Joint venture to use coal emissions to grow algae for biofuels

Algae's clout as a fuel feedstock seems to grow every day.

Inventure Chemical and Seambiotic announced this week a joint venture to create biofuels from algae fed by a coal-fired power plant.

An open pond for growing algae in Israel.

(Credit: Seambiotic)

Based in Seattle, Inventure Chemical has a process for converting algae to either biodiesel, ethanol, or specialty chemicals. Seambiotic, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, has developed an open-pond algae farming system that it is now testing in Israel.

The joint venture will grow algae using flue gas emissions from a power plant and use the resulting liquid fuel to power its operations or sell it.

In related news, the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) said Thursday that three airlines have joined the industry group.

The airlines--Air New Zealand, Continental, and Virgin Atlantic Airways--join biofuel technology developer UOP and existing member Boeing, which co-chairs the ABO.

There are a growing number of algae-to-energy ventures and projects. The advantage that algae has over other feedstocks is that farms won't compete for existing crop land and yields can be higher.

Still, the technology remains experimental and in the development phase.

One of the first companies to enter the algae business, GreenFuel Technologies, this week said that it has signed a deal for a large project in Europe and has a few more in the U.S. that it hopes to sign in the coming weeks.

[fokkwp]

"The advantage that algae has over other feedstocks is that farms won't compete for existing crop land and yields can be higher." Not always true! Yes, very true for this fabulous project, harvesting CO2 and sunlight to make fuel - great way to reverse global warming. But other algae projects don't use sunlight at all nor CO2 - they use sugar - which may come from waste materials, but also may turn out to be cost-effective using sugar cane and corn, which is right back to the usual biofuels problem of using food crops or cutting down rainforests to replant with biomass.

[Sumerled]

You are referring to the Solazyme Company's work on 'brewing' diesel algae through the force-feeding of algae in pressurized vats with sugar as a feed stock. You are correct, this does have a cost to the environment if sugarcane or sugar beets are used as source material. The company maintains that they will be able to obtain alternative feedstock through the use of cellulosic products from waste farm materials or from non-food plants such as sawgrass, etc. The advantage of their process would lay in the fact that scaling up production is made less costly through the use of already existing agricultural technologies. Corn is understood to be a non-viable food stock because of its extremely low EOEI ratio. Current ethanol production using corn is unsustainable except for government subsidies, a political intervention in the market. Sugar from sugarcane is ideal as a foodstock for diesel algae production because sugarcane is a known agricultural product. Water is an issue in its production, however, but it may be less of a problem than growing algae in open air ponds subject to extreme evaporation issues.
It becomes more and more evident that we must find a way to cheaply desalinate ocean water to make all of the biofuel technologies viable, as well as provide for the food needs of an ever increasing world population.

[prabhatb]

fokkwp, don't screw it up, you don't know ****. **** off

[greeny73]

Seems that algae is in the news a lot these days. Just last week Boeing was throwing their considerable weight behind developing the technology - see more at www.cutyourfootprint.com
But I would like to know why the emphasis on algae for jet fuels? surely if they can power a plane than they could power a car too?

[rwk9]

The reason why algae is the choice for alternative fuels in aviation, is that you can't use biodiesel, vegetable oil, alcohol, hydrogen, or electricity to fuel jet engines. You have to use either Kerosene for 'regular' jet engines, or specially formulated fuels for high performance military aircraft. The most promising algae for Kerosene is Botryococcus braunii, which creates an enormous amount of alkanes, which can then me chemically processed ('cracked') into an exact replacement of petroleum derived fuels with a process very similar to that used on petroleum.

[CooperSWorks]

greeny73 - look at it the other way around. Sure, it can power a car - and no doubt will (so I agree whole heartedly with you). There are energy sources that are and will be available for cars, however, that are not viable for airplanes . . . And hence Boeing's interest. I don't think we'll see hydrogen as a storage source for airplanes - ever. Electric is monumentally unlikely etc. etc. Fundamentally, airplanes need fuel that has a very high enery to weight ratio and that brings us back to oil based fuel.

[rwk9]

fokkwp's comment is plain old wrong. I think he's confused algal fuels with alcohol. It's bad that those who know the least, seem to shout alarm the loudest.

It's no surprise that coal effluents are being used to feed algae farms. Burning coal produces massive amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. These are what (along with water, and a handful of nutrients) algae live off of. But what is interesting is that they are growing algae in an environment open to the air. Not only does this let more coal effluent escape, it's also risky because algal species other than the most desired ones can take over the tank. But if your desire is primarily to cut coal emissions and not to create biofuels, this is certainly the cheaper way to go. I am sure they know what they're doing.

[Burnelli Support Group]

NO CORN - 60 gal an acre
NO SOY - 100 gal an acre?
And forget the Sugar additive for the dark production.
What-ever! Equals higher food prices and starvation.

The only great source of bio fuel is through Valcent Products in Texas. They grow algae in a vertical, plastic, closed system that can attain 100,000 gallons of bio fuel per acre and uses only 5% of the water of other open systems. Also, who eats algae as a staple food? Go here and check out the Vertigro video. http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp

Using food sources to make fuel is insane when there is an alternative that can create enough fuel to power America?s auto needs using only 1/10th of the state of New Mexico?s arid, empty land.

[Burnelli Support Group]

NO CORN - 60 gal an acre
NO SOY - 100 gal an acre?
And forget the sugar additive for the dark production.
What-ever! Equals higher food prices and starvation.

The only great source of bio fuel is through Valcent Products in Texas. They grow algae in a vertical, plastic, closed system that can attain 100,000 gallons of bio fuel per acre and uses only 5% of the water of other open systems. Also, who eats algae as a staple food? Go here and check out the Vertigro video. http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp

Using food sources to make fuel is insane when there is an alternative that can create enough fuel to power America?s auto needs using only 1/10th of the state of New Mexico?s arid, empty land.

[Burnelli Support Group]

NO CORN - 60 gal an acre
NO SOY - 100 gal an acre?
And forget the sugar additive for the dark production.
What-ever! Equals higher food prices and starvation.

The only great source of bio fuel is through Valcent Products in Texas. They grow algae in a vertical, plastic, closed system that can attain 100,000 gallons of bio fuel per acre and uses only 5% of the water of other open systems. Also, who eats algae as a staple food? Go here and check out the Vertigro video. http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp

Using food sources to make fuel is insane when there is an alternative that can create enough fuel to power America?s auto needs using only 1/10th of the state of New Mexico?s arid, empty land.

[bjmchugh]

The Valcent presentation sounds good, but when he refers to a closed system that sequesters carbon dioxide, loses water to evaporation, is subject to contamination by other algae species, and generates an amazing amount of lipids, it is not a closed system to which he refers.