Micro-crops of algae grown in man-made open-air ponds.
(Credit: PetroAlgae)PetroAlgae has signed a memorandum of understanding to license its proprietary technology for producing and harvesting algae for fuel to Indian Oil, the company announced this week.
The Melbourne, Fla.-based company has developed bioreactors and harvesting methods for converting algae grown in open-pond freshwater farms into biodiesel.
The first phase of its partnership with Indian Oil will involve building a test facility to see whether PetroAlgae's production method is scalable. Once that has proven to be successful, Indian Oil plans to build a commercial production facility that could produce 200,000 tpa (tonnes per annum) of biodiesel. That facility would also produce a protein byproduct from the process that could be sold for use in making animal feedstock.
The Indian Oil-PetroAlgae deal lends further support to the notion that India's ambition is to rival Brazil as the world's largest exporter of biofuel in the coming years. Global biofuel use is expected to double by 2015, according to a recent report by Hart Energy Consulting, and many Big Oil players have been focusing efforts on getting a footing in that arena.
Until recently, most of the Big Oil interest in algae biofuel has been in the form of investments thrown at pilot projects, start-up companies, and research institutions. But the past few months have seen prominent partnerships with more clearly laid-out commercial ambitions.
In July it was announced that Exxon Mobil is investing over $600 million to produce biofuel made from photosynthetic algae in conjunction with the Calif.-based biotech firm Synthetic Genomics (SGI). Martek Bioscience, which initially was selling its fermented algae as a baby food additive, announced in August that it had signed a deal with BP on microbial biodiesel production from algae fermentation.
While algae start-ups seem to have weathered the economic investment drought, as PetroAlgae's own board head John Scott predicted in May, it remains to be seen which method for growing algae will win out.
There is an ongoing debate over whether it's more cost-effective to grow algae by fermentation or photosynthesis. The PetroAlgae deal with Indian Oil puts another mark in the photosynthesis column.
Global biofuel use is expected to increase twofold by 2015 and Brazil will remain the world's top exporter of biofuel, according to a report released Wednesday by Hart Energy Consulting.
The U.S. is expected to see the largest increase in biofuel use per country, increasing its current consumption by more than 30 percent, according to data from the "Global Biofuels Outlook: 2009-2015" report.
The overall increased use of biofuel in many countries around the world will make a dent in the world's consumption of traditional gasoline, according to Hart.
"Global ethanol demand will represent 12 to 14 percent of the global gasoline pool by 2015," said the report.
On the supply side, Brazil is expected to increase its production capacity by 30 percent and double the amount of biofuel it currently exports, remaining the world's largest biofuels exporter. Germany will continue to be Europe's largest producer of biofuel.
In terms of which kind of biofuel will make it to the forefront of production, Hart predicted that palm oil biodiesel, rapeseed biodiesel, and first-generation ethanol will dominate.
But that doesn't necessarily mean the biofuel industry will thrive as much as some would have the public believe, according to the report.
"Out of the approximately 170 next-generation biofuels projects around the world that are in some stage of development (operational, under construction or proposed), only 30 percent of those are actually expected to be operating during the study time frame, and many of those are still in the pilot project stage," said Hart.
Hart also said that while India is expected to see tremendous growth in biofuel production, it saw its predictions of soon outpacing Brazil as the leading exporter as too optimistic.
Other countries predicted by the report to significantly begin contributing to the world's biofuel production by 2015 are: Argentina, China, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Hart's report is based on data the company collected concerning existing biofuel plants in "operational, idle, or shut down" modes, biofuel projects in progress, government policy developments concerning biofuel regulation, and capacity projections from both governments and individual companies.
Artist's rendering of what an Eco-Pod configuration could look like on the old Filene's Basement site in Boston's Downtown Crossing.
(Credit: Howeler Yoon Architecture)Howeler Yoon Architecture has proposed that an algae farm and vertical garden be erected at the old Filene's Basement site in Boston's Downtown Crossing.
The prefabricated design of interlocking pods containing algae-incubators on the inside and plants on the outside would be a temporary structure until the city of Boston, the site's owners, and the new owner of the bankrupt Filene's Basement chain agree on what to ultimately do with the historic Washington Street real estate.
But it's not just a one-off idea for the Filene's Basement spot.
Howeler Yoon, which is collaborating with Squared Design Lab, proposes placing its Eco-Pods on transition real estate throughout the city instead of leaving the sites to lie fallow while developers and officials spend months working through zoning, financial, and legal webs.
The pods, which are used as incubators for growing algae for biofuel, can be configured in several ways depending on the needs of a given site. Individual pods can also be rented out by researchers for algae-based projects, according to Howeler Yoon.
The spaces that form between the attached pods allow for planting and creating a vertical garden.
While the pods and their cranes look eerily futuristic, it's not such a far-out idea. The U.K.'s Institution of Mechanical Engineers released a report in August that suggested algae-cultivating buildings as one idea toward mitigating climate change. And just recently, PNC Financial Services Group unveiled a vertical garden spanning 2,380 square feet on the south side of its downtown Pittsburgh headquarters.
Clarification at 5:40 a.m. PDT October 1: Squared Design Lab is a collaborator on the project.
LiveFuels lets aquatic life do the work when it comes to converting algae into oil.
(Credit: LiveFuels)LiveFuels, an algae biofuel start-up, announced a pilot project on Thursday to grow and harvest algae biofuels in open waters with the help of naturally occurring activities in the ecosystem.
The approach is different than other attempts at algae biofuels, in which algae is grown and harvested in a closed environment.
The LiveFuels algae pilot farm, set to cover 45 acres of saltwater ponds in Brownsville, Texas, will consist of algae already native to the region.
Algae is known to bloom in salt water that has been polluted by the lakes, rivers, and streams that feed into it and are tainted with agricultural chemical waste runoff.
Algae blooms, when in excess seen as detrimental to the health of an ecosystem due to the oxygen-depleting "dead zones" they create, will actually be purposely replicated in LiveFuels' 45-acre test area to determine if these commonly occurring blooms from pollution could be harnessed for biofuels.
The company plans to encourage algae growth with the additive of agricultural-waste products. Then, instead of retrieving the algae itself to be converted into biofuels through a mechanical process, it plans to let algae-eating fish do the conversion.
Once the algae-eating fish plump enough, LiveFuels plans to catch them and process them for their oil in the same way people used to harvest whale blubber for oil. Only instead of using the oil for lamps, this harvested oil could fuel cars and trucks, according to LiveFuels.
LiveFuels, which has so far garnered $10 million in funding, has filed 10 patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on its approach to growing and harvesting algae in nature for the purpose of biofuels. The pilot algae farm-fishery will be used to test which breeds of algae-consuming fish work best.
"By harnessing the power of natural systems, we hope to achieve what has eluded the biofuels community for decades: cost-effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability," LiveFuels CEO Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones said in a statement.
If the pilot project works, LiveFuels plans to apply the technique to an area of coastal Louisiana where the Mississippi River is particularly plagued by fertilizer runoff.
By harnessing the agricultural waste currently polluting the river to create algae blooms, the company hopes to both grow their algae and schools of fish for biofuels, and reduce the amount of agricultural-waste pollution that is finding its way into the ocean.
Will you be pumping up your car of the future with algae-bred fuel? Possibly, if ExxonMobil's latest venture is successful.
ExxonMobil and biotech firm Synthetic Genomics (SGI) announced on Tuesday a new alliance to produce alternative fuel made from photosynthetic algae. ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million on the project--$300 million internally and another $300 million to SGI if key R&D milestones are met.
Under the partnership, SGI will research and develop systems to grow large amounts of algae and convert them into biofuels. ExxonMobil will provide engineering and scientific talent throughout different phases of the project, from increasing the level of algae production to manufacturing the final product.
(Credit:
PetroAlgae)
"Meeting the world's growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources," said Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. "We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel."
In an economic climate that has made life tougher for alternative-energy companies, ExxonMobil is wading into biofuel waters that recently swallowed a once promising algae-minded start-up, GreenFuel Technologies, which said in May that it had run out of funds and would be shutting down. Still, other smaller companies such as PetroAlgae and Aurora Biofuels remain hopeful about commercial production of algae biofuel.
Algae is one of a number of potential alternative fuel sources, though many of the others, like ethanol, are derived from plants also used for food. Algae also can thrive in a variety of conditions.
Based in California, Synthetic Genomics is a privately held company that develops energy solutions based on genomics research.
SGI says it's spent several years working on a way to harvest the oil produced by photosynthetic algae. Past methods have proven costly and time consuming, but SGI says its process for collecting the oil has so far proven more efficient and cost-effective, though work remains to be done.
"The real challenge to creating a viable next generation biofuel is the ability to produce it in large volumes which will require significant advances in both science and engineering," J. Craig Venter, CEO of SGI, said in a statement. "The alliance between SGI and ExxonMobil will bring together the complementary capabilities and expertise of both companies to develop innovative solutions that could lead to the large scale production of biofuel from algae."
Concerns over food crops are only one issue to overcome when it comes to biofuels. There's also a serious lack of infrastructure that will prevent the fuel alternative from becoming mainstream, according to a new report by Lux Research.
"The problem is that there aren't nearly enough filling stations and cars--nor will there be for decades--that are capable of using the fuel. Without changes downstream in the current distribution infrastructure and end-use, ethanol's growth will soon cease--even if it's given away for free," said Mark Bünger, a research director at Lux Research, who headed up the report "Biofuels After the Fall."
Bünger and his group said that research has been focused on developing more cost-effective production methods and reducing reliance on food crops, and that the industry is poised to produce 10 billion gallons for 2009.
But demand will be stifled until the development of commercial infrastructure giving consumers greater access to biofuels and of more vehicles that can use biofuel blends, according to Lux Research.
The report is "a reality check for biofuel advocates operating under the false assumption that demand will exceed supply as soon as costs are competitive with fossil fuels," the group said in a statement.
Lux Research, which interviewed 35 leading biofuel organizations as part of its study, saw algae-based biofuels, catalysts for fermenting biomass, and lucrative biofuel byproducts as other areas ripe for development and investment.
Earlier this year, a report from Sandia National Laboratories and General Motors said biofuels could be competing with gas by 2030.
Biofuels are on the way up, while carbon emissions are on the way down, a global airline industry spokesman said Tuesday at the annual Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva.
After a successful run of pilot programs from Continental, Virgin, Air New Zealand, and JAL, sustainable biofuels are on track to be approved by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for wide commercial use in planes by 2010 or 2011, Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the IATA, said in a speech given at the summit.
IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani
(Credit: IATA)The IATA includes more than 230 airlines that make up about 93 percent of the world's airline traffic.
"Biofuels may even hold the promise of improved fuel efficiency on top of the potential to reduce emissions by up to 80 percent over the lifecycle of the fuel," said Bisignani.
He also had a positive spin to share on the fact that airlines have had to reduce flights due to a decrease in cargo and passenger demand throughout this economic downturn. The IATA expects to see a 7.8 percent drop in aviation carbon emissions for 2009.
Six percent will be due to a decrease in the number of cargo and passenger flights, while 1.8 is related to technology, operations, and infrastructure improvements, according to IATA figures.
Bisignani said governments of the world should focus on "replacing the growing patchwork of green taxes, charges, and emissions trading proposals" aimed at airlines with a more comprehensive system that takes into account that aviation carbon emissions contribute about two percent of the world's annual manmade carbon emissions.
The funds sponsoring environmental projects, as well as the degree to which airlines are held responsible for carbon emissions, should both proportionately reflect the two percent figure, according to Bisignani.
"We have a responsibility to secure the future of the 32 million jobs and $3.5 trillion in economic activity dependent on aviation. We need global leadership that unites industry and governments with the common purpose of reducing emissions," he said.
Manmade coal produced by Carbonscape's Black Phantom machine.
(Credit: Carbonscape)A new machine dubbed the "Black Phantom" can turn biomass into manmade coal.
Carbonscape, a New Zealand-based start-up, describes its invention as an industrial-sized microwave that can cook plant waste, wood waste, and "even sewage" into coal.
Carbonscape also claims that the machine captures and stores more carbon than the amount of carbon generated by the electricity needed to power it for the process.
Why would anyone want to make more coal when humans are desperately trying to get out from under the carbon dioxide mess we've been making since the Industrial Revolution?
The invention combines two popular environmental efforts: using biochar for carbon capture and storage (CCS), and developing alternative fuel sources from biomass.
While there are issues to be worked out on carbon capture and storage (CSS), it's seen by energy utilities and governments as a possible tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Biochar is coal made from biomass that can be buried in soil as a carbon sink or for use in farming, rather than letting decaying plants release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.
Biomass--agricultural and wood byproducts that can be used to make ethanol, or electricity directly--is considered by the EU, the U.S. and others as a possible answer to reducing oil dependence while providing a cleaner and more efficient way to produce and consume energy.
As reported by the Financial Times, Carbonscape's machine turns biomass into a kind of biochar to be stored underground.
Though it's unclear just how clean it would burn, Carbonscape's biochar can also be burned as fuel.
Whether or not the invention is scalable remains to be seen, but judging from who is involved Carbonscape's claims seem legit.
The company's board includes Nick Gerritsen, the director of Aquaflow Bionomic, one of the companies developing algae biodiesel; and Tim Flannery, former Harvard University professor and environmental activist known for his books "The Future Eaters" and "The Weather Makers."
Royal Dutch Shell and Codexis have expanded their partnership to see if biofuels made from non-food sources can be commercially viable.
The deal, announced by the two companies announced this week, is an expansion of a pilot project Codexis was working on with Shell to improve biocatalysts in conjunction with Iogen Energy.
Biocatalysts are used in cellulosic ethanol production to break down the agricultural by-products into sugars so that they can then be fermented and distilled into biofuel.
Codexis, which signed a 5-year deal with the energy giant in 2007, is known for developing a "super enzyme" for its biocatalysts.
"In just over two years, our biofuels collaboration with Shell has grown from a pilot project to a significant multifaceted program to create commercial-scale biofuels from non-food sources," Alan Shaw, Codexis president and CEO, said in a statement.
As part of the deal, Shell increased its equity stake in Codexis, resulting in another board seat. Shell already had one board seat from the deal made in 2007.
Shell is certainly just one super-player with its eye on cellulosic ethanol.
Many companies are looking into "renewable petroleum" and research institutions have been looking at enzymes to speed up the cellulosic ethanol production process. General Motors is an investor inMascoma, and was one of the sponsors of a recent study that found cellulosic ethanol could compete with gas.
One start-up company, Sapphire Energy, is even looking at using algae as a non-food source.
Aurora Biofuels on Wednesday said that it has completed a successful trial of growing algae for biofuels and named former Royal Dutch Shell executive Robert Walsh CEO.
The company has been running a test at growing algae in two outdoor ponds--each about as big as an Olympic-size swimming pool--in Florida for the past year and a half.
Based on the results of that test, the company expects it can create a larger-scale demonstration facility that's 50 acres in size late next year, said Walsh who joined Aurora Biofuels from biofuel company LS9. The company raised $20 million last July to build that planned plant.
The biofuels industry has been hit particularly hard by the financial markets meltdown and recession. Several new technology companies are developing techniques for turning algae into fuel because it isn't food and can grow in a wide range of conditions.
(Credit:
PetroAlgae)
The challenge, though, is making and harvesting algae at large scale at a price that's competitive with other feedstocks, such as palm oil or soybeans.
Aurora Biofuels is using a combination of biotechnology and engineering techniques to bring the cost down, said Walsh.
Although it is not genetically modifying algae, it is breeding salt water algae strains optimized for yielding large amounts of oil. It has also developed a method, derived from the waste water treatment industry, for harvesting the algae without having to fully dry it out, a method that is more energy efficient, Walsh said.
The drop in oil prices--now below $50 a barrel--has also made it more difficult for biofuels. Walsh said that the company expects that it can produce a commercially viable product with the price of oil at $50 a barrel and some regulations that put a price on carbon dioxide pollution.
"People will start putting a value on sequestering carbon dioxide and this will be a low-cost way to do that," he said. "It'll be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than compressing CO2 gas to 3,000 pounds (per square inch) and injecting it into old salt caverns."
The company expects to build and operate algae farms at the site of a large polluters, such as a utility or cement factory. The CO2 will be piped into the ponds to stimulate growth. Walsh projects that oil will be in the $60 to $100 per barrel range in the next five years once economies turn around.
