By ROSALIE WESTENSKOW UPI Correspondent CHICAGO, April 30 (UPI) -- As
climate change and rising oil prices intensify the search for
alternative energy sources, researchers are on the brink of
commercializing algae for fuel, experts say.
These small,
plantlike organisms could be used as feedstocks for ethanol or other
biofuels, replacing some of the traditional sources of ethanol, such as
corn or soybeans.
Algae possess several characteristics that
could propel them to the forefront of the renewable fuels industry. Top
among these qualities is the ability to grow rapidly and with few
inputs, such as fresh water or fertilizer, said Thomas Byrne of Byrne
and Co. Ltd., a firm that provides advice on renewable energy projects.
"Algae
grow pretty much everywhere in the world … (and) it doesn't draw from
drinking water," Byrne said at discussion on algae at the World
Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Chicago this
week. "One of the arguments against (traditional) ethanol is that
grain-based fuels use a fair amount of groundwater."
Water usage
has become an increasing concern in energy production, as groundwater
levels decrease and demand rises, according to a recent Virginia Tech
study that ranked corn ethanol at the bottom of the list for high-water
usage. Algae also require water to grow, but only brackish or polluted
water, not drinking water.
Other concerns about traditional
ethanol have surfaced lately, including the land requirements
associated with growing corn as a feedstock. Algae avoid these
problems, because cropland is not required to produce the organisms.
Algae can also act as a sink for carbon dioxide because they absorb it for photosynthesis.
Best
of all, a number of companies say they can produce the alternative
feedstock economically, including Ben Cloud of XL Renewables.
"The economic value of algae products is high and certainly sufficient for profitable production today," Cloud said.
XL
Renewables plans to launch its algae-production technology in November.
The Super Trough System utilizes shallow troughs to grow the algae, and
CO2-enriched air is distributed over the troughs to feed the burgeoning
organisms below.
In current tests, the system produces a yield
range of 50 tons per acre, but Cloud said only 10.17 tons is required
to be potentially profitable. However, he speculates future advances
will lead to much higher rates of production.
"Algae's a very
simple organism, and it's easy to identify (positive) characteristics
and breed for them," thus increasing yields, Cloud said. He projects
future rates as high as 100 to 150 tons per acre.
In reality,
though, that rate isn't feasible, said Drgoljub Bilanovic, professor of
environmental studies at Bemidji State University in Minnesota.
"Photosynthetic
machinery which is in all green things can harness a maximum of 9
percent of solar energy," Bilanovic told United Press International.
That
translate, theoretically, into 99 tons per acre, but no one's close to
reaching that with today's technology, Bilanovic said.
Even if
producers fail to meet Cloud's projected production rates, though,
algae could still be profitable. And XL Renewables' trough system isn't
the only option out there. The Alberta Research Council in Canada has
focused on algae's potential to reduce CO2 through a Carbon Algae
Recycling System.
The research project aims to sequester the
high-carbon flue gas produced by coal-fire power plants in algae, said
Quinn Goretzky of the Research Council.
"We want to take 40 to
45 percent of industrial flue gas released into the atmosphere and run
it through our system to reduce the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere,"
he said.
The algae could then be used for a variety of purposes, including as a biofuels feedstock of animal feed.
The
algae will be grown in open pond systems, with structures on top to
protect the algae from snow during cold weather. The Research Council
is looking at a variety of ways to increase yields, including
projecting light further below the surface to raise photosynthetic
productivity, Goretzky said. Another important factor is selecting the
right kind of algae.
"There are over a million different strains
of algae in Canada alone," Goretzky said. "We've worked with 21
samples, and, so far, the indications are quite promising."
The
project will complete its first stage this year, and Goretzky said they
hope to begin building lab-scale demonstration facilities before the
end of 2008.
As algae producers turn to commercial-scale
facilities, an important consideration is location, experts said at the
Biotechnology Conference. Some possibilities include building adjacent
to coal-fire power plants, to be close to a source of CO2, or next to
ethanol plants, to decrease transportation of the algae once it's
grown. Others are considering utilizing the wastewater produced by
municipalities, although that particular possibility has potential
drawbacks, said Byrne of Byrne and Co.
"There is some concern
with that because many municipalities put chemicals in their systems to
kill algae, so that could be problematic," he said.
Despite the
many advantages, Algae also have some drawbacks, such as their
requirement for light to grow. If producers use electricity to generate
light or increase temperatures in an effort to increase productivity,
it may take more energy to produce the algae than the algae will
provide. Also, it takes more algae to produce a gallon of ethanol than
corn, Byrne said.
"It takes more quantity to run through (the biorefinery) because it's not as high in starch as corn," he told UPI.