Green Options » algaculture

Taking Algae Biofuel to the Next Level: Solazyme Gets $45 Million in Funding to Reach Commercial Scale

Nick Chambers — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:09:49 +0000

According to reports, algae biofuel company Solazyme has raised $45.4 million dollars in Series C funding to take their unique algae diesel process to the commercial scale.

Major partners in this round of funding include Braemar Energy Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, who were joined by return backers The Roda Group and Harris & Harris Group.

Solazyme’s novel biofuel production method involves growing algae in the absence of light. In nature, algae use light to make sugar and then make oil from that sugar. Solazyme skips the light part and just feeds their algae sugar to get them to make oil.

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Solazyme Makes First Algae Diesel to Meet Strict US Standard

Nick Chambers — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:02:59 +0000

Solazyme announced today that they have produced the first 100% algae-based renewable diesel to meet the strict American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D-975 specifications.

Called Soladiesel(RD)™, it is the world’s first 100% algal diesel blend to meet these standards.

The company has road-tested Soladiesel(RD)™ in a factory standard 2005 diesel Jeep Liberty with results that indicate identical usability and engine wear to that of petroleum diesel.

Soladiesel(RD)™ has lower particulate emissions than petroleum-based diesel and also meets the ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) standards.

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OriginOil Develops Portable Modular Round-the-Clock Algae Biodiesel System

Nick Chambers — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:39:34 +0000

OriginOil has been a busy little company.

On the heels of a breakthrough which the company claims will make algae oil farming a true competitor to petroleum, OriginOil has filed two patents that may make the production of fuel products from algae incredibly cheap and easy in the near future.

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Could We Grow 100,000 Gallons of Oil per Acre? Yes, Says Vertigro Algae Biofuel [Video]

Clayton B. Cornell — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:56:10 +0000

I happened across this video on algae biofuel today: a company I’ve never heard of, Valcent Products, claims they can grow algae to produce oil yields of 100,000 gallons per acre. That’s the upper range of estimates I’ve seen for algae production—an absolutely phenomenal amount of oil—which Valcent attributes to their ‘high density vertical bioreactor’ system. Check it out (more video after the jump):

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.
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Algae Could Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source

Clayton B. Cornell — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:57:08 +0000

While the first algae-to-biofuels facility went online today, scientists at Argonne National Labs are manipulating the photosynthetic super-organism for another use: creating hydrogen.

Algae grows prolifically in adverse conditions, and can store large amounts of oils or starches useful for making biodiesel or ethanol. But some strains also use an enzyme called hydrogenase to produce small amounts of hydrogen gas. Scientists think this is the organism’s way of getting rid of excess energy under high-light conditions.

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First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online: April 1, 2008

Clayton B. Cornell — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:28:24 +0000

PetroSun has announced it will begin operation of its commercial algae-to-biofuels facility on April 1st, 2008.

The facility, located in Rio Hondo Texas, will produce an estimated 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million lbs. of biomass per year off a series of saltwater ponds spanning 1,100 acres. Twenty of those acres will be reserved for the experimental production of a renewable JP8 jet-fuel.

Gordon LeBlanc, Jr., CEO of PetroSun, had this to say:

“Our business model has been focused on proving the commercial feasibility of the firms’ algae-to-biofuels technology during the past eighteen months. Whether we have arrived at this point in time by a superior technological approach, sheer luck or a redneck can-do attitude, the fact remains that microalgae can outperform the current feedstocks utilized for conversion to biodiesel and ethanol, yet do not impact the consumable food markets or fresh water resources.”

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Fields of Fuel: Josh Tickell’s New Biodiesel Documentary

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:52:50 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good documentary can change your vocabulary.

Josh Tickell’s new film, Fields of Fuel, has just won the Audience Award for Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which opened last Monday to a standing ovation, is a sharp, compelling look at biofuels and the history of America’s dependence on foreign oil. From home-made biodiesel to OPEC corruption, it covers the myriad reasons why we should be changing our fuel to change our lives.

Tickell, the man who essentially introduced the world to biodiesel, has brought us an outstanding contribution to the discourse on biofuels: Fields of Fuel says in ninety minutes what we’ve all been trying to sum up for years. Here’s the trailer:

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Cellulosic Ethanol Sugar Diverted to Algae Biodiesel Production

Clayton B. Cornell — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:31:14 +0000

Note: See the precursor to this post, BREAKING NEWS: First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel; Breakthrough Production Possible.

Today I had a few minutes to speak with Harrison Dillon, President and CTO of Solazyme. But with all the publicity around the film Fields of Fuel (see earlier post), I didn’t have much of a chance to get into a detailed discussion. When I approached him, Harrison was surrounded by a group intent on elucidating the not-so-subtle points of using biodiesel (such as, does it require conversion to run in a diesel engine?).

In our brief conversation I was able to learn that Solazyme is going to combine cellulosic ethanol and algae biodiesel production technology, which they think provides a more positive energy balance than either one alone (Harrison said that algae are 1000 times more efficient when fed sugar vs. grown by sunlight). Solazyme will be buying sugar, including cellulosically-derived sugar produced by cellulosic ethanol companies, to feed to their algae. They’re basically short-circuiting the cellulosic ethanol process and diverting the sugar to what they say is a more efficient process: growing micro-algae.

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Chevron Backs Solazyme’s Algae Biodiesel Production Process (+Video)

Clayton B. Cornell — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:30:23 +0000

It’s been a big week for biofuel breakthroughs and new partnerships. While photographing the algae biodiesel cars outside Fields of Fuel yesterday, insiders I spoke with alluded to big news: I just learned that Chevron will be backing Solazyme to produce algae biodiesel (East Bay Business Times):

Chevron Corp. is accelerating its research into biofuel derived from algae. On Tuesday, Solazyme Inc. of South San Francisco announced an agreement with the Chevron subsidiary Chevron Technology Ventures to develop and test biodiesel feedstock made from algae.

The partnership will almost certainly rev up Solazyme’s production and research process, as will GM’s backing of Coskata ethanol. But I still have no information on how the algae will be grown. I’m getting the sense that this is almost cellulosic + algae = biodiesel, since these guys are talking about getting sugar from corn stover, switchgrass, wood chips, and sugarcane, then feeding it to algae to boost production. Take a look at this video from the film:

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BREAKING NEWS: First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel; Breakthrough Production Possible

Clayton B. Cornell — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:42:23 +0000

Just a few hours ago, the world’s first pair of cars to run on algae biodiesel were announced at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The cars were prominently displayed outside the world premier of Fields of Fuel, Josh Tickell’s stunning new documentary on biodiesel and the state of a world dependent on petroleum.

Burning a B20 blend of algal biodiesel, these vehicles are the first to make use of a potentially revolutionary way to grow algae for biodiesel production. Solazyme, a synthetic biology company out of San Francisco, has developed a way to grow algae that essentially hijacks the photosynthetic process to optimize oil production. Like any good photosynthetic organism, algae convert the sun’s energy into sugars, which then power the oil-producing process (algae can be over 50% oil). But getting the algae enough sunlight to grow efficiently has been a particular stumbling block to large scale algae production.

So what if you could just feed the algae sugar and skip the sunlight part altogether?

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Algae Biodiesel: First Industrial Algae Plants Go Online

Clayton B. Cornell — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:54:29 +0000

Note: For the latest on Algae Biodiesel, head over to Gas 2.0 (http://gas2.org).

Looking to buy your own algae biodiesel manufacturing plant?
You may be in luck.

AlgaeLink has developed the first made-to-order industrial algae production facility in the world.

Sure, we’ve all read 50 stories about algae biodiesel the panacea—the only biofuel that will make a serious dent in petroleum usage—but none of those stories have materialized yet. But the fact that commercially harvesting algae could produce yields of 10,000 gallons of oil per acre on agriculturally poor land has not been lost on green entrepreneurs. See my other posts on the topic here. While most of my coverage on algae biofuel research has focused on the United States, AlgaeLink N.V., based in the Netherlands, is the first company to market industrial algae production systems. The 5-year old company began selling units in the third quarter of 2007, after 4 years of investment and research.

How are AlgaeLink systems different?

Industry trend has primarily focused on development of closed bioreactors, most commonly an array of clear tubing that maximizes light and nutrient flow. In this model, algae is grown inside this transparent tubing with a constantly circulating supply of carbon dioxide and food. AlgaeLink’s design doesn’t seem much different than some of the other proposed systems I’ve already discussed: it’s based on 118 feet of 25 inch diameter tube fed by a water pump.

But several improvements make AlgaeLink unique, most notably the claim that they’ve solved the high-yield photoefficieny problem. As algae growth increases, the photobioreactor tubes get clogged with biomass, thereby reducing light that can penetrate into the center and reducing overall yield. AlgaeLink is currently patenting some mysterious technology that allows them to get around this.

Economically speaking, the company has also improved efficiency of transport and assembly of plant materials, along with creating proprietary sensing technology that can monitor algal growth from anywhere in the world. Such a sensing system would ostensibly allow the company to provide tech support from half a world away. The system is also self-cleaning, so no disassembly interrupts production.

AlgaeLink requires a demonstration plant for each potential site in order to optimize algal strain and test local climate conditions. Since AlgaeLink ships the reactors with 10 species of algae, there’s plenty room for experimentation.

How Much Does it Cost?

About $98,000 for the demonstration plant, which is required, and $821,000 to $14 million for different sized models.
You can also take a two-day algae production course in the Netherlands for $2,547.

Does it work?

Apparently, a demonstration plant is already running, producing about 2-4 kg of dry weight biomass per day. AlgaeLink claims yields of 10-100 TONS per day after 4-6 months of site monitoring to optimize algae strain based on local climate and water conditions. 10 tons is a lot more than 2-4 kg, so the scalability of the system must be incredible.

How much biodiesel is that?

I’m not really sure about that, but AlgaeLink has conducted an analysis on the suitability of producing algae biodiesel.

How much does the oil cost?

Cost of production varies by climate, but AlgaeLink claims their demonstration plant in the Netherlands is currently producing oil for 50 cents per gallon.

So why hasn’t anyone else made this technology available?

I’ll let the company’s president and CEO, Hans van de Ven, speak for himself:

We have a unique system and that’s the reason nobody else can offer it. They don’t know how to do it.

Someone needed to be first. We have put at least four years of work into our system. We have put a great deal of money into it and have had engineers and biologists working on it all over the world. We are ready to sell commercial plants. A lot of people over the Internet have been ripped off by people who promised a lot and nothing happened. We have a very good name in the industry and we would like to keep it like that.

See the original article from the Nov. 2007 Biodiesel Magazine here.

Photo Credit: AlgaeLink.com

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Tests Show Biofuel Algae Economically Viable

Clayton B. Cornell — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:48:59 +0000

Despite promises of imminent commercial viability and tremendous productivity, the development of algae cultivation for biofuel production has been painfully slow. Most of us following biofuel news have been frustrated by the sluggish pace of real progress.

GreenFuel Technologies has finally produced some results:

This summer, GreenFuel Technologies and Arizona Public Service Company (APS) were able to grow algae successfully at APS’ Redhawk natural gas power plant at levels 37 times higher than corn and 140 times higher than soybeans using CO2 from a natural gas-fired power plant as input to theGreenFuel system.

Algae cultivation has always promised exceptional yields for multiple end-use products: oils are processed into biodiesel, starches into ethanol, and the remaining protein components are used in animal feed. It’s a great idea, but no one has been able to do it in real life yet. GreenFuel Tech., in conjunction with APS, was the first to make commercially viable biodiesel and ethanol from algae cultivated at a commercial power plant in 2006, but these new results are the first indicator that commercially viable production levels are possible.

The comparison above is based on the amount of usable material grown per unit area, and GreenFuel’s tests (even with suboptimal weather conditions) blew away projected productivity goals.

A 2-week field-test was performed on GreenFuel’s proprietary algae propagation technology, called the 3D Matrix System (3DMS). 3DMS differs from the transparent tubing we’ve all seen in pictures (as depicted above), which are usually used to grow preparatory seed cultures. GreenFuel isn’t offering too many details about the 3DMS, but claims the matrix system boosts photosynthesis by increasing the surface-to-volume ratio of the algal culture.

The goal of this program was to assess the performance (areal productivity) of the 3DMS technology for at least two continuous weeks of growth. Based on the previous performance of a lab-scale system, target average areal productivity of 80 g/m2/d was set. Achieving this goal would allow a commercial algal system to significantly decrease its footprint, minimizing one of the main limiting factors of large-scale algal farming – land cost and availability.

The performance of the 3DMS system exceeded the target goal. Average areal productivity of 98g/m2/d (ash free, dry weight basis), with highs of over 170 g/m2/d, was achieved during a run time of 19 days. Thus, this is one of the most productive algal cultivation systems ever built.

The next step will be testing the system on a coal-fired plant, and ramping up the production scale. Algae produced from the waste of electrical-generation could offer another significant feedstock for biofuel production while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants.

Latest update on Algae Biodiesel: Algae Biodiesel: First Industrial Algae Plants Go Online

GreenCar Congress: GreenFuel Technologies and APS to Test 3DMS Algae System on Coal-Fired Plant
Performance Summary Report Evaluation of GreenFuel’s 3D Matrix Algae Growth Engineering Scale Unit

More by this author:
Algae Biodiesel May Soon Be Reality
Algae Biodiesel Startups Plan Large-Scale Algae Farms
Algae Biofuel May Be Future For Aviation

Photo Credit.

Algae Biodiesel Startups Plan Large-Scale Algae Farms

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:37:17 +0000

This is what an algae biodiesel farm might look like. If you aren’t sick of the topic yet, here’s one more story to throw in the mix: Several new startups, including a company called Solix Biofuels outside Ft. Colins, CO, and Greenfuel Technologies Corp. of MA, have plans for large-scale algae production that should be online within the year.

As I’ve discussed, algae win the feedstock battle in terms of productivity, with theoretical oil yields of up to 10,000 gallons per acre (that’s 30-100x what soybeans produce). But reality is always a little more complicated. Although algae grow relatively easily (think pond slime), maintaining ideal growing conditions like temperature and CO2 concentration can be difficult. If you want exponential growth, it also turns out that atmospheric CO2 concentrations are not high enough to produce the yields necessary for commercial production, not to mention the potential for the whole mix to be thrown off by invasive species.

Enter the polyethylene “photobioreactor” bag, where light, temperature, CO2, and nutrients can be tightly controlled. The CO2 concentration can be supplemented by waste CO2 from any industrial process, but especially coal-power plants. Initially, this would seem to constrain the utility of algae-farming to having a nearby coal plant, but smaller process produce wast CO2 too. Solix plans on working with the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Colins to produce algae from waste CO2 produced in the brewing process. (Check back later for an interview with New Belgium). Under the right conditions, algae can be coaxed to double their volume overnight, and this means a lot of oil:

“If we were to replace all of the diesel that we use in the United States” with an algae derivative, says Solix CEO Douglas Henston, “we could do it on an area of land that’s about one-half of 1 percent of the current farm land that we use now.”

Idealistic? Maybe. I’ve heard this kind of thing for wind power too. But it seems possible given the proposed technology, and I know that coal power and it’s perpetual waste CO2 stream isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The algae farm is also “infinitely scalable”, so rapid expansion seems like a no brainer:

John Sheehan, an energy analyst with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., believes these goals are within reach. “There is no other resource that comes even close in magnitude to the potential for making oil,” says Sheehan, who worked in the lab’s algae program before it was shut down by the Department of Energy. One of algae’s great strengths, Sheehan adds, is its ability to grow well in brackish water. In the desert southwest, where much of the groundwater is saline and unsuitable for other forms of agriculture, algae can proliferate.”

All that waits to be seen now is when algae biodiesel will actually become economically viable. Keep your fingers crossed - it may be by the end of the decade.

Latest update on Algae Biodiesel: Algae Biodiesel: First Industrial Algae Plants Go Online

Pond-Powered Biofuels: Turning Algae into America’s New Energy (March 29th) Popular Mechanics
Solix Biofuels: Fueling a Better World
GreenFuel Technologies Corp.

Photo Credit: Solix Biofuels