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Algae are a group of marine plant-like organisms which are currently grown commercially for use in health supplements, animal feed, and cosmetics. Due to high oil content, algae hold great potential for use in biofuels. There are thousands of strains of algae, each with unique properties of growth rate and lipid (oil) content- key to biofuels production.
Algae & Renewable Energy
- Lab and pilot-project scale biodiesel, ethanol and jet fuel feedstock with potential oil yields per acre that are orders of magnitude higher than currently available in oilseed crops
- Does not compete for land with food, inputs needed include polluted water sources, carbon dioxide source (i.e. power plant, heavy industry) and solar rich environment
Production
Research on algae production for energy began in the U.S. national labs during the 1970's but ceased in the 1990's due to the low price of oil. Currently dozens of companies, mainly from the U.S., Europe, and Middle East, are developing lab and demonstration scaled projects.
Attributes
- Non food crop based fuel source
- Can double in mass several times a day
- Produce more oil per hectare than other alternatives
- Ability to provide high volumes of oil with small amount of land and water
- Growth optimized by additional carbon dioxide inputs than naturally occurs
Targeted Growth Algae
- Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, lipid content increased by 400 percent
- Match lipid content of eukaryotic algae (30 percent)
- Overcomes critical barrier of algal biofuels development: algae can exhibit fast growth or high lipid content - but generally not both
- Potential to generate more than 6,000 gallons of oil per acre
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Algae