Before any investment... 44
I have copy pasted the text below from: http://algaelink-bioking-scam.blogspot.com/.It is useful to be read for everybody wants to know more, before any investment.
You will not believe how deep and complex this algae oil scam goes! Is Algae Oil Bio-Diesel the answer to the worlds oil problems... not likely.. Even some of the worlds top companies have just fallen for this mathematical trick.
Companies like AlgaeLink / BioKing, BFS (biopetroleo), [De Beers Fuel] and so many more are selling algae oil production equipment and complete solutions that are simply built around a global misconception of pure fantasy.
Let me tell you right away that there is conclusively no functional industrial sized photo bio-reactor that produces more than a few grams a day in operation anywhere in Europe or Africa.
I know this because I have just physically been to investigate!
ALL the companies involved in algae oil solutions are lying about the production figures to sell demonstration plants simply to cash in on the hype or sucker you into paying millions for a system that will never work. At the end of the day you are just buying into a million $ scam.
They will tell you things about how the demonstration reactor must be used first to test various types of algae and how it takes anything from 6 to 18 months to do this. So you are paying for their research only to discover it will never work anyway. (Long after they have run off with your money)
You will also look at great financial spreadsheets showing 20 to 95% ROI (return on investment) for a few million dollars but you will be forced to pay upfront for the pilot plant with promises of refunds when you buy the full sized plant. (which will never happen and they know it)
It all boils down to a good concept that works in the lab but not in practice. The system struggles to produce the large enough quantities of algae to start with and then you have to convert that to diesel which is very expensive. There are also many many operational costs and inputs like CO2 which sounds simple but you need a tons of it to make this work. Soon you will discover that the biggest problem you are left with is truck loads of algae cake (a pile of algae) that you are lead to believe you can sell for a fortune and actually makes up majority of your profits!
Everything sounds very good and huge figures are flashed around like its chump change but the jokes on you when you discover your demonstration plant is not doing well a few months later.
They will also tell you they have sold hundreds of these trial plants and have a few full blown plants currently going into production with 100+ ton capacities around the world.
Their offices, demonstrations, factory and presentations are all professional quality - it's hard not to believe it will work. However if you have ever been to see a functional demonstration it will be unlikely you will actually see quantities of algae coming out the machine never mind an oil press that works. It all smoke and mirrors.
Next up is a some actual quotes and costs...
All based on the fact that the process actually works and you can put it in a country that has 365days of sunshine because if this has to be powered by conventional lighting you will have the biggest electricity bill in the world.
Thu December 16 2010 12:25:16 AM by Hasseli
algae oil scam
1004 views
Greetings all I refer to a age old adage - if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is !! us in the field - are aware of these new age spin-doctors - but unfortunately people get sucked in and pay the money or they would not exist!! thank for reinforcing my own research Algaebill
Hasseli
Thanks for posting this !
This is very very interesting.
This part sounds great !
" Algaelink.com initial quote:
Here is the initial quote I got from Algaelink.com
for a 50 ton per day production plant.
Prices are quoted in US$
Biomass production ton per day 50
Total Investments $17,265,310
Investment per ton of $345,306
dry biomass per day
PRODUCTION
Annual Algae production 18,000,000 Kg.
Annual Oil production 8,100,000 Litres
Annual production of Biodiesel 8,100,000 litres
Algae cake annual production 9,900,000 Kg.
Glycerine annual production 1,012,500 Liters
Others (fat acid) 162,000 Kg.
Ton of CO² removal 35,280 tons
Sales Earnings
Annual sales of Bio diesel $6,075,000
Algae cake annual $13,365,000
Glycerine annual $354,375
Others (fat acid) $40,500
Carbon fees $352,800
Annual incomes $20,187,675
COSTS
Fertilizers $677,166
Wages $523,944
Energy $1,199,902
Hexane $64,800
Alcohol methyl $546,750
Catalyser $89,100
Local transportation $117,000
Maintenance spare parts $345,306
Administration costs (tel. office supplies..) $40,000
Insurances $288,203
Miscellaneous $80,000
Sales and representation $50,000
Amortization (5 to 10 years) $2,512,165
Interest $1,046,487
Total annual cost $7,580,824
COSTS / Liter or Kg.
Ton / day biomass reactor 50
Cost per biodiesel liter $0.49
Cost per Kg of algae cake (tourte) $0.35
Cost per Kg of algae $0.32
Biomass production ton per day 50
Annual Incomes, turnover $20187675
Annual Costs $7580824
Incomes - costs $12606851
ROE - Return over Earnings 62%
ROI - Return over Investment 73% "
Against a total investment of $17,265,310 if you have a turnover of $20187675 and an annual operating expenses of $7580824 leaving behind a net income of $12,606,851
Return on investment is 73 %.
So far so good.
As a finance guy, this is what I can comprehend.
Now, you technical experts will have to comment.
Many new projects/ products tend to project this kind of profits, as only in the new products/ projects will u see such obscene profits.
here the author is not talking about obscene profits. He is talking about the fact or is it not a fact ie does the pbr work ?
Thanks Hasseli for the post.
Very relevant to all of us.
"It all boils down to a good concept that works in the lab but not in practice."
Isnt it right ?
if this has to be powered by conventional lighting you will have the biggest electricity bill in the world.
Nice joke Hasseli.
Algae-Link and their clones have been around for years and their scam is recognized by most people at first glance.
I think that the problem a lot of these developers have is they literally try to scale up to commercial scale with what is proven in the labs. The principles and chemistry that work in the labs should work in the real world.
The big problem ocurs when the 'developers' try to scale up with the flasks and plastic tubes and they find it very expensive. Then somehow they try to 'cheapen' up the whole system by using sunlight for a power source. Wrong again. How are they going to make a profit when someone turns off the power at least 50% of the time?
At first glance if you see a wannabe commerical developer using tubes or ditches to contain algae media and sunlight for a direct power source you are looking at a system with fatal flaws.
The minimum size for a commerical algae plant is in the neighborhood of 4,000 cfm of CO2 and it should produce ~150 tons per day of dry algae.
LED lighting will work. Because it produces only the light that algae can utilize and it works (is on) only 10% of the time and is off 90% of the time. The electric bill is not high at all.
Alan
Wont the algae need light in the nights ? How only 10% of the time ?
If you don't know the way LED lights work in a reactor it is no wonder you people are not able too follow me.
It has been known for 40 or 50 years that algae respond VERY well to rapidly strobing LED lights. The lights are in the range of 400 to 700 nm and more particulary ~440 and ~660nm. They are flashed on 10 micro seconds and they are off 90 microseconds. This happens at about 40 hertz.
It dosen't bother LEDs at all to be switched this fast. No extra curent draw and no heat build up.
So ones electric bill will only be ~10% of running the lights 100% of the time because of the flashing.
This has been proven over and over in the labs.
It dosen't take too much imagination to see the advantage of running a PBR with LEDs at the optimum lighting conditions for a specific alga species, providing the perfect growing conditions, and holding these growing conditions on the 'mark' 24/7/365.
This is why we consider CO2 a valuable resource. We need a lot of it to feed our 1,000,000 gallon PBRs.
Alan
Alan,
I'll be appreciated if you could let us know the source of your information that states:
"It has been known for 40 or 50 years that algae respond VERY well to rapidly strobing LED lights."
Please also note that the first practical visible-spectrum (red) LED was developed in 1962. However the reaction of algae to high speed flashing LED light seems to be interesting. As far as I know chemical reactions are slow in nature.
Hasseli
Hasseli, you caught me being over-exuberent about LEDs. I should have left out the LED part and just said "strobing lights".
I know I read somewhere about strobing lights and algae in the 1970's.
One of the world experts on algae and LED lighting is the Korean, DR. Choul-Gyun Lee.
Here is a link to his publication list. Four pages!!!
http://cgland.inha.ac.kr/publist.htm
Best Regards
Alan Schaefer
How feasible is it to use an integrated solar and artificial light system for internal illumination of photobioreactors? Does it come with a light tracking sensor so that the lenses rotate with the positionof the sun ?
@Anna - This system is an internally illuminated stirred tank photobioreactor which is simple,heat sterilizable and mechanically agitated.A device was installed for collecting solar light and distributing it inside the reactorthrough optical fibers.
Yes, it is equipped with a light tracking sensor so that the lenses rotate with the position.
of the sun. This makes it possible to use solar light for photosynthetic cell cultivation inindoor photobioreactors.As a solution to the problems of night biomass loss and low productivity on cloudy days,an artificial light source is coupled with the solar light collecting device.
Then you have a light intensity sensor monitors the solar light intensity and the artificial light isautomatically switched on or off, depending on the solar light intensity.In this way, continuous light supply to the reactor is achieved by using solar light duringsunny period and artificial light at night and on cloudy days.
Nice reply MOnterio.
Although we moved away from where Hasseli started.
Sorry fo rthe deviation.
Eugenia,
Don't forget that the most of the inventions and discoveries are indirect results of efforts concentrated on something else!