Algae.

[Michaelangelica]

It is about time this increasingly important plant (?) has its own thread

 

Top Four Ways Algae Can Fix the Future of Energy

 

Everyone knows you can produce energy from algae. The question is how to do it most efficiently. Here are some of the most innovative contenders.

 

By Meryl Rothstein

Algae Energy Solutions - Biodiesel from Algae - Esquire

 

How to Make Oil From Algae in Four Steps

 

 

While the specific methods vary, the basic biology is the same.

Plus: the most innovative ways to make algae -- and why it will save us

 

By Meryl Rothstein

Algae Biofuels - How to Make Fuel From Algae - Esquire

Why Algae Will Save Us From the Energy Crisis

 

It's plentiful, it's homegrown, and it could help clean up the environment while powering America -- every light, car, plane, and factory in it.

 

By Meryl Rothstein

Investing in algae

Scary list of stocks huh? Besides Shell and Chevron, you are playing with Penny stocks going after this sector with Nanoforce trading under 1 Cent.

 

Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day.

 

As part of the photosynthesis process algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels, such as corn and switchgrass. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production.

 

Here's WallStrip's take on Algae and the prospects, its worth watching if you've come this far.

Investing in Algae Biofuel Stocks | WallStNation.com

 

Energy Farming Summit 2009 will be an excellent platform to disseminate information regarding recent research and development activities in the fields of Algae Farming, Methane Farming, Jatropha Farming and Biomass Farming for Biofuel Industry. Biofuels are emerging as a trillion dollar futuristic industry. The summit shall offer many value added opportunities for investors, entrepreneurs and Biofuel companies, renewable fuel experts, their associates and academia to share their valuable experiences and knowledge.

 

Key Topics of Discussion at the Summit

• Potential for Biofuels from Algae

• Algal Strain Selection and development of Algae Mass Culture Techniques for Biofuel Production

• Developing a low cost novel & High Productivity Enclosed Hybrid System for algae farming for oil

• Convert CO2 emission to Fuel- Developing a process for algae farming using industrial plant flue gases – An approach toward Emission to Biofuel

• Production of dietary food supplements for healthy heart & lowering LDL blood cholesterol from algae

• Developing milk, poultry and other food products with high percentage of good cholesterol using high protein algae cake as animal feed.

• Separation of CO2 from methane & feeding it to algae farm

• Utilizing digested slurry as food for algae farm

Investing in Algae Biofuel Stocks

 

etc etc

Energy Farming Summit 2009 | Science Blog

 

Aerospace companies and airlines are betting that algae — simple organisms that come in some 30,000 species,

many of which can be genetically modified — will prove

to be a green fuel that can power jet planes. Algae also could be blended into diesel and gasoline, and perhaps could even replace petroleum-based diesel and gasoline one day.

Infant Algae Industry Makes Its Case : Colorado Energy News

 

 

 

Hypography

http://hypography.com/forums/terra-preta/17276-char-from-algae.html#post246890

(Are there other relevant threads?)

[Ganoderma]

im just starting looking at these (your links), but that looks pretty cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Moontanman]

Since I've been an aquarium nut for about 85% of my life algae has been near and usually not so dear during all of that time. When you don't want it algae is everywhere and usually the worst kind, when you want it it's either non existent or the wrong kind everywhere. I've managed to master algae over the years and i have to say that after culturing live coral, live sand, marine invertebrates and breeding fishes marine and freshwater as well as lots of live vascular plants. Algae is the biggest challenge i ever tackled. Algae can be used to purify water concentrate pollutants and heavy metals, produce oxygen, and provide food for other organisms including humans. It's a great idea to harness algae to do the things we normally use higher plants to do. algae culture will be the wave of the future in many areas i am sure.

[froggy]

Algal Culture: from laboratory to pilot plant. If you search that term, you will come up with the download to the famous book.

 

After reading that book, one can see that modern algal culture has been around a long time, yes even algae biodiesel. Its mostly not a technological question, its an economic issue. We know how to grow massive amounts of algae, been doing it for 1000's of years. Its that we cannot grow algae for anywhere near the price of soil production for food and not even in the same ballpark for energy production. Even on the most massive of scales, we are likely talking in the $'s/lb range whilst most largescale ag crops are in the pennies/lb range.

 

Im not saying algae isnt useful and productive, nor am I saying that there isnt reasons for algal culture, there are dozens and oodles of reasons for to grow algae. Im saying that the myth of algae has far exceeded the prospects of said product in the modern economy. Its like everyone wants to believe yet no one is willing to look at simple numbers on the ground. I question the EROI for energy production, most PBR's all together, growing in the desert, growing in northern climes, yadda yadda yadda. I dont question the concept of wild harvesting, high value production, food production, niche usefulness of algae.

 

and after I get 10 posts, I'll link some sites to back up my claims

 

Froggy

[Flying Binghi]

As others have pionted out, you only need look at the cost of hydroponically grown tomatoes compared to soil grown tomatoes to get a very rough idea of algae fuel costs compared to soil grown bio-fuel. Still something worth persuing though.

[froggy]

Ah good, the ol' Hydro tomato example...

 

A tomato is what ~ 25% solids and sells for what $1/lb wholesale. If one wanted to make liquid fuels from a tomato and there was ~ 25% oil tomato;

 

$1/lb x .25 solid x .25% oil = .0625 lbs of oil for $1.

 

7lbs of fuel/gal = $112

[Essay]

Algal Culture: from laboratory to pilot plant. If you search that term, you will come up with the download to the famous book.

 

After reading that book, one can see that modern algal culture has been around a long time, yes even algae biodiesel. Its mostly not a technological question, its an economic issue.

...and after I get 10 posts, I'll link some sites to back up my claims

Froggy

It may be famous, but it's from 1953! I hope your basing your thoughts on more than just this book.

(Burlew JS. Algal Culture from Laboratory to Pilot Plan,

Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication, pp 3-28, Washington, D.C., 1953)

:doh:

 

Your point about "most largescale ag crops are in the pennies/lb range," doesn't take into account the hidden costs of pollution, climate change, subsidized energy and fertilizer costs, health costs....

 

Plus, I think the algal solutions may be a lot more cost effective than you have seen so far.

===

 

I posted this on the other algae thread (kinda by mistake, but will just repost some of it here):

 

Today @ Colorado State University

Currently, algae grown in photo-bioreactors at Solix headquarters yield more than five times the amount of fuel per acre of land per year than agriculture-based fuels including ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soy and canola, at their current commercial yields. Solix engineers have created systems that automatically adjust for environmental changes such as sunlight and temperature to optimize growing conditions.

 

Algae cultivation consumes substantial quantities of carbon dioxide, potentially helping to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases believed to contribute to global climate change. The Solix system has the ability to capture emissions directly from power plants and factories.

 

The biofuel plant will be located on a ten-acre site on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Southwest Colorado. It will be built in two phases, with the first to be completed in 12 to 18 months and consisting of four acres of photo-bioreactors for growing algae, and one acre for a lab facility. Upon completion of the first phase, Solix will build an additional five-acre expansion that will allow the pilot facility to produce at commercial scale.

 

"As the world moves to replace fossil fuels with the clean, renewable energy of the future, we see algae as a highly attractive alternative to agricultural crop feedstocks," said Doug Henston, CEO of Solix.

 

===

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE

The program's attempts to grow algae on an agricultural scale encountered two fundamental problems, however. The first was that the open ponds in which the high-lipid-concentration species of algae were grown were quickly colonized by local indigenous algae that had much lower levels of lipids. The second problem was that the costs of regulating temperature in the open ponds was inordinately expensive.

 

The bioreactor designed by Jim Sears, founder of Solix Biofuels Inc., solves both of those problems. The algae grow within closed plastic bags, which reduces the possibility of infestation drastically. And a novel low-energy temperature control system keeps the algae within a temperature range that optimizes growth.

 

Because of the low capital costs of the bioreactor design, and the fact that the CO2 can be sourced from biomass-fed electricity plants rather than only coal or natural gas, it presents opportunities for developing countries also.

"This is an ideal solution for producing liquid transportation fuels while absorbing greenhouse gas emissions through growing biomass in countries that don't have access to fossil oil or coal," Sears said.

 

Colorado State University - News & Information

"This process harnesses photosynthesis to turn carbon dioxide and energy captured from the sun into an economical petroleum substitute."

 

"Algae are the fastest growing organisms on the planet, and can produce 100 times more oil per acre than conventional soil-tilled crops that are now being grown for biofuel use," said Solix founder Jim Sears.

 

Solix officials estimate that widespread construction of its photo-bioreactor system could meet the demand for the U.S. consumption of diesel fuel - about 4 million barrels a day - by growing algae on less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. land area, which is otherwise unused land adjacent to power plants and ethanol plants. The plants produce excess carbon dioxide, which is necessary to turn algae into oil. In addition to producing biodiesel, the process would prevent a large portion of the greenhouse gases produced by coal-burning power plants from being expelled directly into the atmosphere.

 

These are the guys who are talking about 8000 gals/acre/yr.

...though I think they mean bio-oil, not refined fuel.

===

...and

Here is a very polished slide show (w/ a slide showing algal "fuel" at 1000 gal/acre "today," and 5000 gal/acre "tomorrow") comparing algae with other biofuel crops.

http://ncvecs.colostate.edu/cac.docs/cac23/PDFs/Sheehan.pdf

 

Sorry about the double posting:

I'll try to stick to "economics of algae" on this thread and talk about the synergies of CHAR on the other thread.

 

...looking forward to the links you mentioned above!!

 

~ B)

 

p.s.

This is some good history too:

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?IA=US1991004493&DISPLAY=DESC

[froggy]

It seems Im somewhat hamstrung in my arguments because Im not 10 posts in yes...

 

Lets talk about Solix because you brought them up and they are one of the posterchildren for what Im talking about.

 

First point is that they are talking about gross yields, not net yield after processing. And they are quoting numbers based on lab scales and not commercial scales, inwhich they have not done yet. One of my largest arguments is that all the numbers that are posted about algae are gross number and not EROI (or net) production. So they are basing their estimations on small scale results and extrapolating that to large scale results but not including any processing or EROI costs. Under the same scheme, sugar cane produces 90gal of ethanol x 30t/ac/yr = 2700gal of ethanol /ac/yr. If you FT cane, you can get 150g/t = 4500g/ac/yr. As you can see... its easy to do fuzzy math.

 

Second point is that EROI of adjusting the temp of the growing medium, water, to the optimized temp. Algae grow in increadibly diffuse medium. Much less than 5% by weight of the medium is algae, the rest is water. Yet, you have to heat the whole bucket of water and not just the algae within that bucket. How much energy does it take to lift a delta 50F of 1 ton of water? Subtract out the amount of energy you can harvest from the algae. The results is that if you harvest 100% of the algae and 100% efficiently turn that algae into heat (ignoring all the other processing fees and energy, like seperation of algae from water and squeezing algae of water), one can only move the delta T of the medium ~ .2F/day. There is no way on god's green earth can one use the energy fixed in the system to moderate the temp of the system. No way, no how, nope. Certainly not in the colds of Colorado. I dare someone to do this math!

 

As to the book from 1953, Im afraid that is my point. Even tho the concept of algal culture has been around a very long time, its development is pretty much stuck in the past because the improvements needed are not engineering but either economic or biological limitations. There are many data in that book that are still as relative today as they were in '53. And the economic and biological issues that stopped the technology in '53 are even more present today because of efficiency of soil ag production.

[Essay]

No way, no how, nope. Certainly not in the colds of Colorado. I dare someone to do this math!

 

...And the economic and biological issues that stopped the technology in '53 are even more present today because of efficiency of soil ag production.

Hey, I'll check the math if you'll suggest an equation.

...and it's not that cold in Colorado--plus it's very sunny!

===

 

Energy Return On Investment

 

Energy "return on investment" (EROI) study for biofuels | Seven Generational Ruminations

 

Academic Study Discredits Ethanol, Biodiesel (July 15, 2005, RenewableEnergyAccess.com)

 

The article discusses a study from Cornell University and UC Berkeley that shows the EROI for Ethanol and Biodiesel is negative. That is, the energy input for both is greater than the energy output. In running the study they took into account as many factors as they could, such as e.g. the fuel running the tractors on the farm, or the oil used in producing fertilizers used to grow the crops, etc.

 

What's most interesting is to read the comments to the article.

 

For example the US Department of Energy has been studying the same issue, and found that biodiesel has a positive EROI rather than the negative EROI claimed by these researchers. Now, maybe the DoE has been compromised by big money interests, as claimed in the other comments. Or maybe the DoE (or even these researchers) are missing something.

 

Another point is that the study only looked at Ethanol from Corn, and Biodiesel from soybeans. There are probably more efficient ways to produce either one of those. For example rapeseed produces much more oil than does soybeans.

 

Well, I thought those points I posted spoke to your objections, and your right--they haven't got this going full-scale yet.

But I don't think they are confusing gross and net, or that they're mistaken about some basic energy cost in their temperature scheme.

 

I don't see why you think that virtually no progress could be made in over 50 years, especially in engineering and biology!

 

You say:

"...stuck in the past because the improvements needed are not engineering but either economic or biological limitations." -froggy

 

But I think it's engineering that may have overcome some of those limitations you mentioned.

...and Biological Limitations??? Isn't that an oxymoron? We're pretty good at domesticating various species.

...and Economic Limitations are mentioned when counting the hidden environmental and social costs of soil-based, cheap Ag.

 

These may not make all the difference, but I don't think it can be discounted so easily either.

 

~ :phones:

[froggy]

Hey, I'll check the math if you'll suggest an equation.

...and it's not that cold in Colorado--plus it's very sunny!

Ok let me lay out the numbers you need.

 

Algae are ~5% photo efficient (actually its likely less than this).

 

1 lb of Water takes 1BTU to raise the Delta T 1F.

 

Solar load of most of Colorado = 6Kwh/m2/day.

 

~ 100mg of dry algae harvest/liter of water media as a harvest (again, likely high).

 

BTU of bone dry algae ~ 8000BTU/lb.

 

Ignoring the efficiency of the engines making e' or heaters or... Riddle me how enough energy can be produced with the algae to raise (or lower) the temp of the medium ?

[Essay]

Hi Froggy,

...how enough energy can be produced with the algae to raise (or lower) the temp of the medium ?

Twice now, if I understand correctly, you ask about changing the temperature of the medium

...based on metabolic heating by the algae?

 

Is that right? I don't understand how or why this is necessary. Can't passive heating/cooling be used? Please explain my misunderstanding, if that's the case.

...or do you mean getting enough fuel out of the algae to keep the system heated (or economically feasible?)?

 

Thanks,

~ :phones:

[froggy]

Let me be clear-er.

 

The temperature outside of the PBR is either less than, greater than or equal to the parameters of the system for the algae to grow. Thus, the system must be heated, cooled or left alone, depending on outside conditions to grow algae. How do you plan on doing this energy intensive task?

 

My contention is that the energy needed to regulate the system to provide the algae a living and thriving temperature far outweights the amount of energy yield from the algae product itself. Infact, its not even close. Even the most simple of calculations can show this.

 

My contention is that the EROI of a PBR is likely a losing battle on this simple process engineering item alone. Certainly this is the case where heating is needed, such as Colorado and/or where cooling is needed, such as the deserts of Sahara. And this ignores all the other energy intensive processing of commercial algal culture.

[Essay]

Even on the most massive of scales, we are likely talking in the $'s/lb range whilst most largescale ag crops are in the pennies/lb range.

 

Im saying that the myth of algae has far exceeded the prospects of said product in the modern economy.

 

and after I get 10 posts, I'll link some sites to back up my claims

Froggy

Okay....

 

Looking forward to learning more about this....

 

~ :phones:

[froggy]

Okay....

 

Looking forward to learning more about this....

 

~ :weather_snowing:

Does this link work?

 

If it does, please read thru this and his 'greenfuels study'. When you are done with that, read this Dr Benemann's article.

 

If you need more than that, let me know and we can go thru all of this step by step as soon as someone offers a specific step to work out and not just fuzzy details.

[froggy]

here is a link to a recent algae conference where they talk about price and supposid time lines.

 

Let me give you a hint, when someone says 5-10 yrs, it really means no where in sight.

[Essay]

Thanks for the great links!

Now I understand what you've been saying. I'm still not sure I agree, but will discuss this after getting more informed.

I'm still finding a few minutes here and there to wade through... I'm still on the first one actually, so... (guess I can only comment on the first one so far).

 

I think there is plenty more to say, as well as read between the lines of these links, i.e.

this linkback from your first link.

Bioenergy pact between Europe and Africa

The Aquatic Species Program experimented with closed photobioreactors for a while, but quickly dismissed them as being too impractical and costly. It therefor concentrated on growing algae in open ponds from the start, an effort it pursued over the decades that followed.

I'll be back....

 

~ :)

[Michaelangelica]

I'll just throw in a little thought here

Pyrolysis to make char can work with feedstock of 70% water

Of course at this level of water you harvest little electrical energy.

 

There are parts of the world a lot sunnier than the USA. This Island I live in for example.

We don't even need fresh water we can use salt.