MY STANCE
• Biofuel made out of algae - best
alternative to fossil fuel.
• No issues with deforestation, food
shortages, and pollution.
BIOFUELS
• WORLD IS DESPERATE FOR
A NEW SOURCE OF FUEL.
• FOSSIL FUEL – DEPLETED.
• CURRENT BIOFUELS MADE
FROM CORN OR SOY- NOT
THE BEST ALTERNATIVE.
CURRENT BIOFUEL - NOT SO
GOOD
• Not close to meeting the growing demand of
petroleum.
• Dedicating all current U.S. corn and soybean
production to biofuels would meet only 12
percent of gasoline demand and 6 percent of
diesel demand.
• Global population growth and advancement in
societies (China) will increase demand for corn
and soybeans for food.
• Crops grown for biofuel contribute to
deforestation and pollution from fertilizers.
HOW IT ALL
STARTED
Invention of the wheel – One of the most
important inventions.
•4000 BC – Wheel, Mezopotamia.
• 3000
BC - Chariot and cart, Sumeria.
1500 AD – Four wheel coach, Hungary.
1885 – Karl Benz, First gas powered vehicle,
Mannheim, Germany.
1908 – Henry Ford, Ethanol.
•1973 – Arab oil embargo.
US DOE AQUATIC SPECIES
PROGRAM
•1978 - 1996 U.S. DOE Office of Fuels Development funded a
program to develop renewable transportation fuels from algae.
•Main focus - production of biodiesel from high lipid-content
algae grown in ponds by utilizing waste CO2 from coal fired
power plants.
•Advances in science of manipulating metabolism of algae and
engineering of microalgae algae production systems.
Pilot demonstrations
• In Raceway Ponds
(built in HI, CA,
NM)
• Target production 50 g / m2 / day
(same as 10 to 20
thousand gallons per
acre per year.
• Actual productivity
≈ 10 g per m2 per
day.
RESEARCH SUSPENDED (1996)
• Difficulty controlling the
environment- invasive species
- temperature
- cost
• Estimated cost of fuel from algae $1.40 to $4.40 per gallon.
PROS
•High yields of algae due to fast growth.
•Can help decrease carbon pollution. (Carbon dioxide is primary input
required by algae to grow.)
•Water efficient production (Algae – 16 trillion gallons of water; Corn
– 4,000 trillion gallons of water).
•Can grow in brackish, saline, wastewater, and range of temperatures.
•No one country has a monopoly on algae.
•Not in competition with food crops .
•Valuable byproducts - high-protein animal feeds, agricultural
fertilizers, glycerin, and jet fuel.
CONS
•Environment difficult to control.
•Cost of production high.
•Technology yet not available.
ALGAE TECHNOLOGY
PROCESS
Vertical growth/closed loop production
– better than pond
•Increases oil rates even further.
•Grows algae under ideal
conditions.
•High output of algae – more oil
for biodiesel.
•Closed bioreactor plants can be
strategically placed near energy
plants to capture excess carbon
dioxide that would otherwise
pollute the air.
THE FUTURE – CLOSE
TO HOME
Melbourne, FL
•PetroAlgae - continuing the work of DOE and Arizona State University.
•PetroAlgae - developing a commercialized system of technologies to grow and
harvest oil from algae.
•PetroAlgae’s technology can yield up to 14,000 gallons of oil per year from
just one acre of algae.
•Expected to show their finished product in 2009.
Next Big Bio-Fuel - ALGAE
CONCLUSION
• Algae biofuel – best alternative to fossil
fuel.
• Other alternatives are not efficient,
cause deforestation, pollution, and
shortage of food.
• Although technology is not yet available,
there is hope with companies such as
PetroAlgae.