Algae blooms on three fronts: open-pond, bioreactor, and dark-feeding

A roundup on algae profiles companies using the three main techniques for cultivation: the open-pond approached pioneered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and employed today by LiveFuels and GreenStar, among others; the bioreactor approach employed by Mighty Algae, GreenFuel Technologies, and Algae-Link; and feeding sugar to algae while growing in the dark, the approach used by Solazyme. Yield estimates continue to range from 5,000 to 15,000 gallons per acre.

Algae-based research and development continues to pick up in pace, even though the US Defense Department is estimating that the current production cost of algae oil exceeds $20 per gallon. Recent developments include:

In the Netherlands, AlgaeLink announced a new process for extracting algae oil without using chemicals, drying or an oil press. The company said that its patent-pending technique uses 26 kilowatts of power to produce 12,000 gallons of algae oil per hour, with a yield of 50 percent from the initial algae paste.
In Texas, the state’s Emerging Technology Fund will provide $4 million to Texas AgriLife Research and General Atomics to conduct microalgae research and development.
In Virginia, researchers at Old Dominion University have successfully piloted a project to produce biodiesel feedstock by growing algae at municipal sewage treatment plants. The researchers hope that these algae production techniques could lead to reduced emissions of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon dioxide into the air and surrounding bodies of water. The pilot project is producing up to 70,000 gallons of biodiesel per year.
In Minnesota, Xcel Energy has pledged $150,000 to assist in funding an algae-to-biodiesel research project sponsored by the University and the Metropolitan Council. The grant is a follow-on to more than $4.5 million given to five other University of Minnesota projects from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund.
The US Department of Energy recently partnered with Chevron in a research effort to develop higher-yield strains of micro algae. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working on a project with Honeywell, General Electric and the University of North Dakota.
In Texas, US Sustainable Energy is awaiting lab results from a test of biocrude production using 20 pounds of algae as a feedstock. The company recently ran its initial test of 20 pounds of 5% oil-content algae feedstock with 40 percent water content, and resulted in an ignitable oil product.
In Arizona, PetroSun BioFuels Refining recently signed a joint venture to develop and operate a 30 Mgy algae biodiesel facility in Coolidge. Construction is projected to commence in the third quarter of this year. Late last fall, PetroSun announced a letter of intent to supply 54 million gallons of algal oil to a new 54 Mgy Bio-Alternatives biodiesel plant in south Louisiana. The initial delivery to Bio-Alternatives refinery will be in the third quarter of 2008.

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Algae blooms on three fronts: open-pond, bioreactor, and dark-feeding

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