ALGAE’S PROMISE ALMOST MAKES COAL LOOK GOOD

The most difficult part of studying algae’s potential role in the New Energy picture is controlling irrational exuberance.

Paul Dickerson, COO, DOE/Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: "It's hard not to get excited about algae's potential…Its basic requirements are few: carbon dioxide, sun and water. Algae can flourish in non-arable land or in dirty water, and when it does flourish, its potential oil yield per acre is unmatched by any other terrestrial feedstock."

Dickerson does not mention algae’s 2 most salient features: It eats CO2 for lunch and it can be refined into anything petroleum can be refined into.

Next 2 questions: (1) Can algae be produced in large enough quantities to impact fossil fuel power plant emissions? U.S. CO2 emissions from coal plants: About 2 billion tons/year. It would require 4 billion tons of algae to eat that. Add another 400,000 tons of emissions coming out of natural gas plants, requiring another 800,000 tons of algae. (2) Can algae be produced in large quantities at affordable prices? U.S. oil consumption is 21 million barrels/day, so if it is possible to produce the algae in large enough quantities, there is not much doubt about a market for it. With gasoline racing toward $5/gallon, algae doesn’t have to be all that cheap to be competitive.

One company says algae costs will be competitive with other “unconventional liquid fuels” like oil from the Canadian and Venezuelan tar sands, oil from coal, and oil from Rocky Mountain shale deposits. All those petroleum derivatives are ecological abominations and CO2 emissions-intensive. Algae are almost ecologically neutral and eat CO2.

Next step: Working at power plant scale.

Sapphire Energy in San Diego says it is building a pilot refinery and will be at commercial scale in 5 years. Cellana in Hawaii (see HAWAIIAN MARINE ALGAE) says 3 to 5 years.

Notice where those companies are: San Diego and Hawaii. Domestic. Not known terrorist haunts. The worst thing likely to result from billions of energy dollars going into those areas (instead of the world's oil regions) is some of it might wind up in the hands of a bunch of surfers.

Whether the ultimate best use of algae is as a cleaner for coal plants is a bigger question. Coal has a lot of problems that algae can’t solve, mining dangers and devastations and transport pollution. On the other hand, since those new coal plants China and India are building won’t be going away anytime soon, algae might be part of a bridging strategy, allowing long term phase out of coal plants, natural gas plants and petroleum refining in favor of a gradual shift to New Energies.

Was the fact that algae eat CO2 mentioned?

Detailed scientific info at Algae as a rich source of hydrocarbons.

click to enlarge

The Algae Attraction
Ken Silverstein, June 17 2008 (Energy Central via RenewableEnergyWorld)

WHO
NRG Energy (David Crane, CEO); Arizona Public Service (APS); GreenFuel Technologies (Cary Bullock, CEO); Sapphire Energy (Jason Pyle, CEO); U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Paul Dickerson, COO)

WHAT
The double duty potential of algae – as a consumer of greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions and a source of biofuels capable of being refined into anything petroleum can be refined into – make development irresistible. The hard part is resisting irrational exuberance.

click to enlarge

WHEN
- 2006: APS and GreenFuel first proved coal plant emissions-grown algae could be refined into biodiesel and ethanol
- 3-5 years: Commercial scale algae production

WHERE
- NRG Energy is field testing the potential of algae to “clean” coal at Louisiana plant.
- Sapphire Energy is based in San Diego, CA
- There are 20 companies around theU.S. and the world developing algae growing, processing and refining methods.

WHY
- The NRG plant is using algae to capture and consume flue gas CO2. The algae are harvested daily.
- Using algae to trap flue gases has so far been more effective at limiting power plant emissions than carbon capture trials.
- Two million tons of algae captures one million tons of CO2. The process requires no re-engineering of the power plant.
- Speculation that algae can be used as animal feed or refined into biofuels was verified by the APS/GreenFuel pilot project.
- The Sapphire Energy refining process produces “hydrocarbons chemically identical to those in gasoline” and other petroleum products, which means they can be used in jet fuel, plastics, etc., and transported via existing petroleum pipelines.

click to enlarge

QUOTES
- David Crane, CEO, NRG: "Coal is -- and will remain -- the premier domestic fuel source for power generation purposes in the United States for the foreseeable future…This means it is incumbent on us not only to build new coal plants using technology which limits or eliminates greenhouse gas emissions but also to find the best way to retrofit the country's existing fleet of coal plants for post-combustion carbon capture."
- Cary Bullock, CEO,GreenFuel: "With the help of forward thinking and environmentally responsible companies, we can use algae to recycle power plant carbon dioxide emissions safely and economically into a continuous supply of clean, renewable fuels…"
- Jason Pyle, CEO, Sapphire: "Sapphire Energy was founded on the belief that the only way to cure our dependence on foreign oil and end our flirtation with ethanol and biodiesel is through radical new thinking and a commitment to new technologies…"