Algae Biofuel By: Andrew McMahon

A Known Crisis Fossil fuels are a non-renewable source of energy, and the earth is running out, further increasing the cost of oil. The Scientific American believes that there are only about 1.3 trillion barrels of oil left. They also listed barrel consumption in the year 2008 at 30 million barrels. This would leave just around 40 more years of naturally occurring oil.

Possible Solutions Organic Approach Earth driven approaches Many types of plants are being used to attempt and create biofuel, including soy, corn, rapeseed, switchgrass, and algae. The earth itself provides several alternative approaches to energy from fossil fuels including geothermal energy, wind, and solar power.

Algal Oil Algal oil, or oil made from algae, is one of the most promising new methods of replacing fossil fuels Large oil companies such as Chevron and Shell have been teaming with private universities and government programs to help fund and promote biofuel research.

Shell’s Devotion In 2007 Shell announced plans to open a facility in Hawaii to test the viability of an algae production plant. Visit http://www.shell.com/home/content/innovation/alternative_energy/biofuels/biofuels.html for more information.

A little more on Algae… There are over 100,000 types of algae, ranging from ocean kelp to the moss on rocks to pond algae. The most productive algae for biodiesel purposes is the familiar dark green pond algae.

Highschool Bio Flashback… Algae gain energy through a process called photosynthesis. In short, photosynthesis works like this: Sun light, water, and carbon dioxide go into chlorophyll of plant Oxygen and water come out. For further review: http://science.howstuffworks.com/biology-terms/photosynthesis-info.htm

Refining the Oil Algae is harvested and compressed to squeeze out oil Remaining algae is mixed with hexane to extract up to 95% of the algae’s oil The mixture is then mixed with an alcohol and glycerol mix, after the glycerol is removed all that’s left is pure algae oil

Algae Biofuel vs. Other Biofuels Algae can double their size several times a day, making them produce more oil faster Algae can grow in inhospitable places like saltwater and deserts Other biofuels, such as corn or soybeans, have long growth periods Corn & soybeans require fertile land and fresh water, and also drive up food prices

Production Potential of Algae Fuel Since so much more algae can be grown per acre and harvested so many times per year, the potential of producing large amounts of algae fuel is very great. Gallons of Oil per Acre per Year Corn 18 Soybeans 48 Safflower 83 Sunflower 102 Rapeseed 127 Oil Palm 635 Micro algae 15,000 – 50,000

Algal Oil Setbacks Although R&D is heavy, algae fuel has seldom been tested Only one known car has driven off of algae biofuel It is unknown what the cost, extraction, and refining of biofuel would cost the massive scale as would be needed for algae to be a viable fuel source.

References How Stuff Works - http://science.howstuffworks.com/algae-biodiesel2.htm Scientific American - http://oakhavenpc.org/cultivating_algae.htm Shell - http://www.shell.com/home/content/innovation/news/shell_world_stories/2008/algae Thomas Riesing, P.h.d. - http://oakhavenpc.org/cultivating_algae.htm