Sapphire Energy just got $100 million in funding from venture capital firms, including one owned by Bill Gates.
They, and other firms, are working at what could be the holy grail of renewable fuel - cost-competitive gasoline created from algae. They’ve already successfully made 91-octane fuel from algae. Now they want to scale the process to 100,000 barrels a day, then to mass production.
Whoever can pull this off - and someone will - well, it’ll make Bill Gates’ fortune look small as well as creating genuinely renewable fuel on a commercial basis. Wow.
The world’s first renewable gasoline, from sunlight and CO2
Sapphire Energy has built a revolutionary platform that uses photosynthetic microorganisms to produce a renewable, high-value replacement for fossil fuel petroleum. This domestic crude oil requires only sunlight, CO2 and non-potable water – and can be produced at massive scale on non-arable land.
Not only does algae produce vastly more oil per acre than corn or palm, this new vertical growing method is closed loop, which means water continually is recycled and thus is much more eco-friendly.
And the process sequesters co2 as it creates algae.
Seaweed can be easily grown and harvested, requires no land, has a much higher yield than land crops, and can be grown in harsh climates. It can also be processed into biofuel, giving us one more renewable source of energy for cars.
New power plants ordered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California will generate renewable power constantly using solar thermal plus steam turbines powered by biofuel from the nearby Central Valley. Thus they will be able to create electricity anytime, even when the sun isn’t out, and will each use a whopping 250,000 tons of agricultural waste, green waste, and animal manure annually as biofuel. Wow.
VentureBeat thinks maybe it could. Biodiesel can be made from algae, as can ethanol. One company thinks they can make hydrogen from it, another says they can create the equivalent of sweet light crude (this would be approaching the Holy Grail, top quality petroleum from renewable sources)
None of these plans are at the commercial stage yet. But in a few years, some no doubt will be. Huge amounts of venture capital are being invested in these technologies now.
(In a few years, investors might kick themselves for not buying that little dinky biofuel stock back in 2008 when it was $2 a share. However, there will probably soon be a bubble then a crash in such stocks which will leave much wreckage and a few hardy survivors. The question for adventurous investors now, if it can even be answered is, which companies will prosper? )
Biofuel created from algae and from cellulosic materials not grown on farmland have Black Swan potential. Some Black Swans are good. Replacing a petroleum-based economy with one based on renewable fuels would be a beneficent Black Swan indeed.
Algenol plans to build a saltwater algae plant in the desert in Mexico. Unlike other methods that require the algae be squeezed to product the oil, they’ve GMO’ed algae to create ethanol directly, and claim the output is dramatically greater than using corn or sugar cane. And it doesn’t require using farmland better used for growing food.
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 23:30 - Category: Unfiled Tags: biofuel;
Seaweed could be grown commercially in the ocean using wastewater as a nutrient source, producing feedstock for biofuel as well as animal feed and fertilizer.
Bob Morris @ May 30th 2008 08:17 - Category: Unfiled Tags: biofuel;
The Algal Biomass Organization promotes the development of viable commercial markets for renewable and sustainable commodities derived from microalgae.
There’s no need to use cropland for biofuel when algae can do the job!
A new refinery in Germany will make biofuel from leftover wood, straw, weeds, and curdled milk rejected by processing plants. Thus, this next-gen biofuel will not use foodcrops or land formerly used to grow food, a huge step forward.
Energy crops made from algae, woody plants and bacteria that do not compete for land with the world’s food supplies are between five and 15 years away, a senior [UK]Government scientist has said.
The more ways we can create clean energy, the better. Biofuel could be quite localized too. Make iit and use in the same area, no need to truck it or send it by pipeline for long distances. Seems like this would be perfect for large scale agriculture, they could make much of the fuel they need for their equipment.
The Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii can be tapped (ala maple syrup) for a natural diesel fuel that requires only simple filtering before being poured into a truck. The catch? The diesel only has a shelf-life of about 3 months.
Ranches and farms in areas where the tree grows might well be able to provide most of their diesel fuel. The article says one acre of trees can output 25 barrels per year, which is roughly 1050 gallons. If they can tap it like maple syrup is done now, with long lines of hoses flowing to a central location rather than individual buckets on a tree, then it should be cost-effective too.
This would be similar to what sugar cane plantations in Hawaii are doing, using the leftovers from cane processing to create biofuel to run their tractors and trucks.
Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded.
Destruction of habitat to grow biofuel is a primary reason. Also, using cropland to grown biofuel means less food is grown, something especially of concern in developing countries.
However, some biofuel is not so destructive. This includes biofuel produced from algae, leftovers from agriculture and food processing, and methane from landfills.
If Craig Venter is right, all the above becomes a moot point because new organisms with synthetic genes will be able to create enormous amounts of biofuel from, are you ready, CO2.
Biofuels may not be superior if their production results in environmental destruction, pollution and damage to human health.
The Smithsonian cites a Swiss study showing that fuels made from U.S. corn, Brazilian soy and Malaysian palm oil may even be worse overall than fossil fuels. The best alternatives, according to the Swiss study, include biofuels from residual products, such as recycled cooking oil and ethanol from grass or wood.
So, let’s use corn for eating not biofuel (thus keeping food prices down) and create biofuel from other, better sources. Various methods blogged about here recently include biofuel from old tires, animal fat and renderings, and the leftovers from sugar cane processing. Thus, it can be made in small as well as mass quantities, which makes it ideal for microprocessing, and using waste materials as the fuelstock also cleans up the environment.
Bob Morris @ Jan 6th 2008 10:37 - Category: Unfiled Tags: biofuel;
It sounds too good to be true: a machine that turns trash into oil. But it exists— and the first commercial model has been sold to a company in Arizona to turn junk tires into oil, natural gas, and other reusable products.
Solutions like this having been popping up everywhere lately. Whether it’s continual power from solar, warming an office building by piping in the too-warm air heated by human bodies in the nearby RR station, or trapping the warmth from an asphalt road to heat a house, all manner of macro and micro solutions are being created now.
There will be huge amounts of money and research poured into slowing global warming and creating renewable energy in the coming years, with major breakthroughs sure to come.
