Comments on: Solazyme targets algae fuel in three years

Next-generation biofuels using algae or plant wastes are getting closer to commercialization, but large-scale production with sustainably grown plants remains the challenge.

[Joe Real]

This procedure can be profitable is done this way, but it is a big step backward.This is a big step backward because the algae are not used to capture the carbon dioxide, fueled by the sun, to produce biofuel. In the case of Solazyme they are simply using algae, the equivalent of a genetically engineered bacteria, whose simple function is to convert food derived from other plants into fuel oil. Other genetically engineered bacteria would be better to use than algae.

The plant food that Solazymes algae will be using will use bigger amount of land and thus will have the same price effect when planting corn and use them for ethanol. This will NOT have any net advantages and the yield of biofuel from such a setup will not be any higher than biofuel from corn or sugarcane. It is simply converting corn or sugar cane into oil, and there you have the problem when food land are displaced by biofuel.

Pure Algae culture that produces their own oil would have been ideal. Just feed it carbon dioxide, initially dump some nutrients, then expose to the sun, and it should yield oil without displacing food.
When oil is harvested from such algae culture, the discarded "shells" of the algae can be recycled back into the growing chambers, so there is no need to add nutrients. The net effect is just harvesting the soil. The major advantage growing algae compared to crops is that most of the sunlight energy will be used for photosynthesis, and unlike terrestrial plants, most of the sunlight energy is spent evaporating the water. That is why biofuel from algae culture has several orders of magnitude better potential than biofuel from plants.

Solazyme's use of algae to produce biofuels by extracting food from terrestrial plants means that its overall efficiency will only be lower than or equal to that of producing biofuels from terrestrial plants directly. There is potential profit, however, in that if prices of sugars, starch and other plant food becomes lower than price of fuel, why not do it this way? At best, it is alternative to producing ethanol using yeast as the converting agents. But don't be fooled by Solazyme's technology that is simply riding on the popularity potential of algae, while in fact the algae is not functioning as an algae. The algae in their case simply functions like a bacteria and not helping at all in capturing the sun's energy to boost production of biofuel.

[anthonysmission]

Can I get a car that runs on green goo?

Anthony Kraudelt
3102 Lilac Haze Street
Las Vegas, NV

[WittsendinTX]

I work in the Horticulture industry and the "algae production" facilities I've seen are a joke. These are designed by university types who don't have a clue how to "grow plants". I work with people who have fully automated facilities of 100 to 200 acres, with "bench sections" that are 6' x 20' and automatic watering systems attached to fill them and flush them out, attached to monitoring systems to control fertilizer and environment. These benches are used by the millions in greenhouses all over the world and could probably turn over a new crop of algae every week or two.

[Joe Real]

I fully agree with you! The algae production facilities by a lot of the start up companies, even those who claimed to have been doing it for ages, are either very crude or very fancifully expensive, compared to the very practical but fully automated systems currently used for growing high valued terrestrial plants. If they had used such automated growing systems for algae, they should be able to churn out at least 15,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year, and for a continuous culture, that would be 288 gallons/acre/week. For a 200 acre utility, that would be 57,692 gallons/week. Algae culture is best approached with a continuous culture automated method.

[billmosby]

So the question remains: algae oil- easy as pie, or pie in the sky?

I'm hoping for the former but the suspense is still pretty high at this point.

[WittsendinTX]

My point is, if they are getting close to "break even" with their current production systems for growing the algae, imagine how much better a job they could do with a "real" production system.

[tech_crazy]

I totally agree with Joe Real. With picture 5 in the link provided it says "Inside this small-scale fermenter, algae cultures eat away at carbohydrates like sugar cane in order to grow and produce oil."

So, it IS competing with foodcrops - whether it is corn, soybean or sugarcane. How is this solving any problem? The best it can do is being 100% efficient at converting sugar to oil/alcohol. But the underlying source - foodcrops, still exists. Old wine in a new bottle. Wake up and smell the fraud!

And why is this news? A very similar article had appeared a few months ago on this exact same company? C'mon Martin, do you actually have anything new to report?

[djacobsonw]

Why personalize information and turn your idea into a negative comment, tech_crazy? The green tech writers are doing the information business a SERVICE. Algae in the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Michigan, is rampant due to the TIF districts for farmers close to Lake Michigan. Phosphorous runs into the lake. So, the other day while swimming in Wisconsin, I came out of the water and green algae was all over me. Can't the farmers use other chemicals and recycle the algae; each state is awash with ideas and no central policy to try not to pollute and, in the meantime, the fishing industry in Lake Michigan and the "swimming" recreation is being hindered.

[tech_crazy]

djacobsonw ,

Don't get me wrong. I am a big believer in green technology. I have been making generators and batteries myself since about age 12. But it upsets and angers me when there is greenwashing. Using human consumable food material for any type of energy does and will have disastrous consequences. Search for this important article on the web "How the rich starved the poor". If you haven't read it already, I guarantee it will be an eye-opener.

All the same, bio-diesel from spent oil, alcohol from switchgas, methane from wastes ... these are examples of things previously considered useless/waste into useful forms.

If the algae (in Lake Michigan or elsewhere) can be fed with non human-edible stuff, consider me sold.

[Jkirk3279]

? It is simply converting corn or sugar cane into oil, and there you have the problem when food land are displaced by biofuel.?

Hold on a second !

They didn't reveal what their ?algae food? is. For all we know, they've found a way to use switchgrass pulp or plant wastes.

While I was shocked that they'd use algae in a dark reaction, if the ?food? they use can be harvested from unusable land, this IS a step forward.

And if they're clever enough to have found a way to use organic garbage like orange peel and crop residues, they deserve a Nobel Prize.


Besides, it's not as if this will derail the photosynthetic algae projects.

I've seen pics of a pilot project to capture flue gas from coal power plants via algae in plexiglass tubes, and I'm delighted at the prospect.