Oilgae

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Durban is helping to develop a new liquid fuel technology which involves harvesting tiny plants and nutrients from local sewage works.

Unlike other plant-based biofuels which require vast tracts of fertile farmland or the diversion of food crops into fuel tanks, the Durban experiment involves growing algae in semi-purified sewage water and then converting these microscopic plant organisms into a liquid fuel that can power diesel cars and trucks.

Engineers are about to start converting part of the Kingsburgh sewage treatment works into a biodiesel farming experiment as part of a two-year scientific pilot project run by the Durban University of Technology's school of water and wastewater technology.

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Seattle-area start-up Bionavitas is one of several companies moving into the algae business. Because it doesn't compete with food and has a high energy density, algae has a lot of potential as a source of biodiesel.

But it will take years before algae biodiesel will make a dent in the petroleum diesel market, said Bionavitas CEO and co-founder Michael Weaver.

So in the short term, the company is growing algae for alternative markets: oils for pharmaceuticals and waste water treatment.

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While corn and sugar crops are blamed for deforestation, fertilizer runoff, and societal damage, algae promises to possibly provide a better solution. Melbourne, Fla. based PetroAlgae is looking to test a commercial algae biofuel solution next year. The company uses strains of the tiny organism developed by researchers at Arizona State University. They are developing harvesting methods and bioreactors to take full advantage of the new fuel source, and allow it to be affordably mass produced.

Fred Tennant, PetroAlgae's vice president of business development, is among the leaders in the endeavor. He is overseeing the development of a process in which algae is harvested from fresh-water ponds and then converted to oil and refined to biodiesel. The byproducts are equally valuable, and can be used as a protein rich animal feed.

The plant may be able to strike deals with electricity utilities too.

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The city's Station Two power plant near Sebree could become the latest site for research into whether algae could hold some hope for capturing and recycling carbon dioxide emissions.

The Henderson Utility Commission earlier this week gave conditional approval to allowing University of Kentucky researchers to set up a small photobioreactor at Station Two.

Station Two releases more than 2.6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, according to UK. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. Increasing attention is being paid to reducing or capturing the gas emissions.

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Solazyme could be making algal biodiesel for the US military, after a test-drive demonstrated the fuel’s superior cold-weather properties when compared to commercially-available biodiesel.

Former Director of Central Intelligence and Under-Secretary of the Navy R. James Woolsey tested the fuel himself by driving to the Worldwide Energy Conference & Trade Show in an unmodified 2008 Ford F450 fueled by 100% algal biodiesel.

Solazyme is a synthetic biology company using novel methods to produce algae biodiesel. They made head turns with their algal-powered Mercedes at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. While the Mercedes was only powered by B20 (20% biodiesel), Solazyme was already highlighting the cold-weather benefits of their fuel.

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Nature gave us oil from algae; perhaps we should try Nature's way again

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Thought I'd briefly mention the AlgaeWay photobioreactor from AlgaeLink...here's a page that provides detailed info on the photobioreactor, its features, benefits and data

Link

Nature gave us oil from algae; perhaps we should try Nature's way again

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See a video of the Valcent CEO explaining the method of ethanol production from algae @ this YouTube video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DHjg9l-hQA

Nature gave us oil from algae; perhaps we should try Nature's way again

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A 2-minute video explaining algae biodiesel from CNET. See the video @ YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i82CXQX4yq4


Nature gave us oil from algae; perhaps we should try Nature's way again

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Isaac Berzin, founder of the popular algae fuel company GreeFuel has been listed in the Time Magazine's Top 100 people in the world for 2008. Wow, that's some recognition for him and for algae fuel.

See the article here

Nature gave us oil from algae; perhaps we should try Nature's way again

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A nice video that shows the algae photobioreactor infrastructure @ MIT...quite good, some close-up shots as well...

See - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnOSnJJSP5c

Nature gave us oil from algae; perhaps we should try Nature's way again