Up to now you may have only heard of growing micro-algae for fuel at experimental large scale in either open pond systems or Photo Bio-Reactors (PBR). However, two engineers from Kansas State UniversitiyWenqiao Yuan and Zhijian Pei, are designing systems to grow and harvest algae more efficiently and successfully in the open seas. The idea is to grow algae in the ocean on very large, supporting platforms. They have been awarded over $98, 000 as a Small Grant for Exploratory Research by the National Science Foundation.
Both professors who teach industrial manufacturing and systems engeneering at Kansas State claim that land from food production should not be used to grow and harvest algae for as feedstock for fuel. Studies are being carried out in their laboratories of the feasibility to grow large scale algae production in the ocean on specifically made production systems.
Professors Pei and Yuan are currently working to identify oil-rich strains that are inclined to grow on solid surfaces, this will make it easier to grow and harvest the algae once it has been produced.
“We think there is tremendous potential for algae oil production if we grow it on big platforms and incorporate the ocean into the system,” Yuan said. Professor Yuan went on to say that half the cost of growing algae is in providing a steady supply of food and water, the growth medium. Ocean water offers those in abundance.
In their studies two species of algae have been identified, these are particularly rich in oil content and fast growing and both have shown to attach well to the stainless steel film (dimpled) used as a platform, once the algae attach to the dimpled film they grow very very well. It was also shown that the chosen algae cannot grow as well on smooth surfaces and prefer a rougher more textured surface.
Pei and Yuan think large-scale algae production done on very large support surfaces in ocean water is quite feasible. They are imagining a long, continuously rolling surface like a conveyer belt.
The system works pretty much in this way: The algae would grow on the thin-film surface submerged under the ocean. At some point, the growth surface rolls up into the sunlight and the algae dries. A harvesting knife at the end of the conveyer system scrapes off dried algae, at which point the surface submerges to become home to the next growth of oil-rich algal material.
How feasible do you think such a system would be? What about transporting the harvest from the sea to the land and processing it, the cost of processing would not change, but only the drying mechanisms would (drying out at sea and not on land).
The main advantage of such a system seems to be land use – with this system there would be no land used to grow and harvest the algae. This is not really an issue with algae growth anyway as marginal and desert land is mainly used. Only if costs of production and investment are lower than open-pond or PBR’s systems then this could be a viable option.
Please leave any comments you may have below.
Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome-Italy
The US Navy has awarded a contract for 1500 gallons of algae jet fuel to Solazyme. This is in addition to previous order of 20,000 gallons which was used for testing and certification. Solazyme will produce 1,500 of algae derived renewable F-76 navy distillate fuel to be used by navy ships of the US Navy.
Solazyme is an algae company in South San Francisco. It produces renewable clean fuels, chemicals and food products from algal technology. The CEO, Jonathan Wolfson, said that since their production of the world’s first algae derived jet fuel in September 2008, they have been focusing their research on developing a process to commercialise production and cut costs.
Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome-Italy
Dr. Gyungsoo Kim, CEO of Biolsystems Co Ltd (Seoul) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Governor of Bohol (Philippines) Erico Aumentado regarding a bioethanol project.
Accoding to the the MoU, the province of Bohol would give Biolsystems Co Ltd:
3 ha of land for aquaculture testing
500 ha to seedling plantations and at least
25,000-100,000 ha to aquaculture property.
Biolsystems Co Ltd would be given this over a 50 year period which may then extend for a further 25 years.
The aquaculture plantation will be more of a community than an aquaculture farm and 60 ha of the total land will be made available for housing, the farm will also provide over 300 jobs for ethanol extraction with a total investment of US $100 million. Training will also be provided to locals to increase awareness and to teach the techniques of farming and drying of algae.
Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome-Italy
Please find attached a paper written by a friend and ex-colleague, it is not a paper on algae or fish waste but one on Renewable Energy, this guest posting was written by Gustavo Best.
Gustavo Best is an energy expert and has worked in the energy sector for over 30 years. After a long and exciting career in the United Nations, he retired in October 2007 and since then has been assisting the Mexican Bioenergy Network, consulting for the Mexican and Brazilian Governments as well as participating in high level meetings such as the Sustainable Biofuels Consensus and moderating an FAO-Ministerial Meeting on Bioenergy for Asia and the Pacific.
Gustavo tutors at various Universities and splits his time between Mexico his homeland and the Umbrian hills of Italy.
Gustavo Best is interested and available for work on energy issues, and can be reached atbestgustavo@hotmail.com
Recently I was asked to write a paper on the subject of Aquatic Biofuels for my University’s internal Newspaper (Link Campus – University of Malta). I was then asked to re-write the paper in Italian as well. Therefore I have attached both for your ease and convenience. The paper talks a little about the origins of algae and why I feel there is so much potential in growing algae for fuel and energy. It also includes some news about fish waste for biodiesel and the integrated system, Integrated Aquaculture Energy System (IAES).
The state of Massachusetts has banned any biofuel which is not made from waste feedstocks. This cuts out feedstocks like algae, cyanobacteria, jatropha, miscanthus and switchgrass. This means that basically all but restaurant oils are banned from producing oil.
The state Department of Energy Resources in coordination with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs announced that the Biofuels Mandate will begin July 1, 2010, and that mandated volumes would be waived in for the first year, however “Early Action Credit” will be provided for all gallons of qualified advanced biofuels, which will be applied to 2nd- year mandate obligations.
The DOER and MassDep will continue however to monitor Federal and Californian rules and protocols on non-waste feedstocks biofuels and will adopt such protocols as they become available.
The DOER went onto say that until further notice the Department will only accept applications for biofuels derived from feedstock which, as defined and provided in the statute, are exempt from a detailed greenhouse gas reduction analysis, provided a preliminary analysis based on both CARB and EPA methodologies indicate such waste feedstocks will yield the 50% greenhouse gas reduction threshold in the Massachusetts law.”
This is completely ridiculous. It makes no sense.
Algae consumes one of the most important of Greenhouse Gases (CO2), it actually sucks it up, why this decision, does anyone know the answer? Please click here to see the state order
Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome-Italy
Here is finally my paper on fish waste to biodiesel. It has taken me a little while to get this paper out, but it is finally here. It will be part of my dissertation on Aquatic Biofuels – New Options for Bioenergy.
Your feedback on the paper would be greatly appreciated, so would any further information you have on the topic
Click here to download the word document (3.8 Mb) or download the pdf version here fishwaste-biodiesel
Tony Piccolo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome-Italy
Fish industry waste has been used for fuel production for many years, however the fish is not been caught for energy purposes but for food and other products. The waste or by-product as it is commonly referred to, that is offal, heads, bones etc are crushed and the liquid is separated from the solid therefore separating the fishmeal from the fish oil.
Extracting oil or any other form of energy from the waste of the fishing industry is a fairly sustainable procedure, things get a little tricky however if we start fishing for fuel. Issues of sustainability, ecological footprint and biodiversity come into mind just to mention a few. The Greenland shark, as mentioned in the article on fis.com is native to the cold Arctic waters and is one of the biggest species of sharks, it can be compared to the great white shark.
These sharks are often caught in fishing nets and die, the shark meat together with macro-algae and household wastewater could “serve as biomass for biofuel production.” says Mr. Joergensen, in charge of the pilot project based in the Uummannaq village in northwestern Greenland.
The Arctic Technology Centre (ARTEK) in Sisimiut in western Greenland, is researching and experimenting with ways of using the animal’s oily flesh to produce biogas out of fishing industry waste.
As long as we don’t start fishing sharks for fuel then this is a good thing.
Please reply to this thread if you have any comments
Tony Picclo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome – Italy
There is a strong potential to grow algae for fuel in the Mediterranean Region particularly in Northern Africa. The presentation above highlights the ways algae can be harvested for oil/fuel and the potential for the entire Mediterranean Region.
The presentation was given by me at the 1st EMUNI ReS (Research Souk) conference in Portoroz, Slovenia and you can download a copy of the presentation here.
Kindly leave your comments and suggestions below.an
Tony Picclo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome – Italy
Solix Biofuels have added another investor to their already long list of investors. The Chinese company, Shanghai Alliance Investment has recently announced a Series A capital funding for $16.8 million to Solix. The proceeds will be used to finance construction and commencement of operations at the company’s Coyote Gulch Demonstration Facility, which will be operational by late summer 2009. Dr. Bryan Willson COO of Solix, said that the company is currently at around 2500 gallons per acre, and said that the company is on track to achieve crost parity with $80 oil in 3-4 years.
The company has launched a third-generation of its bioreactors, a 20-meter system that integartes CO2 delivery and increase surface area. The system is water-supported to reduce cost. A fourth generation of photobioreactors is now under development. Willson said at the recent Biofuels: Science and Innovation conference in San Francisco that the problem with contamination of open-pond algae systems had not, in his opinion, been yet overcome.
Open ponds however, still seem the only real option for developing countries due to their lower cost. Until the technology for PBR’s is perfected and costs lowered photo bio-reactors are far from reality in developing countries.
What is your opinion? Please leave your suggestions or ideas below.
Tony Picclo – Aquatic Biofuels Specialist, Rome – Italy
I am Tony Piccolo, aquatic biofuel specialist. Passionate about renewable energy, I use my natural ability to build relationships and partnerships to build global communities that explore and promote the sustainable use of aquatic biofuels in the developing world.
E-MAIL ME MY CV
Up to now you may have only heard of growing micro-algae for fuel at experimental large scale in either open pond systems or Photo Bio-Reactors (PBR). However, two engineers from Kansas State Universitiy Wenqiao Yuan and Zhijian Pei, are designing systems to grow and harvest algae more efficiently and successfully in the open seas. The idea is to grow algae in the ocean on very large, supporting platforms. They have been awarded over $98, 000 as a Small Grant for Exploratory Research by the National Science Foundation.
Posted by Tony Piccolo - Aquatic Biofuel Specialist 
Posted by Tony Piccolo - Aquatic Biofuel Specialist 
Posted by Tony Piccolo - Aquatic Biofuel Specialist 
Aquatic Biofuel Specialist
