extend the shelf life of certain foods. Proof of this ability was sitting in the kitchen: a half loaf of algae flour bread that had been on the counter for 12 days was still in decent shape. Not good enough to eat without toasting it first, but not moldy, either.

Morgan expects to have products containing the algae flour on store shelves by the end of this year (they will be sold by food manufacturers, not Solazyme). Products containing algae protein are already available.

Ultimately, Solazyme’s bet outside the biofuel business may be the thing that allows it to survive--and maybe even outlast other algae fuel-producing companies. _FC

This is the type of creative thinking that allows some companies to survive under general economic conditions that would destroy most other startups in the same general classification. First, look to the bottom line, while always keeping in mind your long-term goals.

The idea of eating algae as a staple food may seem odd to those of us accustomed to thinking of it as a fuel feedstock, but if it can be done profitably, why not? Algae certainly does not compete for prime farmland with regular food crops, at least not the way Solazyme grows it.

What human societies currently suffer from is a shortage of human ingenuity, as well as a growing shortage of skilled craftsmen and creative engineers with practical skills. Human ingenuity is the ultimate resource which needs to be developed.

Biofuels Prospect "Duckweed" Doubles Biomass in 48 hours

Duckweed produces a enormous amount of starch-rich biomass every 48 hours. Scientists are studying the plant to convert it into a bio-manufacturing platform, for the production of polymers, proteins, and high value small molecule chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Other scientists -- biofuels specialists -- are attempting to transfer genes from algae to duckweed in an effort to teach the rapid-growing plant to produce oils for biofuels.

"We’re interested in using or optimizing duckweed for use as a biomass bio fuel based on its ability to grow on waste water and water in places which you would never imagine crops would grow," Martienssen tells Big Think.

In other words, Martienssen calls duckweed "an exciting prospect" because it can kill two birds with one stone. "It can convert high nitrogen and high phosphorus water into much cleaner water and at the same time massively increase in biomass," Martienssen says. Duckweed doubles in size every two [days __ ed.], generating a huge amount of biomass in a short amount of time, and is an amazing producer of starch.

Therefore, using pathways and genes from algae, Martienssen says he is looking to "persuade" duckweed "to make oil instead of starch."

...How exactly is Martienssen hoping to 'persuade' duckweed to produce oil? He is looking at the phenotype, or the properties of the plant over generations, to which Martienssen has applied his groundbreaking research on transposons or "jumping genes."

Transposons were discovered in plants about sixty years ago by Martienssen's Cold Spring Harbor Lab colleague Barbara McClintock who won the Nobel Prize for this discovery. According to Martienssen, "transposons are pieces of DNA that can move around the genome and cause genetic as well as epigenetic changes without having to go through a sexual cross and so many of the changes we see that happen in clones occur due to the activity of transposable elements." _BigThink

Most energy specialists underestimate biomass fuels, because their thinking is years or decades old. The potential for production of sheer biomass by duckweed and rapid-growing micro- and macro-algae has barely begun to be tapped.

Using the tools of genetic and epi-genetic modification, rapid-growing plants are likely to stand in for the mythical "nanotech assembler" for manufacturing a wide range of products -- at least for the next few decades until nanotech molecular assemblers can be perfected. Fuels and high value chemicals are likely to be two of the product categories which fast growing plants will be persuaded to make.

This is a biological planet. The biological plant life of this planet thrives on high CO2 levels -- up to 3X to 4X higher than at present.

CO2 is essential to photosynthesis and thus it must be present in the air at least in at least 300 ppm in order for plants to grow properly. When CO2 is deficient in the air plants simply do not grow, their growth is very slow and stunted. It is also actually possible to speed plant growth up by increasing CO2 levels in the air. The simple addition of CO2 to the air is as good as adding fertilizer to your plants. Most plants grow with a yield increase of ten to thirty percent when the CO2 levels are between 1,200 to 1,500 parts per million. _Source

If, on the other hand, atmospheric levels of CO2 were reduced by half, large numbers of species of plants would die, and the food chain would be severely disrupted. Billions of humans would be in danger of starving.

Clearly, humans will not replace hydrocarbon fuels with biofuels -- and there is no need to even try. But biomass can be grown virtually anywhere there is energy, nutrients, and CO2 -- and be converted to biofuels. That advantage of local and regional production virtually anywhere in the inner solar system, is something that no other fuel can match.

Is Origin Oil Finally Beginning to Understand Algal Energy Timeline?

Al Fin energy analysts have been telling algal fuels companies about the preferred and viable sequence of product production for some years now. Is it possible that top algal fuels company, Origin Oil, is finally beginning to listen? More on this possibility from a news release:

OriginOil’s planned Biocrude System™ will integrate its own harvesting system with state-of-the-art biomass processing technology being developed under the recently-announced research agreement with INL, to convert raw algae into barrels of renewable crude oil.

...Dr. Deborah T. Newby, Project Manager at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) commented, “We are excited to work with OriginOil on its Biocrude System and leverage its algae processing expertise and technology. Algae is a high energy biomass and can function as a force multiplier to blend in other biomass waste such as from forestry and agriculture into a uniform renewable crude oil substitute. This may well support the U.S. military’s strategic fuels diversification program.” _Origin Oil News Dept._via_GCC

It is not clear why it is taking leading algal fuels startups so long to understand the evolving economics of their own industry.

Origin Oil's algal oil technology is quite advanced and state-of-the-art, but it is not ready to produce barrels of oil in high volume -- more like beakers of oil. The shale gas revolution has likewise been very unkind to the prospects for pure algal oil fuels in the marketplace, anytime soon.

Clearly if algal fuels companies are to impact the fuels market -- as opposed to markets for omega 3 oils and vegetable oils -- they will need a fast and dirty approach. Something like algal biomass pyrolysis with integrated hydrodeoxygenation and hydrotreatment (IH2). Which is what Al Fin energy analysts have been pushing for years now.

Pyrolysis of algal biomass is more logical than gasification, since some of the existing lipid in the algae might be condensed from the pyrolysis gases. With gasification, by contrast, everything is broken down to H2, CO, and spare change -- forcing you to start from scratch in synthesising what you want.

Is Origin Oil beginning to wise up to short to medium-term economic exigencies? We hope so. With the US military backing algal fuels producers and expecting a return on investment, they had better get on the ball.

More on the global project to expand biomass production beyond what is traditionally thought possible

Gene Expression Boosts Algal Biomass by 50 - 80%

Martin Spalding
Scientists at Iowa State University have taught algae to rev its biomass production engines at full speed -- even in the presence of artificially high CO2 levels. They succeeded in boosting algal biomass production by between 50% and 80% in high CO2 environments, as a result. This is a revolutionary discovery, since algae is already the most prolific biomass crop available, and grows in salt water, brackish water, wastewater, as well as fresh water.

In nature, algal growth is governed by the amount of carbon dioxide available. In relatively low carbon environments [such as Earth's atmosphere], two genes — LCIA and LCIB — are expressed to capture more CO2 and direct it into the cells, promoting growth. However, when algae live in an environment with enough CO2 to promote growth, the two genes shut down. The researchers found that expressing them, even in carbon-rich environments, significantly increases growth.

“Based on some prior research we had done, we expected to see an increase, probably in the 10 to 20 percent range” researcher Martin Spalding (pictured) said in a statement. “But we were surprised to see this big of an increase.”

Spalding first tinkered with each gene individually to see what effect it had on the algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Expressing them individually yielded a 10 to 15 percent increase in biomass. Expressing them together boosted it 50 to 80 percent.

The excess biomass naturally becomes starch, increasing the biomass around 80 percent. Using existing mutated genes, Spalding can direct the algae to make oil instead. That requires more energy, increasing biomass just 50 percent.

Algae are attractive biofuel feedstock because it grows quickly and thrives in everything from seawater to irrigation runoff to sewage. _Wired

Earth's atmosphere possesses pitifully low levels of carbon dioxide. If the levels of CO2 were reduced very far, all plant life on Earth would die, the gas is so scarce. Plant life craves more CO2, and typically thrives in greenhouses with artificial CO2 levels up to 3X atmospheric CO2 or higher. If producers could nearly double the biomass production of algae by exposure to high CO2 environments, the area required for algal growth for any particular target of production, would be cut in half.

Most analysts assume that it is the lipid component of algae that must be maximised in order to make algal biofuels and chemicals viable, but that is not necessarily true. Using a process known as IH2 (integrated hydropyrolysis and hydroconversion), raw biomass can be converted to high value chemicals and fuels directly.

Eventually, it will become easier to tweak algae to produce very high volumes of oils and other particular chemicals directly. But that may take between 10 and 20 years. There is no need to wait for that, when IH2 technology can make algal fuels and chemicals affordable much sooner. Particularly when combined with augmented growth approaches such as devised by the Iowa State researchers.

This Is How Biofuels Can Make Monkeys Out of Energy Analysts

Image Source
Using the IH2 (integrated hydropyrolysis and hydroconversion) technique developed by GTI, and licensed by Shell subsidiary CRI, making high quality gasoline and diesel directly from cheap biomass has suddenly become a viable prospect.

So far, New Zealand based company Aquaflow (PDF) appears to be taking the lead in developing practical uses for this technology. Aquaflow has an agreement with CRI to develop waste biomass to gasoline and diesel plants, and is planning the first of these plants in Queensland, Australia.

EERE PDF Image Source
Aquaflow is developing the use of a mixed feedstock approach to IH2 conversion, which is able to incorporate wood waste, agricultural waste (such as cane bagasse), and micro-algae biomass, among other forms of cellulosic biomass. Such an approach allows for a versatile approach to feedstock supply, allowing such plants to negotiate the best pricing for feedstock from a wide array of sources.

EERE PDF Image SourceWhile there are plenty of other approaches to producing high quality hydrocarbon fuels from waste biomass, the IH2 approach as approached by Aquaflow appears to be the frontrunner.

According to Al Fin energy analysts, micro-algae and macro-algae are the most prolific biomass crops available. They can be grown in salty and brackish water, as well as waste water. In fact, over 80% of the Earth's surface is suitable for growing algae biomass, due to the ability to grow algae in saltwater (oceans), in the deserts, or in freshwater.

It makes sense to combine the most prolific form of biomass with the most efficient process for converting biomass to high value fuels, at least in the short to intermediate term.

Long-term, we are likely to see synthetic biological approaches to producing fuels and chemicals which will be very difficult to compete against, for thermochemical approaches such as pyrolysis or gasification. On the other hand, once advanced nuclear energy technologies are finally adopted, there should be no shortage of cheap process heat available for driving a wide range of clean thermochemical conversions to fuel and chemicals -- including biomass to liquids, gas to liquids, coal to liquids, kerogens to liquids, bitumens to liquids, gas hydrates to liquids, etc etc.

Is Algae Getting In Bed With Ethanol? Odd Bedfellows in Iowa

Green Plains is the US' 4th largest ethanol producer. CEO Todd Becker explains why this ethanol producer is getting into the algae business: quick initial profits, with an eye toward longer term profits of much higher magnitude.

"We initially got into this thinking the fuel markets were where we want to go," Becker said in an interview at the Shenandoah plant. "We were going to make the algae, get the oil out of the algae and make fuel out of it."

But Becker said the profits are in algae-based feeds for fish farms and livestock and algae-derived Omega-3 fatty acids for food and dietary supplements. The venture's algae last week passed a key test for poultry feed, and Becker said customers will be in place when commercial production begins next year.

In two to three years, Becker said, Green Plains hopes to be running BioProcess Algae's "Grower Harvester" technology at all nine of its ethanol plants, including its northernmost one in Fergus Falls, Minn. The greenhouse-based system relies on sunlight, continuously harvested ponds and brush-like filaments on which algae grow. _StarTribune

Up to 30% of the carbon in maize ends up as CO2. Algae simply love CO2, and will take as much of it as you will give them, converting it into algal biomass.

In Iowa, the strategy of Green Plains and BioProcess Algae is to make money at each step up in production.

Tim Burns, CEO of BioProcess Algae, said the company got into the algae business in 2005-2006 by adapting filtration technology developed by another company he co-founded, BioProcess H2O. It manufactures filaments to help grow waste-filtering bacteria. Algae also like to grow on the filaments, Burns said.

The Iowa joint venture into algae was launched in 2008. Green Plains offered a source of carbon dioxide along with expertise in selling animal feed. The company annually produces and markets 2.5 million tons of dried distiller's grains, which are a byproduct of ethanol production.

...From the beginning, Burns said, the markets for algae-based feeds, fish food and nutraceuticals looked more promising than biofuel.

"The high-value oils will not go into the petroleum industry," said Burns. That includes algae used in Omega-3 oils, which can bring more than $3,000 per ton.

The partners haven't abandoned biofuel. Algae oils that aren't sold in more profitable markets will be sold to make biodiesel or other fuels, essentially a byproduct of algae processing.

As more algae and algae oils hit the market, prices for Omega-3s and other high-value products are expected to drop. That's why Becker and Burns see longer-term profit selling algae for animal feeds and aquaculture, which alone uses 10 million metric tons of fish food annually. Those feeds can sell for up to $2,000 per ton, and the markets pose less risk of becoming saturated. _StarTrib

This is also the strategy that Al Fin algal specialists have been recommending: Go for the high value, profitable uses of algae first. As you develop skills in the algal growing and handling process, reinvest profits into larger scale production for the lower value -- but much higher volume -- production of fuels from algae.

It is projected that in terms of algal fuels, thermochemical approaches (pyrolysis + IH2 etc) will achieve profitability roughly 5 - 10 years ahead of the synthetic biology approaches preferred by Craig Venter and Exxon Mobil.

Can Biofuels Replace Petrofuels by 2030?

A new report from Pike Research forecasts the doubling of global biofuels value to $185 billion by 2021. More at GCC Logically, since such changes typically occur exponentially, one would expect another doubling by 2026 and yet another doubling before 2030 -- to a global biofuels value of near $800 billion. While that level of production is not large enough to replace petro-fuels, it is more than large enough to destroy the dreams of peak oil doom-disciples.

But is it logical to expect that type of growth in biofuels over the next 20 years? One of the largest obstacles to that rosy picture, is the fact that it will be generally cheaper to convert coal, gas, bitumen, kerogen, and methane hydrates to liquid fuels, than it will be to convert biomass to liquid fuels. As long as those feedstocks are readily available at cheap prices, large scale biofuels will likely depend on government regulations and mandates to be profitable.

What about the food vs. fuels debate? This question is easier to answer, and has always been something of a tempest in a teapot. Better methods of food production are spreading across the globe, which as long as third world birthrates do not balloon, will ease food pressures in the hungrier parts of the planet. Biomass for biofuels will come from a variety of sources, including specially designed and adapted energy crops, energy crops that are grown in seawater and on salty or marginal soils, and perhaps even crops that are grown inside cities themselves, on integrated high rise farms. Crop growing area will not be a problem, since algae can grow on roughly 80% of the Earth's surface -- and algae are the most prolific biomass crop known. More on algal biomass

The conversion from petroleum fuels to biofuels, synthetic fuels, and other unconventional fuels, is likely to be uneven and tumultous. As economic conditions change, levels of demand for fuels will change. As technologies for different types of fuel production develop, the economic benefits and costs will shift to favour different types of production. We should not expect to see a smooth, exponential growth in the production of biofuels between now and 2030. Instead, we are likely to see a very bumpy and uneven -- but significant -- level of growth in bioenergy and advanced biofuels.

Biofuels will not replace petrofuels, because there will be no need for total replacement. Such ideas are absurd on their face, and inconsistent with how real world economies of substitution work. In the absence of government interference, biofuels will have to compete with petro-fuels and synthetic fuels from unconventional hydrocarbons. These liquid fuels will have to compete with gaseous fuels and electrical systems for heat and transport.

If a long-awaited nuclear renaissance occurs, electrical systems of heat and transport will be given a huge boost, and will begin to take market share away from liquid and gaseous fuels.

It should be pointed out that government has been the enemy of safe, abundant, reliable energy. In particular, the energy starvation agendas of green-influenced governments in the US, Germany, and other western governments are causing undue economic hardship on their citizens -- and retarding the onset of a more abundant and prosperous future. In addition, these green-influenced government policies are worsening environmental conditions, rather than improving them, out of a misguided pseudoscientific carbon hysteria.

Better Nuclear Fuels; Better Biomass to Fuels Approach

Conventional nuclear power plants are able to burn only a small fraction of nuclear fuel. They are then forced to store the lion's share of this expensive fuel indefinitely, as "nuclear waste." Far from being waste, most of this unused material is incredibly valuable. How could nuclear reactors burn fuel more efficiently? Two candidates suggest themselves: thorium and depleted uranium, burned in safe, advanced breeder reactors.

Los Alamos National Labs has devised a new approach for refining thorium for nuclear fuel, which shaves almost 99.5% of the cost of processing -- reducing the cost from $5000 a kg to only $30 per kg. This LANL breakthrough is just one of several which will be necessary, before thorium can become the dominant nuclear fuel.

NextBigFuture presents an exclusive interview with Robert Petroski -- engineer for the Terrapower "traveling wave reactor" approach being spurred by Bill Gates and other Microsoft luminaries. Petroski discusses how abundant depleted uranium -- U238 -- can be used efficiently in advanced nuclear reactors, to replace the more rare and expensive fuels which rely on highly refined U235.

These breeder reactor approaches use much cheaper and safer fuels than are used in conventional reactors, and burn them almost completely, with far less waste left over. If all the money being thrown down the rat hole by governments for programs of carbon hysteria -- big wind, big solar, climate hysteria bureaucracies, etc -- were devoted to more rational energy strategies, these advanced nuclear approaches could stave off global energy shortages for many centuries or longer.

More: The Integral Fast Reactor has much in common with the evolving Terrapower approach. It is another approach to burning almost 100% of nuclear fuel -- primarily depleted uranium.

And for those who would like to believe in biofuels, but who cannot separate the idea of biofuels from the wasteful green agendas of the Obamas, Merkels, etc. -- there is the up and coming IH2 technology from CRI Catalyst. IH2 is "integrated hydropyrolysis and hydroconversion," an advanced biomass-to-liquid fuels approach which has been covered favourably at Al Fin Energy in the past.

Now New Zealand algae company Aquaflow is working with CRI Catalyst of Texas, to efficiently convert algal biomass to liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Prolific species of algae are far more easily grown for their biomass -- at very high rates. Contrast such cheap and dirty high-yield algal biomass production with the more expensive, finicky, and complex process of trying to grow algae for oil production. All that was missing was a practical way of converting prolific algal biomass into valuable liquid fuels -- and IH2 appears to be a promising approach.

Advanced pyrolysis and hydro-treatment of biomass is not as sexy as breeder reactors, of course, but far more practical for decentralised production almost anywhere on Earth -- at a far cheaper price than nuclear reactors would cost.

It is good to know that science and engineering are working on several different fronts to provide the abundant energy that the future will demand.

Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and Environment Looks at Algae

Algae-derived biodiesel could significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and deliver a high financial return, whilst also providing a sustainable and realistic alternative to conventional oil according to new analysis from the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.

Microalgae can grow in waste water or sea water, and therefore does not have the land use and food security impacts of other biofuels. _Smith School _via_GCC

GCC

If algae-derived biodiesel were to replace the annual global production of 1.1bn tons of conventional diesel, a land mass of 57.3 million hectares would be required. This compares highly favourable to other biofuels.

The production process is the current barrier to large scale production. It is currently 2.5 times as energy intensive as conventional diesel, which restricts the current financial and environmental feasibility of algae production.

Investment in genetic and metabolic engineering will optimise the economics of producing microalgae, which, coupled with the decarbonisation of the production chain, will realise the inherent environmental advantages of GHG emissions reduction. _SmithSchool

Article abstract

The authors recommend various economic uses for co-products of algal oil production, such as using the residual oilcake to produce process heat and power, and the glycerol byproduct as animal feed. Even in the best case, however, using algae as an oil source for biodiesel production is not nearly competitive with production of diesel from conventional sources. And with the growth in gas-to-liquids technologies and coal-to-liquids technologies, algal biodiesel will find it hard to compete in the near to intermediate term.

If algae is used as a biomass crop, however, rather than an oil source, any of the thermochemical or fermentation technologies for biomass-to-liquids conversion would work quite well with algal biomass. Even anaerobic production of methane could utilise prolific algal biomass -- although Al Fin energy analysts are not recommending anaerobic digestion as a primary energy production approach, given the current low prices for methane. Anaerobic digestion for purposes of waste disposal, with methane as a useful by - product, might be economical for specific commercial and agricultural entities.

The bottom line: Most algal analysts are still looking at algae as an oil crop, when it will likely take between 10 - 15 years before algae can compete with other sources of liquid hydrocarbons on that basis. But if algae is looked at as a prolific biomass crop -- which can be grown in wastewater, saltwater, brackish water, etc. over 80% of the world's surface (including oceans) -- it should be possible to work up some proposals for nearer-term money making projects at small and medium scales.

The bioenergy infrastructure is still in its nascent stages. Over the next 20 years, this infrastructure is likely to grow impressively, along with market conditions which are likely to become more favourable to non geological approaches to energy production.

Looking at Algal Energy

A new study from the University of Virginia compares 4 different energy-from-algae approaches by VKT -- vehicle kilometres traveled.

In this new study, reported in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, Clarens et al. assess four algae conversion pathways resulting in combinations of bioelectricity and biodiesel:

1. Anaerobic digestion of bulk algae biomass to produce methane-derived bioelectricity;
2. Production of biodiesel from algae lipids with anaerobic digestion of residual algae biomass to produce methane-derived bioelectricity;
3. Production of biodiesel from algae lipids with direct combustion of residual algae biomass to produce bioelectricity;
4. Direct combustion of bulk algae biomass to produce bioelectricity.

_GCC

Images from GCC

...their results suggested that conversion pathways involving direct combustion for bioelectricity production generally outperformed systems involving anaerobic digestion and biodiesel production, and they were found to generate four and fifteen times as many vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) per hectare as switchgrass or canola, respectively. _GCC

Among the many findings:

Algae EROI values computed in the study ranged from 0.65 to 4.10. Previously reported EROI for corn ethanol has been on the order of 1.25. It has been suggested, the authors noted, that the minimum sustainable EROI is roughly 3 but that values from 5 to 10 will be required to maintain quality of life in the absence of readily abundant fossil energy.

Direct combustion of algae to produce bioelectricity is seemingly more efficient than anaerobic digestion regardless of whether or not algae lipids are extracted to make biodiesel.

Selected algae systems dramatically outperform the terrestrial crop systems in terms of VKT production per hectare. Algae generates, on average, 4.2 times and 15.7 times more VKT than the switchgrass and canola systems, respectively.

Misalignment of system boundaries precludes direct comparison with corn ethanol, the authors note, but they estimate that the average algae VKT is roughly nineteen times greater than could be derived from corn ethanol (27,000 km/ha-yr) even when accounting for ethanol coproducts. 29

In terms of VKT, algae bioelectricity systems outperform algae combined biodiesel/bioelectricity systems.

Algae biodiesel and bioelectricity systems exhibit higher net energy use but lower water use and GHG emissions per km than their respective terrestrial benchmarks.

...the tremendous demand for transportation energy, increasing fuel prices, and a lack of mechanisms for monetizing environmental performance in the US make it reasonable to expect that algae’s excellent land use efficiency could render it financially attractive over the next several decades. For this reason, environmental and economic LCA studies will be key tools for improving the overall sustainability of algae-derived transportation energy systems. _GCC

Once again we see the benefits of cellulosic electricity -- or biomass to electric power -- when compared to most current methods of creating biofuels from biomass.

The authors of the study missed a prime opportunity to compare efficiencies from pyrolysis of algal biomass, and gasification of algal biomass via IGCC and CHP, with the 4 approaches analysed.

Anaerobic digestion of algal biomass to produce methane is unlikely to be economical for at least the next 50 years, as the global shale gas bonanza works its way through the markets.

One of the biggest problems with public perception of biomass energy and biofuels, is the expectation that if biofuels cannot replace all other forms of energy, then there is no use pursuing their production. That type of magical thinking, with its hair-trigger relapse to utter futility, is profoundly destructive.

There are no magic bullets. A wide range of approaches will have to be taken before humans can emerge from their fossil fuels Earth-bound economies to more sustainably abundant and widespread economies of the future.

Perhaps the Best Near-Term Biomass-to-Fuels Approach for Micro-crops

GCC
For years, Al Fin engineers have been saying that the quickest approach to convert algae to fuels economically, is via pyrolysis of algal biomass, rather than via harvesting of algal oils for biodiesel. Although the technology described below is not exactly what Al Fin specialists have described, PetroAlgae is partnering with CRI Catalyst in a novel pyrolytic approach to biomass-to-fuels, which may achieve economic break even first.

IH2 is an advanced pyrolysis technology which utilizes low pressure hydrogen together with a proprietary catalyst to remove virtually all of the oxygen present in the starting biomass...The technology is highly flexible and is economical for both small- and large-scale applications, according to CRI.

...CRI is a provider of catalyst and environmental systems technology to the global petrochemical producing community. PetroAlgae’s micro-crop technology employs indigenous, aquatic micro-organisms suitable to local climates and is designed to enable its licensees to produce a high-value protein product and residual biomass which may be converted to cellulosic hydrocarbon fuels and/or blend stocks via the IH2 technology at commercial scale.

This agreement is a direct result of successful tests converting PetroAlgae’s micro-crop residue into cellulosic hydrocarbon fuels and/or blend stocks using the IH2 technology provided by CRI. The two firms have agreed to continue to optimize the combined capability of their respective biomass production and conversion processes.

Commercial collaboration has already begun and is expected to result in a joint marketing agreement between the two firms in which PetroAlgae and its licensees will hold exclusive rights to IH2 technology for conversion of lemna (duckweed) biomass. _GCC

Using duckweed as feedstock is an interesting choice, since duckweed is a high-yield plant crop that grows on the surface of ponds much like algae.

But algae is a more prolific biomass crop than even duckweed, and I would not be surprised if Petro-Algae begins to use the IH2 technology -- or something very much like it -- for converting algal biomass to fuel.

Eventually algae growers will develop strains of algae which produce abundant oil which is easily and economically harvested. At that point algal biodiesel will hit the markets like gangbusters. Producers will then separate the oil for fuels, and use the biomass for secondary products such as feed, food, fertilizer, etc.

But for now, the most salient aspect of micro-algae is the prolific nature of its biomass production. That, and the ability to grow fast-growing algae in saltwater, brackish water, wastewater, etc. Why not take advantage of that characteristic now, while others are developing high-oil strains and cheap oil-extraction methods?

Growers can aim for high biomass yields in dirt-cheap open ponds, using non-potable water, and without worrying about maintaining monocultures. With reasonably cheap harvesting and drying methods, pyrolysis methods such as Petro-Algae and CRI's IH2 should produce a fuel with many uses.

Fuels from the Sea: Micro-Algae and Macro-Algae

Marine ecosystems are an untapped resource that account for over 50% of global biomass and seaweeds themselves are capable of producing more biomass per square metre than fast growing terrestrial plants such as sugar cane. _Daisy Brickhill

On the micro-algae front, scientists from the U. of Western Ontario have discovered a way to increase the growth of algae by almost a factor of 4. They did this using magnetic fields!

Wankei Wan, a professor of biochemical engineering at the University of Western Ontario, thinks he's found a potentially significant way to stimulate algae growth.

Wan and a team of research students built a small raceway pond - a tabletop pond shaped like a racetrack, that is - and began growing a common type of single-celled algae called Chlorella kessleri.

They measured the pace of algae growth and oil production. They then changed the set-up such that the algae in the pond were circulated through an area exposed to static magnetic fields.

What they observed, which is described in an upcoming research paper, surprised them.

The magnetic field exposure “almost quadrupled the biomass and lipid (oil) production rate in raceway ponds,” according to the paper.

Wan's team also noticed the magnetically stimulated algae produced dramatically more antioxidants, such as Astaxanthin - often used as a food supplement.

In an interview, Wan said the algae behaved differently depending on the strength of the magnetic fields and length of exposure to them. The researchers noticed that growth would increased steadily as field strength grew. Then, once peak growth was reached, there would be a steep decline.

This suggested to Wan that there is a “sweet spot,” that might vary depending on the type of algae being grown. _CheckBiotech

On the macro-algae front, scientists at Aberystwyth University have found that kelp contains higher levels of carbohydrate at the peak of summer. They suggest that this may be the best time to harvest kelp for biofuels production.

Collecting monthly samples of kelp from the Welsh coast researchers used chemical analysis to assess the seasonal variability. Their results, which will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow on the 4th of July, showed that the best month for biofuel harvest was in July when the kelp contained the highest proportions of carbohydrate and the lowest metal content.

Kelp can be converted to biofuels in different ways including fermentation or anaerobic digestion producing ethanol and methane or pyrolysis, (a method of heating the fuel without oxygen) which produces bio-oil. The chemical composition of the seaweed is important to both of these processes.

Research into biofuels has focused on terrestrial plants; however these have the serious drawback of the conflict between using land to grow food or fuel. Marine ecosystems are an untapped resource that account for over 50% of global biomass and seaweeds themselves are capable of producing more biomass per square metre than fast growing terrestrial plants such as sugar cane. _DaisyBrickhill

The assumption of the researchers is that the kelp will be used in the fermentation of ethanol or anaerobic fermentation of methane -- which may not be a wise assumption in the long run. Gasification or pyrolysis of macro-algae depend far less upon the chemical constituents and far more upon absolute biomass. It is those thermochemical approaches which are better positioned to take advantage of the prolific nature of marine aquaculture. Macro-algae can produce up to 6 harvests per year, depending upon local conditions.

Neste's NExBTL Synthetic Diesel Looks to Algae by 2020

NExBTL
Neste Oil's NExBTL process produces one of the best synthetic diesel products available worldwide. It is based upon the hydro-treating of fats and oils from a wide range of animals and plants. Now Neste is looking at algal oils as feedstock -- hoping to spur economic production of high yield algal oil by the year 2020.

The five-year AlgaePARC project, launched on 17 June in the Netherlands, is being coordinated by Wageningen University and Research Centre and will involve 18 corporate partners. The focus will be on developing technologies and processes for growing microalgae on an industrial scale as a raw material for use in fuel, food, and chemical production.

A similar project, Solar Bio-Fuels Consortium, will be launched this summer in Australia. Coordinated by the University of Queensland, this will bring together seven companies and research institutions working in the field of algae-related research. The three-year project will study various techniques for growing algae and optimizing conditions to achieve high oil yields.

Our goal is to expand the range of raw materials we use for producing NExBTL renewable diesel, and algae represent one of the most promising materials here because of their excellent potential oil yields. The key practical challenge lies in scaling up output to industrial volumes, and we hope that these two new projects will result in new ways of overcoming this challenge.
—Markku Patajoki, the Head of Neste Oil’s Biotechnology Group

Studies have shown that algae species that produce and store lipids represent a potential source of raw material for NExBTL renewable diesel. Algae grow rapidly and one hectare of cultivated algae could yield as much as 30 t/a of oil. Algae oil is also an excellent alternative in terms of sustainability, as it does not compete with food production for supplies of potable water or land. The suitability of algae oil for use in the NExBTL process has already been confirmed.

The straightforward nature and flexibility of the NExBTL process gives us a definite advantage in terms of algae research, as we know precisely the type of properties that we need. Research on new raw materials such as algae is a long-term effort, however, and you cannot expect to get results overnight.
—Pauliina Uronen, Algae Research Project Manager at Neste Oil

_GCC

Neste's approach to BTL depends upon a ready and cheap lipid feedstock which can be hydrotreated to produce synthetic hydrocarbon. It is more straightforward than Choren's BTL process which utilises gasification of biomass and catalytic synthesis from syngas. But without cheap lipid feedstocks, Neste can be priced out of future BTL markets. That is why Neste is pushing high-yield algal oil development: Because micro-algae can be grown over roughly 80% of the planetary surface, using salt water, waste water, and brackish water. And micro-algae can yield from 10,000 gallons per acre of oils and up, using land or water surface not suitable for growing food crops.

The target date of 2020 is realistic, although it will likely be closer to 2030 before high-yield algal production is ready to displace a significant amount of petro-diesel and petro-gasoline.

Algal Cropping for Drylands Such as New Mexico and Israel

In the context of NMSU's multifaceted algal research agenda, the photobioreactor has a dual purpose, according to Lammers. Not only will it help answer major research questions about how best to raise algae in the southern New Mexico climate, it will assume an expanding role as a production facility.

The standardized algal biomass it generates will be used for research on algal oil extraction and fuel conversion technologies, as well as the development of algal co-products such as high-protein animal or fish meal and fish-oil replacements. "The economics of algae-derived fuel will be very difficult without generating revenue from every portion of the algae biomass," Lammers said. _PB.net

New Mexico State University is taking delivery of a new algal photobioreactor from Solix -- a Lumian AGS-4000. The university will use the new photobioreactor (PBR) to help achieve critical new research on dryland algal cropping for algal fuels. As noted above, some key breakthroughs will be needed on several fronts, in order to optimise the economics of algal fuels, co-products, and power.

Funds to purchase the system came from a recent $2.3 million U.S. Air Force grant; long-range operational costs will be covered by a $49 million Department of Energy grant that established the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts consortium.

The Solix BioSystems Lumian AGS4000 is an algae cultivation system with a 4,000-liter production capacity that allows faster and denser production of algae than open "raceway" systems. In the new photobioreactor, algae culture will grow in enclosed panels suspended in an open 61- by 11-foot water-filled basin. Control of various factors, such as temperature, carbon dioxide content and nutrient supply, is very precise and the panels are designed to optimize solar exposure. The result is a system that can accelerate the rate of CO2 absorption, and therefore the rate of algae growth, up to 10 times the rate of raceways and can produce up to three times the density of algae per liter of water.

... _PublicBroadcasting.net

There is a need for critical advances in algal growth, algal harvesting, energy extraction, and co-product / power production -- in continuous, closely integrated fashion. Drylands algal growth can utilise salt water, brine, or wastewater, and can take place year round.

PBR's will become more important as more specialised strains of algae are used, which must be kept separate from wild strains in the atmosphere which could easily interfere with growth, in an open raceway or pond.

Israel is another drylands area where algal research is on the fast track. In fact, any arid nation in relatively close proximity to bodies of salt water, should be ideal for algal cropping -- since algae can grow so well in salt water.

Most companies pursuing algae as a source of biofuels are pumping nutrient-laden water through plastic tubes (called "bioreactors) that are exposed to sunlight (and so called photobioreactor or PBR). Running a PBR is more difficult than an open pond, and more costly.

Algae can also grow on marginal lands, such as in desert areas where the groundwater is saline, rather than utilize fresh water.

Because algae strains with lower lipid content may grow as much as 30 times faster than those with high lipid content, the difficulties in efficient biodiesel production from algae lie in finding an algal strain with a combination of high lipid content and fast growth rate, that isn't too difficult to harvest; and a cost-effective cultivation system (i.e., type of photobioreactor) that is best suited to that strain. There is also a need to provide concentrated CO2 to increase the rate of production _PeaceCorpsConnect

As noted above, it is more efficient at this time to grow algae for biomass, rather than for oil. As a biomass crop, algae is unsurpassed, and can be grown over roughly 90% of the Earth's surface (land and sea). The facts that algae can clean wastewater, gobble CO2 from power plants, ethanol plants, and cement plants -- and provide fish and animal feed are additional advantages.

A recent study by the Pacific Northwest National Labs suggested that 17% of US oil imports could be replaced by algal fuels, using roughly 5.5% of the lower 48 states' land area. This is an admirably cautious report from PNNL, which has almost nothing to do with what the state of the art will be in 5 years, and ignores th potential for genetic engineering of algae to increase sunlight-to-biomass or sunlight-to-lipids efficiencies.

Using small modular nuclear reactor heat and power, large quantities of algal biomass and fuels could be grown virtually anywhere on the planet or off the planet -- including polar stations, undersea stations, mid-ocean seasteads, orbital space stations, or lunar colonies etc. Algae modified to provide high quality food and recycled water and air for humans, would be ideal components of semi-hermetically sealed environments and outposts.,

More on Algal Biomass, Microchannel Gas to Liquids, BTL

PetroAlgae
PetroAlgae is an algal fuels company aiming for the near-term production of fuels from algae, in addition to producing animal feed co-product and electrical power. PetroAlgae is taking the algal biomass approach initially, and will presumably convert later to an "algal oils to biodiesel" approach to fuels as the technology matures over the next 10 to 20 years. This is the approach that Al Fin algal scientists and engineers have been recommending, for early algal fuels production.

Through a new agreement with Haldor Topsoe A/S and its U.S. subsidiary Haldor Topsoe Inc., PetroAlgae will now use catalysts provided from the subsidiary's Houston headquarters to enhance the oils produced through its algae refining process that includes coking and pyrolysis.

The agreement will also allow PetroAlgae to test the algae biomass produced from its system in refinery cokers and “validate the commercial viability” of the process according to John Scott, chairman of PetroAlgae. _BiodieselMag

In a fascinating development, Oxford Catalysts has shipped a microchannel gas-to-liquids demonstration plant to Brazil, for use by Petrobras. The plant was assembled in a plant in Asia, disassembled for transport, and will be reassembled at a Petrobras refinery in Fortoleza, Brazil, over the next 4 months.

The integrated GTL demonstration plant incorporates the Group’s proprietary microchannel reactor and catalyst technologies for the key Steam Methane Reforming (“SMR”) and Fischer-Tropsch (“FT”) steps of the GTL process. The demonstration is fully funded and managed by the Group’s partners Toyo Engineering Corporation and MODEC, Inc., in collaboration with the Brazilian national oil company Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (“Petrobras”) which is hosting the demonstration at its Lubnor refinery in Fortaleza, Brazil.

The GTL plant will be reassembled at the demonstration site, and will then progress to the pre-commissioning and commissioning stages. These are expected to be completed within four months. The demonstration plant is scheduled to start up in September, subject to successful commissioning and availability of the required utilities from Petrobras. Following start up, the demonstration will operate for approximately nine months. _OxfordCatalysts

KiOR is pushing ahead with its IPO, aiming for a $100 million max target for its US biomass-to-liquids technology.

$1.80 per gallon: KiOR says its technology, scaled up to oil industry size, can turn wood chips into “biocrude,” then ship it to existing oil refineries to crack it into gasoline or diesel fuel, at a price of $1.80 per gallon — without government subsidies. UPDATE: Crude oil is measured in 42-gallon barrels, which would set the cost of a barrel of KiOR crude at about $76 — and oil was trading at $106.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning, the lowest it’s been since March 30. As a rule of thumb, crude oil makes up about one-half to two-thirds of the price of a gallon of gas at the pump, which would price KiOR’s pump-ready output at roughly $2.70 to $3.60 per gallon. By way of comparison, conventional gasoline and diesel were $2.86 and $3.08 per gallon on the Gulf Coast as of March, and market prices for corn ethanol, biodiesel and sugarcane ethanol were $2.49, $4.78 and $3.50 per gallon, according to KiOR.
1,500 bone dry tons (BDT): That’s how much wood chip material KiOR will need to process every day to reach that super-low price of $1.80 per gallon. Its current demonstration plant, on the other hand, is set up to process 10 BDT per day and has been running since March 2010, which gives a sense of the scale KiOR is seeking to achieve in the space of a few years. _gigaom

KiOR's plans illustrate the near-term thermochemical BTL approach, using conventional wood chip feedstock. Other companies may choose a similar approach, but using other biomass feedstocks.

It is too early in the BTL game to know which feedstocks (other than micro-algae and macro-algae) provide the greatest amount of biomass on a reliable and sustainable basis. Entire industries will be required for biomass production, preprocessing, refining, distribution, and sales.

Almost the entire surface of the planet -- except polar regions -- is suitable for growing biomass -- both marine and terrestrial. As the best biomass feedstocks prove themselves over the next ten years or so, it will become easier to calculate the true potential for biomass to liquids fuels.