Comprehensive Algae Fuels ReportUpdatedDeriving transport fuels from algae, a third generation biofuel feedstock, is today considered the Holy Grail of alternative energy, and presents numerous business opportunities. If you are an entrepreneur or investor exploring this exciting domain, the Comprehensive Algae Fuels Report will be an indispensable guide for you.  |
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Last Updated - Jan 2013
About Oilgae
Oilgae is the premier resource for the global algae energy industry. Started in 2006 with a dedicated focus on algae energy, Oilgae today serves as a crucial platform and opinion-leader for this industry.
The Oilgae team is frequently interviewed by leading world media and frequently presents at seminars and conferences. Some of the media that Oilgae has been mentioned in are: WorldChanging (Columbia University), BBC, Salon Magazine, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wired, India Times and more.
Oilgae today is so synonymous with algae energy that many people worldwide use Oilgae as the word to refer to oil from algae!
The report provides comprehensive knowledge and understanding on:
- Complete list of energy products from algae
- What the leading players are doing
- Costs and investments required for the various products and processes
- How to plan the next steps for your algae fuel venture
- Various cultivation and harvesting methods
- Trends in external financing for algae projects
Why should you know about algae fuels?
- You will be exploring the only biofuel that can completely replace fossil fuels
- You will be learning more on a feedstock that has the potential to revolutionize the world of energy
- You will have an early mover advantage as the industry is just about to take off
Why are algae so exciting from a renewable energy standpoint?
- The yields of oil and fuels from algae are much higher (10-100 times) than competing energy crops
- Algae can grow practically anywhere, thus ensuring that there is no competition with food crops.
- Algae are excellent bioremediation agents - they have the potential to absorb massive amounts of CO2 and can play an important role in sewage and wastewater treatment.
- Algae are the only feedstock that have the potential to completely replace world's consumption of transportation fuels.
- Algae are already being used in a wide variety of industries and applications, and many newer applications are being discovered. Such a wide range of end-uses enable companies to produce both fuels and non-fuel products from the same algae feedstock
The Comprehensive Algae Fuels Report is a must-read for the following
- Entrepreneurs planning to start a venture in the algal energy domain in specific and biofuels/bioenergy in general
- Venture capital, finance & investment companies exploring investments in this domain
- Companies in algae-related industries or businesses with synergistic operations exploring oil from algae ventures
- Research community having a focus on biofuels and bio-energy
Why should you buy this report
- It helps you understand all aspects of the algae energy domain and provides you key insights which will be invaluable in planning your venture.
- It has a special emphasis on providing inputs for those interested in investing or starting a business in this field.
- It has been developed with inputs from authoritative sources.
- Special emphasis is on inputs that will facilitate businesses to quickly take further steps.
- Comprises intelligence and inputs derived from many seminars and expert presentations
- Developed by Oilgae (www.Oilgae.com ), the leading resource for all information for energy from algae
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The report comprises
- Inputs and updates on process and methods of algae cultivation in different environmental conditions such as desert, waste water, sewage, next to power plants, and in marine and fresh water environments.
- Comprehensive coverage of all possible fuel products from algae, and their respective production process and technologies
- Detailed cost inputs for cultivation, harvest and fuel production from algae
- Numerous case studies and examples of what the pioneers are doing in this domain
- Profiles and information on over a hundred companies and commercial efforts in this domain
- Extensive details on the university and research efforts in this domain
- Comprehensive details of venture capital and financing opportunities
- Over a hundred research insights on new methodologies, perspectives and experiments on how best to derive energy from algae.
The report is divided into five sections
| Concepts and Cultivation | This section provides information on strain selection, cultivation, photobioreactors and harvesting |
| Energy Products from Algae | This section provides information on producing the following fuels/ products - biodiesel, ethanol, methane, hydrogen, algae meal and other hydrocarbon fuels |
| Processes & Challenges | This section provides inputs on growing algae in a variety of environments such as: open ponds/ closed ponds/ photobioreactors, sewage and waste water, desert, marine and salt water, fresh water and next to CO2 emitting industries |
| Industry & Market Information | This section provides information on cost of making fuels from algae, companies in this industry and their profiles, industry profile and company strategies, venture funding and non fuel applications of algae |
| References | This section provides resources on algae fuel related apex bodies, organizations, universities, and culture collection centres |
Fuel from algae represents a market that is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
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From the above table, it is clear that even by 2014, less than 3% of total fossil fuels will be replaced by biofuels from traditional sources. Even this small % represents a market size of over $100 billion. Algae have the potential to replace a much larger percentage of fossil transportation fuel than can traditional feedstock. This implies that fuel from algae represents a market that is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
This report has a special focus on certain unique areas in algae energy which are known to have huge commercial benefits. Owing to their in-depth understanding of the algae fuels industry with its various aspects and dimensions, the team of researchers of Oilgae continuously make important research efforts into emerging topics in algae fuels, and how businesses around the world can benefit from these topics.
Some of the topics that are of emerging interest in the context of algae fuels are provided below:
Macro Vs Micro
Which type of algae? - Microalgae have high oil content but are difficult to cultivate and harvest in a cost-efficient manner. Macroalgae, on the other hand, present low-cost cultivation and harvesting possibilities, but most species are low in lipids - it is however possible to derive biofuels from macroalgae using cellulosic fermentation methods, gasification or anaerobic digestion. Thus, both micro and macroalgae are potential feedstock for biofuels. Which route should be followed, and why?
Waste Water Treatment
Algae are well-known bioremediation agents, especially good at removing nutrients and toxins from waste and sewage water. Can this fact be used by tens of thousands of companies around the world to choose-effectively treat wastewater while at the same time produce biofuels?
Power Plant CO2 Capture
Thousands of CO2 emitting power plants and industries face a costly problem - reduce your CO2 emissions or pay penalties. What if these companies and power plants could use algae to absorb the CO2 and generate biofuels in return? This is precisely what companies and power plants around the world are beginning to explore.
Other Emerging Products from Algae
Making products from algae is not exactly new. For decades algae have been used to make a variety of products - from nutraceuticals, to pigments to organic fertilizers. Today, companies are able to produce many more high end products from algae. Is it then possible for algae fuel companies to synergistically produce both fuels and non-fuel products thereby increasing their profits and prospects?
Variety of Fuels and Processes
While biodiesel is the most obvious fuel that can be considered from algae (owing to the large oil content of microalgae), it is but one of the products that are possible. Others include ethanol, methane, hydrogen, biogasoline and the algal biomass itself which can be used as a feedstock of combustion. What are the processes and pathways for each of these end-products? What are the costs and benefits of each of these products and processes?
Latest Efforts in Cost-effective Photobioreactors
Growing microalgae in photobioreactors results in high algae productivity, and consequently results in higher oil yields for the same area. However, photobioreactors are much more expensive than open ponds. What then are the current efforts in photobioreactor design that can lead to lower-cost and high-productivity photobioreactors? Which are the companies that are leading the efforts in this domain? What are the likely future trends in photobioreactors?
List of Contents
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Section 2 - Energy Products from Algae
Section 3 - Processes & Challenges
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Section 4 - Industry & Market Information
Section 5 – References
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Key Take-aways from the Report
- Algae represent the third generation feedstock for biodiesel, with much higher yields than second generation crops. Algae yields could reach a high of 50 T of biodiesel per hectare year against 2 T for competing feedstock such as Jatropha.
- While biodiesel is the fuel end product that is pursued most, algae can be processed to yield other energy products such as ethanol, diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel, hydrogen and other hydrocarbons. Some companies have started exploring production of these products as well.
- Upstream processes such as strain selection, cultivation and harvesting present challenges that are unique to the algae industry and hence deserve closer attention.
- Microalgae, owing to their relatively high oil content can be a feedstock for biodiesel while macroalgae is a potential feedstock for ethanol.
- From over 30,000 strains of algae available, selecting the most suitable strain needs evaluation of parameters such as desired end products, oil/energy yields, performance in mass culture, complexity of structure, culturing media/environment and more.
- In harsh environments such as deserts, photobioreactors might be the most suitable method to grow algae, owing to the control they offer on the external elements.
- Costs of setting up and operating a photobioreactor for algae cultivation would be much higher than open ponds, but photobioreactors provide higher efficiency and oil yields. While open ponds costs about $100,000 per hectare in capital costs, photobioreactors cost about $1-$1.5 million per hectare – ten times as much as open pond! On the other hand, photobioreactors provide much higher control for algal monocultures and provide yields that are 3-5X those for open ponds.
- Currently, photobioreactor costs range between $70-150/m2. Some of the most important research efforts currently being undertaken are for reducing the capital and operational costs for photobioreactors.
- Ensuring high yield, providing optimal light penetration and cost effective aeration are some of the key challenges in microalgae cultivation.
- In order to benefit from the advantages of photobioreactors and open ponds, some companies are exploring a hybrid cultivation system that uses both open ponds and PBRs.
- Key challenges for cultivating microalgae in wastewater include the availability of large amounts of wastewater, prevention of contamination of desired strains, and cost-effective harvesting.
- Photobioreactors might be the most suitable system to grow algae in deserts, owing to control they offer on the harsh environment present in the region.
- Algae are already being cultivated in oceans for non-fuel end products such as cosmetics, medicines and food additives.
- Using freshwater for algae cultivation is likely to be more expensive than using wastewater or salt water, as large quantities of freshwater might not so easily accessible, and nutrient credits might not be applicable for cultivation in fresh water.
- While algae-based CO2 capture at power plants has excellent innate potential, such an activity is not expected to become commercialized until 2015.
- Key challenges to this include large land requirements next to power plants, inefficiencies in the actual CO2 capture process and high costs of cultivation should photobioreactors be used.
- Oilgae estimates that the current production costs for algae based biodiesel is about $18 per gallon if photobioreactors were used.
- Companies that have come up with unique concepts for algae biofuels include Algenol, AlgoDyne, Blue Marble Energy, Inventure, Sapphire Energy and Solazyme.
- As of Mar 2010, there are about 100 companies worldwide that have a focus on algae fuels.
- While there are no dominant designs in the industry, there are entry barriers in the form of large financing requirements and the need for high end scientific expertise.
- There could be some challenges faced while converting algae oil into biodiesel using the transesterification process, owing to the high Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content of algae oil.
- Prominent methods currently used for harvesting microalgae are filtration, centrifugation, and flocculation.
- Centrifugation and flocculation are expensive harvesting methods, but these are expected to have the most potential in future for harvesting microalgae.
- The operational cost of centrifugation for algae harvesting varies from $100 to $500 per ton of algae biomass.
- Companies are trying to overcome the challenges faced by the open pond system such as contamination, light penetration and water evaporation by using a hybrid algae product system – cross between open and closed system. For instance, the company GreenStar has introduced a hybrid of open-air and closed bioreactor system that combines the controlled environment of a closed photobioreactor with the inexpensive construction of an open pond system.
- Algae in Bioremediation – Significant efforts are being undertaken for the use of algae in waste water treatment, and as a source of carbon capture from power plants, cement factories etc.
- Research is going on with regard to harvesting microalgae growing in sewage and industrial wastewater. Dissolved air flotation and filtration have shown promise in the research done so far.
- For power plants and other entities that are large scale emitters of CO2, sequestering CO2 using algae provides the opportunity of monetization through carbon credits while at the same time producing biofuels.
- About 100 companies are pursuing the production of fuels from algae. Pilot projects undertaken by some of these companies suggest that algae could provide over 10,000 gallons of biodiesel per hectare per year.
- Algae - both microalgae and macroalgae - have non-fuel applications that cover diverse industries. The food, health products and nutraceutical markets are the largest among these.
- Prominent industries that have synergetic benefits from producing algae fuels are industries that either produce waste water or deal with treatment, power plants and cement plants that are large emitters of CO2, companies in the agriculture industry, poultry & cattle industry, and existing producers of non-fuel algae products such as nutraceuticals or animal feed.
- The global biodiesel industry is projected to grow and touch around 14.4 billion gallons by 2015, from 5 billion gallons in 2009.
- Venture capitalists are fully aware that algae energy is a high risk- high return domain, and that only companies that are willing to take big efforts to solve the problem have a chance of winning. Hence, they look for companies and teams that are trying to solve the problem by thinking big.
Clients and Customers
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List of Potential Industries
As a result of the wide range of applications and end uses of algae, a number of industries could derive synergistic benefits from the algae energy industry. For these industries, cultivating algae could mean that they are able to add value to their existing business while at the same time producing biofuels.
If your business belongs to one or more of the following sectors, algae fuels could prove to be an attractive business opportunity for you.
A list of these industries and inputs on the synergistic benefits that can be derived are provided below.
Sewage & Water Treatment Companies
- Algae can be used as for bio-remediation, especially in the secondary stage of water treatment. Thus, there are two benefits. Waste water gets purified, and we get fuel feedstock in the process.
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- The industries listed below can use algae for the secondary stage of wastewater treatment
- Meat and Poultry
- Pulp and Paper, and Produce (i.e., Fruits & Vegetable)
- Textiles Dyeing
- Metal Finishing
- Dyes & Pigments
- Pharmaceutical
- Food & Dairy
- Biotechnology
- Starch & Cellulose
- Chemicals
- Pesticides & Insecticides
- Photography
- Fertilizers
- Traditional crops – If farming companies grow algae for biodiesel, they can use the de-oiled algae extract as bio-fertilizer.
- Algae farms – Existing algae farms can grow algae for fuel in addition to the end-product markets for which they are already cultivating algae.
- Many companies that produce large quantities of animal waste use the waste in digesters to produce methane, which in turn is used as a heating fuel. Using large quantities of methane gives out CO2 which can be used to grow algae. Algae can also grow in the liquid effluents released from the anaerobic digesters. The additional benefit these companies get is that they can use the de-oiled algae meal as animal feed.
- Pork
- Poultry
- Meat
- Diary
- Industries that emit large amounts of CO2 during their operations can use algae for CO2 Capture. They thus get two benefits: They are able to sequester CO2 cost-effectively, and they get a fuel feedstock.
- Coal Burning and Natural Gas Power Plants
- Petrochemicals
- Iron & Steel
- Cements
- Sugar
- Tyres
- Carbon Black
- Mining
- Aluminium
- Paper
- Inorganic Chemicals
- Fertilizers
- Many industries that use algae use primarily the protein component of the algae. For these companies, algae fuel in the form of biodiesel presents an interesting opportunity: these companies can extract the oil (lipid) from algae for biodiesel and can use the deoiled algae cake rich in proteins for their products. For those industries that use the lipids in algae, they can consider using the left-over biomass for producing fuels such as ethanol or other hydrocarbons.
- Biopolymers & Bioplastics
- Human Food & Food Supplements
- Animal & Fish Feed - Shrimp feed, Shellfish Diet, Marine Fish Larvae Cultivation
- Paints, Dyes and Colorants
- Lubricants
- Food & Nutraceuticals
- Cosmetics
- Agrochemicals
- Pharmaceuticals
Industries that currently use algae for their products are:
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Last Updated : Jan 2013 No.of Pages : 775 Price : US$ 1650 |
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Free Expert Assistance: Buyers get additional research support from the Oilgae Team at no cost Free Updates: Customers who buy the report get three updated versions released subsequent to their purchase, at no additional cost Customisability: Oilgae can provide minor customizations and enhancements to the report usually at no additional cost. | |
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The Oilgae team would like to talk to you to understand how we can help you in your algae fuel efforts. If you are interested in purchasing the report or getting our help, talk to us now. |
