Here at Energy Refuge we are big fans of algae biodiesel fuel. It just seems such a wonderful way of producing energy and there are so many advantages in the process that it really is something to be hopeful about. Of course, there are economic hurdles until mass production of algae biofuel becomes economically viable. But hey, listen to this. The American Chemical Society has released a statement saying that “chemists reported development of what they termed the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel — a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel.”
Here’s the deal: One of the problems with current methods for producing biodiesel from algae oil is the processing cost, and the New York researchers say their innovative process is at least 40 percent cheaper than that of others now being used. Supply will not be a problem: There is a limitless amount of algae growing in oceans, lakes, and rivers, throughout the world.
Another benefit from the “continuously flowing fixed-bed†method to create algae biodiesel, they add, is that there is no wastewater produced to cause pollution.
“This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil,†according to lead researcher Ben Wen, Ph.D., vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Horseheads, N.Y. “It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster.†The National Science Foundation funded Wen’s research.
A key advantage of this new process, he says, is that it uses a proprietary solid catalyst developed at his company instead of liquid catalysts used by other scientists today. First, the solid catalyst can be used over and over. Second, it allows the continuously flowing production of biodiesel, compared to the method using a liquid catalyst. That process is slower because workers need to take at least a half hour after producing each batch to create more biodiesel. They need to purify the biodiesel by neutralizing the base catalyst by adding acid. No such action is needed to treat the solid catalyst, Wen explains.
He estimates algae has an “oil-per-acre production rate 100-300 times the amount of soybeans, and offers the highest yield feedstock for biodiesel and the most promising source for mass biodiesel production to replace transportation fuel in the United States.†He says that his firm is now conducting a pilot program for the process with a production capacity of nearly 1 million gallons of algae biodiesel per year. Depending on the size of the machinery and the plant, he said it is possible that a company could produce up to 50 million gallons of algae biodiesel annually.
Wen also says that the solid catalyst continuous flow method can be adapted to mobile units so that smaller companies wouldn’t have to construct plants and the military could use the process in the field.
We really hope something big will come out of this. It would be simply wonderful.
We have to produce fuel without competing with food stocks, ie: corn, soybeans, sugarcane, etc. Algae is going to be available to everyone, everywhere, and at a conversion rate unlike anything else we have tried to date. It loves carbon dioxide, carbon-monoxide, and a host of other nasty things that get pumped into our atmosphere.
Feed it to algae, and it loves it, and in return you get pure oxygen. Such a deal. We need to get Congress to convert the mandate regarding 7% of our fuel be ethanol by 2012. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and a step in the right direction: but today we know that it takes six bushels of corn, (competing with food stock) over six gallons of water, and more energy to produce that gallon of ethanol than it generates. Now that we know this, let’s change the mandate to Biofuel, not ethanol, because ethanol makes no since with the current technology. Shift gears to what does make since, biofuel, and let’s make a difference in the moment and the future. MW
Algae has great potential and it will be brought to commercial production, but we need to get over the myth about corn, soybeans and sugar cane based ethanol competing with food.
We need to process commodities like corn, cane and beans for all the products they contain, all the foods, animal feeds, pharmaceuticals, plastics, industrial chemicals, and fuels that can be produced from them. We are way below our potential production levels for corn, cane and beans now, with all markets saturated.
We need to find more uses and markets for corn, cane and beans to allow us to take more acres out of federal subsidies and put them back in production.
Of course, algae, if grown in reasonably clean water, produces a high protein food and feed supplement as a co-product of fuel, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals. With algae fuel production, the food and feed markets will be massively saturated very quickly.
Ethanol from corn or cane and diesel from beans is cheaper, cleaner and requires less water to produce than petroleum based products.
There is no competition between food and fuel as both markets are saturated by supply and will remain so.
We need to be allowed to run up to E40 in conventional vehicles. I and many others have run E-85 in older vehicles with no great problems, perhaps a bit slower to start in cold weather. Any blend up to E40 works great.
larry hagedon