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OriginOil & Sapphire Moving Closer to Commercializing Algae Fuels

April 21, 2009 | 5 Comments

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California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Algae fuels OriginOil and Sapphire Energy both announced this week that they are ready to take the final steps to commercialization of their respective technologies.

Sapphire said that it will be producing 1 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel per year, double its initial estimates, while OriginOil plans to rapidly commercialize its single-step process to extract oil from algae for use by others in the fast-growing algae industry.

Sapphire Energy, revealed a very ambitious updated timeline for the deployment of its “drop-in” replacement transportation fuels. By 2011, Sapphire said that it will be producing 1 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel per year, double its initial estimates. By 2018, that number increases to more than 100 million gallons annually. By 2025, the company claims that it will be producing up to 1 billion gallons of fuel per year.

This would mean that Sapphire alone would be supplying enough fuel to meet approximately 3 percent of the country’s 36 billion gallon renewable fuel standard.

Sapphire Energy uses a platform of sunlight, CO2, photosynthetic microorganisms (algae), non-potable water and non-arable land to produce a renewable and scalable low-carbon alternative to petrochemical-based processes and products.

OriginOil Inc., announced that its single-step process to extract oil from algae is ready for the big time. The company plans to rapidly commercialize the patent-pending process for use by others in the fast-growing algae industry.

In the process, the company’s Quantum Fracturing technology combines with electromagnetism and pH modification to break down cell walls, thereby releasing the oil within these cells. Algae oil rises to the top for skimming and refining, while the remaining biomass settles to the bottom for further processing as fuel and other valuable products.

The company recently filed for patent protection of the new algae oil extraction process, its seventh patent application, entitled Device and Method for Separation, Cell Lysing and Flocculation of Algae From Water.

“With this new process, we have greatly improved on our previous harvesting technology. We now have a single device and process that we will optimize and scale up in upcoming trials for commercialization,” said Dr. Vikram Pattarkine OriginOil's CTO.

RenewableEnergyWorld.com's Stephen Lacey caught up with Riggs Eckelberry, president and CEO of Origin Oil earlier this month to talk about why algae represents an important option for CO2 emitters in industrial applications. They discussed the company's Helix BioReactor, which may dramatically boost algae production.

To listen to the interview with Eckelberry in our Inside Renewable Energy podcast, click here.

Bioenergy

5 Reader Comments

Comment
1 of 5

lynn-mytelka-170340

April 22, 2009

What is the energy cost of producing fuel from algae? Will production facilities be located near algae farms? If so, how will the fuel get to markets (tankers, pipelines? If production of fuels from algae is located close to markets, how will the algae get to the production site (dried and shipped? dried and trucked?) and what would be the energy cost of transporting the algae? To what extent can we develop the algae to fuel process as part of a 'distributed' energy system which could benefit the small markets of developing countries?

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2 of 5

jimmy-dean-176509

April 22, 2009

The production cost is not yet known, there are predictions, yes, but until Sapphire Energy rolls out its small test plant no one really knows how costs will scale. For example, algae plants like CO2, and lots of it. What will happen when instead of gas canisters in the lab they're trying to enrich water with CO2 on an enormous scale? There are bound to be unexpected hurdles and benefits to increasing production scale.

To my understanding the optimum algae oil farm will separate the oil from the rest of the algae's mass on the same site algae is grown. The best way to separate oil from algae is still being developed, there are several companies and individuals claiming they have new and improved methods as mentioned in the article.

The algae oil in the U.S. would be shipped by tanker trucks to existing oil refineries, as the oil from the algae is "green crude," and not yet refined. After refining, the algae-derived gasoline can be distributed through existing infrastructure. So in developing countries you could have crude oil from algae but those countries would need refineries and distribution systems.

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3 of 5

allan-mountain-176521

April 23, 2009

There are many coal-fired power plants in the world with adjacent land where algae production could be sited and with some cleaning of the flue gas put straight to algae feedstock, Then the economics would be compelling and no more having to spend billions on investigating the risky underground sequestration of CO2.

For future developments imagine places like China, USA, Australia and other geographies where huge coal resources exist in remote arid regions where coal-fired power plants could be built (bearing in mind that use of flue exhaust for algae production means virtual closed loop and no emissions to atmosphere). Coal in this context looks alot more attractive.

Particulalry in China they could plan future build of towns / cities on such basis - with contingency for when coal runs out by immediate planning / implementing of energy use (evaporative desalination plants tapping the high saline problematic groundwaters and remediating etc) to begin terraforming and large scale intercropping including for purpose of cultivating biomass feedstocks for biomass energy substitution, still using the cleaner flues from such power plants for algae production not only for diesel fuel production but also for high value animal and human nutritional supplements and foods.

CSP would also figure highly in such plans.

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4 of 5

fred-linn-151968

April 23, 2009

Lynn---the production of biodiesel from plant lipids does not require refining as is the case with petroleum. In order to produce fuel that is able to remain liquid at extended temperature ranges, vegetable oils are given a process of "transesterification", basically, soap making. This is a simple process that can easily be done on site. It has been done for years by people running biodiesel made with waste cooking grease in their garages or back yards.
Biodiesel from plant lipids is a perfect match for developing countries. It is easily adaptable in scale, the technology and equipment required is minimal and easily acquired, diesel engines require no modifications to make the switch, and biodiesel can be made from a wide variety of sources---basically any type of plant or animal fat or oil.
Biodiesel contains no sulphur compounds and produces almost no particulate pollution compared to petroleum. The difference is clearly and immediately apparent when you see two diesel engines side by side, one on petroleum and one on bio. You can see and smell the difference quite unmistakably. The use of biodiesel mixed with petroleum in as little as a 20% proportion produces pollution reductions that are easily visible to the naked eye----and OBVIOUSLY different to the naked nose(if you are one of those people who go around with a naked nose).

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fred-linn-151968

April 23, 2009

Jimmy Dean----there is no need to "enrich" CO2 to get algae to grow. Algae are already the fastest growing plants on earth and have been growing and doing just fine without "CO2 enrichment" for about 4 billion years.

If anything, just bubble air through the growing ponds, similar to an areator on a fish tank. We've got too much CO2 in the air as it is.

This is what PetroSun is doing on their algae farm in Rio Hondo TX. If you have google earth, you can clearly see the algae ponds, and the areators in the satellite photos.

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