Mean Green

Algae is a major renewable fuel which can be used to manufacture Biodiesel. One of the companies in New Zealand successfully developed a system for using sewage waste as a substrate for algae and then it produce bio-diesel. An alga is considered as the highest yield feedstock for biodiesel that can produce more enough oil compared to soybeans when grew in an acre.

Actual Biomass algae produced from field trials, which is conducted during the NREL’s aquatic species program. It is being converted using the actual oil content of the algae species grown in the specific program.

There are various advantages of producing biodiesel from algae, which include rapid growth of the plant. Using Algae Biodiesel gives high per acre yield. Algae biodiesel does not used to contain sulfur, toxic materials and it is highly biodegradable. There are some species, which are ideally suited for algae biodiesel production, because their high oil contents in some species.

Algae used to develop from small, singled celled organisms to cellular organisms, some algae have complex distinguished form. Algae can be easily seen at places like damp, bodies of water. Algae are common in terrestrial as well as aquatic environments. Like any other plants algae require three elements to spring up sunlight, carbon-di-oxide and water. Plant algae and some other bacteria convert sunlight to chemical energy, which process call as photosynthesis. Algae used to contain 2% and 40% of lipids or oils by weight. If algae have greater oil, it may results in lower yield annual food crops such as soybeans. Currently only 0.3% of the land of the US, it is getting utilized to produce enough biodiesel.

Species of algae with up to 50% oil content have conclude that only 28000km land getting used to produce biodiesel. Unused desert land could be used for effective growing of algae.

Following is the productions which obtained in an entire year. In the winter months algae productivity used to drop.

Metric Tons / Hectare/ Year

M. minutum alage 1989 35.8

M. minutum alage 1989 30.3

M. minutum alage 1990 38.3

Algae 1978 43.8

Sugarcane 79.2

Oil Palm 50

Arundo Donax 50

To cultivate Algae for Liquid Fuel production requires,

Gallons of Oil per Acre per year

Corn required 15

Safflower required 48

Sunflower required 83

Rapessed required 127

Oil Palm required

Micro Algae required 1850

Micro Algae required 5000-15000

Company, which produces Biodiesel from Algae

The Enhance Biofuels and Technology generate algae process which combines a bioreactor with an open pond. Here both using waste co2 from coal fired power plant flue gases as a fertilizer. Biodiesel and ethanol can be used an alternative fuel and also it is being sold.

GreenFuel Technology, where emissions to Biofuels process, photosynthesis which grows algae, it capture CO2 and it produce high energy biomass. The algae can be economically converted to solid fuel, methane or liquid transportation fuels like biodiesel and ethanol.

When it comes to biodiesel production one of the easier methods involves the use of algae. Not only is it easier, it is also very efficient. There have been studies carried out that have shown that algae produces up to 30 times more oil than using the other different crops that are currently used for production for every acre.

The other advantages of using algae include the need for very little land to grow your crop. Also it seems that the sulfur content is non existent, they are no toxins and the fuel generated will be highly biodegradable. There are actually some special species of algae that are grown specifically for production. These contain higher levels of oil than normal, often up to 50% and they also grow really fast.

There are now many companies that use this natural resource in the production of biodiesel. Aquaflow Binomic Corporation (ABC) is based in New Zealand. They harvest their algae directly from the settling ponds of standard effluent management systems and other nutrient-rich water. Their process can actually be adopted for many other industries.

There is also Aquatic Energy, LLC which was started in 2006 to pursue their vision of producing renewable energy bio fuels in Louisiana, which is located in the Gulf Coast of the United States. Aurora Biofuels has successfully been operating a relatively small plant since August 2007 and this plant has consistently produced high quality biodiesel. They expect to have their first commercial scale facility in operation by late 2012.

Lastly I would like to mention Blue Marble Energy, which is based in Seattle in north eastern United States. Their main focus is on using wild algae and plant material to make biodiesel. However they have developed a very interesting production process that churns out fertilizer and other chemicals as a by-product.