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Algae – the energy solution?Algae the energy solution?Presentation by Sebastian Olényi – ESBS, may 2009
The energy challengegy g Oil production runs out out
Climate warms due to CO2to CO2
We need more energyenergy
Alternative sources d dare needed
Algae advantagesg g ‘Food vs. fuel’ becomes food and fuelfood and fuel
normal crops have only a 1% photosynthetic effiency, 1% photosynthetic effiency, algae at least 5% (presumably up to 14% in optimum conditions)
algae have a low land f i ki i ld f footprint, making yields of biomass 15times higher than for normal cropsthan for normal crops
can use saline water
The biofuel feedstock
Vast amount of possibilitiesp
Requirements for an algae startupq g p• Top algae scientists• Algae production experienceg p p• Structured Programs• Strain selection• Cultivation development• Extraction• Scale up• Scale‐up• Product Development• Strong partnerg p
• Capacity for Technology Risk• Professional execution• Professional culture Professional culture
Example processp p
The next stepsp• Pilot facility• CO2 CO2
• Access• Competence to operate
• Sales contracts• Vegetable Oil• Protein/Carbohydrates Protein/Carbohydrates
• produce ethanol, biodiesel, milk, animal feed and compost fertilizerp
• Commercial Plant design• Commercial roll out plan
Challengesg Overall challenge is to develop low‐cost high‐productivity
d i l ( h ) production systems at scale (e.g. 1000 hectares): Open ponds account for > 90% current worldwide
d i b i i f bi f lproduction, but > 10 times too expensive for biofuels Photobioreactors are excellent for high‐value products, but
i i f bi f l>> 100 times too expensive for biofuels Technical challenges are mostly upstream ‐ related to algae biology & transition from lab to outdoors
Lessons LearnedLessons Learned
Many microalgae can accumulate neutral lipidsAll l d l f bi All algae produce lots of biomass
GMO‐engineering of algae is difficult Diatoms and greens most promising No perfect strain for all climates, water types
Harvesting algal blooms from oceansg g not energetically or cost effective sea water is oligotrophic have to add nutrients like iron
low cell densities Exception coastal lagoons, possible contained environment
E.g. Commerically Spirulina from Lake Texcoco and cyanobacterialblooms in Oregon ‐ again limited
Open‐pond approachp p pp Biomass fast, easy and cheapC i i Contamination
Density Harvesting
Bioreactor‐approachpp GMO‐containmentB f ld i Better for cold regions
Controlled environment Lipid induction Expensive
So Are Microalgae a RealisticSo Are Microalgae a RealisticSource of Biofuels?Source of Biofuels? YesB ill l ki i h b i R&D k h But we are still lacking in the basic R&D to make them viableI ill k i d It will take time and money
Our project?p j
Biology as long as possible: Biodiesel
Ability to sustain production of high oil yielding microalgae strainshigh‐oil‐yielding microalgae strains
Ability to extract the oil from the algaealgae
Capability of converting of microalgal oil into Biodieselmicroalgal oil into Biodiesel
Identifying the high‐yielding i l l t imicroalgal strains
Identifying the most optimal th d t lti t thmethods to cultivate them
Carbon capturingp g
R&D‐head Jean‐Yves Malpote is in conseil d‘administration Local strains are best‐fitted Wastewater usage?
Project suggestionj gg Harvest and identify local strains from StrasbourgG d l h f bi d i li id Grow and select them for biomass‐production or lipid productionT Try wastewater‐treatment
Test genetical engineering for lipid‐content enrichment