Could carbon-eating algae change how we produce liquid fuels by 2020? Can we ‘grow’ energy rather than pull it out of the ground? A British energy R&D firm believes the answer is yes.
UK-based Carbon Trust, which works to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy, has launched the Algae Biofuels Challenge with an ambitious mission: to commercialize the use of algae biofuel as an alternative to fossil based oil by 2020.
Carbon Trust’s multi-million pound investment will be led through its Advanced Bioenergy Accelerator and focused on microalgae that can be cultivated and manipulated to produce high yields of oil using carbon-rich feedstocks.
This effort is another signal that the long-term future of bioenergy is more likely to tap the power of microbes (algae/bacteria) rather than plant based resources like corn, soy and palm oil.
Carbon Trust’s initial forecasts suggest that algae-based biofuels could replace over 70 billion litres of fossil derived fuels used worldwide annually in road transport and aviation by 2030 (equivalent to 12% of annual global jet fuel consumption or 6% of road transport diesel). This would equate to an annual carbon saving of over 160 million tonnes of CO2 globally and a market value of over £15 billion.
Algae fuels? A Future inspired by the Past
The Industrial Revolution has been based on capturing energy released from breaking chemical bonds of carbon and hydrogen. We blew up coal’s chemical bonds to for steam engines, then gasoline inside internal combustion engines and repurposed coal for large centralized electric power plants. Now the 21st century could be partly shaped by closing that carbon-hydrogen loop using molecular systems within biology?
Ironically this future vision of energy is inspired by the past! Coal is ancient biomass- likely ferns. And oil is likely ancient microbes that lived in shallow oceans. Both are made of complex chains of hydrogen and carbon assembled by Mother Nature’s molecular machines of algae and bacteria. As long as chemical bonds drive the economy, we need to figure out a way to keep carbon in the energy loop by binding it with hydrogen, not oxygen. This UK algae challenge is an important step in closing that cycle in the 21st Century.
A research group led by Montana State University Professor Gary Strobel has found a fungus (Gliocladium roseum) inside a Patagonia rainforest that produces hydrocarbon chains similar to diesel fuel or “myco-diesel”.
Why is this important?
Our world is powered by capturing the energy released from carbon-hydrogen chains from wood, coal, oil and natural gas. This chemical energy was formed by ancient biological processes via plants, algae and bacteria. But what if fungi could do the same thing?
If we expect to move beyond an extraction economy that taps ancient bio energy via coal and petroleum, we need to find substitute sources of energy producing systems. Rather than look at energy conversion via plants (e.g. corn), researchers are looking at more ancient forms of life to find the most efficient metabolic systems involved in energy conversion.
We have featured stories on the push towards cellulosic ethanol and algae biofuel startups, and now we can add fungus to that list of potential bio energy substitutes to traditional hydrocarbons.
When can I put myco-diesel in my vehicle?
There is still a very long way to go before we can develop energy roadmaps and forecasts for fungi derived fuels. For now, smart money is on cellulosic and algae derived biofuels. This is an important discovery, but we have no applied evidence that it could easily scale to produce large amounts of usable forms of liquid fuels at a low cost. But this is an important first step and a significant discovery around the fundamentals of bioenergy!
A new industry study by Emerging Markets Online describes a turning point for the algae derived biofuels sector as it enters the first stage of commercial development.
So let's hold back on the 'hype' and take a solid look at how algae biofuels might evolve in the years ahead!
The forthcoming "Algae 2020" [PDF] study measures over $300 million (€233 million) in algae investments through November 2008 "including projects, initiatives and participation from Bill Gates, The Rockefellers, DoE, BP, Chevron and the UK’s Carbon Trust."
The report notes significant trends related to public-private investments, growing investments in private startups, and engineering efforts related to the first wave of pilot and commercial facilities.
The study includes detailed analysis on: algae production methods, species selection, algae biofuel applications, CO2 selection methods, as well as updates on technical aspects of algae harvesting and extraction.
Which companies might shape the future of energy? How about alternative energy start ups that look to the past on ways to ‘grow energy’ using carbon as a feedstock.
The World’s Energy Resources are based on Biology
Our modern world is powered by the energy released from breaking chemical bonds of carbon and hydrogen that were assembled by ancient plants and microbes. Today we blow up coal inside large power plants to produce electricity, and combust oil inside vehicles. Coal is ancient plant material, oil is ancient microbes that lived in shallow oceans.
Rather than extract these ancient forms of bioenergy, it is possible to ‘grow’ energy above ground by tapping the power of algae and bacteria that use sunlight to bind carbon (from air/coal plants) with hydrogen from water.
Leading Algae startups ride beginning wave of hype cycle
In recent months the idea of plant-based biofuels (corn, soy) has been overshadowed by something more promising- algae. Algae ‘eat’ carbon to produce liquid biofuels that have the same complex carbon-hydrogen chains found inside the Earth. They can do so quickly and in enormous volumes (30-50x more than plant based per acre/hectare) We must now overcome the technical challenges of scaling up algae production facilities to make these biofuels and biomaterial feedstocks cost competitive with traditional hydrocarbons.
We are now starting to see more extensive media coverage as investors and governments pour hundreds of millions of dollars into algae biofuel startups.
Here is the most comprehensive list of algae biofuel companies on the web:
What happened?
Another algae biofuels company has raised money to build a next generation biofuel plant that consumes carbon and creates usuable biofuels.
Colorado-based Solix Biofuelsannounced that it has raised $10.5 million in its first round of outside funding, and has reached an agreement with investors for an additional commitment of $5
million, to be used to build an algae biofuel facility near Durango, Colorado.
The biofuel plant will be located on a ten-acre site on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Southwest Colorado. It will be built in two phases, with the first to be completed in 12 to 18 months and consisting of four acres of photo-bioreactors for growing algae, and one acre for a lab facility. Upon completion of the first phase, Solix will build an additional five-acre expansion that will allow the pilot facility to produce at commercial scale.
Why is this important to the future of energy?
Tapping the power of biology to ‘eat’ carbon and produce commercial grade fuels could emerge as a game changing platform for carbon emissions and energy production in the next decade. But first, algae startups like Solix must demonstrate scalable bioreactor plants and work out the kinks associated with algae fuel production (e.g. lighting, nutrients, impurities, growth rates).
What to watch for?
There are a number of leading indicators to monitor: capital investments, performance claims of specific algae species, and further advances in the physical engineering systems related to high volume algae production.
Seeing a Future Beyond the Hype for Algae Bioenergy 'Algae' is often referred to as a 'Next Big Thing' category technology by cleantech investors and bio-industrialists. But I've found that most people have no real understanding of what algae 'is' or 'isn't' as a new energy solution.
I've posted six videos that should give that quick overview. Some videos contain statements that I find to be short-sighted or overly focused on near-term challenges. But overall, they describe the potential of algae bioenergy solutions in a very accessible way. Enjoy!
- Algae are 'original oil producers' on Earth (Video #1) - petroleum is the result of ancient sea-living microbes that arranged carbon and hydrogen into complex chains that we blow up for energy.
- Algae grow quickly using carbon dioxide (via gas, or biomass waste), light and water as their fuel source. (Video #3) Their byproduct? High energy content hydro-carbon chains.
- Algae produce tremendous yields (Est 10,000-30,000 gallons/acre/year), compared to plant based biofuels (Corn at 20/year; Palm at 800) (Video #4)
Video #1 - MIT's Algae biophotoreactor Scientific America produced show with Alan Alda. The program was focused on hydrogen (e.g. electricity) with a special segment on algae-to-hydrogen production.
A research group led by Montana State University Professor 
A new 
What happened?