N.S.W in the forefront for algae fuel

May 28, 2012

Renewable Energy technologies nearly always focus on new ways to develop electrical power. If you stop and think about it, wind, solar, wave, tidal, hydro and so on all produce electricity, and although of extreme relevance and importance to mitigate the effects of global warming and reduce greenhouse gases very little is being done to reduce emissions from the transport sector.

The only alternatives are electric transport (still utilizing electricity which is being produced from fossil fuels), hydrogen (not yet a viable and safe alternative) and ethanol fuel, which in some parts of the world has proven to be successful, however, it would mean a major change in engines and it would bring disadvantages to the sugar industry.

Fossil fuels are still therefore, a major part of our lives when it comes to transport; be it cars, buses, boats, planes or scooters and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) that go with it are staggeringly high. In the US for example of all the GHG emitted in 2006, 29 percent was from the transport sector.

So a substitute for transport fuel remains to this day one of the biggest challenges.

Fuel produced from micro-algae could be the worthwhile substitute. The versatility of micro-algae strains makes it ideal to produce oil suitable for all kinds of fuels from diesels to kerosene. Depending on the strain used we can run cars, scooters, boats and even airplanes. Using algae fuels would also make the transport industry carbon neutral.

Algae.Tec (www.algaetec.com.au) located on the south coast of NSW, Australia is piloting a project that sees micro-algae being grown in large quantities in shipping containers to be turned into fuel for the transport sector. The nearby Shoalhaven Marine & Freshwater Centre – University of Wollongong with the help of Dr. Pia Winberg, Director of the Centre and her team are assisting Algae.Tec in identifying the right strain for the production of a biocrude.

Some micro-algae strains like Botryococcus braunii can contain up to 50 to 60 percent lipids and oils, and although this particular strain may be slow in re-production compared to other strains, it means that upto a maximum of 60 percent of the cell can be converted into a biocrude.

Through a process of photosynthesis the cells grow, reproduce (very quickly if the right conditions are in place) and can be harvested, and squeezed in a process I have described very similar to squeezing oil from olives or wine from grapes. In a controlled environment algae can reproduce many time each day.

The Algae.Tec process uses very large shipping containers (12 metre) to grow the algae in a controlled environment with artificial lighting, water, waste CO2 feeds from local industry, and nutrients. This results in an algae made up of oil, sugar and protein biomass, which is separated into oil and biomass. It is then refined to produce biodiesel, jet fuel and ethanol and can be produced at half the price of current oil prices.

The shipping containers act as photo bio-reactors (PBR), where the algae can absorb all the ingredients and turn them into useful oils and biomass. They are also fully scalable and modular to allow for growth and increase in production. With this technology Algae.Tec has made algae one of the world’s most valuable and sustainable feedstocks for fuel products in a large up-scaled industrial system.

Algae.Tec technology is world recognized and their main algae Development and Manufacturing Centre is in Georgia, Atlanta – USA. Algaetc also have a project in Holcim – Sri Lanka, using 250 shipping container modules, which will produce 31 million litres of oil for biodiesel production and 31000 tonnes of biomass per year, whilst capturing 125,000 tonnes of CO2. A pilot facility is currently being built in Shoalhaven, NSW – Australia this plant will utilize nearby ethanol fermenters for its source of CO2.

Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Sydney – Australia

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3 Great Accomplishments by Biofuel Vehicles

November 4, 2011

It’s a well-known fact that the world’s oil supply is diminishing, forcing automakers to develop engines that can use alternative fuels. While electric cars are the media darlings of the moment, companies are continuing to develop engines that can use biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. To increase awareness of these efforts, internal and external teams have used these fuels to reach major technical achievements. From crossing frozen wastelands to breaking speed records, these vehicles show that alternative energy can reduce the use of petroleum in transportation and its associated carbon emissions without compromises in the usability we’ve grown to expect from our vehicles. Three recent achievements exemplify this spirit of innovation:

Cross-Continent Journeys
At the end of 2010, the Bio-Inspired Ice Vehicle (BIV) became the first vehicle to complete a trans-Antarctic expedition entirely on biofuels. Funded by Winston Wong, the E-85 powered BIV both showcased biofuel technology by proving it could survive in one of the harshest climates on earth while also serving a practical purpose by transporting scientists across the continent to areas where they needed to conduct research.

Land Speed Records
Unlike the BIV, John Petsche’s motorcycle is much more approachable. His idea was simple: Modify his Kawasaki so that it could burn an alternative fuel and get good gas mileage while keeping its construction simple enough that he could put it together in his garage. The result is a bike with a 350cc engine modified with off-the-shelf parts to run on straight vegetable oil, something that could easily be replicated by both home builders and manufacturers alike. The concept was proven when the bike set the land speed record for the 350cc alt-fuel motorcycle class at Maine’s Loring Timing Association.

Airborne Distance Records
Biofuel use extends well beyond land vehicles: Airlines are also looking toward this option to power their jets. Finnair recently set a record for the longest commercial airplane trip powered by biofuels. Covering a little over 900 miles, this trip used fuel formed from recycled biomass. Currently, Finnair is using the fuel in an experimental fashion: It isn’t financially practical to convert to biofuels yet, but with some work they believe they can get the price low enough to satisfy their fueling needs while reducing their impact on the environment.

When answering why the BIV would cross Antarctica, Winston Wong said that it was necessary to “do something that people can take notice [of] and say this is the future, the future of human endeavor” in an effort to reduce harm to the planet. Although these three projects were performed around the world in very different conditions, they all embodied that message and helped serve the same purpose: By pushing biofuel technology to the limits, they’re proving its viability. The creative solutions brought forth by these efforts will be the ones that will shift biofuels from niche products to a major part of our nation’s power.

Written by Alan Parker, an active blogger out of New York City whose writing covers green technology, the environment, and the great outdoors. You can follow him on Twitter @AGreenParker.

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Posted by Tony Piccolo - Aquatic Biofuel Specialist

Kisumu – Kenya, The Spirulina Hub

July 8, 2011

Spirulina is the most nutritious food on the planet. It is packed with protein, vitamins and minerals in an easily digestible form – which makes it incredibly good for the body. It is a food supplement that can be used by anybody at anytime. Amongst other things it is very good for people infected with the HIV virus, the malnourished, anaemic, diabetic, etc. It is very good for the elderly as it is for children. It has particular benefits for athletes and gym goers

This is a microscopic plant and is grown in a highly controlled aquatic environment that is designed to replicate its natural habitat. In fact East Africa is considered to be the natural home of Spirulina since it exists naturally in many of the Rift Valley alkaline lakes, for example, Lake Nakuru, Elmentaita, Bogoria and Crater Lake. The appearance of the water in these lakes is a deep green, this is from the Spirulina in the water. It is one of two primary foods for the flamingos, so where there are flamingos you are very very likely to find Spirulina.

Spirulina was re-discovered in the early 60’s by some French scientists at Lake Chad. Since then it has become one of the most researched foods of modern time. There are over 400 studies highlighting the vast and varied benefits of this super-food.  In West Africa they have been growing Spirulina since the late ‘80s’ – due to it being a more francophone thing. In Burkina Faso the government has funded large Spirulina farms in order to offer high quality nutrition to those living with HIV in the country. In Chad there are several projects funded by the WFP which encourages the cultivation of Spirulina against malnutrition. The US is the largest consumer of Spirulina and over there exist the two of the largest Spirulina farms, one in California and the other in Hawaii.

For two years now Dunga Spirulina has developed the practical technology to grow Spirulina in the most environmentally friendly way. Indeed Spirulina cultivation is considered one of the most green forms of agriculture – requiring far less water and non fertile land to product high quality nutrition. Apart from offering this nutrition, Dunga Spirulina is training farmers on how to grow this food for their own nutrition and for income generation. As traditional forms of agriculture fail due to a warming planet, we see Spirulina as a food with great potential in the region.

What remains currently is awareness of this product. As awareness increases so will the interest in growing this food and in our opinion so will the nutritional status of people in the region. We see a great need to rethink traditional agriculture and develop technologies that can be used in the near future.

Guest posting by Jagpal Sandhu – Spirulina Producer and founder of  “Dunga Spirulina”, Kisumu – Kenya

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Dunga Spirulina

July 8, 2011

Tucked away in a little corner of Kisumu overlooking the small bay which is part of and opens up to Lake Victoria, very close  to the Kisumu Yacht Club is a man who is producing spirulina. Jagpal Sandhu is the Director and a self made producer of micro-algae spirulina and Dunga is the location in Kisumu where he grows it.

Dunga Spirulina” that is the name of the small enterprise which has the capacity of growing/harvesting up to 5kg a day. The spirulina is grown, harvested, dried, ground and packaged all in the small compound right next to the lake in Dunga – Kisumu. Dunga Spirulina is the first company in the EA region to successfully grow Spirulina sustainably. Jagpal unlike other organizations and NGOs in Kisumu has decided to open his spirulina to a different market than the one of the sick and malnourished. He sells his spirulina in a nicely vacuum sealed package to the higher market as a natural food supplement. As demand grows so too does his production facility. The company is building more ponds and placing in the ponds a motorized paddle wheel to facilitate movement of the algae in the ponds. Thick plastic covers are being placed on the ponds to avoid cross-breeding and contamination of the spirulina. Dunga Spirulina is currently available in;

  • Healthy U Stores Countrywide (Kenya),
  • Healthy U in Nairobi – Junction, Sarit Centre, Yaya Centre, T-Mall, Westgate, Village Market.
  • Healthy U Express Stores inside Nakumatt: Junction, Karen, Ngong Road, Mega, Lifestyle, Village Market, Westgate, Embakasi.
  • Healthy U in Kisumu – Nakumatt Nyanza and Mega City.
  • Healthy U in Mombasa – Nyali and Likoni.
  • Zucchini in Naiorbi – ABC Place, Junction and Village Market,
  • Elixir Health in Village Market – on top of the food court.
  • Patsons Chemist in Swan Centre, and Maruti Pharmacy in Kisumu
  • And will soon be available in other East African countries.

Jagpal decided to start growing his own spirulina after having attended a basic course on spirulina growing and harvesting at IIMSAM Headquarters just outside Kisumu. IIMSAM gave Jagpal the basic knowledge on how to grow spirulina. He used that knowledge to establish his farm and produce spirulina in an open pond system. Dunga Spirulina is highly nutritious and provides you with all the protein, vitamins, minerals and micro nutrients needed by your body on a daily basis.  Dunga Spirulina is 100% Pure Spirulina Powder.

Various images taken on-site at Dunga Spirulina

           

Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome – Italy

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Algae for Food and Fuel – Presentation given at KMFRI in Kisumu, Kenya

June 13, 2011

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Football, Fuel or FOOD?

June 3, 2011

It is a fact that one hectare of land is equivalent to about the size of two full size football fields roughly 10,000m2 or 0.01km2. What does that have to do with Energy you may ask?

The UK is using over 1.6 million hectares of land in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Tanzania) to produce biofuel; that is the size of 3.2 million football fields or 16,000km2 (the size of Swaziland). If we then consider how much African land is being used by the EU to produce biofuels from agricultural products in Africa the number doubles to 3.2 million acres, or over ¾ the size of The Netherlands. This is due to the fact that the EU has to adhere to a target to produce 10 percent of transport energy from biofuels by 2020.

All this land which could be used to grow agricultural products is being used to grow feedstock for biofuels in countries where the main concern is to bring food to the table of hungry children this does not seem sensible, and is contributing the rise of food prices.  Furthermore, the production process can emit from 3 to 6 times more greenhouse gases.

These enterprises are marginally helping development in these countries and are producing little employment for the local communities.  The feed stock is grown, harvested, fuel produced and shipped out.  It is not sustainable!

Recently Kenya changed its mind on the full implementation of a 50,000 hectare jathropha project near Malindi. The Kenyan franchise of the Italian company “Nuove Iniziative Industriali”  has had to turn its full scale jatropha project into a small scale pilot after the Kenyan government  considerably reduced the 50,000 hectare site as a consequence of protests by the Kenyan environmental groups.

Growing micro-algae for food does not interfere with land use or the production of food. Whether micro-algae is produced in photo bio-reactors, ponds or basins it will not decrease food production, It could in actual fact contribute to increasing food production if the left over biomass (after oil extraction) can be utilised as fertilizer or animal feed.

Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist,  Kisumu-Kenya

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Let’s Mitigate or Suffocate!

June 1, 2011

Greenhouse gas emissions have never been so high as in the past 2 years claims the International Energy Agency (IEA). The economic recession was thought to slow emissions down; instead it has done the contrary.

30.6 Gt of CO2 were emitted into the atmosphere last year,  a rise of 1.6 Gt from 2009 data, and an increase of over 5% in two years. This was mainly from fossil fuels and if we continue emitting at this rate by 2020 we will be emitting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than initially predicted.

Of the new power plants being built about 80% of them will be running on fossil fuels by 2020, increasing the amount of emission to even higher than predicted levels.

The main concern is the increase in the mean surface temperature which was predicted to increase by 2 degrees if CO2 emissions did not fall. ‘It is becoming extremely challenging to remain below 2 degrees. The prospect is getting bleaker….” says Fatih Birol, chief economist of the IEA.

A small increase of 2 degrees on the world’s mean surface temperature will amongst other things; disturb agriculture, melt icecaps, rise sea level and cause displacement of people which will lead to wars. The Earth will suffocate

I will not stop saying this – let’s do something about it! The technologies are there to invest in Renewable Energy – wind, solar, biomass, wave power, tidal power etc.

I coin this term now – LET’S MITIGATE OR SUFFOCATE pass it on

Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist,  Kisumu-Kenya

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