Blatant Reality

A recent RAND study claims that the the military basically shouldn’t waste their time with new alternative energy sources like algae camelina. From a NYT article:

The United States would derive no meaningful military benefit from increased use of alternative fuels to power its jets, ships and other weapons systems, according to a government-commissioned study by the RAND Corporation scheduled for release Tuesday.

The report also argued that most alternative-fuel technologies were unproven, too expensive or too far from commercial scale to meet the military’s needs over the next decade.

However, not everyone agrees with this assessment, including the U.S. Navy. From the same article:

RAND’s conclusions drew swift criticism from some branches of the military — particularly the Navy, which has been leading the foray into advanced algae-based fuels.

“Unfortunately, we were not engaged by the authors of this report,” said Thomas W. Hicks, deputy assistant secretary of energy for the Navy. “We don’t believe they adequately engaged the market,” he said, adding, “This is not up to RAND’s standards.”

The Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Algal Biomass Organization, also issued a statement blasting this study.

Today, the RAND Corporation published a study and accompanying press release calling into question the effectiveness of renewable fuels for military use.

The report can be found here: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG969.pdf

A copy of the press release can be found here: http://www.rand.org/news/press/2011/01/25.html

“It is our understanding that researchers at RAND did not reach out to any of the leading algae companies. Given that most of the cutting edge algae-fuels research is taking place today in the private sector where companies rightly protect their intellectual property, and given that the industry has made significant progress in the past three years, we believe the report is likely based on outdated information. In our opinion, basing sweeping policy recommendations on such data is misguided if not reckless.

The positioning of the entire US algae industry as a “research topic” is patently false. We have more than 100 companies, academic institutions and national laboratories working to develop the algae-to-fuels industry. Algae-derived fuels have already been tested and/or used in motor vehicles and commercial aircraft, and last fall’s successful test of a Navy Riverine Command boat showed that algae fuels are ready for use. It is unclear to us whether or not any actual “green” CTL fuels have been produced or tested.

We believe algae commercialization is far closer than RAND suggests. A 2010 report by Greentech Media Research projected annual US production of 6 billion gallons of algae fuel by 2022. On the contrary, the RAND report calls the potential for commercial production of CTL fuels over the next decade “very limited.”

We will continue to work on behalf of the US algae industry to inform policymakers of the true potential of algae-based fuels as a long term, viable source of renewable fuels for the military.”

Biofuels Digest covers two major announcements this week in the algae field, a promising story and a cautionary tale. Essentially, Martek is being acquired by DSM for over $1 billion, one of the largest infusions of cash into a company working with algae. OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry posted on his blog that this was the ‘first billion dollar algae transaction.’

Conversely, BioCentric Energy’s many financial problems, including not being able to pay almost $500,000 in debt, led to its demise.

Here is Biofuel Digest’s take on what these two events:

The Wild, Wild Wet period in the development of the algal bio-based products industry is coming to a close, and winners and losers are beginning to emerge. Could there be any more stark contrast of the Tale of Two Cities type (“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”) than the announcements regarding DSM, Martek and BioCentric?

One extraordinary winner: Martek, which has parlayed its development of a vital nutraceutical made from algal biomass into a billion-dollar business.

One extraordinary loser: BioCentric Energy, which had raised hopes with a promising series of announcements in the development of a closed-loop photobioreactor system, but appears to have all-but-collapsed in a series of major financial misjudgments for which the consequences may create some difficult personal consequences for individuals, and clearly wrought havoc on suppliers and employees for a good portion of 2010.

This should provide a cautionary tale to everyone who is looking into investing into an algae company. You can either strike it big or you can lose big. The algae industry is very young and the companies are even younger. That means that before the company has fully matured, you can (sadly) expect more algae ventures to fold.

The good news is that those employees in the case of BioCentric Energy should be able to find employment elsewhere. The algae research field as a whole is growing and the market isn’t flooded with those with backgrounds in algae biofuel production.

Additionally, as in any industry where most of the companies are considered startups, it is expected that some companies with succeed and others with fail. The hope is that in this process, the industry will continue to mature. With major success by companies like OriginOil and Solazyme, the overall trend is moving the algae industry towards maturity.

For more in this story, visit http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2010/12/23/a-tale-of-two-algaes-dsm-to-acquire-martek-biocentric-energy-collapses-amidst-irs-bad-check-labor-crises/

Researchers from Cornell University have joined several other respected organizations to develop a facility that could produce algae based fuels at commercial scales and costs.

Cornell University researchers have joined Kailua Kona, Hawaii-based algal biofuel research company Cellana, along with Duke University, San Francisco State University, the University of Hawaii and the University of Southern Mississippi on a $9 million DOE-backed mission to develop a commercial-scale algae-to-fuel facility by 2015.

The goal for the consortium is to develop a 100-acre commercial-scale facility to produce fuels and animal feeds from microalgae. Charles Greene, a Cornell professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, who is a principal investigator on the project, is working with Jeff Tester, a professor of sustainable energy systems in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate director of the Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, to analyze the economics, energy costs and carbon footprint of the project. “In the ideal sense, all biofuels should approach carbon neutrality,” says Greene.

The rest of the article can be found here: http://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/cellana-algae-consortium-adds-another-partner/

The National Algae Association is teaming up with Lone Star College – Montgomery to conduct research with algae. They are conducting research using a PBR system which basically is an enclosed tube system in which algae is grown.

The cool thing about this partnership, in addition to the standard research that will be taking place, is the fact that they will also be offering a class on algae.

Next spring, Kainer plans to have a greenhouse installed with a second PBR so the college can test whether the weather affects the process. The program also will use a computer system to measure growth rates and pH levels remotely.

The college also added a new general microbiology course (biology 2421) available in the spring that includes in-depth coverage of algae, including an examination of industrial applications and algae oil research.

“I think it brings us a lot of attention,” Coleman said. “Once we really get the PBRs going and producing … it’ll really put us in the public eye.”

The PBR features six 12-inch tubes, each 5 feet tall, that cumulatively hold 400 gallons.

You can check out the rest of the article here: http://www.hcnonline.com/courier/news/article_40113143-969a-5ea2-a519-19f60532a4bc.html

Washington University Researcher Himadri Pakrasi and fellow scientists are studying strains of cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) and have discovered a strain that can produce 10 times as much hydrogen as the nearest competitor.

Here is a little background on this discovery as well as the overall process of how algae produce hydrogen:

The soup is colored by a strain of blue-green bacteria that bubble off roughly 10 times the hydrogen gas produced by their nearest competitors—in part because of their unique genetic endowment but also in part because of tricks the scientists have played on their metabolism.

Hydrogen gas can be produced by microbes that have enzymes called hydrogenases that take two hydrogen ions and bind them together. Although the soup microbes have hydrogenases, most of the hydrogen they evolve is a byproduct instead of an exceptionally efficient nitrogenase, an enzyme that converts the nitrogen in air to a nitrogen-containing molecule the microbes can use.

The microbe’s gas-producing feat is described in December 14,2010 issue of the online journal Nature Communications.

Biohydrogen, like that bubbling up from the microbial soup, is one of the most appealing renewable energy fuels. Produced by splitting water with energy from the sun, it releases mostly water when it burns. It’s hard to get any cleaner than that.

The strain growing in the Roux bottles in the cabinet, called Cyanothece 51142 was originally found in the Gulf of Mexico by Louis A. Sherman of Purdue University, one of the article’s authors. Its genes were sequenced in 2008 at the Genome Sequencing Center at the School of Medicine.

Pretty awesome news and it will be interesting to see what this kind of research leads if/when it intersects with developments done by companies like OriginOil.

The other day, I became aware that Exxon Mobil was running an advertisement on television promoting their research into algae biofuels. I have yet to see it on TV but sure enough, when I searched for it on YouTube, an ad did come up.

For those who may be unaware, Exxon Mobil announced in July of 2009 that it was going to invest up to $600 million into algae biofuel research. This announcement represents the largest single investment any private company has sunk into algae research up until this point.

Basically the ad features one of Exxon’s biofuel scientists, Joe Weissman, as he explains how they are partnering with Synthetic Genomics to identify the best strains of algae to use as sources for fuel.

Here is the video:

When searching for this new video, I did stumble upon an older, less detailed version and wanted to include it here as well:

What is acoustic cavitation? Well, it is the use of sound waves to form microscopic bubbles in a liquid. These bubbles then implode, releasing energy and heat.

Why is an algae biofuel company like Aquaflow partnering with Impulse Devices, one of the leading high-pressure cavitation companies? Well, they believe that ID’s acoustic cavitation technology can help with algae growth.

From Aquaflow’s press release:

In addition, both companies are committed to long term wastewater remediation in man-made (oxidation pond) and natural (rivers and lakes) water sources. AC technology is also able to control algal growth and potentially improve water quality without producing toxic by-products.

“We are committed to making algae-derived fuels and chemicals a reality in the very near future. The ability to experiment and potentially apply the Impulse Devices’ technology may lead to faster advancement and the development of another pathway,” explains Gerritsen.

Dr Peter Nelson, VP Corporate Development at IDI, stated: “We are pleased to join forces with Aquaflow in order to explore the application of high-pressure AC to algae biomass processing. IDI is the world leader in pressurised AC and believes that by bringing its technology together with Aquaflow’s process, the energy cost of generating liquid bio-fuel can be substantially reduced.”

Check out the rest of the press release to get a better idea on what acoustic cavitation is and how the companies plan to work together.

Over the summer, LA based algae biofuel technology company OriginOil announced that it had developed a system to produce hydrogen from seemingly any species algae. Their method was different from any others up until this point in the effect that the algae could produce “biomass, oil, and hydrogen” at the same time using sunlight as its sole energy input.

Yesterday, OriginOil announced that their Hydrogen Harvester can produce “hydrogen energy corresponding to a solar energy conversion efficiency of about 12 percent continuously for several hours on a partially clouded day.” By comparison, photovoltaic cells have solar energy conversion rates anywhere between 6 and 20 percent.

This means that currently, their system that has only been around for a couple months can produce energy from a solar source at rates that are comparable to current solar cell technologies, a field that has been around for several decades. If efficiencies like these have been reached in a couple months, the potential for continued improvements to the energy conversion efficiencies in their system is definitely there.

The additional benefit of this system is that the energy comes in the form of a potential fuel (hydrogen) and the system could potentially hold the key to the future of a renewable hydrogen market.

From their press release, OriginOil’s Chief Technology Officer gives some added insight on what this announcement means:

Brian Goodall, OriginOil’s CTO, said: “Our experiments clearly demonstrate that this technology can generate renewable hydrogen at rates that matter to the global economy. These early rates compare well with those of the more mature solar cell industry, with the added benefit that the fuel, hydrogen, is readily storable. This is the first renewable source for today’s $39 billion hydrogen market.”

OriginOil has had several exciting announcements over the years, including selling some of products to the energy company MBD in Australia. However, the Hydrogen Harvester is by far the most exciting news out of this company yet for it has the potential not only to change the algae industry, but the hydrogen industry as well.

To read the details in what work NREL is doing, check out the full article here.

Are algae-based fuels “wishful thinking at best”? This is the statement made in a letter to the editor on the Berksmont News website. The author writes that State Representative David Kessler is wasting time and taxpayer money supporting algae biofuels, essentially stating that algae fuels are mainly hype with no substance.

I would tend to agree with the author that some in algae industry have made claims that have led no where, but on the whole, algae fuels are not wishful thinking at all.

First off, contrary to what the author hints at, algae fuels are not currently subsidized. Subsidies, in the way he is using the word, would mean direct payment from the government to producers of these fuels. Ethanol currently receives these subsidies, algae does not. Algae currently receive no per unit, recurring subsidies like ethanol. The only kind of governmental money that could be considered a subsidy that algae receives are set amounts of money to be used for things like research and development.

This kind of spending on algae research is something that Robert Rapier of Consumer Energy Report (the link that the author includes in his letter) actually supports.

The author also seems to have unrealistic ideas of where the algae industry currently is with regards to commercialization. He questions whether any support of algae is needed since if its potential is as good as Rep. Kessler says it is, “algae to fuel would sell itself”. Currently, many in the algae industry believe we are still in the research, development, and deployment phase. This phase is highly reliant on investments since revenue from commercial products typically does not exist. Therefore, one cannot expect widespread, revenue-supported algae biofuel enterprises to start appearing without continued support from private and public sources in the interim.

It is also unfair to try to compare algae based fuels to crop based ethanol. For example, whereas growing large terrestrial crops has been fine-tuned and perfected over millennia, growing algae has been around for a much shorter time and has only been used for specialty products whose prices far exceed the going rate for transportation fuels. Once again, time and money will need to be invested in research to reduce the cost of growing algae for fuel at commercial levels. Serious research into this issue only really resurfaced after 2000 with serious investments only really starting to pour in after 2007.

Luckily, algae fuel basics have been proven feasible (ie, we know we can take oil from algae and use it to produce fuel for cars, trucks, planes, etc.) and the main thing companies and research institutions are working now are ways to scale up production to commercial levels.

As with algae companies going under, yes, Greenfuel Technologies did close down. However, many other companies have seen huge successes. For example, Solazyme has already produced and sold 20,000 gallons of algal fuel to the US Navy, with a contract for another 150,000 more gallons in the works. OriginOil, another algae technology company, has successfully sold their products to another company for use. These actions, plus many more, would hint that algae fuels are not just “wishful thinking”.

Overall, algae biofuels are viable in the long term and both the algae industry and general public need to be wary of statements that could be chalked up as “hype”. However, to dismiss an entire industry that has been advancing by leaps and bounds over the past several years would be irresponsible, especially if you believe in benefits that alternative fuels can offer.

UPDATE (4:30pm): It seems that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday to give algae tax parity with cellulosic fuels. That would be considered a certain kind of subsidy to most. It still has to be passed by the Senate and signed by the president before it comes into affect.

Also, the 6th paragraph from the top was edited to make it clearer.