Algae.

[froggy]

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

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

I think you made a typo. Pyrolysis cannot function with 30% solids. You must have ment 70% solids.

 

And even at 70% solids, this is not going to produce an exothermic condition. Typically feedstocks are in the high 80's% solid range for net power from pyrolysis.

 

But this is a teachable moment... Imagine you want to grow algae energy. First you start out with a maximum of ~ 100g of product with a intrinsic value of 30% solids floating around in 1ton of water. And its your job to dry that material to the high 80% solid range. This is not a trivial matter...

[Essay]

What a fascinating view back into the history of this subject.

Now we know what happened to the money appropriated for those weird little R&D projects that Congress worked into bills to appease the environmentalists.

 

It looks to be a very thin little ribbon of research winding its way from the 70's and through the 80's

 

Their concept of a PBR is fairly constrained--sounding like something designed for a spacecraft, on a long spaceflight. It's a neat idea, like a terrarium for algae, but with nutrient input and harvesting. ....Very high-tech.

 

But that is your point, I suppose.

Even the most low-tech options require a lot of high-tech materials and controls.

 

I'm surprised (but shouldn't be) that the algae is so sensitive and temperamental; ...and both to daily fluctuations and to seasonal variations.

Grazers feasting on the algae at various times was another factor that, while I've known about them, I'd never connected with algae as a problem--but of course, it is a problem.

 

...And all that optimizing of the productivity within the lifecycle and conditions....

...and the Harvesting problems!

 

Lots of hurdles and a few dead-ends....

No wonder this wasn't easily ramped up, way-back-when.

===

 

I still can't help but think that at just about every step along the difficult path, they could have explored many other possibilities, options, or techniques. Every time they find results which they don't understand -is an opportunity for much more research (given enough funding and inspiration).

 

I know as a government project, they were probably limited in both funding and inspiration; and this story certainly sounds like a good example of how government can drive something into the ground.

===

 

...some random thoughts:

 

It sounds to me like they need to create a simple ecosystem supporting various algal species, rather than maximizing a monoculture of algal crops.

I also think that they need to focus less on oil content and more on productivity.

 

Oil content rises in response to various stresses.

When they isolate a high-lipid species, it's already living in stressed conditions (for its normal preference).

Probably be pretty hard to cultivate under our "normal" conditions.

 

Get high productivity first, and then stress the algae to drive up the oil content.

 

At so many points they reach a "dead-end" and go off in another direction, without even rethinking the original problem so as to avoid the dead-end.

===

 

Quotes (& some thoughts) along the way:

 

Bioenergy pact between Europe and Africa

 

"the yield is limited by the amount of energy (sunlight) available – so improving the cultivating conditions follows the law of diminishing returns, as every percentage of yield that one can wrestle out becomes harder and harder as one approaches the theoretical limit."

But isn't this true of terrestrial plants too?

 

"while it may be theoretically possible to achieve growth rates that are up to ten times higher than the best terrestrial growth rates (in the tropics), the expenses associated with PBRs are hundreds of times larger than terrestrial cultivation, making PBRs economically illogical:"

 

"photosynthetic capture through PBRs, which are the most expensive extreme in the algae sector. Going down the expense curve, there are approaches - such as open ponds - that are less expensive; potentially there may be some optimum where microalgae cultivation becomes cheap enough yet with sufficient control over external conditions to secure reasonable yields. Open ponds, are still iffy in my opinion, however, they are not as absurd as PBRs."

 

"There is no question that microalgae have the potential for high productivity per area, albeit with all associated high cultivation costs."

...and nothing can be done about these "high cultivation costs." :)

 

"This CO2 from emerging liquid fuels is in addition to the new cohort of coal-fired power plants that is coming online."

 

"When the world gets to actually doing something concrete and meaningful in regard to global warming, I strongly believe that the only option left would be to scrub CO2 from the air, I will be writing on that in the near future."

Yes, ...like with algae (but not focusing on high lipid content necessarily).

 

"Concentrated Solar Power. It is a viable solar conversion approach and we will likely see CSP grow in significance. CSP generates electricity, however that does not address the transportation sector, as the problem with electric cars is still their range. We believe that nanotechnology can play significant role in designing batteries with higher and higher energy densities so that electric cars charged on CSP electricity can become reality. At AIBN we have several projects on using nanotechnology for improved battery performance."

 

"Realistically, I don’t expect that energy densities will ever approach these of liquid hydrocarbons, however, electric cars, in addition to lowering emissions have other benefits...."

"So, if you are to ask me today, what 'sustainable future' I believe has the best chance of succeeding in the long run, it will be electricity generation via CSP tied to electric cars for transportation. That’s something that could take 25-30 years to materialize in scale, but it has a shot."

 

0-0-0

 

http://www.nanostring.net/Algae/CaseStudy.pdf

 

"Liquid fuels or biogas can potentially be generated from biomass by pyrolytic, non-fermentative processes. Research on such technologies has been going on for more than 80 years, as it would allow the use of much cheaper feedstocks (grassy and woody residues, municipal solid waste, etc.), however, so far no significant commercial installations have been established. A major disadvantage of pyrolysis, when compared to transesterification and fermentation, is the high energy needs of the process. It requires external heating to 300-800oC, making it obvious that the energy ratios would be much worse than for fermentation or transesterification (we have not been able to find a study on pyrolysis with a credible energy balance in it)."

CSP??? How about using Concentrated Solar Power.

 

Well, I'm still reading. I read a bit and then go think for a while, imagining the past and wondering about all the potential futures that were not realized back then--so much potential.

 

But I'm still glad all this basic research was done. Even the failures are very instructive.

More later:

...and thanks again for the links!

 

~ :santa:

[Michaelangelica]

I think you made a typo. Pyrolysis cannot function with 30% solids. You must have ment 70% solids. r...

No typo.

This is what BEST Energies claim they can do with papermill waste. Waste that at present is put in landfill happily polluting groundwater and producing methane..

 

You may even extract a trickle of bio-oil? you would have to check with BEST on that

[froggy]

No typo.

This is what BEST Energies claim they can do with papermill waste. Waste that at present is put in landfill happily polluting groundwater and producing methane..

 

You may even extract a trickle of bio-oil? you would have to check with BEST on that

 

I live in Wisconsin, the home of paper industry and BEST Energies also has a location in Wisconsin. Ofcourse there are plenty of different mill sludges so Im not sure which you/they are referring.

 

Paper mill sludge comes out at ~ 40% solids. Depending on what type of mill we are looking at, this stuff does not typically have a high BTU as its full of clays and other paper fillers. Plus this stuff is particularily high in heavy metals.

 

Knowing what I know about Best and sludge, I doubt they are able to break even energetically without drying this stuff. And I doubt they are even thinking about this stuff because there are plenty of other feedstocks of sufficient quality and quantity to satisfy a biz plan.

 

There is a local company called 'minergy' that tries to turn sludge into products but its been a very poor biz for them. Mostly turning gold into lead.

[Michaelangelica]

I asked two head scientists/engineers at BEST energies Australia the specific question

"What is the maximum amount of water-in-wastes your machine can handle". (Their "demo" model at Somersby NSW.-30 min drive from my home.) They specifically answered 70% but said it would be a poor show economically as so little, if any, energy could be extracted with that amount of water. (Hence the "Energies" part of BEST)

 

To me, that opens the doors to a huge stream of industrial waste. Perhaps even sewerage (if properly policed, it should not have a heavy metal problem).

Of course it makes algae very attractive; You just need to hang it out to dry on the "Hill's Hoist" before pyrolising.

Char made from algae or seaweeds may even have added value to the soil (research needed) and therefore to home gardeners. I note that seaweed 'fertiliser' at Nurseries etc is much more expensive than the wine I drink. I'm afraid the garden always comes out second best ;)

 

If you don't believe me I suggest you take it up with BEST Energies USA as they have purchased ALL the Australian technology and patents.Now why would they do that? They continue to generously fund char-in-agriculture research with our State Government and the University of NSW.

I may be meeting with BEST in the new year and will ask again if you like. But it was a VERY specific answer to my specific question about the level of water in the waste stream.

I asked because I was surprised by some of the wet-wastes they were using.

 

They were developing a specific machine for paper mill waste but that is probably all confidential information & designs.

[froggy]

If you don't believe me I suggest you take it up with BEST Energies USA as they have purchased ALL the Australian technology and patents.Now why would they do that?

 

I plan to. ;)

 

And its some companies business plan to protect their IP like a pitbull, surrounding themselves with every and any protection they can pull fences around. I know BEST USA is well financed and suspect this is their policy. If it is your plan to own a marketplace, its good to have the legal rights to do that.

[Michaelangelica]

BEST Energies to my knowledge have not sold a pyrolysis system yet

Could you please check from your end?

 

Well to go in a different direction

Which is what Alage can do to a discussion

 

Red algae immune to bleaching

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

The chemical released by red algae could give

scientists clues on how to protect corals from

bleaching.

 

 

The key to better understanding coral bleaching has surfaced in a common red alga that produces defensive compounds against the phenomena affecting reef environments worldwide.

 

University of New South Wales PhD candidate Alexandra Campbell told the recent Ecological Society of Australia conference that the seaweed Delisea pulchra, found around southern Australia including WA, produced defensive chemicals called furanones.

Red algae immune to bleaching (ScienceAlert)

[Essay]

mmmmmm.... Furanones! :cheer:

===

 

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.

I finally got thru these links, but that first link is fascinating and leads to much other great information, so I'll be returning to that one. ~Thanks again.

===

 

From the third link (above, post #15):

Emerging Energy News: Algae-to-biodiesel at least five to 10 years away

Commercial production of microalgae as biodiesel feedstock will require substantial improvements in the present cultivation and harvesting methods and may only be economically viable in at least another five to ten years. Delegates attending the Algae World 2008 conference in Singapore said the current production cost of microalgae is too high to justify its use as a biodiesel feedstock.

 

Like most other microalgae farms, the Hutt Lagoon facility also does not produce supply any feedstock for biodiesel production at the moment. The plant now supplies microalgae for the production of pharmaceutical products and animal feed.

Well those are good uses for the algae.

 

The second link (post #14):

The Oil Drum | The Man Who Wrote the Book on Algal Biodiesel

Even if R&D proves successful and we can actually produce algae biofuels (maybe even biodiesel) economically (whatever the economics may be a decade or so from now), even then, I am sorry to say that due to resource (land, water, etc.) limitations, algae will not replace all our (or their) oil wells, cannot solve our entire global warming problem, or make me rich quick, at least not honestly. But maybe this technology could be developed in the next few years so that in the future it can make a contribution to our energy supplies, our environment and human welfare.

I don't think anyone is planning on replacing All oil wells or solve the Entire GW problem with algae, but....

 

I think there are still lots of opportunities to expand the use of algae to sequester carbon (focusing on productivity), and then use that algae for other uses.

 

Let's utilize the grazers to help dry the algae and build up an insect population to feed an adjacent fish farm.

...and what about Solar Pyrolysis?

 

I think the focus on biofuels is blinding researchers to other possibilities.

 

But you're right, it sure does seem like a familiar pattern now, that "it'll be ready in a few years... just one more pilot plant...."

 

~ :phones:

[Essay]

Thanks Michael, for the "bleaching" link.

 

Furans are cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are the building blocks of porphyrins.

Porphyrins are the light absorbing part of chlorophyll.

So maybe these furanones (keto-furans) act like a sunscreen for the algae.

 

Google furanones. Amazing bioactivity related to quorum sensing in biofilms, swarming and other anti-bacterial properties.

 

~ :phones:

[freeztar]

...and what about Solar Pyrolysis?

Indeed!

 

Join us over here:

 

http://hypography.com/forums/science-projects-and-homework/6465-solar-parabolic-trough-charcoal-oven.html

 

;)

[froggy]

...and what about Solar Pyrolysis?

Just a book keeping reminder. If you use the sun to do your cooking, cleaning, processing, etc... make sure to add that into the sqft/gallon that it takes to grow a gallon of gasoline.

[froggy]

I think there are still lots of opportunities to expand the use of algae to sequester carbon (focusing on productivity), and then use that algae for other uses.

There might be some validity to this but like anything, the devil is in the details. First, make money on the algae products and then char up the waste as sequestration, not the other way around. Which brings me to a point, waste streams.

 

Living in Wisconsin, I can get all the 11% solids manure I wish. Yet, even with millions of tons of feedstock floating in lagoons like a ticking time bomb, one has a very hard time trying to develop a system to utilize this as an energy product. AD and combustion product values are far too little vs the engineering and profit from energy.

 

So if I cant do it with 10% solids, what makes you think I can do it with algaculture whereas we start with a feedstock less than .1% solids? Granted liquid fuels sells for alot more than e' per BTU, please dont confuse that slight difference with the massive energy and engineering task of the concept of liquid fuels from algae.

 

By the way, what about the 30% solids waste streams, 50% solids, even 80% solids that are just left on this earth to rot, year over year.

 

My point here is that what makes anyone think they can grow something using $, time and energy when you can get better stuff for free or even a tipping fee? Its like sending out the complete US war machine to find a truffle.

[Michaelangelica]

PetroAlgae Announces Listing on OTC Bulletin Board

 

MELBOURNE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PetroAlgae, a leading developer of systems to derive biodiesel fuels from algae, today announced that its parent company, PetroTech Holdings Corp., has acquired Dover Glen, Inc., a publicly-traded company listed on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “DVGL”

. . .

About PetroAlgae

 

PetroAlgae is commercializing new technologies designed to grow and harvest oil from algae. This process creates a sustainable, renewable, cost-effective substitute for petroleum oil and a reliable, environmentally-friendly feedstock source for biodiesel and many other products. The Melbourne, Florida-based company offers a path to sustainable, renewable and carbon-neutral energy independence with processes that are environmentally-friendly.

PetroAlgae Announces Listing on OTC Bulletin Board

 

Sapphire Energy Named to Biofuels Digest '50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy' Ranking

 

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Algae-based fuels, one of the most promising technological developments to positively transform the world's transportation industry, gained additional momentum today when Biofuels Digest ranked Sapphire Energy, an algae-based transportation fuels company, number 2 in its 2008 "50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy" rankings. Sapphire Energy was selected out of more than 1,000 bioenergy companies eligible and was the highest-rated algae-to-energy company receiving the accolade.

 

Invest your money and make a fortune or loose a fortune?

 

Days may be numbered for toxic algae bloom

Corps officials say health advisory could be lifted for Lost Creek Lake in a few weeks

By Mark Freeman

Mail Tribune

 

TRAIL — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials hope today to begin the two-week countdown for finally lifting a public-health advisory against water contact at Lost Creek Lake, which has been mired in a pesky blue-green algae bloom.

MailTribune.com: Days may be numbered for toxic algae bloom

 

 

Another biofuel source worth looking at is producing biofuel from algae. It makes a lot of sense producing biofuel from algae for few reasons.

Firstly it requires minimal input to grow and it grows at a very high rate with sufficient sunlight and water (doesn’t require fresh water, can survive with seawater).

 

Secondly, algae produce high content of biofuel in terms of dry weight ratio as well as land use. Third and most interesting fact is that it is possible to feed CO2 into the production lines which can be obtained from factory byproduct (carbon credit offset).

 

Practically, algae can be grown in large tubes filled with waste water and CO2 with free sunlight in a large field. Not only producing algae can be cheaper, it can reduce greenhouse gasses and sell carbon credits.

 

If these methods can be perfected, algae are definitely a good source for biofuel. An interesting read to complement algae biofuel use, click here.

 

Besides Jatropha and algae, biofuel can also be produced from used cooking oil, food waste

http://malaysia4biotech.blogspot.com/

Malaysia4Biotech

 

US military funds $35M in research of algae-based jet fuel

2008 December 23

by novogreen

 

Science Applications International and General Atomics secure contracts through 2010 to help commercialize biofuel for military jets and vehicles. A sector of the U.S. Department of Defense has signed nearly $35 million in contracts with two San Diego companies to develop biofuel derived from algae for use in Air Force jets and Army vehicles. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) signed a $14.9 million deal with Science Applications International to work on making the algae-based jet fuel commercially and technically feasible.

 

Read more about this here.

http://www.novogreen.com/?p=1694

[Flying Binghi]

PetroAlgae is commercializing new technologies designed to grow and harvest oil from algae. This process creates a sustainable, renewable, cost-effective substitute for petroleum oil and a reliable, environmentally-friendly feedstock source for biodiesel and many other products. The Melbourne, Florida-based company offers a path to sustainable, renewable and carbon-neutral energy independence with processes that are environmentally-friendly.

 

I dunno :) ...when i read the parts in bold my 'bull-shite' metre goes off scale.

[Michaelangelica]

I dunno :) ...when i read the parts in bold my 'bull-shite' metre goes off scale.

Yes, agreed, sounds more like a prospectus than a news report.

 

So many scientific reports/announcements are made 5-10 years out from any market reality.

I guess it keeps the funding coming.

 

A sceptical view of the year in science:-

1) 15 Algae Startups Bringing Pond Scum to Fuel Tanks:

This algae primer featured over a dozen startups trying to crack the algae-to-fuel code and was the big winner of the year, in terms of both page views and comments.

While other non-food forms of ethanol — from switchgrass to plant waste — seemed to stall in 2008, the idea of algae fuel moved up in the ranks, and Googlers looked for which companies will lead the algae race.

Or maybe readers liked the Britney Spears reference. Who knows.

http://earth2tech.com/2008/12/30/top-10-earth2tech-stories-of-2008/

Some other reports I just came across

Algae in the Air: 5 Startups Turning Algae Into Jet Fuel

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/gigaom/green/2008_12_24_algae_in_the_air_5_startups_turning_algae_into_jet_fuel.html

 

Is Fuel Produced from Algae the Next Generation of Biofuels?

http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=24550

[Michaelangelica]

An intersting article on where the money is comming from to reseach and develop algae as a fuel etc.

 

In one of the most memorable moments in cinema, a middle-aged businessman whispers to a young and perplexed Dustin Hoffman one word of advice: “Plastics.”

 

In a 21st-century remake, the word might one day be algae.

 

Plastic was the new gold when The Graduate was filmed in the 1960s. In the summer of 2008, as oil prices soared to frightening levels, dozens of little companies managed to bring in a sudden gusher of funding for a technology that has long been relegated to the fringe of alternative energy: turning the green scum that grows in ponds and waterways into fuel.

 

In just six months, investors pledged more than $1 billion to 30 or 40 algae-fuel companies, many of them new. Now with oil prices less than half of what they were in the summer, the fledgling algae industry isn’t likely to see more big investments anytime soon, and the credit squeeze will also hamper development. But the companies hope they’ve raised enough cash to move the technology to the next step and prove that the watery weed can be a viable alternative to petroleum.

 

The fact is, algae contains an abundance of natural fatty oils that don’t need much refining to power cars and jets

Algae-as-Alternative-Fuel-Source - Science Column - David Ewing Duncan - Natural Selection - Portfolio.com

All on one page?

Algae-as-Alternative-Fuel-Source - Science Column - David Ewing Duncan - Natural Selection - Portfolio.com

[Michaelangelica]

Can geo-engineering rebuild the planet?

Supporters of another approach, known as Oceanic Iron Fertilisation, believe that promoting the growth of algae should be our main objective, rather than just a side effect. According to Dr Victor Smetacek, of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, the theory is that adding iron to the oceans will encourage algal blooms. When the algae die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, locking away their cargo of carbon.

 

There are plans to test this proposal off the island of South Georgia in the Atlantic. At the very least, Dr Smetacek hopes that large blooms of algae will act as food for krill, helping resurrect declining populations of squid and even some whales.

Can geo-engineering rebuild the planet? - Telegraph

Interesting article.

 

Second generation ethanol is not the end of ethanol’s evolutionary train. By 2030, the world will be much closer to commercializing fuel made from algae than they are today. Countless pilot projects are springing up everywhere; closed-loop algae ponds that absorb factory emissions, algae smokestack filters, genetically modified extra-oily algae that releases hydrogen while it grows… this is the next generation of ethanol.

Energy Examiner: New study paves path for sustainable second generation biofuels