Europe Looks to Algae to Reach Long-Term Goals
After having to scrap their goal of 10% fuel from biofuels by 2010 last summer, Europe is looking towards algae to to help reach their long term goals. However, they are cautious about how soon algae can come into play, stating that industrial scale production is still 10-15 years away.
Research into algae-made biofuels has been active in the last 3 to 5 years, but it would take another 10 to 15 years to turn laboratory experiments into industrial-scale production, said Raffaello Garofalo, executive director of the European Algae Biomass Association.
“It will happen in the longer term, 10 to 15 years … There are still challenges and problems to resolve,” Garofalo told Reuters in a telephone interview from Florence, Italy, where the EABA was officially launched on Wednesday.
The new association unites 54 members representing science and industry and aims to be the platform for creating a full algae-based production chain, from biofuels to animal feed and nutrients, Garofalo said.
Making biodiesel from algae costs at least 10 to 30 times more than making traditional biofuels at present, he said.
But extracting value from by-products, which can be used in animal feed or pharmaceutical industries, would help bring down overall price and make algae fuel competitive with traditional fuels faster, he said, adding that he saw a competitive price level at about $500 to $550 per tonne of biodiesel.
Even though algae may be 10 years away, as I have said before, it will be worth the wait. The good news for the immediate future is that algae is continuing to get more and more positive press.
