As we all know that the amount of fossil fuels used is increasing constantly, the people are shifting more towards biofuels and other renewable sources. There are many sources which are out there in the world through which these biofuels are being made up. The sources include corn, cellulose i.e. plant material, algae, wood, soybean and sunflower. The main goal is to produce these biofuels which are cheaper than the regular gas available in the market and also to produce less green house gases which are emitted by the vehicles. Our study includes the environmental issues related with the use of these biofuels produced from various sources and the cost effectiveness related with them and may be algae could be the answer .

Why algae is used for bio fuels ?

Its potential as a fuel is so promising: it’s a non-food crop, removes large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, and grows fast.

Algae has a relatively high energy density compared to soybeans, which means more soy on more land needs to be planted for the same amount of fuel yield.

“What’s happening is there has been more focus recently on the food-versus-fuel debate, more focus on the price of feedstock, and more understanding that using an agricultural-based crop as a fuel is not sustainable.

Microalgae contain lipids and fatty acids as membrane components, storage products, metabolites and sources of energy. Algal strains, diatoms, and cyanobacteria (catagorised collectively as “Microalgae”) have been found to contain proportionally high levels of lipids (over 30%). These microalgal strains with high oil, or lipid content are of great interest in the search for a sustainable feedstock for the production of biodisel. Algae contain anywhere between 2% and 40% of lipids/oils by weight.

Yield of Various Plant Oils

Crop Oil in Liters per hectare

Castor 1413

Sunflower 952

Safflower 779

Palm 5950

Soy 446

Coconut 2689

Algae 100000 (estimated)

Algae has hence grown for the following main reasons:

Higher yield and hence – hopefully – lower cost.

Algae can grow practically in every place where there is enough sunshine

The biodiesel production from algae also has the beneficial by-product of reducing carbon and Nox Emissions from power plants, if the algae are grown using exhausts from the power plants.

Additional information: go to www.oilgae.com

Sources and production

Which is the best species of algae for biodiesel?

According to the research undertaken by NREL of USA – called the Aquatic Species Program suggested that there is no one strain or species of algae that can be said to be the best in terms of oil yield for biodisel. However they did conclude that the diatoms and secondly green algae were the most promising. Many species of algae are currently being studied for their use in biodisel production ,some of the species being : Euglena gracilis, Tetraselmis chui, Tetraselmis chui, Spirulina species, etc.

Production

In order to produce biodiesel  from algae on a large-scale, the following conditions need to be met, logically speaking:

• Ability to sustainably produce high-oil-yielding algae strains on a large-scale
• Ability to extract the oil from the algae on a large scale
• Capability for large-scale conversion of algal oil into bio diesel.

The first two aspects are specific to algae, while the third is a generic aspect for biodiesel production from all plant oils.

The NREL’s Aquatic species program (ASP) used open ponds for its experiments and has also favoured the same for the future primarily owing to its economic value. However, many companies today are trying out with closed pond systems and in many cases, with the much more expensive photobioreactors.

Cultivation in a photobioreactor

Algae can also be grown in a photobioreactor (PBR). A PBR is a Bioreactor which incorporates some type of light source. Virtually any translucent container could be called a PBR, however the term is more commonly used to define a closed system, as opposed to an open tank or pond.
It allows more species to be grown, it allows the species that are being grown to stay dominant, and it extends the growing season, only slightly if unheated, and if heated it can produce year round. Because PBR systems are closed, all essential nutrients must be introduced into the system to allow algae to grow and be cultivated.

Algal culture systems can be illuminated by artificial light, solar light or by both. Naturally illuminated algal cultures systems with large illumination surface areas include open ponds, flat-plate, horizontal/serpentine tubular airlift, and inclined tubular photobioreactors .Generally, laboratory-scale photobioreactors are artificially illuminated (either internally or externally) using fluorescent lamps or other light distributors. Some of these photobioreactors include bubble column , airlift column, stirred-tank, helical tubular, conical, torus, and seaweedtype photobioreactors.

For different types of photobioreactores refer :http://www.oilgae.com/algae/cult/pbr/typ/typ.html

Video regarding algae power : watch?v=yij_RtRIkAk&feature=quicklist

Reasons for Iowa to implement this:

So, why should Iowa produce algae biofuels? Besides the cost and environmental benefits, the high oil content in these biofuels allows it to flourish in the cold conditions. Therefore, Iowa’s climate is an advantage for algae-based systems because it requires less energy to heat water to the temperature needed by growing algae than to cool it in hot southern climates.

The State of Iowa is making a major investment to grow algae for biofuel at a southwest Iowa ethanol plant.

The 18-member Iowa Power Fund Board approved the $2,085,000 grant this week to assist in the commercialization of algae production technology.

The effort is a joint venture of four companies based in Nebraska, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Ireland.

Kevin Lynch, the chief executive of BioProcessAlgae, says the grant will fund an algae production project at an ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. The company will test its photobioreactor design there.

Officials expect that if the project is commercially viable, the money will be paid back. Now there’s a REAL stimulus package.

The critical question is the time line,it should be soon out in the next 5-10yrs for full fledged production to begin.

http://domesticfuel.com

Obstacles to overcome

The Algae Biofuels World Summit concluded in San Francisco. The event was geared to active participants in the industry, and I had the opportunity to attend Monday’s all day pre-conference briefing highlighting key players in government, research, and business all pursuing the goal of scaling algal biofuels to a commercial enterprise level.

It is clear that algae is “hot” – but as is often the case with hot, there is no shortage of hype. A recurring theme throughout the day was the common mis-percepton of algae biofuel as “cheap and easy” and a one-size-fits-all solution to the world’s fuel energy needs.

Not so fast.

Visit :http://gas2.org/2009/03/26/algae-biofuels-world-summit-wraps-up-in-san-francisco/ for further inforamtion regarding the summit .

Alage promises hope for the future of biofuels .It has high potential to be the future of biofuels.But it has to be brought to large scale production form pilot study in order to reape its benefits.This would save the use of food crops for biodiesel production and also conserve fossil fuels.

Here are some of the companies that are starting algae biofuels in the near future :

Companies

Additional information and refrences

http://www.gazetteonline.com

http://gas2.org/category/biofuels/algae

http://www.electricitybook.com/algae-biodiesel-2/index.php

http://www.petroalgae.com/

www.Sciencedaily.com

http://earth2tech.com/2008/03/27/15-algae-startups-bringing-pond-scum-to-fuel-tanks/

Reality of corn and soya based fuels:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r1552355771656v0/fulltext.pdf