Exploring Microalgae as Solutions to Global Fuel Issues

[mheslep]

What do you mean by the bottom dropping out?

Nearbio.com lists 1599 operating biodiesel stations. Oregon just mandated that all diesel will be a minimum of B5. Washington is all B2.

I was told recently that a large chunk of US bio diesel, not ethanol, producers expect to get out of the business soon. I don't know why, maybe soy has become too expensive to raise vs other crops. Maybe its just a consolidation in the industry.

Edit: Yes, looks like displacement by corn ethanol:

U.S. crop producers made dramatic shifts in acreage in 2007. The shifts were motivated by rising corn-based ethanol production and high corn prices, rising wheat prices, and a surplus of soybeans.

The acreage shift was led by a 17 million acre increase in feed grains, including 15.3 million more acres of corn. Winter wheat acreage increased by about 3.1 million and harvested acreage of hay was up by nearly one million acres. These increases were accommodated by an 11.9 million acre decline in soybean plantings,

http://www.ethanolmarket.com/PressReleaseUofIllinois120107

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Given that diesel is pushing $5 a gallon, it is hard to understand why there is a suplus of soy... it may be that there is a shortage of fuel processors.

I guess this could just be a matter of price fluctuations for the farmers. With the worldwide grain shortage, there is certainly pressure to produce grains.

 

[mheslep]

Yes but much more pressure to produce corn esp. with the subsidies. I do not think there is a surplus of soy. If you look at the numbers soy is being directly displaced by corn. So there is plenty of bio diesel demand, but still hard times for soy based bio-diesel as they can't get stock. On the other hand, this is quite an opportunity for alternative, non-soy, bio diesel ventures.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Unless there is a shortage of soy-bio processors, the only things that would make sense to me wrt corn is that that either the subisidies are the problem, or soy is relatively expensive to grow. I would think that a high demand for biodiesel would result in a high demand for soy, which should drive the price up.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We had a corn farmer comment on this last year in another thread. I will see if I can track him down.

 

[chemisttree]

Average yield of corn per acre in US is about 140 bushels per acre.
Average yield of soybean per acre in US is about 33 bushels per acre.

In Illinois, the breakeven price for corn is $3 per bushel and for soybean is $8.(http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/manage/newsletters/fefo07_17/fefo07_17.html )

I think corn is going for about $4.50 per bushel and soybean is going for about $12 per bushel.

Total income per acre for corn is (4.5-3)*140 = $210 per acre
Total income per acre for beans is (12-8)*33 = $132 per acre

I know what crop I would go for...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yep, that would do it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Over the last 8 years, the price of corn has gone from $1.86 to $5 on the chart, and in the news I am seeing $6.
http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/manage/pricehistory/PriceHistory.asp

Soybeans have gone from 5$ to 12$ on the chart, and has topped $14.
http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/manage/pricehistory/PriceHistory.asp

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aAE1HhY36ewM&refer=news

The cost per bushel is rising with oil prices, but using the previous numbers.

(6-3)*140 = $420 profit per acre of corn
(14-8)*33 = $198 profit per acre of soybeans

Both are now more expensive by a factor of three than they were eight years ago. The price of crude has risen from $20 a barrel to almost $140 a barrel. And the price of diesel has increased to a little more than a factor of three...probably just about now a four. But of course the current price of fuel lags the price of crude by I think a couple of months. And the cost of producing corn and soy lags the price of diesel.

 

[lewdtenant]

I have pretty much been following this thread since its inception and have really acquired an interest in this subject.

Would it be possible for someone to post a list of good graduate programs doing research in algae fuels? I have a ChemE background so I'm interested in more of the engineering side than the biological side, although I'm sure there's plenty of overlap.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I will dig up some additional references and names later, but I know that for one, there is a large program in Hawaii. I also know that there are people at Oregon State Univ working on this.

The separation of the algae from water, and getting the oil from the algae, are two areas needing improvement.

 

[lewdtenant]

Thanks Ivan, I've definitely heard good things about those programs. Hawaii has something like the largest collection of algae species in the world I think.

I had not previously known this, but oil extraction is one of the more costly processes involved in the sustainability of algae-based biodiesel. So, like you said, there seems to be a lot of room for improvement in that area.

Ultrasonic-assissted extraction is fascinating to me because I had never thought of extracting oils (or anything) from plant cells like that. Basically you are just rupturing all the cells so that the contents spill out into solution. Interesting stuff; reading about this makes me wish I were more talented.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I will tell you something that I had planned to keep secret but am not in a position to pursue: It may be possible to migrate the oil out of the cell using something near a 2MHz wave, without killing the algae. It is certainly possible to migrate material into a cell in such a manner.

There is a scientist that would likely be a very good contact for you generally, and I will post his name later, but I didn't log things correctly and haven't found the email yet.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There is also the idea of rapid pressure changes created by non-linear disturbances. Shock waves can be very effective at rupturing cells.

 

[mheslep]

...The separation of the algae from water, and getting the oil from the algae, are two areas needing improvement.

The issue of water separation seems to be a common theme in biofuels production. I read of the similar problems with Cellulosic stocks in particular. I am curious about how nature handles this. That is, what to the termites do? I'm not asking about the enzyme reductions to sugar used by termites, but rather, one might think termites would otherwise have a similar problem with getting to the fuel stock without all the water in the way?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

One typically only expects about a 1% algae solution by weight; using the dry weight of the algae. In fact a 1% solution looks like dark-green pea soup.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here we go:
Michael Briggs ;
email msbriggs@unh.edu
http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html

 

[mheslep]

Study critical of the algal biofuel company GreenFuel Technologies:
GreenFuel Technologies: A Case Study for Industrial Photosynthetic Energy Capture
Krassen Dimitrov
http://www.nanostring.net/Algae/CaseStudy.pdf
Conclusion: best possible price with the GT approach is $800/bbl

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think we need to be careful here: Has that paper been published?

But yes, I read that some time ago, and I think the cost of the bioreactor and process is beyond reason. That is not the way to do it. In fact, this sort of approach is part of what motivated me to open my own company.

It is important to remember the scale involved. Designs that have a high cost per square foot, and high maintenance costs, almost certainly cannot have the lifespan needed to justify the price. And no matter how clever might be our bioreactor, there is still the limit of joules per square foot per day, in fuel that can be produced.

 

[mheslep]

I think we need to be careful here: Has that paper been published?

No, sorry I should have clarified it is not a journal publication. I just found the arguments interesting. However, I note than not even the Aquatic Species Program report is not a 'journal published' document, though it is a sound document and often cited as fundamental.

 

[blimkie.k]

I jumped in this thread pretty late, lots of posts to read I didnt read everything so forgive me if I ask something that's allready been discussed but this is an interesting topic and a few questions have come to mind.

First of all does growing mass quanities of algae have any negative effects on the evironment in comparison to bio diesal produced from corn? For example the downside to corn based bio fuel that people most commonly talk about is it destroying the soil by taking all the minerals from it. Does it have a long term effect on water or could the water from algae farms simply be recycled and chemicals added to it so it can be used for growth over long periods of time.

Can one genetically modify algae like similar to produce in hopes to shorten growing time and possibly make it denser so it occupies less acreage and perhaps produces more sugars and hydrocarbons then natural algae?

 

[mheslep]

I jumped in this thread pretty late, lots of posts to read I didnt read everything so forgive me if I ask something that's allready been discussed but this is an interesting topic and a few questions have come to mind.

First of all does growing mass quanities of algae have any negative effects on the evironment in comparison to bio diesal produced from corn? For example the downside to corn based bio fuel that people most commonly talk about is it destroying the soil by taking all the minerals from it. Does it have a long term effect on water or could the water from algae farms simply be recycled and chemicals added to it so it can be used for growth over long periods of time.

Can one genetically modify algae like similar to produce in hopes to shorten growing time and possibly make it denser so it occupies less acreage and perhaps produces more sugars and hydrocarbons then natural algae?

Algae Biodiesel research starting point:
US DoE Aquatic Species Report
www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf

Land use question: coupling to food is probably nil for BD Algae, though any large scale land usage (assuming land based bioreactors) couples cost in some way for crop land usage.

Interesting aside I heard recently, though I haven't run the numbers: fossil and even nuclear energy use roughly about the same amount of land as solar, wind, or algae-to-BD per unit of energy, once all the mining, drilling, plant, transportation, water usage, and security issues are factored in. Seems plausible, as a quick glance at my closest nuclear plant shows the fence is not right up against the reactor building , rather it keeps me a mile or two away.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Interesting aside I heard recently, though I haven't run the numbers: fossil and even nuclear energy use roughly about the same amount of land as solar, wind, or algae-to-BD per unit of energy, once all the mining, drilling, plant, transportation, water usage, and security issues are factored in. Seems plausible, as a quick glance at my closest nuclear plant shows the fence is not right up against the reactor building , rather it keeps me a mile or two away.

I strongly suspect that in time, Algae can be competitive with coal. Now, if you think about that one a bit, and consider the entirety of the coal-to-power process, the elegance of the idea becomes apparent.

 

[baywax]

I strongly suspect that in time, Algae can be competitive with coal. Now, if you think about that one a bit, and consider the entirety of the coal-to-power process, the elegance of the idea becomes apparent.

I'm doing a sampling of people that have heard of using algae as a fuel source and I'm surprised to find that about 1 in 4 so far have heard of the process.

This really sounds like one way to pull out of dependency on off shore fuel sources.

(without affecting food prices)

In order to avoid crisis and war can the government demand more cooperation from American Corporations like auto builders and get mechanical conversions going fast or whatever is required for INDEPENDENCE? Is there some reason that America was able to respond so well to crisis in the 1940s with nationally orchestrated manufacturing etc... while in 2008 its a bit like "everyone for themselves"?

 

[DrClapeyron]

Could you explain what you mean by watered down fuel? It would appear that you are just taking cheap shots at something that you know nothing about.

Could you provide information on the oil? API?

 

[OmCheeto]

I strongly suspect that in time, Algae can be competitive with coal. Now, if you think about that one a bit, and consider the entirety of the coal-to-power process, the elegance of the idea becomes apparent.

You should run down and take a look at the Columbia river. It's pea green with algae. Sure would be fun to figure out a way to filter it out. Maybe we could install http://www.baleenfilters.com/" across the dams.

hmmmm... just plug some wild guesses into a spreadsheet and:
Columbia river algae production
7500 m^3 / sec flow rate
0.001 algae by weight
0.05 low grade wild algae oil content
0.375 m^3 / sec
197231 m^3 / year
264 gal/m^3
52 million gal/yr of algae oil

hmm... never mind.

looking for the actual numbers to plug into the above table, I ran across a slew of websites stating that algae is actually a headache in a lot of places:
http://healthvermont.gov/enviro/bg_algae/bgalgae.aspx

In China, they're throwing it away!
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/blue-green-algae-outbreak-in-chinas-lakes.html

So if we bump up the numbers to include all the mucky ponds, lakes, and slug rivers, we'll get maybe 5 billion gal/yr or 124 million barrels per year. Which will last... 6 days? Man we suck! Where's that bicycle shop?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Could you provide information on the oil? API?

What do you want to know, and what did you mean by "watered down"?

What is API. Is that a fuel standard? Biodiesel is an ASTM approved fuel. And biodiesel from algae is considered to be a cleaner fuel option than is biodiesel from soy.

 

[chemisttree]

Is algae-derived oil edible? Any idea as to the fatty acid distribution?

I haven't heard that the biodiesel from algae is cleaner than soy biodiesel. How much cleaner is it?

 

[mheslep]

...Biodiesel is an ASTM approved fuel. ...

Do you mean can be approved? I spoke with a friend at EPA the other day who I told jokingly told I'd like to run my car from biodiesel I made in my back yard. The person replied that it was illegal to burn 'home brew' in the public transportation system, and implied some major certification process was required of each individual process facility. It was not that any intrinsic is wrong with BD, rather its that your required to prove your process does not include some kind of toxins before it goes into the vehicle and the air.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Is algae-derived oil edible? Any idea as to the fatty acid distribution?

I haven't heard that the biodiesel from algae is cleaner than soy biodiesel. How much cleaner is it?

I don't have all of the specifics, but the basic idea is that algae oil is high in unsaturated fats compared to soy oil. For quite a time I was operating under the assumption that we really want saturated fats for the best fuels, but recently it came to my attention that the EPA wants to see unsaturated fats as these produce fewer emissions.

I do have some references for the different fatty acid ratios to be found, and I will try to dig those up later, but oilgae.com has a nice overview. That said, specific information about the oil from each strain of algae is very limited, and there are of course many different strains. What I have seen applies to the most popular strains.

As far as I know, all algae oil is edible. In fact the folks at MIT working on the algae to hydrogen process even claim to make algae drinks at the start of each day. And as you probably know, algae [green algae] is considered to be a health food.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Do you mean can be approved? I spoke with a friend at EPA the other day who I told jokingly told I'd like to run my car from biodiesel I made in my back yard. The person replied that it was illegal to burn 'home brew' in the public transportation system, and implied some major certification process was required of each individual process facility. It was not that any intrinsic is wrong with BD, rather its that your required to prove your process does not include some kind of toxins before it goes into the vehicle and the air.

By all means. One reason biodiesel got a bad rap at first is that the producers were all barely past the home brew stage. This lead to poor controls and ultimately unreliable fuel quality. Biodiesel is now an ASTM recognized fuel, but each batch of fuel must be tested and certified before sale. In fact, as I understand it, because of the cost of testing, it is not practical to sell fuel in quantities less than about a million gallons a year.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

As far as I know, all algae oil is edible. In fact the folks at MIT working on the algae to hydrogen process even claim to make algae drinks at the start of each day. And as you probably know, algae [green algae] is considered to be a health food.

Correction, what I should have said that AFAIK, the oil from any algae considered for fuel production is edible. There are strains of algae that are toxic, but I am not aware of these being used for fuel, presumably because it is too dangerous.

I don't know for a fact that all algae oil for fuel is safe for humans, but my impression is that all green algae is safe.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I thought this was interesting.

Announcements
UTEX now sells living microalgae in large culture volumes. We will provide 500 ml or 1 liter of select strains that can be grown in liquid medium. More information can be found here: Pricing and Preparation of Shipment

http://www.utex.org/

When I bought my first culture, I estimated that it contained about 0.5 cubic millimeters of algae. The ability to buy nearly pure cultures in volume is extremely handy, and hopefully an indicator of algae-for-fuel activity.

 

[mheslep]

Two pieces on Algae Oil in yesterday's news, an energy special in the WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121432266999600187.html?mod=2_1586_leftbox

Scum Power
Turning algae into fuel isn't ready for prime time. But it may be getting closer.
By RUSSELL GOLD
June 30, 2008; Page R10

...
Betting that in a few years algae will be ready for prime time, companies ranging from start-ups like GreenFire Energy of Salt Lake City to energy giants such as Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are investing in projects aimed at finding an economical way to turn algae into fuel.
"The promise is huge, the technical challenges are major," says Philip Pienkos, research supervisor at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. But "just like fusion, the potential for making a cheap source of energy with minimum inherent problems is too great to ignore," he says.
...
Currently, there are two main options for growing algae, both of which have drawbacks. It can be grown in large, man-made open ponds, which is attractive because the ponds can be built on land that can't sustain agriculture, avoiding the problem of crop displacement that is plaguing corn-based biofuel. Royal Dutch Shell and Hawaii-based HR BioPetroleum Inc., for instance, announced plans in December to harvest algae from seawater ponds on the west shore of the island of Hawaii. The problem with this method is contamination. A company may start with the perfect algae strain, but contaminants such as bird droppings can result in the pond being overgrown with a strain that doesn't produce much oil.

The other option is to grow algae in enclosed plastic tubes -- photobio reactors -- that keep out contaminants. But because of the expense, the price of crude oil would have to rise considerably above $130 a barrel for algae from these closed systems to be competitively priced, industry participants say.
...
Today, the cheapest algae production -- done for the food-supplement industry -- costs $5,000 per ton[$2500/bbl], says F. Blaine Metting, a researcher at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
...
Chevron, meanwhile, is working to develop algae oil that can enter existing refineries, pipelines, gas stations and car engines with relatively few problems.

Today, refineries take in crude oil from around the world, each with its own characteristics. The refining process is tweaked, depending on whether the crude being processed is from Mexico, Louisiana or Angola. Jeffrey Jacobs, vice president of biofuels for Chevron Technology Ventures, says the San Ramon, Calif., company's goal is to create an algae-based oil feedstock that refineries could process in much the same way and just as easily.

"The idea here is you want to be compatible with the existing infrastructure," he says.

The 2nd piece is generally on Hawaii and its numerous sustainable energy programs, but has a small blurb on algae in Hawaii
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121432274606000209.html?mod=2_1586_leftbox

Alternative State
Hawaii has become an incubator for all sorts of renewable-energy projects
By JIM CARLTON
June 30, 2008; Page R12
...
But now that oil is so high, several companies are turning to algae again. One of the more closely watched is Cellana, a Shell-led venture with a University of Hawaii spin-off, HR Biopetroleum. The companies announced in November 2007 that the venture would build a pilot facility on the Big Island's Kona coast. Since then, researchers have been busy planting various strains of algae in test tubes that sit in the warm sea water on the Kona coast. One of the tasks facing them is to find algae that both contains the highest amounts of oil and can grow in warm water. "We're in the process of whittling down the top super bugs from hundreds to 10," says Susan Brown, a University of Hawaii researcher who collects specimens for the project on scuba dives around local waters.

 

[DrClapeyron]

How dense is the oil? I have heard this idea when I was told about reclaimation plants that use fish guts to make oil. The oil is however not very dense (has a high API gravity) and cannot be used to make gasoline or diesel. It can however be used to make certain ethers and alcohols from what I understand.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Biodiesel has a higher viscosity than regular diesel. In fact one reason why direct vegey oil is not a good fuel is the viscosity - it is too thick. The conversion to biodiesel thins the fuel so that it can be managed by the truck's fuel system.

Keep in mind that there are already 1601 operating commercial biodiesel stations. Biodiesel is a proven technology.
http://nearbio.com/

All diesel sold in States of Oregon and Washington contain biodiesel, by law.