Algae Biodiesel:

answers from an Interview with OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry.

With traditional biofuels under fire for driving up food prices and wreaking environmental havoc, industrialists are stepping up research into algae as a sustainable alternative - but many obstacles remain before algae oil finds its way into our cars and planes.

EU Milestones:

Dec. 2008: EU leaders agree revised directive on renewable energy, agreeing a 10% target for 'green fuels' by 2020 (EurActiv 5/12/08).5 Dec. 2010: Deadline for all EU countries to comply with new Renewables Directive. Greenhouse gas savings from biofuels to reach minimum 35%.2012: EU countries to submit first report on national measures taken to respect the sustainability criteria for biofuels.By Dec. 2014: Commission to review greenhouse gas emission saving thresholds for biofuels, taking available technologies into account.2017: Greenhouse gas savings from biofuels to reach minimum 50%.2018: Greenhouse gas savings from biofuels to reach minimum 60%.2018: Commission to present renewable energy roadmap for post-2020 period.2020: Transport sector mandated to source 10% of its energy needs from renewable energy, including sustainable biofuels and others.

In December 2008, the EU struck a deal to satisfy 10% of its transport fuel needs from renewable sources, including biofuels, hydrogen and green electricity, as part of negotiations on its energy and climate package (EurActiv 05/12/08).

"The mandatory 10% target for transport to be achieved by all member states should […] be defined as that share of final energy consumed in transport which is to be achieved from renewable sources as a whole, and not from biofuels alone," says the final text of the EU Renewables Directive.

The new directive obliges the bloc to ensure that biofuels offer at least 35% carbon emission savings compared to fossil fuels. The figure rises to 50% as of 2017 and 60% as of 2018.

The conditionality is linked to increasing concerns about the sustainability of the so-called first-generation biofuels currently available - such as biodiesel and bioethanol - which are made from agricultural crops (including corn, sugar beet, palm oil and rapeseed).

The directive also states that the EU should take steps to promote "the development of second and third-generation biofuels in the Community and worldwide, and to strengthen agricultural research and knowledge creation in those areas".

There's much excitement about second generation biofuels made from cellulosic feedstocks and algae, be they cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, biocrude, or electricity from biomass.  There will be winners, but they may not be the technology companies.

At the 2009 Advanced Biofuels Workshop, there were two major themes: developing new feedstocks, especially algae, and the development of new pathways to take biomass into products such as biocrude, which can be used in exiting oil refineries.

The current federal Renewable Fuel Standard requires the use of 36 million gallons of biofuels, including at least 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022.  Advanced biofuels are defined as fuels other than corn-based ethanol and with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions half that of the fuel they replace.  This creates a gigantic market, so large that some industry observers doubt if it can be met.

Many of these fuels will not be ethanol, a fuel which poses problems with the current fuel transport and distribution infrastructure.  Even for cellulosic ethanol, there are several different processes that different companies are pursuing: Acid hydrolysis, Thermochemical conversion, Biochemical conversion, and Consolidated Bioprocessing, and combinations of these three used in various combinations by various companies.  

Potential products not only include fuels such as ethanol, butanol and higher-carbon alcohols, but biocrude which can be fed into existing refineries.  Other potential products include plastics, and many other products currently produced by the petroleum based energy industry.  

The bewildering array of potential pathways and products make for a very challenging investment landscape.  An investor in any company would need a lot of confidence that the company they are investing in will be able to take their chosen feedstocks to a potential salable product at lower cost than all the competitors out there.  Unsurprisingly, nearly every company feels it has the best process.

During the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly (Second Committee, Agenda item 52), a revised draft resolution on the “Use of spirulina to combat hunger and malnutrition and help achieve sustainable development” was submitted by Burundi, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Paraguay. As a follow up of this resolution, FAO was requested to prepare a draft position paper on spirulina so as to have a clearer understanding on its use and to convey FAO’s position on this.
The primary objective of this review is to assess/evaluate the existing knowledge on the culture, production and use of spirulina for human consumption and animal feeds and to prepare the draft position paper on the use of spirulina.
The review is primarily a desk study based on secondary-sources of information/data derived from published literature and unpublished reports and primary-sources of data/information collected through suitable consultations with those associated with culture/production and use of spirulina.

The cultivation of microalgae for biofuels in general and oil production in particular is not yet a commercial reality and, outside some niche, but significant, applications in wastewater treatment, still requires relatively long-term R&D, with emphasis currently more on the R rather than the D. This is due in part to the high costs of even simple algae production systems (e.g. open, unlined ponds), and in even larger part to the undeveloped nature of the required algal mass culture technology, from the selection and maintenance of algal strains in the cultivation systems, to achievement of high productivities of biomass with a high content of vegetable oils, or other biofuel precursors.

Green Algae Strategy shares the fascinating story of extraordinary innovation occurring not in deep space or in deep oceans but simply under our feet. Few people are aware that this simplest of organisms holds such great potential for desperately needed sustainable solutions for our very hungry, thirsty and needy planet.
The Green Algae Strategy engineers hope for a better life for billions of people who lack sufficient and affordable food, fresh water, fresh air, fertilizer and fuel for cooking and heating fires. The strategy includes cleaning polluted water and reforesting denuded land but those objectives are peripheral to the focus here on producing sustainable foods and biofuels. Since algae-based biofuels provide the strongest financial incentives for R&D, new food sources, pollution solutions, reforestation, medicines and other coproducts will all benefit from breakthroughs in algal production systems for biofuels.
Biotechnology applies science and engineering principles to living organisms to solve problems and to make useful products. Over the last century, many people and companies have lost fortunes trying to create commercial scale algal production. The laboratory studies are so promising, yet even modest scale field studies have typically become unmanageable, unstable and unproductive.
Advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology and chemical and mechanical engineering have changed the production landscape for algae from dismal to terrific. Green Algae Strategy lays out a roadmap for what may be the challenge of this century: solutions to sustainable food, water, pollution, reforestation and biofuels.
Algae will not be the silver bullet that singularly resolves sustainability issues. Truly renewable technologies that meet increasing world demand for food and energy will be solved by a portfolio approach that will include all renewable energy sources and biofuels. However, algae are poised to provide innovative, high value and engaging solutions.