Domestic Fuel

Here is an interesting place to find feedstock for biodiesel – the Roman Baths. University of Bath researchers in the Department of Biology & Biochemistry are studying the algae growing in the Roman Baths as a source to produce biodiesel. The algae, growing in high temperature waters of the bath, may be a key to meeting growing biofuel needs.

Holly Smith-Baedorf, a PhD student, has made this project her own. “Algae are usually happiest growing at temperatures around 25 degrees celsius and that can limit the places in which it can be cultivated on a large scale,” said Smith-Baedorf. “Areas where these ideal conditions are available also usually make good arable areas and are therefore needed for food production. In an ideal world we would like to grow algae in desert areas where there are huge expanses of land that don’t have other uses, but the temperatures in these zones are too high for algae to flourish.”

Where the conditions seem to be ideal are the Roman Baths. Smith-Baedorf explains that algae cells are quite versatile and can change any of their characteristics in response to their environment. Therefore, the protected environment provided by the baths make it an ideal environment for adaptation and thus research and the team has identified seven different types of algae in the baths.

Another area she is studying is the ability to remove the oil from the algae – an important element to producing cost-effective algal biofuels. Therefore, the research team is also looking for a species of algae with a weaker cell wall, high oil content and the possibility to use cheap filtration techniques, keeping production costs low.

The research team is led by Professor Matt Davidson and also includes collaborators from the University of the West of England. The team is growing seven types of algae harvested from the Roman Baths over a range of temperatures and comparing them to ‘control’ algae known for being good for producing biodiesel at normal temperatures.

Professor Rod Scott added, “The results of this study will help us identify whether there is a particular algae species among the seven identified in the Roman Baths that is well adapted to growing at higher temperatures and also suitable for producing sufficient amounts of biodiesel to make wide-scale production viable.”

Policymakers in California are once again attacking its ethanol industry. Led by California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), she has plans in the works to limit incentives for production and use of biofuels that would cause taxes to be raised, an increase in use of foreign oil, reduce jobs, and increase pollution. According to the California Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (CEVC), Sen. Feinstein has “long harbored what many observers feel is an irrational vendetta against ethanol.” This despite the fact that the state consumers 20 percent of the nation’s gasoline and more than 60 percent of the gas comes from imported oil.

Feinstein’s goal is to reduce, if not end, California’s as well as the country’s use of corn-based ethanol. On a national level she co-authored legislation that ended support for current ethanol programs. Less than two weeks ago, the Senate came to a compromise to end ethanol incentives via the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act, sponsored by Feinstein, John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The compromise included an end to the ethanol tariff as well as to the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) that gave the ethanol blender of record a 45 cent incentive to blend the fuel. Should the house pass the same measure, it would take effect on July 31, 2011.

The California Senator’s ire is not limited to corn-based ethanol, although the California Ethanol Producer Incentive Program is under fire and she is lobbying to increase gas taxes and ethanol blended fuel taxes in the state. In addition, she is gunning to limit funds dedicated to building biofuel infrastructure including the installation of E85 or blender pumps. If this isn’t enough, she is also attacking incentives for cellulosic and algal biofuels.

One industry that would suffer a dramatic setback should the federal legislation be signed into law, are those retailers who sell E85 (eighty five percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline). In California, the 50 plus retailers who sell E85 are looking at shutting off the pumps because they won’t be able to sell the fuel at competitive prices.

“If you were trying to stifle biofuel technology, increase reliance on imported oil, eliminate jobs, and increase pollution, you could not have done a better job than this,” said Joe Irvin, executive director of CEVC. “Senator Feinstein continues to talk about saving taxpayers money when she just pushed through this $1.1 billion increase in the federal fuel tax to California consumers by raising tax on ethanol blends from $13.6 cents to 18.1 cents.”
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The biofuels industry is making a come-back with several successful IPOs (initial public offering) over the past few months. Today, KiOR announced its initial public offering of 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at $15 per share. The company raised nearly $138 million of proceeds from the IPO which occurred on June 24.

Other successful IPO’s include the much-awaited IPO of Gevo back in February. The company raised an estimated $123.3 million after setting the share price at $15. In total, the company sold 8.223 million shares. There were concerns as to what level of interest the IPO would generate after Amyris went public last September with less than stellar results. In total, Amyris raised $84.8 million after setting in shares at $16. The company had originally hoped to go out with an offer between $18-$20 a share.

But despite set-backs for the biofuels industry, the real IPO winner so far this year has been Solazyme who raised nearly $227 million – nearly double the money raised by others in the biofuels sector. The per share price was $18, ironically 10 percent higher than company execs predicted several weeks prior to the official IPO.

So why did Solazyme rake in the big bucks while the others merely fared well? While I am by no means a financial guru, I believe part of their success lay in the fact that Solazyme is already making profits by selling bioproducts and biochemicals. Earlier this year, the company launched a cosmetic product that is being sold in Sephora stores nationwide. The other companies, while they have contracts and are producing fuels at smaller scales, are not making profits yet. Therefore, investing in these companies is a bigger gamble.

Another reason why Solazyme’s strategy may be effective is that they are able to use their profits from their bioproducts and biochemicals to help fund it algal-biofuels research while companies like Gevo have no products yet. Therefore, Gevo needs to raise funds just to deploy its technology at commercial scale, which it is now doing. They have broken ground on the retrofit of an ethanol plant in Luverne, Minnesota.

With a solid showing on Nasdaq, at least for now, hopefully these second generation biofuels companies are paving the way for more IPOs and more private investment dollars – a much needed element if the industry is to move to commercialization.

Algae.Tec Limited in collaboration with Manildra Group have announced the construction of an algae demonstration facility in Shoalhaven One, in Nowra south of Sydney, Australia. Manildra Group is the country’s largest ethanol producer. Algae.Tec Executive Roger Stroud said the partnership contract has been signed and final logistical plans are being made and submissions for permits are also in the works.

“The Algae.Tec algae photo-reactors will be sited next to main facility and take a carbon dioxide feed from the main ethanol fermenters,” said Stroud. “Algae.Tec is one of only a few advanced biofuels companies globally with a technology designed to grow algae on an industrial scale and produce valuable biofuels that replace increasingly expensive fossil fuels.”

According to Algae.Tec, their technology captures carbon pollution from power stations and manufacturing facilities which feeds into the algae growth system. Currently, photo-reactors are being assembled at their Algae Development & Manufacturing Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. These photo-reactors use one-tenth of the land that is required when growing algae in ponds and the company said their enclosed module system is designed to produce the highest yield of algae biomass in nearly any environment on Earth.

The US Navy has successfully flown an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter test flight using a 50/50 blend of biojet fuel using Solazyme’s Solajet HRJ-5, derived 100 percent from algae. This test flight, which took place on June 20, marks the first military aircraft ever to fly on algal-based biojet fuel. Just last week, ASTM International gave preliminary specs and approval for biojet fuels derived from renewable feedstocks including algae. Formal approval is expected sometime in July.

“We applaud ASTM International and the ATA and CAAFI for their efforts to advance the world’s newest and most sustainable fuels for aviation,” said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO, Solazyme. “The aviation industry has demonstrated a strong leadership position in fuel supply diversification and sustainability, and today’s announcement is a major step in its efforts to commercialize advanced low-carbon biofuels.”

He continued by noting that Solazyme is honored to be working with the US Navy and DLA-Energy to drive forward the certification and approvals needed for advanced biofuels to play a major role in aviation. “The successful flight demonstration of the Seahawk helicopter on a 50/50 blend of Solajet®HRJ-5 and petroleum-derived jet fuel marks a significant milestone in this process, and reinforces the Navy’s commitment to securing our nation’s energy supply,” added Wolfson.

Solazyme has a partnership with Honeywell UOP to refine the fuel and has been working with them since 2009 on various US military contracts. The drop-in fuel requires no modifications to current engine technology or military logistics infrastructure.

Algae to Omega, an algae company focused on producing algae crops in vertical indoor farms, has chosen LumiGrow to provide its lighting solutions for its facility in Oakland Park, Florida. The LED efficient lights are being utilized to increase algae crop yield. The algae is used for high-value products including cosmetics, fish meal and nutritional supplements. During the day the algae farm receives natural sunlight, and now at night the algae will get constant light from the LED lights. Algae to Omega said that without these lights, they would need to double its space to produce the same amount of crops.

“As a company committed to green technologies, we were drawn to the LumiGrow solution’s demonstrated ability to cut energy use and costs by half versus traditional greenhouse lighting systems,” said Geronimos Dimitrelos, CEO of Algae to Omega. “But what really drove our selection is that the LumiGrow system’s adjustable color spectrum makes it the best choice for boosting algae growth. The algae grown under the 23 LumiGrow fixtures we have already installed is a vibrant healthy green.”

LumiGrow said that unlike other greenhouse lighting systems that emit broad swaths of color spectrum that plants cannot use, all the light emitted from their lighting system is used by the plants improving plant growth and health. In addition the system can be adjusted to meet the algae’s specific photosynthesis needs.

“Algae to Omega sets an example of how forward-thinking growers innovate to keep abreast of changing market conditions,” said Kevin Wells, CEO of LumiGrow. “We’re delighted that the LumiGrow solution is helping Algae to Omega realize their vision of a highly productive and cost-efficient vertical farm.”

The biofuels industry got married when a first generation ethanol plant walked down the isle with a second generation algae plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. BioProcess Algae and Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) tied the knot and celebrated their anniversary last month with the announcement that their first babies, a set of Grower Harvester bioreactors, went online. This marked the last phase into adulthood – the algae plant is months away from commercial scale production.

Tim Burns, CEO of BioProcess Algae said this project is about both co-location opportunities as well as adding value to carbon. The algae plant will utilize the waste streams of the ethanol plant including waste nutrients and waste water. In addition, the algae plant uses the carbon dioxide from the corn ethanol plant to grow and thrive. Suddenly a product produced from a first generation ethanol plant with what amounts to negative value now has a tremendous positive value to a second generation plant. When people figure out that carbon from things such as a first generation ethanol plant has value, others will be on board, said Burns.

Years ago, Todd Becker, CEO of Green Plains Renewable Energy, said his company began looking for emerging technologies that could add value to his plant. These included adding things such as inedible corn oil extraction technology, but also the partnership with a second generation biorefinery that could utilize their plant’s waste streams. His company recognized the incredible partnership before any others and this fall his company along with BioProcess Algae will be building their algae farm, the last phase before they begin to produce commercial scale algae biofuels.

In the future, Becker and Burns both believe that every first generation biofuel plant will marry a second generation technology and with these marriages, the biofuels industry will rise to the challenge of producing billions upon billions of gallons of domestic renewable energy for America.

Learn more about the first biofuel marriage here: Domestic Fuel Cast

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

A new international project is kicking off to produce biofuels from algae. The BIOfuel From Algae Technologies (BIOFAT) project is supported by nine partners based in seven countries and the goal is to show that ethanol, biodiesel and bioproducts call all be produced at large scale from algae. Algae supporters believe algal biofuels can be produced in an efficient, economic and environmentally sustainable way and the BIOFAT team intends to prove this with the algorefinery – a facility that can produce high-value co-products in addition to biofuels.

Abengoa Bioenergy’s subsidiary Abengoa Bioenergia Nuevas Tecnologias (ABNT) will be the coordinator for the project. According to BIOFAT, the project will be carried out by a transnational consortium drawn from the academic, industrial and public sectors that includes the University of Florence (IT), A4F-AlgaFuel (PT), Ben-Gurion University (IL), Fotosintetica & Microbiologica (IT), Evodos (NL), AlgoSource Technologies (FR), IN SRL (IT) and Hart Energy (BE). Consortium members were selected to provide research diversity and expertise to the project.

In addition to creating algal biofuels, the BIOFAT project will also demonstrate the integration of the entire value chain in the production of ethanol and biodiesel. The research process will begin with strain selection and proceed to biological optimization of the culture media, monitored algae cultivation, low energy harvesting, and finally technology integration. Training will take place on existing microalgae prototypes in Israel, Portugal and Italy, then scale up the process at a 10-hectare demonstration plant. The project is expected to last four years and produce about 900 tons of algae annually on the 10-hectare plant.

This week I decided to bone up on some energy 101 so I read “Energy Myths & Realities” by Vaclav Smil, an energy scientist. He discusses eight myths and attempts to set the record straight by disseminating the true facts around the issues. He believes several of the myths have been mired in the past while others are perpetuated by the media.

For example here is one myth that he demystifies: Electric cars will replace conventional cars in the near future. The reality according to Smil: Electric cars are expensive, their adoption rate will be slow, and internal combustion engines will dominate the market for decade to come. He also believes that EVs will not provide much, if any, energy savings.

So why does it matter if there is discourse among energy advocates? Because, says Smil, these incorrect facts and fallacies are hampering the development of effective new energy policies and wasting time and money that could be better used in pursuit of a constructive, scientific approach to the global energy challenge.

Here are some other myths that Smil addresses, all dished up as solutions, or part of a solution for our energy woes.

• The world will soon run out of oil.
• Carbon sequestration is the solution to global climate change.
• Ethanol will replace gasoline as a significant source of automobile fuel.
• Wind power will soon become the world’s leading source of electricity.

I’ll play my hand here and agree with Smil that carbon sequestration is not a solution. In fact, I believe it is a multi-billion dollar farce. Yet where I diverge with Smil is while he believes various forms of alternative energy should have no role, or will only play a small role, I think it’s shortsighted to ignore parts of the energy portfolio that are right in front of us. But I digress.
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OriginOil, Inc. and its French partner Ennesys have confirmed they are working with various institutions to develop two separate large-scale algae projects. Global 500 Multinational Bouygues Construction has engaged Ennesys to study the integration of waste water algae production in two building projects in the Greater Paris region both at the scale of a million square feet (80,000 m2 and 150,000 m2). The algae produced will be converted to fuel, electricity and industrial chemicals. The project, in part, was spurred by France’s RT 2020 sustainable energy law that calls for all major buildings to have a positive energy balance by the year 2020.

“Europe and France have made unconditional sustainability commitments, and this is driving fast-moving commercial algae projects for us in France,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “We are committed to supplying our technology, know how and integrated supplier network to help Ennesys get these projects up and running quickly.”

The second project will focus on marine fuel applications. ITSASOA is collaborating with Ennesys on a plan to absorb agricultural runoff using algae that will then converted to fuel for fishing vessels. ITSASOA is an advanced biofuels program financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the European Union.

“Algae in France has taken off with the new eco-building law that forces large developers to innovate without delay on their new projects,” added Pierre Tauzinat, Ennesys president. “Due to its many benefits, algae is more productive than solar panels, and will generate continuing jobs here in France. That’s a huge benefit over solar, which is often manufactured in other countries and generates few jobs once installed.”

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base is testing jet fuel derived from algae produced by Dublin, Ohio based Independence Bio-Products (IBP). The algae was grown in open ponds in Ohio and harvested with the company’s patent pending harvest system. The tests are part of federally funded project to examine Algae to Fuel (ATF) processing technologies. According to IBP founder and President Ron Erd, the testing of the jet fuel sample has confirmed that the composition of the fuel is similar to fuels derived from other feedstocks including sobyeans, jatropha or camelina. This feedstocks are also being tested as jet fuel replacements.

Ohio is in the process of expanding the states “algaculture” industry. Three organizations are jointly working together on the project including the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) of Brook Park, the Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) of Dayton, and the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT) of Toledo along with several other industry and university collaborators, including IBP. Three main areas are being researched:

1) selection of algae suitable for optimizing oil production based on climate factors
2) development of cultivation systems (growing locations, harvesting, dewatering, and separation techniques)
3) cultivation strategy (algae harvesting, processing into value-added products, etc.)

IBP has a proprietary technology where algae is cultivated in raceway ponds in Belmont County. Some of the ponds were heated using IBP’s patent pending system demonstrating operations throughout the winter. The algae was subsequently separated from water and dried followed by extraction and purification of the algae oil. The algae oil was upgraded to fuel by Applied Research Associates (ARA) of Panama City, FL using a catalytic hydrothermolysis (CH) process to convert the plant triglycerides to pure hydrocarbons very similar to their petroleum counterparts.

“The IBP development adds to the growing evidence that aviation fuel may be derived from domestically grown crops independent of foreign petroleum sources,” said Dr. Joseph Hager, Director Technology Transfer Programs. He continued by saying oil derived from Ohio-grown algae cultivated in open ponds demonstrates that this future fuel-producing crop may be sited in the harsher winter climates of the Midwest.

Sapphire Energy and The Linde Group have announced a multi-year partnership to co-develop a low-cost system to deliver carbon dioxide (CO2) to commercial-scale, open-pond, algae-to-fuel cultivation systems.  Linde, who is a leading supplier of CO2 in the US, will work with Sapphire to reduce the costs incurred when delivering CO2 for commercial-scale open pond algae cultivation. In addition, Linde will supply the CO2 for Sapphire’s commercial demonstration biorefinery in Columbus, New Mexico.  A single commercial algae-fuel production facility is estimated to require around 10,000 metric tons of CO2 per day, which is comparable to approximately 30 percent of the current merchant market for CO2 in the U.S.

“Producing fuel by algae using CO2 from large emitters like power stations and chemical plants is a very promising way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive board of Linde AG. “We are delighted to be a key partner in Sapphire’s algae-to-biofuel activities. This is one of the many examples for innovative ‘clean energy’ projects that Linde is involved in.”

Sapphire has been developing propriety technology throughout the algae-to-energy value chain including biology, cultivation, harvest, extraction. Focused on green crude drop-in fuels such as jet, diesel and gasoline, Sapphire’s algal biofuels will be compatible with current infrastructure and engines. Algae is a good source of feedstock for biofuels and biochemicals in part because it grows in salty, non-potable water, uses lands not suitable for agriculture and requires only sunlight and CO2 to grow. Sapphire’s technology represents an approximate 70% reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions compared to petroleum-based equivalents.

“The need for new sources of fuel as dependency on oil becomes more and more problematic is clear. To produce algal oil, or ‘green crude’ at the scale to meet growing demand, we need great partners who can supply sufficient and low cost access to CO2,” added Cynthia (C.J.) Warner, president, Sapphire Energy. “Linde has unequaled knowledge in how to efficiently manage the distribution process. Through this collaboration, we are closer to delivering a domestically produced, cost efficient source of algae-based green crude.”

I had the opportunity to visit Sapphire Energy on my San Diego Algae Tour last fall. Click here to see photos.

The next big thing in biofuels could be right in your own backyard.

For the second year, the Saint Louis Science Center is collaborating with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in a research project that “has the potential to discover algae species located within the St. Louis metro area which may be used in cutting-edge biofuels research.”

According to the center’s Life Science Gallery Lead Beth Prakash, “Backyard Biofuels” is a citizen science project. “We are looking for a species of algae that has a naturally high oil content,” she says. “So the more oil an algae species contains, the more productive it will be at producing biofuels.”

Last year, 169 algae collecting kits were returned to the Life Science Lab and from the samples they were able to isolate and test 105 individual algae strains, the results of which are posted on the Backyard Biofuels website. People can participate by picking up an algae collecting kit from the Life Science Lab at the Science Center and returning it in person, or mailing it in using special guidelines. The mail-in option is new this year and will help collect samples from a wider geographic area since the center receives visitors from all over the country.

Learn more about the program from Beth in this interview: Beth Prakash Interview

It’s Friday and that means its time to fill the gas tank. Just in time for weekend fun, it always seems like gas prices go up. Here in California, prices are hovering near the $4.40 per gallon mark. But this week, oil prices dropped 15 percent from a two-year high of $114.83 on Monday and today prices closed at $97.18. Economists are predicting gas prices at the pump will fall and we’ll see a summer national average of $3.50, although last month the EIA predicted they would be closer to $3.79. But don’t hold your breath – prices won’t drop this weekend.

I’ve held this interview with Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis because I was waiting for prices to rise even higher (which they have). When we had this discussion, we were attending the event where BioProcess Algae commissioned its Grower Harvester bioreactors, the second phase in their commercialization strategy. The site is co-located with a first generation corn ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa owned and operated by Green Plains Renewable Energy. This was the perfect backdrop to have the discussion about the role of biofuels in helping to lower prices at the pump.

Buis explained that for the past 40 years, our country has been addicted to foreign oil and the costs to our country have been astronomical. Every recession since World World II has been proceeded by high gas prices. As oil prices rise, it takes time for the increased price to be reflected at the pump. Yet we have a domestic solution available now – ethanol. “I don’t know how many times we have to have these wake-up calls, let’s move forward. We know we can do it. We’re sitting here at a plant today that’s living proof that we can create our own energy here in this country.”

Listen to my interview with Tom Buis here: Ethanol, Right Here, Right Now

Today, Buis said ethanol today is saving consumers at the low end 17 cents per gallon up to 50 cents per gallon on the high end. “If we shut off ethanol today, it would have a far greater impact than the turmoil in the Middle East or North Africa because we’re a bigger source,” said Buis. “Most people don’t understand that if the American ethanol industry were a country, we would be the second largest provider to the United States of transportation fuel. Second only to Canada. That would have a huge impact.”

One last fact. We spend $1 billion dollars a day to import foreign oil. This is more than $1,000 per year for every man, woman and child in this country. That means you.

Mull this over the next time you fill up.

The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, hosted by BIO, is set to begin on Sunday, May 8, 2011 in Toronto. A record crowd is expected and the exhibitor hall is sold out. I’ll be on site to bring you breaking news and information about the latest biotechnology trends as they relate to biofuels and biochemicals. To get a preview of the conference, I spoke with Brent Erickson, executive vice president with BIO.

Erickson said that this conference is really dynamic on multiple levels. There are a series of plenary sessions as well as breakout sessions and workshops covering the gamut from advanced biofuels technology to algae and feedstock crops, as well as aviation fuels, renewable chemical platforms, and bi-based materials. Several events of special interest include the announcement of the George Washington Carver award and Greenfield Ethanol will be making an announcement about its cellulosic technology.

Listen to or download my interview with BIO’s Brent Erickson: BIO World Congress Preview

Two weeks ago, BIO released a white paper on policy and investments needed for the biotech industry. Erickson said these issues would be key during the World Congress. Government policy in the U.S. as well as Canada and globally will be entwined through many sessions. In addition, there will be a focus on the flow of venture capital and investment money into this space as Erickson said for many companies this is an important issue. He also said it is very heartening in this investment climate to see IPOs take place. The next IPO to take place is Solazyme.

I asked Erickson what companies or technologies he think will breakthrough over the next 6-18 months and he said what we’ll see are platforms breakthrough. He believes the biobutanol platform will take off as well as the succinic acid platform.

Be sure to follow conference conference right here beginning on Monday.