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Looking to the Micro for Alternative Diesel

July 31, 2009 by  
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biodiesel

Looking to the Micro for Alternative Diesel
By Kelly Wu
The idea that we need to search for renewable biodiesel to replace petroleum-derived transport fuels is no longer something new. The motivation is as much for slowing down climate change as it is for reducing dependence on non-renewable sources of fuels. It’s been a long time since biodiesel came into the market. We know it to come from sources including corn, soybean and oil palm. Many a sustainability and food security debate have been sparked off with regards to these sources. Also, they only met a tiny fraction of the total demand for fossil diesel. For instance, in USA, 1.89 million m3 of biodiesel were consumed compared to 0.15 billion m3 of diesel in 2007 (EIA, 2008).
With the above concerns in mind, scientists have been eyeing another potential source of feedstock for biodiesel – microalgae. So what makes microalgae biodiesel the potential next-big-thing? According to Michael Gross in Current Biology Vol 18 No 2, microalgae can generate more fuel per farmed area of land than maize, rapeseed, or jatropha! They also do not need farmland to grow. Ponds of seawater will do the trick. Their source of energy comes directly from the sun which is available in abundance in the tropics. And, they also make their own food from carbon dioxide. Now, how efficient is that?
The most common method of cultivation is to use open raceway ponds where the microalgae flow through, absorbs light energy and multiply. The lipids from the microalgae are then harvested and processed into biodiesel. Of course, in order to optimize reproduction rates, scientists are also using photobioreactors to cultivate the microalgae. These can be more expensive and smaller capacity than the raceway ponds though.
It all sounds too easy to be true, right? Well, the catch is that everything is still pretty much in the research or pilot plant testing phase. Haag in Vol 447 of Nature reported that it can be tricky getting the conditions right for algal growth. For the algae can get “fussy”. Too much sunlight, temperature fluctuations, overcrowding and excess oxygen may inhibit the growth or even kill an entire batch of microalgae.
Despite the uncertainties, many companies believe in its potential and are jumping onto the bandwagon to develop this source of biodiesel. Shell and HR Biopetroleum are building a pilot plant in Hawaii. Exxon announced an investment in research on producing liquid transportation fuels from algae only recently. KLM tested algae-based kerosene for airplanes. In Singapore, one consultancy company AUM Business Creations is interested in developing this business. And yes, many may not know it but Singapore actually hosted Algae World 2008 a conference that discusses about biodiesel from microalgae.
Related Links:
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37312

Looking to the Micro for Alternative Diesel
By Kelly Wu

The idea that we need to search for renewable biodiesel to replace petroleum-derived transport fuels is no longer something new. The motivation is as much for slowing down climate change as it is for reducing dependence on non-renewable sources of fuels. It’s been a long time since biodiesel came into the market. We know it to come from sources including corn, soybean and oil palm. Many a sustainability and food security debate have been sparked off with regards to these sources. Also, they only met a tiny fraction of the total demand for fossil diesel. For instance, in USA, 1.89 million m3 of biodiesel were consumed compared to 0.15 billion m3 of diesel in 2007 (EIA, 2008).

With the above concerns in mind, scientists have been eyeing another potential source of feedstock for biodiesel – microalgae. So what makes microalgae biodiesel the potential next-big-thing? According to Michael Gross in Current Biology Vol 18 No 2, microalgae can generate more fuel per farmed area of land than maize, rapeseed, or jatropha! They also do not need farmland to grow. Ponds of seawater will do the trick. Their source of energy comes directly from the sun which is available in abundance in the tropics. And, they also make their own food from carbon dioxide. Now, how efficient is that?

The most common method of cultivation is to use open raceway ponds where the microalgae flow through, absorbs light energy and multiply. The lipids from the microalgae are then harvested and processed into biodiesel. Of course, in order to optimize reproduction rates, scientists are also using photobioreactors to cultivate the microalgae. These can be more expensive and smaller capacity than the raceway ponds though.

It all sounds too easy to be true, right? Well, the catch is that everything is still pretty much in the research or pilot plant testing phase. Haag in Vol 447 of Nature reported that it can be tricky getting the conditions right for algal growth. For the algae can get “fussy”. Too much sunlight, temperature fluctuations, overcrowding and excess oxygen may inhibit the growth or even kill an entire batch of microalgae.

Despite the uncertainties, many companies believe in its potential and are jumping onto the bandwagon to develop this source of biodiesel. Shell and HR Biopetroleum are building a pilot plant in Hawaii. Exxon announced an investment in research on producing liquid transportation fuels from algae only recently. KLM tested algae-based kerosene for airplanes. In Singapore, one consultancy company AUM Business Creations is interested in developing this business. And yes, many may not know it but Singapore actually hosted Algae World 2008 a conference that discusses about biodiesel from microalgae.

Related Links:

http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37312

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  • Fuad Thahir

    Shell, HR Biopetrolium, KLM, Exxon are some companies that have been pioneering using microalgae as a fuel. So far I know, there are some other companies that use renewable energies such as algaes. Namely, Origin Oil [http://www.originoil.com] , NewEarth [http://www.newearth1.net/index.html], PetroSun [http://www.petrosuninc.com/index.html], and probably several others..

    Perhaps GreenKampong could keep track of these companies and their progress. Because I’m so curious about how such things will end up. I hope oneday it will become reality, that we no longer use fossil fuels, but renewable fuels instead.

  • green team

    Hi Fuad,

    Yes, we hope so too as renewable energy and recyclable water will be our only options in the future as the earth’s resources become depleted. I’ll be posting an article soon about a device that makes water from thin air. And yes, we will be tracking these companies closely for any new developments to keep everyone informed. Thanks for writing in!

    cheers,

    holman