Biodiesel from Algae and the Biofuels Discussion in Argentina
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 03.20.07
An Argentine company called Oil Fox announced recently that they would produce biodiesel from algae oil for commercial use. According to the website SciDev.Net, the company has signed an agreement with the government of Chubut province (located in Patagonia, Argentina) to grow four species of algae in “secret” pools around the province (to avoid industrial espionage, they claim). The whole project would involve 19 million US dollars investments -from German capitals-, and is supposed to result in 240 thousand tons of biodiesel. This is the latest of a series of announcements related to biofuels that have been taking place in the country in the last year, and specially after the launch of a biodiesel law by Argentine government and the US president George Bush’s visit to the region (in which he signed an agreement to promote a market for ethanol with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva). As a result of that, in the last weeks biofuels have been getting big headlines in the country’s biggest newspapers and projects have flourished everywhere. According to Clarin newspaper, “13 biodiesel projects have been announced, with investments over 300 millions US dollars in plants, that will start functioning by the end of the year in provinces like Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, Tucumán and Rio Negro”. Even though most countrymen support the initiatives (mostly for the economic revenues they mean to them), some scientists and groups have been making interesting points about how the theme is being (mis)treated in Argentina.
Picture: soy and corn plantations and algae in Chubut, Argentina.
Leaving the most radical speeches behind, we thought worth mentioning some excerpts from a document by Engineer Enrique Mario Martinez, president of the Argentine National Institute for Industrial Technology (a well known investigation institution), who highlights issues like the low yield of corn-based biodiesel, the different impacts in the environment between biodiesel and bioethanol, and the big oil companies interests in biodiesel mixed with petrol.
One of the drawbacks Martinez -and many professionals- questions is corn biodiesel, since the amount of energy required to plant, fertilize, harvest and process the grains until their final fuel form is almost the same or less than the energy obtained in biodiesel. “According to some authors, it generates about 100% or 40% more -as ethanol- than the necessary for its implementation. Some investigators -like a serious Cornell University group, claim that the total balance could be even negative. That is: the final anhydrous alcohol could deliver a total amount of energy below than the necessary to produce the corn, extract the alcohol and purify it”.
Another factor the engineer points is that “biodiesel obtained from vegetables oil even when used at 100% or mixed with petroleum, does not reduce in a relevant way the greenhouse effect. Its relation with the environment is actually indirect”. Martinez explains that the European legislation has taken the sulfur levels in fuels to very little levels (below 50ppm), and low sulfur mineral fuels loose lubricant ability inside engine cylinders. “So the 5% biodiesel incorporated to the carburant mix is intended to recover that lost ability”, he says. “This demand has nothing to do with the benefit of biodiesel for the environment, but with its capacity to allow a correct function of diesel engines when sulfur is eliminated from the mineral fuel”. When it comes to ethanol from vegetable matter, Martinez says, it’s a different story: “Europeans demand it to mix with petrol and its effect there is in fact contamination reducing, specially because it substantially reduces emissions of gases (those different from carbon dioxide”.
Martinez points as another issue the fact that as a way to mantain their power, liquid fuels producing companies -also distributors- will try to control the coming scenarios, favoring fuels produced at big scale instead of those that can be generated and consumed locally. “Biodiesel or ethanol, mixed with gasoil or petrol, keep the actual model and therefore are stimulated; little matters if the first one doesn’t reduce directly the contaminants by itself, or that the energetic balance of corn-based ethanol is totally debatable”, he says. Hence, adds that the biodiesel production to be used to 100% in a farm, the use of vegetable oil as direct fuel with little adaptations in the gas engines, hybrid cars, domestic Aeolian generators, etc, don’t have enough media or institutional support.
As closing thoughts, the INTI president says even though the possibility to use soy or corn with a new purpose hasn’t endangered the global food supply and that “probably won’t happen”, it will seriously affect the soy and corn price as commodities. “It has already happened with corn, as a result of the US government ethanol promotion. The supply won’t drop, but it will be more difficult to access to these, specially for poor people”.
Going back to the original news, biodiesel from algae is supposed to be more convenient for the environment, since the soil isn’t depredated and they capture until four times more carbon dioxide when making photosynthesis. Algae has also a higher yield: while one soy hectare results in 400 oil liters, the same amount of algae area results is 100 thousand liters. It also costs 50% less than the one produced from soy, according to Oil Fox president, Jorge Kaloustian.
So this is good news regarding the first concern pointed above (about corn yield), though yet to be seen if other initiatives appear as a response to the other questionings surrounding the biofuels business in the country. Download the whole document by Engineer Martinez here. ::Original Algae Biodiesel story ::Repsol YPF to produce Biodiesel in Argentina ::George Soros to invest 300 million in Biofuels in Argentina
Don't forget that algae are part of the food chain for sea life. We already strip mine the seas with trawlers and destroy the breeding grounds of fish. We tamper with this web at our peril.
I have to ask you to check your figures again. You say:
"one soy hectare results in 400 oil liters, the same amount of algae area results is 100 thousand liters"
So 100000/400=250. So algea is 250 times, or 25000% more efficient per acre? If this were really true I have to believe bio fuel from algea would be vastly more popular.
Susan,
Algae grown to produce biodiesel would not be harvested from the sea, but rather farmed in places typically unsuitable for agriculture, such as deserts. Some species of algae are already grown commercially as dietary supplements (Spirolina) on a large scale with no harmful environmental effects. Moreover, even though in theory it is possible to grow algae in the sea for harvesting, the economic hurdles associated with harvesting the algae from the sea are prohibitive.
Algae-to-biodiesel may end up being one of those "sounds to good to be true" technologies, but it will be the economic feasibility that stops it rather than any environmental concerns.
Griffin, according to the 'Biodiesel' entry in wikipedia, the number is right:
"The highest yield feedstock for biodiesel is algae, which can produce 250 times the amount of oil per acre as soybeans".
It did sound odd to me. Maybe the fact that it's not that extended has to do with the issues pointed in the article (economic interests) or maybe it's just starting to be more extended now. I don't know..
BIOFUEL IS PEOPLE!
/Sorry, had to say it...
Algae produce and store oils in "vacuoles" which, because these bio-oils are lighter than water, serve as flotation devices for agglomerations of algal cells, thus keeping algae near enough to the water surface to capture optimum light and enjoy the sun's heat, while screening out species at greater depth. Algae "bloom" in this fashion in the rough middle of a population peak. The productivity of an algae farm can be extended by manipulating heat, turbidity, turbulence, and so on. That will be the skill set that keeps yield up and profit good. Finding efficient ways to harvest the algae without draining the pond and being able to recycle non-oil biomass are the other tricks of the trade. Might be a good time invest in micro-filtration tech!
Haha, good one =)
There's a company in New Zealand that is also looking at producing biofuel from algae growing in sewerage treatment settling ponds.
http://www.aquaflowgroup.com/Home
I was doubtful at first but there seems to be something in it. The beauty of using sewerage treatment systems is that little capital investment is required (the ponds are already there) and there's a steady influx of all the required elements - sunlight, water and nutrients.
Benjamin
There isn't a recent major study from anywhere in the world that doesn't show benefits in greenhouse gas emissions from the use of biodiesel over petroleum diesel. That is some strange science being reported on in this article.
Eduardo,
The article shows a person's opinions, and not scientific studies results.
It does sound odd that the Engineer says that biodiesel "even when used at 100%" doesn't have an effect on greenhouse gases emissions, as (even I'm no expert in this) I can understand that just 5% could be a small difference. Maybe I can contact this guy and do a sequal for him to clear that up. But I think it's clear that's just an opinion that serves for debate and not a final statement.
A company in North America is the front runner in this field, a could little write-up is below:
BioDiesol from algae is becoming a very real application and is being tested and used to produce on mass scales. The left over algae is used for animal feed and these can be set up all over the world.
One company that is the leader in this department is PetroSun a publicly traded company trading under the symbol: (OTC: PSUD)
Petrosun has already began to set up a large facility in the State of Alabama and is working with the University directly.
PetroSun, Incorporated (PINKSHEETS: PSUD) announced today that the Company has filed the Articles of Incorporation for AL-G-BAMA, Incorporated with the State of Alabama. The Company was formed as the result of recent meetings with officials from the State of Alabama, Auburn University and private interests regarding the cultivation of algae for the purpose of biofuel and animal feed production within the state. PetroSun holds an eighty percent equity position in AL-G-BAMA with the balance held by private parties from Alabama.
The initial pilot plant will be located in Opelika, Alabama. The purpose of this facility is to test both open and closed algae growth systems for commercial viability. The Company will also test extraction and refining technology from several manufacturers during the field trials.
Algae BioFuels, a PetroSun wholly owned subsidiary, will license technology to AL-G-BAMA and joint operate the facility with the other equity partners.
This could be a very interesting company to follow as developments unfold.
Thanks for the article...it is heartening to see algae getting a lot of publicity, something I feel they deserve.
I co-ordinate Oilgae.com ( http://www.oilgae.com ), a site that explores use of algae as a feedstock for biodiesel, and I can say with some amount of confidence based on my researches that algae appear to be one of the most qualified candidates for biodiesel production. True, there is still a long way to go before it can be proven with certainty that algal biodiesel can be cost-effective on a large scale, but it is gratifying to see brilliant minds (not to forget VC money) getting into this field.
Time will tell if algae are our future source of energy, but for now, they certainly appear to have many of the qualifications required for the same.
Narsi from Oilgae - Oil from Algae @ http://www.oilgae.com
From,
C.Dinesh,
2nd year Mechatronics engineering,
Kongu engineering college,
Perundurai,
Erode district,
Tamil nadu,
INDIA.
Sir,
I am an engineering student. Now we (a group) have planned to start an algae based bio-diesel plant. As we all are from a poor background. We are unable to start this company at an instant. So we need your financial help. If you are unable to help us please inform us about any institution that will help us. Thanks a lot for reading this message. Please reply or comment to……
For contact: dineshkongu@gmail.com
Thanking you,
Dinesh.C
The CEO of Fox Oil is a crook and a liar! No such progress exists in Argentina!