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In this interesting article, Popular Mechanics crunches the numbers on alternative fuels for the real world. Here's the list:
1. Cellulosic ethanol (biological method and gasification method)
2. Algal biodiesel
3. Green gasoline
4. Biobutanol
5. Designer hydrocarbons
6. Fourth gen fuels

Very interesting. Read the full post here

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There are a number of companies trying to produce a biofuel alternative to petroleum-based aviation fuels, and a number of airlines have made biofuel test flights using various mixtures of biofuels, but none are yet available in commercial quantities. Another milemarker has been passed on the road to greener aviation (and for the moment let’s overlook the bigger question of whether aviation could ever really be green) Algae-innovator Solazyme has announced that its bio-kerosene has passed the ASTM’s requirements for “Aviation Turbine Fuel”.

Solazyme says that its microbial-derived jet fuel has passed the eleven “most challenging specifications needed to meet the ASTM D1655 standard for Aviation Turbine Fuel.” Areas tested include density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, distillation and viscosity.

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The USA-based firm Algenol has struck a deal with Mexico-based BioFields to grow and process algae in a manner that cost effectively produces ethanol - directly from the culture. This is quite different from the usual algal biofuel processes that use algae to produce biological oil which, after extraction from the algal cells, is used as feedstock for liquid fuel production: often biodiesel. If, as claimed by Algenol, ethanol can be extracted directly from the algal culture media, we suppose that the process may be drastically less capital and energy intensive than competitive algal biofuel processes. No need to pull out biomass, squeeze it dry on a belt press, and extract the oils in still a third processing step.

"Algenol plans to make 100 million gallons of ethanol, about the average annual capacity of one traditional US distillery, in Mexico's Sonoran Desert by the end of the 2009. By the end of 2012, it plans to increase that to 1 billion gallons -- more than 10 percent of current ethanol capacity in the United States, the world's top ethanol producer."

Full story here from this TreeHugger post

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One of the companies working on making algal fuels viable is Green Star, and they just announced the creation of a new micronutrient that can help boost algae daily growth rate by 34% and "increase the total biomass quantity in a harvest algae growth cycle by well over 100%."

The UABC testing has shown that 1:10,000 nutrient dilution rates were very productive (i.e. one gallon of MMB mixed with 10,000 gallons of water). Even at 1:20,000 dilution levels, the MMB was still effective. " Green Star will make available 12-oz sample bottles to all universities [either at no cost or with $50 shipping fees], research institutes and commercial facilities for testing on their specific strains of algae."

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The number 2 oil producer in the USA, Chevron, has signed an agreement with San Francisco based startup Solazyme to develop and test an industrial process for deriving biodiesel from algae. The Solazyme process is reported to solve one of the major obstacles to industrial production of biodiesel from algae. Algae usually rely on photosynthesis for energy to consume CO2 and produce oils. Biodiesel can be harvested from the algae, which can be composed of up to 50% oily matter. But getting sunlight to the algae in industrial-scale processes is difficult.

So how does Solazyme solve the problem? By growing a special strain of algae in the dark.

Slightly old news though! More from here

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Here's another article on CARS. Nothing much new here, but interesting all the same:

"Welcome CARS, the humorous abbreviation for a Carbon Algae Recycling System, being developed by the Alberta Research Council and nine other research corporations, which kills all those birds with one stone. (sorry, inappropriate metaphor) It reminds us of the dénouement of the Cat in the Hat, were he picks everything up and makes everything right.

The exhaust CO2 is diverted from the exhaust gases and pumped into the tailing ponds, where micro-algae eat it all up, along with the heavy metals and leftover hydrocarbons. Result? algae that are harvested and turned into biofuels.

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News release

Solazyme Produces World’s First Algal-Based Jet Fuel - Fuel Passes All Tested Specifications including the Most Critical ASTM D1655 Specifications

South San Francisco, Calif. – September 9, 2008 – Solazyme Inc. announced that it has produced the world’s first microbial-derived jet fuel. Solazyme’s algal-derived aviation fuel as analyzed by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), one of the nations leading fuel analytical laboratories, passed the eleven “most challenging specifications needed to meet the ASTM D1655 standard for Aviation Turbine Fuel. The tested areas included the key measurements for density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, distillation and viscosity among others. Of the eleven tested parameters, the Solazyme aviation fuel passed the ASTM D1655 requirements for every measurement. Therefore, the Solazyme algae-based aviation kerosene has passed the biggest hurdles needed to successfully develop a commercial and military jet fuel fully consistent with existing engines and infrastructure” as stated in the SwRI report.

In the U.S. alone, 1.6 billion gallons of jet fuel are used every month resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the EU is widely expected to require airlines flying into and out of airports in the EU to participate in the Emissions Trading System beginning in 2011. As a result, the need for environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives is growing rapidly. Solazyme’s algal-derived aviation fuel is the first step towards achieving those alternatives on a broad scale.

Solazyme is currently producing thousands of gallons of oil at scale and is the only advanced biofuels company that has produced fuels that have passed specification testing. The fuels produced in addition to jet fuel include SoladieselBDTM a FAME biodiesel and SoladieselRDTM a renewable diesel, which has the same chemical properties as petro-diesel. Like Solazyme’s aviation fuel, both SoladieselTM fuels are compatible with the existing transportation fuel infrastructure.

Solazyme implements a unique algal conversion process that allows algae to produce oil in large tanks quickly, efficiently and without sunlight. The process can employ a variety of non-food feedstocks, including cellulosic materials such as agricultural residues and high-productivity grasses including bagasse and switchgrass as well as industrial byproducts such as crude glycerol. The results are renewable oils that can be leveraged across a wide variety of industries and applications, which are nontoxic and safe.

###

About Solazyme:

Solazyme, Inc. is a renewable oil production company and the leader in algal synthetic biology. Solazyme’s unique microbial conversion technology process allows algae to produce oil in standard industrial facilities quickly, efficiently and at large scale. These oils are tailored not only for advanced biofuel production, but also as replacements for fossil petroleum and plant oils in a diverse range of products running from green household cleaning supplies to cosmetics and foods. The company was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in South San Francisco, Calif. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.solazyme.com.

For more inforamtion contact:

Genet Garamendi, Solazyme Inc., 650-963-5228, ggaramendi@solazyme.com

Beth Starkin, Peppercom, 212-931-6108, bstarkin@peppercom.com

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Found this interesting post at TreeHugger titled "What's Jimmy Carter to do with Algae Biodiesel?":

"Through a $25 million dollar biodiesel research program, his Administration set in motion the creation of an intellectual property bank that is a foundation of today's booming algae-based biodiesel industry. The private sector payback - although many years delayed - is likely to be

...The $25 million Aquatic Species Program was set up in 1978 by the Carter Administration to investigate high-oil types of algae that could be grown for biodiesel. The project, run by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, found algae farms producing the plants in shallow ponds could supply enough biodiesel to completely replace fossil oil for transportation and home heating.
"

Interesting. Read the full post here

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OriginOil, Inc., of Los Angeles, recently deposited an international PCT patent application pursuant to last year's filing of United States patent application 11/829,883 with the United States Patent Office. The international application is related to OriginOil's first patent application to optimize the growth and harvesting of algae cells, according to a July 31 press release.

The application, "Algae Growth System for Oil Production," discloses OriginOil's proprietary system and industrial process whereby microalgae can be grown and harvested rapidly to extract algae oil for fuel and chemical production. This technology is branded Quantum Fracturing™.

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The tiny southeast Arkansas town of Jerome in Drew County would be the launching pad for a $ 236 million biofuel complex that would use algae as one its raw materials, if the plans of a North Carolina developer become reality.

Site preparation has begun for the first of two biodiesel plants, each capable of producing 10 million gallons of fuel annually, said William Horton, president of The DFI Group Inc., a Raleigh-based real estate and commercial development company.

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From coast to coast, renewable energy companies are turning their attention toward the use of algae as a biodiesel feedstock, says this post at Biodiesel Magazine. Recently, a stream of announcements revealed that various research and development efforts are underway as ever-increasing feedstock prices are forcing the biodiesel industry to look for new sources of oils.

Info provided on Renewable Energy Group Inc. in Ames, Iowa, Origin Oil Inc. (and its Helix bioreactor), The University of Washington's AXI, The University of Georgia Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program , EcoAlgae USA LLC, HR BioPetroleum


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

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Genetic manipulation of algae, one of the hottest avenues, is rife with both possibility and controversy. Engineered strains could be highly efficient and tailored to produce specific substances. But like other genetically modified (GM) species, if they aren’t contained, they pose a threat to their surroundings, says this interesting article from Plenty Magazine

“You could destroy a whole ecosystem,” says David Bayless, a researcher at Ohio University. But GM strains are at risk from natural algae as well, and companies working with engineered algae have incentive to keep them in enclosed tanks. “If you’re going to all the trouble of genetically engineering an organism, you don’t want a competing strain to come in there and take over,” says Bayless. “So I don’t see much of an option other than closed systems.”

Interesting article, also provides inputs on the latest from HR Biopetroleum and GreenFuel...

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A New Zealand company has developed a means of turning algae that grow in sewage ponds into crude oil.

Solray Energy director Chris Bathurst said his company took up the challenge in about 2003 and had now patented a machine which made it economic. Mr Bathurst, whose Christchurch operation has joined forces with an engineering firm in Invercargill in the venture, said there was no shortage of algae to work with, but the challenge was to build machines that could convert large quantities of them...

Well, not a lot of details to go by, and not entirely clear what sort of machine he is talking about, is it a photobioreactor or something else...will have to await further news...

Solray is not the first NZ company to work on oil from algae, that honour of course goes to Aquaflow Bionomic

Full report here

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Algae-based biofuel is getting pretty big—at least as an investment. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that San Diego-based Sapphire Energy has closed a round of venture financing from Bill Gates’s investment arm, Kirkland, WA-based Cascade Investment. Sapphire Energy, which is working on oil-producing algae, has now raised a total of $100 million, and is also backed by Arch Venture Partners, Venrock, and Wellcome Trust.

According to the WSJ, Sapphire is working towards a 10,000-barrel-a-day algae-based oil facility, and can now concentrate on production and engineering problems. Meanwhile, Gates’s involvement may signal a broader interest in alternative biofuels.

Full story here

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News release

National Algae Association Conference
October 23 -24, 2008

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS AND PAPERS

The National Algae Association is growing at an astronomical rate. We are the first national trade association for the algae industry in the United States, and we have doubled in size just in the last three months. Due to the high cost of oil, commercializing the algae oil industry is now put on a fast track. We need to get off foreign oil and to bring back energy security to the US. Collaboration, innovation and commercialization are the motivating factors of our organization.

Due to the high demand to attend our conferences, we have changed our venue to The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center for the next quarterly National Algae Association conference, which will be held on October 23-24, 2008. The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center will be able to better accommodate us with much larger facilities for our conference and break-out sessions.

The National Algae Association announcing a Call for Presentations on the following subjects:

Group 1 - Algae Species Selection

Group 2 - Algae Production Systems

Group 3 - Algae Extraction Technologies


Group 4 - Algae Biorefining Technologies

If you are an algae researcher and you are working on innovative or breakthrough technology you would like to present to a large group of algae researchers and algae producers, you are invited to submit your presentations for review for the next National Algae Association event.

We are planning for the biggest conference to date and we need to start preparing for it now.

Submit presentations and papers to:

National Algae Association
4747 Research Forest Dr., Suite 180
The Woodlands, Texas 77381
936.321.1125
info@nationalalgaeassociation.com
www.nationalalgaeassociation.com

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