Biodiesel Algae Could Be the Next Big Fuel Source

By Liz Micik
Biodiesel is made from a number of different source oils. Animal fats and waste vegetable oils from restaurants may be the most common image that comes to mind. There is no doubt that this portion of the overall biodiesel production market is growing rapidly. A lot of biodiesel is coming out of homemade biodiesel kits refined by home brewers, but the very individual nature of the production makes it impossible to count.

But it is safe to say that whatever that amount is, it is still dwarfed by production from plant sources destined for processing in commercial plants that provide the fuel primarily for large fleet and government users. Brazil leads the world in biodiesel production from sugar cane, while in the US most biodiesel production is from soybeans and corn.

Today's first generation biodiesel fuels are not projected to replace more than 10-30% of the world's oil supply. Yet they are hotly debated with many anticipating and fearing the disruption in food production and prices that may be seen if they reach those levels.

Proponents argue that these crops will provide both food and fuel, and that more land for fuel crops can be found. One suggestion showed a projected yield equivalent to today's total production just by utilizing the median strips of US highways for fuel crops.

Opponents cite current rising food prices that can be tied back to rising fuel prices and claim the connection is already too strong. To take crops out of food production and shift them to fuel production would only fuel a faster and higher spiraling of prices for both food and fuel.

So new fuel sources are desperately being sought. This second generation of biofuel candidates includes algae. Algae is the world's fastest growing organism and fat is half its composition, making it an ideal candidate.

However, there are numerous stumbling blocks to be overcome in the actual production end. One company, Sapphire Energy, recently announced that they have secured financing of more than $100 million dollars to figure out how and where to grow the mass quantities needed for production and how to distribute it.

Algae is one of the most efficient organisms on earth in terms of using the sun, far outstripping sugar cane or corn. That's led some to suggest the southwestern US desert as an ideal place to raise biodiesel algae because the abundant sunshine and lack of any other commercial uses for the area. However, distribution and transportation from desert algae farms to dense eastern cities could keep the price of production too high to ever make it a profitable venture.

That's just one of the hurdles to be overcome before biodiesel algae is listed as an official fuel. Just what algae strains grow best, and yield the most under commercial conditions is unknown. What's the best way to recover and refine the lipids (fats) also remains to be tested.

It's far more likely that in the near term at least, the most successful growers and refiners of biodiesel algae will be the small group or individual growers. Students at a school in Chicago IL have grown and powered their own vehicle in a 20 mile road test using algae, while large companies like Sapphire are still defining their research and production testing goals in the area.

A home brewer isn't faced with the same challenges as a large commercial brewer. Efficiencies of scale are not his problem. Mastering and refining step-by-step production activities until they become cost effective is his only concern. And costs on the home brewer scale are also extremely reasonable as they are with all home biodiesel production once you get past the initial equipment outlays.

In this case, the home brewer may turn out to hold the key to understanding and growing this crucial second generation...and profiting from it the most.


Liz Micik is a 28 year marketing veteran and freelance writer. At MakeBiodieselKits.com she shares stories and videos of real people and small companies around the globe who have built their own biodiesel kits and refining practices as well as covering the major news of this emerging industry. She invites you to share your story, or use the stories of others and the resources the site provides to build your own alternative fuel success story.

Algae - Is It an Economically Viable Biofuel?

By Judith Ceja

As the world becomes more environmentally aware, everyone is moving towards greener technologies. In an attempt to promote algae research, The House of Representatives introduced a bill to promote investment tax credits for algae-based biorefineries. The need for long-term fuel resources and less dependence on crude oil is behind the drive to develop viable biofuels. This has led many people to take a second look at algae as a potential economically feasible biofuel.

Even large corporations such as Ford Motor Company and ExxonMobil are looking forward and have commissioned research projects to look for viable renewable energy sources. Ford Motor Company is working with scientists at Wayne University to research algae as a potential automotive fuel alternative. In fact, Ford has made the use of alternative fuel sources for future Ford vehicles a long-term business objective for the company.

Additionally, ExxonMobil, in conjunction with Synthetics Genomics, Inc., has established an actual greenhouse for their research on the feasibility of algae as a potential biofuel. They consider this a tremendous step in the right direction because it will most closely resemble the production of algae in its natural environment.

The military, realizing that a need for long-term alternative fuels may be a matter of national security in the future, has also been experimenting with algae as an alternative fuel. This year the United States Navy successfully tested diesel fuel made from algae on a 49 foot long command boat. The fuel was a 50/50 mixture of algae-derived biodiesel and diesel fuel. The Navy's interest in biofuels goes beyond its ships. It is also looking into biofuels which can power jet engines.

There are some major advantages to developing algae as an alternative fuel. One big advantage is that algae grow naturally on land and in water that cannot be used for other purposes such as plant or food production. Another advantage is the rate at which algae can be produced. Algae can be grown all year unlike other sources such as soy beans or corn which can only produce one crop per year. This is not the first time algae has been looked at as an alternative fuel source. However, the biggest stumbling block has been the tremendous cost of producing algae-based fuel on a commercial scale.

Montana State University (MSU) may be on its way to providing a solution. This summer, a MSU grad student named Rob Gardner began looking at experiments done 20 years earlier. He believed that adding baking soda was the key to accelerating the rate of algae growth. Although baking soda had been used in previous experiments to no avail, Gardner made a tremendous breakthrough. He discovered the exact time to add baking soda during the algae growth process proved critical. MSU is in the process of filing a patent on their discovery. This may be a major step towards making algae an economically feasible biofuel.

Introduction

Hello Dear Readers;

Welcome to my blog.

Extracting 'Green Crude Oil' from Blue-Green Algae

This is a campaign for sustainable living and possible job creation in the green energy industries that is over taking the entire globe in recent times. The major campaign of this blog is to help sensitize the audience how to generate a cheap and clean power for their homes, running their cars, work places, etc.

In this blog, you will be surprised of the information you will get; a lot of information that has eluded you either intentionally or not. If you look around the world, crude oil is not only destroying our environment, it is also destroying our political system, civilizations and responsible for the wars around the world. Although it has a lot of benefit and has solved many untold challenges; but at what cost?

A lot of civilizations are no more because of crude oil, countries in Africa are in war currently due to money derived from crude oil, cities and villages are in acrimony because of oil. Latest war weapons are no longer designed for the security of a nation but to safe-guard oil wells - what a great problem! Money from oil are used to build nuclear weapons and other forms of harmful substance that will destroy our environment.

Permit me to say that we have discovered a cheaper means producing crude even from our homes and farms in a very cheap way. With this technology, every home in the world is a potential oil well and cheap energy generator. It is important to note that the same substance you eat can be used to create this crude; more so, we can alter the feed or element for growing this substance to produce more crude.

Green crude is the cheapest form of energy - and as the world is increasing in population; the demand for energy increases, making it very necessary for us to bring to light the importance green energy. Our atmosphere stand the risk of loosing its Ozone layer everyday, and the fear for global warming is on the increase. With the pace at which the population is increasing, if nothing is done to drop our consumption of fossil fuel, not only will the global economy be destroyed due to incessant increase cost of oil, CO2 emission will destroy our atmosphere.

Finally my friends, you will be learning the various form of creating a cheaper energy for your consumption, how to set-up an income stream from it and more importantly, you will learn how produce green crude from your home that is of international repute and how to supply it to major oil companies for refining.

See you soon.