Blatant Reality

A California wastewater treatment plant is looking to biogas and algae to help cut down on the costs of a $15 million unfunded mandate recently imposed that requires the installation of a new ultraviolet light system. The biogas and algae will be used to produce electricity help cut down on the costs of their annual $800,000 energy bill.

The plan he’s now proposing involves using the plant’s existing infrastructure and high-strength waste streams, which naturally produce biogas. Those gases can be captured in a fuel cell system, combusted and the energy captured to generate electricity.

There are two main concerns VVWRA still needs to address to move the plan forward: resolving some issues with the county tax assessor and securing a reliable source of high-strength waste to produce the needed biogases. And that last point is where pond scum comes into play.

VVWRA has been working with Dr. Patrick Hatcher of Old Dominion University in Virginia for some time on a plan to grow particular strains of algae on the plant’s percolation ponds. The algae feeds off of leftover nitrates and phosphorus, helping remove these contaminants from the waste stream. But it also boosts biogas production and can be converted into fuel.

This is the second wastewater plant in the past month that has announced looking into algae as a way to cut down costs, with the first one being a Virginia treatment plant announcing a partnership with Algae Wheel.

Algenol, an algae biofuel company focusing on producing ethanol from algae, has announced a success partnership with Lee County in Florida to build a new facility.

Algenol Biofuels Inc. today announced that the company has reached an agreement with the Lee County Board of Commissioners to support the opening of a new 43,000 square foot facility in Lee County, bringing economic diversity and jobs to the area launching in the first quarter of 2010.

The $10 million grant is an investment that can bring numerous opportunities in the burgeoning biofuels industry to the region as Algenol continues the development and expansion of its unique Direct to Ethanol® process to produce low-cost ethanol and green chemicals from algae, sunlight, saltwater, and carbon dioxide.

“We are very pleased the Lee County Commission is making it possible for Algenol, a Bonita Springs-based company, to significantly expand its local presence and continue our work to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, develop a solution for carbon pollution related issues, while bringing jobs to the area. We are very proud to be partners with Lee County and we are thankful for the extraordinary efforts of Commission Chairperson Tammy Hall, Commissioner Ray Judah, and Commissioner Bob Janes,” said Paul Woods, CEO and founder of Algenol Biofuels.

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The facility will house Algenol’s advanced biology and engineering laboratories, operations and 40 acres of land that will hold the company’s unique photobioreactors – the containers that generate the ethanol from algae, saltwater and carbon dioxide. In addition to producing low-cost ethanol, Algenol is beginning to work on related projects, such as using its ethanol and other green chemicals as a replacement for petroleum in plastic building blocks. This new facet of the business will also be housed at the Lee County facility.

This partnership illustrates that communities are willing to bet their future economic success, a signal that many are taking algae biofuels seriously. Overall, good news for Algenol and good news for the algae buiofuel field.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a safety system upgrade to the Oconee Nuclear Station located near Greenville, SC.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved a license amendment request from Duke Energy Carolinas to install an up-to-date computer upgrade of major safety-related systems at the Oconee Nuclear Station, located eight miles north of Seneca on Lake Keowee.

The amended Oconee license gives Duke permission to replace 1970s-era analog, solid-state controls for the plant’s Reactor Protection System (RPS) and Engineered Safeguard Protection System (ESPS). Duke will install Teleperm XS (TXS) digital computer-based equipment, according to a release from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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The NRC staff approved the Oconee amendment after confirming the new system’s ability to meet both safety requirements and NRC cyber-security regulations that isolate the systems and prevent cyber attacks. The staff paid particular attention to the system’s ability to maintain two-way communications between various subsystems and provide diverse control pathways for safety-related commands, as well as the tools used to simulate and validate the system’s performance. NRC staff also inspected Duke’s procedures for the Oconee-specific TXS design and implementation and observed testing of the actual system at production facilities in Germany.

This marks the first NRC approval for a nuclear power plant’s integrated digital RPS and ESPS instrumentation and control system. The agency had previously approved single safety-related digital control applications, such as for the main steam and feed-water isolation system at the Wolf Creek nuclear plant in Kansas.

A couple fun facts about the Oconee station courtesy of Gwyneth Cravens’ book, “Power to Save the World”

• Started producing power in 1973
• By 1981, the plant had paid for its start up costs
• Only nuclear power plant in the country with a hydroelectric backup

Suite of breakthrough technologies now combined for end-to-end algae-to-oil production

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1, 2010 — OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, unveiled a comprehensive pilot system for algae growth and harvesting at an exclusive event held at its Los Angeles headquarters on Thursday, January 28, 2010.

At the event, Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO, spoke to the assembled group of core investors, celebrities and members of the press. “I’m very proud of our team that has worked so hard over the months to make our technologies work in a complete pilot system,” he said. “Until now we have been in pure research and development. Now we have turned the corner to commercialization of our technologies. It’s a historic milestone for us.”

Riggs Eckelberry’s speech and photos from the event can be viewed here: video, photos. Media coverage included KABC-TV Channel 7 in prime time, and Reuters newswire.

Sipping algae martinis and nibbling at raw treats, guests also viewed the company’s Live Extraction system, designed to “milk” algae oil without destroying algae cultures, and a bioreactor prototype specifically designed for wastewater applications.

“Algae will be local,” Eckelberry concluded. “Unlike today’s centralized energy systems, algae will go wherever the CO2 is, and that’s everywhere.” He continued, “Algae systems will be attached to wastewater plants, factories, breweries, and any other location that generates CO2. This will lead to a highly distributed energy production model and will truly deliver the jobs creation that we so urgently need in this country and the world.”

At the heart of the new system is a series of 200-gallon tanks which can be individually configured and managed for various strains, growth strategies, and lighting geometries. The tanks are now illuminated with LED light sticks submerged in icicle-like arrays. A stirrer circulates the algae slowly around the lights.

Once the algae reaches harvest concentration it is sent to the integrated extraction system, a combination of ultrasound generation and low-power electromagnetic pulsing (time-lapse video). This new system has a throughput of 5 gallons per minute, which easily keeps up with the daily output of the pilot system. After extraction, a series of settling tanks separates the oils and biomass for eventual use as fuel and valuable by-products. A water recycling system completes the loop so the process can start again. (Diagram)

The company’s Dynamic Control System manages the operation of the growth phase, releasing CO2 and other nutrients as the algae needs it. While bottled CO2 is currently used, an in-house generator is planned to test real-world scenarios where exhaust gas is processed for its CO2.

About OriginOil, Inc.

OriginOil, Inc. is developing a breakthrough technology that will transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum. Much of the world’s oil and gas is made up of ancient algae deposits. Today, our technology will produce “new oil” from algae, through a cost-effective, high-speed manufacturing process. This endless supply of new oil can be used for many products, such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, plastics and solvents, without the global warming effects of petroleum. Other oil-producing feedstock, such as corn and sugarcane, often destroy vital farmlands and rainforests, disrupt global food supplies and create new environmental problems. Our unique technology, based on algae, is targeted at fundamentally changing our source of oil without disrupting the environment or food supplies. To learn more about OriginOil™, please visit our website at www.originoil.com.

Here is another article I wrote for American Solutions about the recent formation of the “Congressional Coal Caucus.” Take a look:

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This past week, a bipartisan Congressional caucus consisting of three Republicans and three Democrats formed around the often-contentious issue of coal. This “Congressional Coal Caucus” has pledged to be a voice in Congress for the many coal-producing and coal-reliant communities located across the country.

The formation of this Congressional Caucus sends powerful signals to the energy industry and fellow members of Congress; it shows that various Congressional members from both sides of the aisle are determined to ensure that coal continues to play an important role in supplying our energy needs.

It also serves as a signal to President Obama, who has stated that he wants to bankrupt the coal industry, that energy policy must include positive incentives to use one of the most affordable and abundant sources of energy in the United States.

This bipartisan caucus has the potential to greatly influence the energy debate since the current cap-and-trade bill, H.R. 2454, barely passed the House in June. While all six of the founding members of the caucus voted against the bill’s passage, many fellow congressmen from coal-reliant states voted for it.

If the Congressional Coal Caucus is able to recruit enough members who originally supported H.R. 2454, they may be able to form a coalition to stop its final passage as well as other energy bills that would impose higher energy costs for all American taxpayers.

Coal provides Americans with affordable and reliable energy, in addition to many other resources such as oil, gas, and nuclear. In addition, coal supports over 130,000 jobs in the United States. With the U.S. harboring roughly a quarter of the known coal reserves in the world and some estimates showing that this supply should last for over two centuries, we have the resources in America to make help make us energy independent while also continuing to provide needed jobs for Americans.

The good news is that it is highly unlikely that the Senate will pass an exact version of H.R. 2454 or any cap and trade bill this year, so the House will have another chance to vote on the future energy policy of our nation.

Whether or not the outcome of that vote is friendly to reliable American energy, however, will depend on how actively American Solutions members are pressuring their elected leaders to vote against devastating energy taxes. It may also largely depend on how many members have joined this particular caucus.

If you live in a coal-dependent community or just support coal as a continued source of energy, call your member of Congress and ask if he or she has joined (or plans to join) the Congressional Coal Caucus.

If a study was going to analyze computers to determine how their use affects our lives, you wouldn’t want the researchers to use data from the 90s, would you? I mean, the field of computing has exploded since the turn of the millenium and data from back then wouldn’t accurately protray how computers impact the modern person.

In an algae study I discussed a couple days ago, researchers seemed to have done just that.  In this study published in Environmental Science & Technology, researches had used algae production data from at least a decade ago.

In response, Andres Clarens the lead author of the study said he used the most recent data that he could, which was about 10 years old. Algae biofuel companies keep their research a closely guarded secret, he said.

Yes, companies have kept the most recent information as a closely guarded trade secret but that is no excuse to publish a research paper that doesn’t mention the severe lack of up to date information in big, bold letters. As with most emerging technologies like algae biofuels and computers, ten years is like a lifetime. In fact, ten years is probably many lifetimes, with many generations of technology being developed in that time period.

For example, this study doesn’t even look at algae fermentation technology like that developed by Solazyme. According to one recent study, this recent technology seems to be the most viable in the short-term to full scale commercial development but has a growth process so completely different then standard photosynthetic growth that this study has almost no relevance to it.

It is surprising that the study would ignore this promising technology when there is at least enough data out there to determine its economical viability.

Overall, by using this outdated data, the study cannot be taken as the current state of the algae field. It is better to look at it as showing where the field once was and remember that things have only advanced from there.

Global analytics partnership will provide firm basis for industry planning

Los Angeles, CA January 12, 2010 – OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, today announced its partnership with StrategicFit, a London-based strategy consulting firm with world-class analytical capabilities. The starting point for the project is the lifecycle model that OriginOil presented to the National Algae Association Quarterly Conference last September, which showed for the first time that a properly sited industrial algae production system could be both profitable and beneficial.

“A recent study by researchers at the University of Virginia’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering supported our finding that algae cultivated in a standalone agricultural environment cannot be viable,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “This project will help our industry and its sponsors understand and prove what works.”

StrategicFit Co-Founder and Partner Duncan John said: “We have carefully explored the algae space and believe that there is real promise, but there can also be hype. Fact needs to be separated from fiction in order for the sector to build its credibility with investors, and we applaud OriginOil for taking the lead in driving for industry clarity and transparency.”

StrategicFit’s people bring a wealth of knowledge to this partnership, drawing on past work with energy companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Statoil; and technology companies such as Philips Electronics and Abbott Laboratories. This diverse experience, with a focus on the energy-sector, will help OriginOil identify key opportunities and challenges involved in commercializing its technology platform. The goal is to simplify strategic decision making through a rigorous quantitative analysis of the variables involved in algae production.”

The partnership will focus on increasing the robustness of the core Algae Productivity Model by refining underlying assumptions and process logic. The team has already upgraded the model from a complex Excel worksheet to Analytica, a sophisticated platform with a modular format and an accessible user interface. Time sensitivity will now be added to the model, with a 20-year horizon that includes discounted cash flow variables, time for R&D and scale-up, and ROI estimates based on a waterfall analysis.

Moving forward, the model will address synergistic applications for algae production, including wastewater treatment, natural gas fired kilns, biodiesel refining, and ethanol distillation. The final model will be broken down into web-based analytical modules and will also available by application to the OriginOil Partner Network.

OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry concluded: “We look forward to working with StrategicFit to further refine the Algae Productivity Model. As we continue to develop our technology and prepare for commercial transition, it is critical that we have a viable tool for our partner network to use in strategic decision making. StrategicFit will help us identify and evaluate options to increase value, and improve our business case.”

A recent study was conducted to see how environmentally friendly is growing algae for fuel. The study found that, when compared to crops like corn and switchgrass, algae actually has a larger environmental footprint.

However, before people begin to take this to mean that we shouldn’t use algae as a fuel source, people should read the study (which can be found here) and see that algae isn’t all that bad. First off, the study only takes into account the growth aspects of the crops, not the actual conversion into fuel. If the conversion process is taken into consideration, thing might look differently for algae.

For example, if the energy associated with converting switchgrass to ethanol is quite a bit higher than the energy required to convert algae to biodiesel, then the high cultivation impacts of algae may be acceptable. It would also be reasonable to expect that transportation logistics and the temporal elements of biomass production and fuel conversion could influence the impacts of the overall fuel cycle… The authors anticipate that such analysis will find algae to be easier to convert into liquid fuels than some of the other biomass sources studies here because of their inherently high lipid content, semi-steady-state production, and suitability in a variety of climates.

Additionally, the study shows that combining algae growth with wastewater treatment can significantly reduce the environmental impacts and costs of growing algae.

These data demonstrate that algae’s life cycle burdens can be substantially reduced via use of partially treated wastewater to supplant chemical fertilizers.

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Use of wastewater effluent as pond medium could significantly reduce not only the need for chemical fertilizers and their associated life cycle burdens but also the use of freshwater during algae cultivation.

Lastly, and probably the most important thing to remember whenever a study compares algae with more traditional crops is that fact that growing algae as a crop is a fairly new thing.

While it seems unlikely that dramatic improvements in corn, canola, or switchgrass cultivation will occur in the near future, significant improvements in algae cultivation could increase the favorability of energy production from algae over the next several decades.

Since algae cultivation is new, there is a lot of room for improvements. These improvements over the next couple of years can potentially allow algae to continue to gain the upper hand over the more traditional biofuel crops.

Therefore, while studies likes these are important and definitely point out the current problems in the field, one shouldn’t take it to heart since the field is constantly developing new methods of cultivation. Who knows, the problems listed in this study could all be addressed in the next year or two.

Today, I published my first energy article for American Solutions. I am looking to write for them roughly once a week about various energy issues facing our nation. To check out my article about the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, click the link above or just read on below.

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This past week, a disagreement occurred between the Energy Secretary Steven Chu and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag over how much money should be cut from funding the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. This disagreement once again brings up the question of what are the United States’ plans for long-term storage of nuclear waste since support for expanding nuclear energy is growing within the public and with policymakers.

Nuclear energy has seen a resurgence in popularity in the past couple years, as evidenced by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission receiving roughly 20 applications to build over 30 reactors in just the past 4 years.

In June 2008, the Yucca Mountain facility submitted a much-anticipated application to build a deep geologic repository for used nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste, and the goal of increasing our nuclear energy production levels looked to be achievable.

However, over the past year of the new administration, we have seen conflicting statements and actions concerning increasing nuclear energy production within the United States.

For example, not even a month after the inauguration, the Obama administration announced that it will cut off almost all funding to the Yucca Mountain Facility and instead wants to look into finding a “better solution for management of our nuclear waste.”

With the Yucca Mountain solution taking over 25 years to get to the point where they can even apply to start building the facility, how much longer will the American people have to wait for the Obama administration’s “better solution” to come to fruition?

Of course, their proposed solution has not yet been announced, one year after halting funding for Yucca Mountain. This haphazard discontinuation by the administration of a project that has received previous endorsements from all three branches of the U.S. government contradicts their pro-nuclear energy stance and statements.

Even though recycling the spent nuclear fuel for further use in nuclear reactors should be the ultimate goal, there are those that feel that a long-term nuclear waste repository must first be demonstrated before these reprocessing efforts will be expanded.

That is why this facility, which Congress passed legislation to create in 1982 and was meant to safely store nuclear material from across the country for thousands of years, is necessary if we are to expand the nuclear energy production capacity of the United States

After decades of work and roughly $10 billion spent on research, the country needs a place like Yucca Mountain that is authorized to store 70,000 metric tons of nuclear fuel, and has been rated by the Electric Power Research Institute to safely and securely store up to 570,000 metric tons of nuclear waste.

While this may seem like a lot of waste, critics must consider that 0.0007 pounds of nuclear material can produce the same amount of energy as 1,780 pounds of coal. In fact, over the past 50 years of nuclear energy production, only 60,000 metric tons of waste has been produced.

Currently, nuclear power plants are forced to store their nuclear waste on-site. While many argue that the fuel is safely stored at the reactor sites, it is surely less than ideal since these measures were to be a temporary fix rather than a long-term solution like the one Yucca Mountain can offer.

The on-site storage of nuclear waste is very expensive, both for the companies operating the plants and the American taxpayer. Since 1998, the government has been on the hook for paying for many of these on-site storage capabilities, the product of a partial breach of contract signed two decades ago whereby the government would construct a permanent federal facility for the safe disposal of nuclear waste.

The DOE has estimated that the cost to the government of on-site storage litigation will be roughly $11 billion by 2020, the year when the Yucca Mountain repository would be complete if positive actions were taken today.

Overall, this recent disagreement between the White House and Secretary Chu highlights the fact that the administration has not upheld its end of the deal. With the cut in funds to the Yucca Mountain repository, the administration promised to quickly set up a panel to find alternatives solutions to our nuclear waste problem, but in the year since the initial cuts, no steps have been taken to do so.

As the months go by and funding is slowly but surely eliminated from this project without any sign of an alternative solution, one has to wonder if the White House truly is serious about expanding our nuclear energy capacity. Regretfully, the administration’s recent actions seem to point to the contrary.

Over the summer, Exxon Mobil announced plans to invest $600 million in research and development of algae based biofuels, partially through a partnership with Synthetic Genomics. This past week, Exxon announced that the research had already begun and it was progressing at ‘full speed’.

Just six months after ExxonMobil agreed to invest US$600 million (Dh2.2 billion) in a six-year project to develop biofuel from microscopic plants, teams of researchers are performing their first experiments.

The project represents a radical departure for the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, which until last year had resisted calls from shareholders to embrace low-carbon energy.

But now the assembled biologists and chemists at ExxonMobil and its partner, Synthetic Genomics, are off to a raring start.

“We’re at full speed right now,” Dr Emil Jacobs, the vice president for research and development at ExxonMobil, said this week while attending the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. “The good news is we’re no longer writing agreements. We’re doing real work.

“I think we need a very aggressive programme and to advance this as fast as we can,” he said.

This is great news because it sends a positive signal to the algae biofuel industry that at least one major energy provider is willing to front major dollars towards research.

However, there is one thing that I found amusing in the article which dealt with where Exxon was looking to place the production fields. One region was the Gulf Coast area but the other wasn’t exactly home turf.

The principal environmental requirements are a warm, sunny location where the temperature fluctuates minimally. A source of carbon dioxide to enrich the algal growth medium is also needed, providing the option to site algal ponds or bio-reactors next to power plants or other large industrial installations equipped with carbon-capture technology. The US Gulf Coast is a prime candidate for algal biofuel projects. Locations along the Arabian Gulf coast are also appealing.

“The Middle East would be an option that would certainly be on our shortlist,” Dr Jacobs said.

Yep, they are also looking to place production in the Middle East. Given, the climate would be suitable but one of the great things about algae is that it could offer the United States the option to produce a lot of our fuel within our own borders, helping to increase our energy security.

How ironic would it be if we ended our reliance on petroleum from the Middle East only to start importing algae biofuel produced in the very same region? The energy security issues would theoretically be the same with instability in the region potentially sending prices soaring. Just change OPEC to OAEC and we could have the very same problems in the future as we have today.

The good news is that Exxon first has to research and develop a successful way to commercially produce algae biofuels before we will have to worry where our algae biofuel originates. By the time that happens, this issue could be moot.