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OK, folks, this is a relatively old news story (May 20080, but something I picked up only today and thought it was mighty interesting for one key reason: American government thinks its immediate future lies in the Canadian Tar Sands @ Alberta, and everyone else thinks extracting oil from these tar sands is going to be intensely polluting, apart from the fact that it is much more costly than just hose the oil up from a well. Now, if someone could only solve the pollution problem...

Aha, algae again to the fore!

Canadian researchers hope algae offers them "la grande solution" to greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental havoc caused by oil extraction in the Alberta tar sands. The project - Carbon Algae Recycling System - is backed by a consortium of researchers.

The plan is to grow the algae on toxic tailing ponds that have attracted much scrutiny in the oil sands. The algae doesn't just consume CO2, they also love some heavy metals, nitrogen, and residual hydrocarbons. If the approach could be made to work--including the required management of algae growth, handling, and harvesting--the algae could be used to produce biofuels and a number of other products as they suck up CO2 and clean up other chemicals.

"Industry is incredibly interested in this, because they can see it has a potential to take a cost burden out of the equation and turn it into a revenue-generating device, which is huge," says John McDougall, CEO of the Alberta Research Council.

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GreenFuel Technologies Corporation and Aurantia, SA announced the second phase of their joint project to develop and scale algae farming technologies in the Iberian Peninsula. Initiated in December 2007 at the Holcim cement plant near Jerez, Spain, the project's goal is to demonstrate that industrial CO2 emissions can be economically recycled to grow algae for use in high-value feeds, foods and fuels.

The Aurantia-GreenFuel project at Holcim consists of a series of development stages that could eventually scale to 100 hectares of algae greenhouses producing 25,000 tons of algae biomass per year. Aurantia anticipates the project will be eligible for subsidies from both regional authorities and the central government which will partially offset its development costs.

The second phase of the project commenced with the successful inoculation and subsequent harvests of a 100m2 prototype vertical thin-film algae-solar bioreactor. The next phase of the Aurantia-GreenFuel project at Holcim will be the construction of a 1,000m2 algae greenhouse and harvesting facilities adjacent to the cement plant.

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About $180 million in venture capital money has been raised for algae research this year. Some academic institutes have set up dedicated algae research centers; some start-ups are planning to test algae on larger demonstration projects in coming months.

"I'm convinced algae will work, but it'll take a different, out-of-the-box approach," said Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla, delivering the keynote address at the Algae Biomass Summit in Seattle last month.

The US federal government is starting to throw money into it. The Department of Energy has invested $2.3 million in algae-to-fuel grants so far this year. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is launching a new program to study algal feedstock material.

Startups and researchers are developing ways to maximize growth and reduce costs — growing it in the dark, increasing the amount of sunlight reaching the organisms, experimenting with oil-rich strains....

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Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has opened Australia's first biofuel research facility to speed up the race to cut the nation's carbon emissions. It is testing everything from cooking oil to algae in a bid to find cheaper and cleaner fuels.

The biofuel research facility will test a range of biofuels, from used cooking oil to algae, on new engine technologies.

QUT's Dr Richard Brown said the aim was to produce an engine that specifically ran on biofuels. The facility already had a lot of interest from the automotive and industry sectors. The research is based at QUT's Gardens Point campus in Brisbane.

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Press release

Thursday November 6

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - The National Algae Association announces the formation of regional chapters in the UK, California and Kentucky to help to advance the fast-track commercialization of the algae biofuels industry world-wide and to strengthen global support for the NAA’s mission and purpose. Many leading experts on algae, including Sapphire, Solazyme, Valcent, university researchers, plant physiologists and leading algae companies believe algae will be commercialized in the next few years.

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“We are witnessing accelerated progress in the path towards the commercialization of algae in the next couple of years and this view is tremendously exciting,” said Barry Cohen, NAA Executive Director. Biofuels consulting firm Emerging Markets Online notes “algae is now emerging as a bourgeoning industry for biofuels as seen by several investments and confirmed with over $300 million in investments and projects so far in 2008,” said consultant Will Thurmond, author of the forthcoming study Algae 2020 and Chairman of R&D for the National Algae Association.

“These investments and projects include a $100 million investment by Bill Gates and the Rockefeller Foundation in Sapphire energy; more than $45 million invested in Solazyme in ’08 by Chevron and private investors; GreenFuels landing a $92 million contract to produce algae biomass in Spain; Petrosun’s $40 million contract to produce algae in China; the US Department of Energy investing $2.3 in algae projects in 2008; and the UK’s Carbon Trust just announcing $40 million in grants for leading algae companies. Our research and development efforts clearly illustrate advancement in the algae industry with investments, projects and initiatives and participation from investment majors such as Gates, The Rockefellers, DOE, BP and Chevron,” notes Thurmond.

The NAA’s California Chapter, headed up by Amy Montoya, will hold its inaugural event on December 2, 2008 at California State University-Fullerton Campus.

The NAA’s Mid-South Chapter, headed by Tamra Fakhoorian, will hold its inaugural event on December 5, 2008 at Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

The NAA’s UK Chapter, headed up by Eric Pierce, will hold its inaugural event on December 8, 2008 at Silsoe Conference Centre, Cranfield University, Barton Rd, Silsoe, Bedford, MK45 4DT England.

The National Algae Association will hold its next Algae Commercialization Research, Networking and Business Plan Forum in January. Existing algae oil production companies, algae researchers and algaeprenuers will present leading-edge technologies for the commercialization of Algae on January 29-30, 2009 in Houston, Texas.

The NAA brings companies and researchers together from all over the world to share ideas and exchange information to overcome technological hurdles and fast-track commercialization of the fast-growing algae oil industry.

For more information about the National Algae Association, including information about the upcoming conferences and about membership, please visit our website at www.nationalalgaeassociation.com.

Contact:

National Algae Association
B. Cohen, 936-321-1125
info@nationalalgaeassociation.com

Source: National Algae Association

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The new racing fuel produced by Northington Energy – Research 3 Biodiesel (R3b)™ – will be distributed from the company's southeastern-based sales office and sold through select racing fuel suppliers across the U.S. NorthingtonSport™ technicians will work closely with automotive engine manufacturers and racing teams whose competition programs are increasing their use of renewable biofuels.

Northington’s biodiesel process converts virgin soybean and algae oil into biodiesel, a biodegradable and nontoxic fuel additive that has fewer emissions than regular diesel fuel.

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Green Star Products, Inc. opened a new commercial division to distribute consumer earth-friendly products on Nov- 3. This new consumer division will handle wholesale and retail distribution of these green products, and will operate separately from Green Star's core business, which is the Biofuels, Algae Biomass and biorefinery business. The first products will be introduced to the public later this week.

Green Star's leadership and reputation in the biofuels and algae-to-biodiesel industries now extends into five continents. It is because of this reputation that Green Star has also attracted many green earth-friendly companies outside the biofuels industry from around the world who have offered us a marvelous array of planet saving products to conserve energy, water, and fuel, and reduce harmful waste such as wastewater and greenhouse warming gases.

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Researchers at Khon Kaen University (KKU) in Thailand have discovered a new species of algae, which could be used for the commercial production of biodiesel as early as April 2009.

The species labelled as KKU-S2, was found on the surface of a freshwater pond at the university, and was quickly identified as a promising source of alternative fuel. Speaking about the discovery, team-leader Dr Ratanaporn Leesing said, “We can extract oil from this species. Its properties are fit for biodiesel production. Within two days, the number of this alga can double, and within a week or two we can extract oil from it”

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A fungus that makes biodiesel as part of its natural lifecycle has attracted the attention of American scientists wishing to tap into its potential.

The fungus has been discovered living in trees in the Patagonian rainforests and is believed to be unique in its ability to synthesize a variety of substances useful in fuel production. "This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Professor Gary Strobel from Montana State University.

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Algae Venture Systems is developing a Rapid Algae Farming (RAF) System, which will serve as the platform for the creation of numerous products from algae, specifically biofuels and bioplastics. The RAF System is a fully automated network of enclosed photo-bioreactors that efficiently grows and processes algae. The design is fully adaptable, giving it the capability to utilize virtually any species of algae.

AlgaeVenture, belonging to the Univenture Group, believes that plastics technology is continually evolving and are seeking to provide the missing link to commercialize a strong algae industry with their unique manufacturing technologies, engineering and product development - to successfully commercialize algae production systems rapidly.

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Arizona Public Service Company (APS) and GreenFuel Technologies Corporation have successfully recycled the carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the stack gases of a power plant into transportation grade biofuels.

Using GreenFuel’s Emissions-to-Biofuels algae bioreactor system (earlier post) connected to APS’ 1,040 MW Redhawk power plant in Arlington, Ariz., GreenFuel was able to create a carbon-rich algal biomass with sufficient quality and concentration of oils and starch content to be converted into transportation-grade biodiesel and ethanol.

GreenFuel and APS have been conducting a field assessment program over the past 18 months, and have moved into the next phase of study with the construction of an Engineering Scale Unit that will be completed in first quarter of 2007.

APS is Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility and serves about 1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties.

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Labels: GreenFuel Technologies

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