Postgraduate Research Opportunity
Research
opportunity :
Project title:
For MSc and PhD
Project
description &
objectives:
Background: Since the beginning of the industrial revolution atmospheric CO 2 concentration has
risen from 280 ppm to 380 ppm as a result of human activities. The atmospheric CO 2 concentration
is now rising at a rate of about 3.3% y-1. This increase in atmospheric CO2 has been predicted to
have numerous impacts on the Earth’s atmosphere and climate as well as on the marine
environment. Surface ocean CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) will increase in proportion with the
atmospheric CO2 resulting in major shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry resulting in a predicted
decrease of 0.2 – 0.4 units in pH over this century. Seagrass communities are amongst the most
productive communities in the ocean and the calcareous algae commonly associated with
seagrasses are either epiphytes or grow within the seagrass bed. Seagrass communities and their
associated epiphytes and other organisms also perform important ecosystem services. These
epiphytic algae make a major contribution to the primary productivity of the seagrass system and
the very high load of calcareous epiphytes makes a major contribution to sediment replenishment
in coastal waters when the epiphytes die, with the CaCO 3 adding to the sediment when they break
down.
Effects of ocean acidification on photosynthesis and calcification in seagrass communities.
Aims: The aim of this research project is to investigate the responses of the diverse physiological
processes involved in photosynthesis and calcification to enhanced atmospheric CO 2. These
experiments will provide crucial data on buffering processes that may protect calcifying organisms
in coastal waters from some of the effects of ocean acidification. We will use this data to develop a
model of inorganic carbonate systems in seagrass ecosystems and of the interactions between
photosynthesis and calcification under conditions of increased pCO2. In turn, this information will
better inform global models seeking to identify the impacts of enhanced atmospheric CO 2 providing
a better understanding of the implications of these global processes on coastal ecosystems and
coastal erosion processes arising from reduced production of carbonate sediments.
Keywords:
Ocean acidification, seagrass, macroalgae, epiphytes, CO2
Principal
supervisor:
Other
supervisors:
Contact
details:
Duration:
Start date:
Closing date
for
applications:
Expiry date of
research
opportunity:
Research
centre/group:
Desired
background
of applicants:
Dr Mike van Keulen
Dr Navid Moheimani and Prof Michael A Borowitzka
n.moheimani@murdoch.edu.au
2 years for MSc, 3 years for a PhD
ASAP
2014
Available part-time:
Y
2014
Algae R&D Centre
Marine biology, Biological Sciences, Environmental sciences, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Chemical
Engineering
Postgraduate Research Opportunity
Research
opportunity :
Project title:
For MSc and PhD
Project
description &
objectives:
This project explores a range of renewable energy production options (i.e. biofuel from algae and
electricity) from solar energy. Due to the relatively low solar energy density, relatively large areas
are required for renewable energy production. This often comprises either a significant capital
outlay, or difficulties in maintaining high use-efficiencies of land, water, nutrients, and other inputs,
which increase production costs. The primary contemporary challenge of the renewable energy
sector is to reduce economic and non-economic costs by further technological development. Solar
energy to electricity and biomass (i.e. microalgae) to bioenergy productions have been studied
extensively. However, the co-production of these renewable energies is yet to be tested. This study
will examine the potential of co-generation of these renewable energies.
Efficient conversion of solar energy to renewable energy
Objectives:
a.
The current advances and challenges of renewable technologies and feedstocks, and their
relationship to non-renewable and renewable inputs.
b. Develop a novel methodology for efficient conversion of solar energy to renewable energy
c.
Test the method under laboratory conditions
d. Test the method under outdoor conditions.
e.
Assessing the economics and life cycle analysis
Keywords:
Biofuel, Bioenergy, Biomass, renewable energy, electricity, microalgae, macro algae, solar panels
Principal
supervisor:
Other
supervisors:
Contact
details:
Duration:
Start date:
Closing date
for
applications:
Expiry date of
research
opportunity:
Research
centre/group:
Desired
background
of applicants:
Dr Navid Moheimani
Prof Michael A Borowitzka, Dr David Parlevliet
n.moheimani@murdoch.edu.au
2 years for MSc, 3 years for a PhD
ASAP
2014
Available part-time:
Y
2014
Algae R&D Centre
Bioengineering, Biological Sciences, Environmental sciences, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering
Postgraduate Research Opportunity
Research
opportunity :
Project title:
For MSc and PhD
Project
description &
objectives:
Global warming, climatic changes and even more importantly current energy crisis (i.e. oil peak) call
for technological and commercial advances in producing high standard transportation fuels.
Considering that almost all conventional current biofuel feedstocks (such as sugar cane, canola oil,
tallow, palm oil) are not economical and more importantly not environmentally sustainable due to
pressure on food and animal supplies and agricultural land uses, there is an urgent need to find
alternative non food based biomass feedstocks. Microalgae are one of the most promising
candidates for replacing current biofuel feedstocks. On the other hand for any successful
commercial large-scale culture, the culture must be reliable, stable and be able to be highly
productive for long periods with minimum management requirements. The maximum theoretical
photosynthetic efficiency is 12%. However, due to various limits to the growth of the algae, to date,
no outdoor algae culture has achieved a photosynthetic efficiency of greater than 4%. This study
will focus on identifying these limits to the growth of microalgae outdoor cultivation and how they
might be reduced. The interaction between these limits to the growth will also be tested under
indoor and outdoor conditions.
Keywords:
Biofuel, Bioenergy, Biomass, renewable energy, microalgae, algae culture
Principal
supervisor:
Other
supervisors:
Contact
details:
Duration:
Start date:
Closing date
for
applications:
Expiry date of
research
opportunity:
Research
centre/group:
Desired
background
of applicants:
Dr Navid Moheimani
Limits to growth to the growth of microalgae in large-scale culture systems
Prof Michael A Borowitzka
n.moheimani@murdoch.edu.au
2 years for MSc, 3 years for a PhD
ASAP
2014
Available part-time:
Y
2014
Algae R&D Centre
Biological Sciences, Environmental sciences, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering
Postgraduate Research Opportunity
Research
opportunity :
Project title:
For MSc and PhD
Project
description &
objectives:
Background: The production of renewable transport fuels from crops such as oilseeds has
economic as well as ethical problems, largely because of the potential competition for limited
resources with food crops. The use of microalgae offers an attractive alternative as algae
production does not necessarily compete for fresh water (e.g. marine algae) or arable land.
Furthermore, microalgae photosynthetic rates are about 10 times higher on an areal basis than
terrestrial photosynthesis and this offers an accordingly smaller footprint of the operation,
provided a suitable climate and sunshine hours are available (e.g. WA).
Non-destructive oil extraction from microalgae
In general, existing operations and published work on microalgae production aims at growing the
biomass of the algae (requiring large quantities of fertilisers) followed by harvesting algal cells,
dewatering, extracting of lipids, transesterification if needed (for biodiesel). Only about 30% of the
dry biomass can be extracted as a lipid resulting in a significant continuous amount of waste algal
biomass as a by-product. The treatment and disposal of this significant waste further limits the
potential profits gained from the overall operation.
The key reason why the production of biofuels from microalgae has not been yet succeeded as a
source of sustainable transport fuel is the costs involved and indeed the amount of energy needed
for the complete operation compared to the energy obtained as the final fuel. A large component
of the energy costs are the extraction of the oil, disposal of biomass and energy value of the
nutrient fertiliser needed for re-growing the algae. Some of these costs can be offset by carefully
integrated systems, and is the subject of a Commonwealth funded project currently underway by
our group at Murdoch University and University of Adelaide.
Objectives: This current proposal suggests a compelling and radically different approach towards
cutting energy and fertilizer costs in the production of biofuels from microalgae: Rather than
growing the algae in the presence of fertilisers (here nutrients such as N and P) followed by
harvesting the whole algal cells and the energetically costly drying of cells and separation of the
fuel from the cells this process intends to make use from the natural tendency of the green alga,
Botryococcus braunii to produce and release oils from the cell during and after growth.
Botryococcus sp. generates >50% of its cell dry-weight as a hydrocarbon (compared to about 30%
in other species). This concept of harvesting the pure oil released while recycling rather than
discarding the bio-catalytic algae cells is similar to “milking”. Traditional algae production systems
kill the cow (algae) to extract the milk rather than re-using the cow for many batches of milk.
The reason why the use of hydrocarbon releasing Botryococcus sp. has not been commercially
exploited is the well established slow growth of this alga. However by developing a non destructive
(milking) strategy, the alga does not need to be grown repeatedly for each extraction but can be reused and in fact does not have to grow at all as long as the fuel can be harvested without killing the
algal cells (cows don’t need to grow for producing milk). By not re-growing Botryococcus sp after
each extraction, there are significant savings in fertiliser (nutrients) usage and waste biomass
disposal costs. Similarly, other algae can be maintained in a non-growing state where they produce
significantly more lipids and do not require expensive nutrients, while some of produced lipid is
harvested by ‘milking’.
Keywords:
Biofuel, Bioenergy, Biomass, renewable energy, microalgae, Botryococcus braunii
Principal
supervisor:
Dr Navid Moheimani
Other
supervisors:
Contact
details:
Duration:
Start date:
Closing date
for
applications:
Expiry date of
research
opportunity:
Research
centre/group:
Desired
background
of applicants:
Prof Michael A Borowitzka, Dr Ralf Cord-Ruwisch
n.moheimani@murdoch.edu.au
2 years for MSc, 3 years for a PhD
ASAP
2014
Available part-time:
Y
2014
Algae R&D Centre
Biological Sciences, Environmental sciences, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering