According to Texas A&M scientist Timothy Devarenne, making biofuel from algae is nothing new. He says nature has used green algae to produce hydrocarbon oil for hundreds of millions of years, and “Oils from the green algae Botryococcus braunii can be readily detected in petroleum deposits and coal deposits suggesting that B. braunii has been a contributor to developing these deposits and may be the major contributor.” [TAMU]
Like most green algae, B. braunii is capable of producing great amounts of hydrocarbon oils with very little input of raw materials. But scientists believe B. braunii shows particular promise not only because it produces a lot of oil, but also because of the type of oil it produces. While many high-oil-producing algae create vegetable-type oils, the oils from B. braunii – botryococcenes – are similar to petroleum, and the fuels derived from the hydrocarbons are chemically identical to gasoline, diesel and kerosene.
Vats of farmed microalgae. (Photo: Mdp.utn.edu.ar)
A team of researchers at the National Technological University of Mar del Plata (UTN) is working on a research project to produce biodiesel from marine microalgae, with the aim of developing economically viable and environmentally sustainable processes.
The group already designed a low-cost production module of microalgae, from where it seeks to limit consumed energy to under 20 per cent of the energy produced.
"A fundamental factor of this project centres on the replacement of high-cost raw materials, like carbon dioxide and cultivation items, with the availing of environmental liabilities like industrial emissions and sewage mud,” the university informed.
This story reports one group of researchers in Argentina are very close to commercial production of biodiesel from sea algae, something that does not compete with the human need for fresh water and food. Are American researchers going to get scooped?
Julie Peck-Dabling and Dallas Hanks stand Monday in the middle of a field where a biofuel feedstock pilot project will take place in Salt Lake City. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The 200-acre chunk of land southwest of the airport is barren save for wisps of grass and dried-out thistle. And due to recent snow, it's boggy, too.
But give it some attention, and around July it will burst with bright oranges, yellows and reds as soon-to-be-planted safflower blooms. Soon after, the plants' seeds will become fuel to power local government fleets hungry for homegrown biodiesel.
Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City Public Utilities, the South Davis Sewer District, Utah State University and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all are lending a hand for a pilot project to showcase the use of this publicly owned land to grow the feedstock for biodiesel fuel.
And it's a recycling project, as well. Biosolids generated by the wastewater treatment process will be spread over the land to fertilize the drought-tolerant safflower.
Examined at a fundamental level, the universe seems to begin in lofty abstractions that lead to prosaic realities. Thus mathematics encompasses physics, physics encompasses chemistry, chemistry encompasses biology, and it all leads to… well, us.
But then it gets very abstract again as we move from us to our very non-physical creations such as economics and government policy.
Maybe those abstractions get in our way sometimes. Consider for example that millions, indeed billions, are being invested in ethanol production in the U.S., and biodiesel is getting its fair share as well. Apparently some of what’s been driving the investment is those pesky abstractions, such as policy, and maybe even mere convention.
No doubt, ethanol and biodiesel both have their place. My purpose is not to argue that there is no need to invest in these alternatives, but rather to suggest that if we think they are worth that much investment, we may want to take another look at biogas.