Block’s Indicator of Sustainable Growth

by Ray Block

Although a commercial outcome of producing algae at comparable prices to oil is five to 10 years away, there is a great volume of research proceeding at a fast clip.

For fans of algae as a future transportation fuel, it is highly significant that the longest ranking researcher of algae, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has returned to  its long standing algae research.  

NREL, a lab of the US Department of Energy, conducted research between    1978 and 1996  on more than 300o potential  strains of micro algae, mostly diatoms and green algae in its aquatic species program.

This time around, the algae research by NREL to greatly increase productivity is in the form of a cooperative R&D agreement with Chevron, which will use the resulting oil as a feedstock for a renewable fuel.  

As the blog, Permaculture Activist has pointed out, compared to oil palm long considered to be the most productive crop in  oil volume produced per acre per year at 635 gallons, it is drawfed by micro algae. Under the right growing conditions, the algae volume can be up to 5,000 gallons per acre.

Micro algae grown in salty pond conditions  doesn’t compete with traditional crops, such as corn grown on prime land, as only marginal land is used. 

With up to 57 start ups in algae, Greentech Media (August 18  2009) points to two methods for producing algae, one in open ponds, the other in closed ponds or photo-bioreactors (PBR).

Sapphire Energy, with about $100 million in venture capital, expects to produce 1 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel by 2011, 100 million gallons by 2018, and 1 billion gallons by 2020 uses open ponds in New Mexico. 

Similarly, the new alliance of Exxon Mobil, the world’s biggest oil company with the start up Synthetic Genomics (SGI), whereby the oil company is investing $600 million on the algae project, half internally and the balance in the start up will also use open ponds.

Most of the start up researchers are growing algae using photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into lipids, or oil. However,  Solazyme with about $76 million in capital, is using fermentation for feeding the algae sugars in heated sealed stainless steel tanks.

Another algae start up Aurora Biofuels, says it has identified and optimised a genetic pathway in a species of wild algae, that “turbocharges” the growth and breeding cycle of the single celled algae. Greentech Media (August 18 2009) says it will be able to double oil production. “This gets us to 5,000 gallons per acre a year, which we think is economically viable.”

Solazyme has been selected to provide 1,500 gallons of algae derived jet fuel for testing and certification by the US Navy. The company has also received a $789,697 biosynthetic transportation fuel grant by the California Energy Commission to develop clean fuel from local cellulosic feedstocks.