Algal Bio-fuels is a new Bio-energy Technology that is looking to produce billions of gallons of Algal Biofuel per year to replace Gasoline, Diesel and Jet Fuel. The Bio-energy Technologies Office has a long standing approach to accelerate the commercialization of lignocellulosic bio-fuels. Their strategy is to create sustainable, affordable algal bio-fuels. Algae grows naturally all over the world. It can be grown in massive amounts at one time and half of algae's weight is lipid oil. Scientists have been studying this oil for decades to turn it into bio-diesel, a fuel that will burn cleaner and more efficiently than petroleum diesel.
In 1978, Algae Bio-fuels were researched as an alternative under the office of Jimmy Carter. At the time, lines at the pump then were endless and they were looking for an alternative. Researchers at the Aquatic Species Program run by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory tested more than 3,000 types of algae and found a high oil-output in algae for bio-fuel. If it can be produced in large enough quantities. It could replace fossil fuels for home, heating and transportation purposes.
Algal Bio-fuel Uses and Potential
As the depleting resources of fossil fuels keeps persisting and grows larger by the decade, we have looked for other oil base products to sustain our insatiable desire for power and energy to fuel our lives. We have found it in cooking oil waste, oil crops, and animal fats, but this doesn't even compare to the fraction of the amount needed to sustain our dependency of petroleum. Micro algae is really the only bio-fuel large enough to sustain our dependence of energy. Knowing that it may be used to make jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel, this has the ability to fuel our lives without drilling and possibly spilling fuel, which would pollute our ecosystem. We know how bad this is for our environment and how deadly it can be in the procedure to remove it from the earth's crust. After growing the algae and putting it through a centrifuge, it turns into small pellets, which can be put in a heated press to squeeze out the bio-fuel oil. In this state, it is nearly identical to diesel fuel. The excess waste can be used to feed animals, fish, or even people with its high protein content and is one of the biggest perks the science community is excited about. They are also excited that it can be grown in nearly any place with any type of water, including waste and salt water. It does not need to be on large fertile soil and can be grown in the city, and could even be grown right next to large power plants, where all the excess carbon dioxide put off by these plants could be used. (We can power the World with Algae, September 29, 2016)
Problems and Precautions
Not a whole lot of issues, but the issues it does have are big ones. This product takes energy to produce, especially if you were to be growing this in a city and had no natural light. This would take power to cultivate this algae, such as lighting, air pumps, water pumps, and electricity. So the cost of this process is about 10 times the amount it needs to be in order to be profitable and hence plausible knowing that no one will be working for free. A lot of the problem with this is the money it will cost to make it. Though companies are taking very innovative and creative approaches to make this a non-issue, at this time it will cost too much to make a profit. (Sustainable Products, n.d.)
Bio-mass/nutraceuticals
In the Asian culture, algae is referred to as a super food for its high protein, Omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients including B-Carotene, selenium, zinc, vitamins B-12, C and E. It is also used in the $800 million industry of feed-stock for large livestock populations in need of nutrients. By selling the waste or bi-product from the bio-fuel as livestock feed and/or to Asian markets for algal nutraceuticals, the algae's high protein content promotes a viable, creative alternative for helping to pay for costs in industrial level production for a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. (Sustainable Products, n.d.)
The market of nutraceuticals for Algal product is a mixed array of health and medical benefits similar to fish oil, or multi vitamins and supplements. Omega-3 is the fastest growing portion of the Algal products, and most important supplement to overall health and most consumed supplement in the U.S. And also the market of carotenoids which is a has a high value of anti-oxidants. Many of the personal care products also use a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids. Many personal care and nutraceuticals rely heavily on Omega-3 oils from an unsustainable source derived from fish oil. Algae has created a sustainable source from certain strains that produce significant reliable sources of these enriched long chain Omega-3 fatty acids rich in EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid). (Design, C. 3, n.d.)
Future of Algal Biofuel
So while the technology that algal takes C02 and turns it into fatty oils is not new, the amount of fat produced by the algal is new. Scientist have created a genetically modified algal that may give more hope to the future of algal biofuel. Algal that produces more fatty oils strains make it more possible to produce algal biofuels on a industrial level. “We knew that algae had the potential to be more productive than other biofuel sources like corn and soy beans and, unlike those, they don’t require arable land or freshwater,” Alessandro Faldi, ExxonMobil scientist, explained. This technology is bringing in large companies like ExxonMobil and give more legitimacy to the technology. “It was a true eureka moment when we knew what we had,” said Rob Brown, SGI’s senior director and the lead scientist on the algae project. “After testing and retesting the breakthrough, ensuring it wasn’t just a false positive, a cheer went up in the lab. If you can imagine people doing cartwheels down the hall, that’s what it feels like after years of research to move the needle in such a substantial way.” This was after SGI (Synthetic Genomics, Inc.) felt like when they had discovered this fatty rich algal when they knew it had the potential to produce an industrial level, and possibly replace fossil fuels. (The fat, fit, fantastic green machine, October 24, 2017)
Outcome
This is a hope that we will one day be able to ween the human population off of their destructive dependency of fossil fuels that is slowly corroding and destroying the livable human habitat on earth. Much like an alcoholic slowly killing his/her self from its dependency of alcohol, that we all hope will one day become sober, this is the goal that one day we as humans will divert from harmful actions that destroy the mother of all human life, Earth.
what i liked about this page was it got me to think that at some point in time, in the near future, we may have a Bio fuel that is capable of out performing our gas and diesel engines, considering that these gases or fuels that we use is something that we have relied on for over 100 years, I personally would have liked to know more about how they would be able to take the oils and natural substances out of the algae to make it combustible. and how many of these plants they have, and how they would be able to keep up with the world and the automotive industry, as far as keeping enough fuel at gas stations and so forth.
Algal Bio-fuels
Algal Bio-fuels is a new Bio-energy Technology that is looking to produce billions of gallons of Algal Biofuel per year to replace Gasoline, Diesel and Jet Fuel. The Bio-energy Technologies Office has a long standing approach to accelerate the commercialization of lignocellulosic bio-fuels. Their strategy is to create sustainable, affordable algal bio-fuels. Algae grows naturally all over the world. It can be grown in massive amounts at one time and half of algae's weight is lipid oil. Scientists have been studying this oil for decades to turn it into bio-diesel, a fuel that will burn cleaner and more efficiently than petroleum diesel.
In 1978, Algae Bio-fuels were researched as an alternative under the office of Jimmy Carter. At the time, lines at the pump then were endless and they were looking for an alternative. Researchers at the Aquatic Species Program run by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory tested more than 3,000 types of algae and found a high oil-output in algae for bio-fuel. If it can be produced in large enough quantities. It could replace fossil fuels for home, heating and transportation purposes.
Algal Bio-fuel Uses and Potential
As the depleting resources of fossil fuels keeps persisting and grows larger by the decade, we have looked for other oil base products to sustain our insatiable desire for power and energy to fuel our lives. We have found it in cooking oil waste, oil crops, and animal fats, but this doesn't even compare to the fraction of the amount needed to sustain our dependency of petroleum. Micro algae is really the only bio-fuel large enough to sustain our dependence of energy. Knowing that it may be used to make jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel, this has the ability to fuel our lives without drilling and possibly spilling fuel, which would pollute our ecosystem. We know how bad this is for our environment and how deadly it can be in the procedure to remove it from the earth's crust. After growing the algae and putting it through a centrifuge, it turns into small pellets, which can be put in a heated press to squeeze out the bio-fuel oil. In this state, it is nearly identical to diesel fuel. The excess waste can be used to feed animals, fish, or even people with its high protein content and is one of the biggest perks the science community is excited about. They are also excited that it can be grown in nearly any place with any type of water, including waste and salt water. It does not need to be on large fertile soil and can be grown in the city, and could even be grown right next to large power plants, where all the excess carbon dioxide put off by these plants could be used. (We can power the World with Algae, September 29, 2016)
Problems and Precautions
Not a whole lot of issues, but the issues it does have are big ones. This product takes energy to produce, especially if you were to be growing this in a city and had no natural light. This would take power to cultivate this algae, such as lighting, air pumps, water pumps, and electricity. So the cost of this process is about 10 times the amount it needs to be in order to be profitable and hence plausible knowing that no one will be working for free. A lot of the problem with this is the money it will cost to make it. Though companies are taking very innovative and creative approaches to make this a non-issue, at this time it will cost too much to make a profit. (Sustainable Products, n.d.)
Bio-mass/nutraceuticals
In the Asian culture, algae is referred to as a super food for its high protein, Omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients including B-Carotene, selenium, zinc, vitamins B-12, C and E. It is also used in the $800 million industry of feed-stock for large livestock populations in need of nutrients. By selling the waste or bi-product from the bio-fuel as livestock feed and/or to Asian markets for algal nutraceuticals, the algae's high protein content promotes a viable, creative alternative for helping to pay for costs in industrial level production for a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. (Sustainable Products, n.d.)
The market of nutraceuticals for Algal product is a mixed array of health and medical benefits similar to fish oil, or multi vitamins and supplements. Omega-3 is the fastest growing portion of the Algal products, and most important supplement to overall health and most consumed supplement in the U.S. And also the market of carotenoids which is a has a high value of anti-oxidants. Many of the personal care products also use a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids. Many personal care and nutraceuticals rely heavily on Omega-3 oils from an unsustainable source derived from fish oil. Algae has created a sustainable source from certain strains that produce significant reliable sources of these enriched long chain Omega-3 fatty acids rich in EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid). (Design, C. 3, n.d.)
Future of Algal Biofuel
So while the technology that algal takes C02 and turns it into fatty oils is not new, the amount of fat produced by the algal is new. Scientist have created a genetically modified algal that may give more hope to the future of algal biofuel. Algal that produces more fatty oils strains make it more possible to produce algal biofuels on a industrial level. “We knew that algae had the potential to be more productive than other biofuel sources like corn and soy beans and, unlike those, they don’t require arable land or freshwater,” Alessandro Faldi, ExxonMobil scientist, explained. This technology is bringing in large companies like ExxonMobil and give more legitimacy to the technology. “It was a true eureka moment when we knew what we had,” said Rob Brown, SGI’s senior director and the lead scientist on the algae project. “After testing and retesting the breakthrough, ensuring it wasn’t just a false positive, a cheer went up in the lab. If you can imagine people doing cartwheels down the hall, that’s what it feels like after years of research to move the needle in such a substantial way.” This was after SGI (Synthetic Genomics, Inc.) felt like when they had discovered this fatty rich algal when they knew it had the potential to produce an industrial level, and possibly replace fossil fuels. (The fat, fit, fantastic green machine, October 24, 2017)
Outcome
This is a hope that we will one day be able to ween the human population off of their destructive dependency of fossil fuels that is slowly corroding and destroying the livable human habitat on earth. Much like an alcoholic slowly killing his/her self from its dependency of alcohol, that we all hope will one day become sober, this is the goal that one day we as humans will divert from harmful actions that destroy the mother of all human life, Earth.
REFERENCES
The fat, fit, fantastic green machine. (2017, October 24). Retrieved October 30, 2017, from https://energyfactor.exxonmobil.com/science-technology/fat-fit-algae-biofuel/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=NonBrand%2B-%2BELH%2BFall%2B2017%2B-%2BTiny%2BOrganism%2B-%2BPhrase&utm_content=TO&utm_term=algae%2Bbiofuels
Youtube/ We can power the World with Algae. (September 29,2016) Retrieved from. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExOXF1x3N1g
Sustainable Products. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2017, from http://algaetec.com.au/index.php/technology/benfits-of-algae
Design, C. 3. (n.d.). BioProcessAlgae. Retrieved October 31, 2017, from http://www.bioprocessalgae.com/rechnology/by-industry/nutraceuticals/
what i liked about this page was it got me to think that at some point in time, in the near future, we may have a Bio fuel that is capable of out performing our gas and diesel engines, considering that these gases or fuels that we use is something that we have relied on for over 100 years, I personally would have liked to know more about how they would be able to take the oils and natural substances out of the algae to make it combustible. and how many of these plants they have, and how they would be able to keep up with the world and the automotive industry, as far as keeping enough fuel at gas stations and so forth.
Algal Biofuels link to Technology Object