Algal Biofuels Company Working with KLM and Cruise Ships
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 06. 8.08
Algaelink, a biofuels company based in the Netherlands, was overlooked in 15 Algae Biofuels Startups to watch. So make it 16. Algaelink has signed an exclusive agreement with the airline KLM to develop biofuels for aircraft and are developing a system which would allow cruise ships to grow and process biofuels on board for feeding directly to the ships' own engines. For our part, we admire Algaelink's thinking: they understand sustainability.
Algal biofuels is sustainable, de facto, you are thinking: what else is there? A look at the Algaelink website will convince you that Algaelink thinks beyond the obvious. For example, they are promoting the flat-pack delivery capabilities of their pilot technology, saving fuel while getting eco-fuel equipment to the customer. Furthermore, algae growth and oil extraction succeeds without the addition of chemicals in the Algaelink process. This means that the "wastes" leftover from pressing the oil can be upcycled to take advantage of vitamins, antioxidants and building blocks for food and pharmaceutical applications in the algae residuals. And the cherry on top: the process is energy efficient, consuming only 26kW to turn 50% of the algae paste to oil in the 45m3/hr pilot plant.
In the Algaelink press release about the KLM deal, Hans van de Ven, Managing Director of AlgaeLink, observes: “Because of our expertise in optimising algae growth in a photobioreactor(PBR) and the extraction of biomass and oil out of the PBR , they came to us.” Reports indicate that KLM intends to have 12 Fokker-50 planes -- 7% of the fleet -- running on algal biofuel by 2010.
In the press release about the KLM deal, Algaelink hinted that negotiations were underway with "the world's largest cruiseliner." The German weekly WirtschaftsWoche confirmed in their issue of 2 June 2008 that Algaelink is currently developing a system for a shipping line, but the customer chooses to remain anonymous.
For the average person, Algaelink is good news. For the true eco- and biofuels geeks, check out the Algaelink pilot plant. You can own your own algal biofuels production pilot plant for only €69,000, less than the price of a new Tesla.
KLM Algae Biofuel target 2010
Algaelink New Method of Oil Extraction
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- 90-95% Cost Reduction in Algae Production Claimed by Solix Biofuels
- 10 Energy Myths Exposed: Solar, Wind, Nuclear and More
- I Don’t Think Alternative Energy Means What You Think It Means: Fred Pearce to BP
- Millions in Algae Biofuel Research Grants Made Available by UK’s Carbon Trust
Seems to me your numbers don't match up with the site info: the pilot plant, see http://www.algaelink.com/pilot_plant.htm : it makes between 1.5 and 2.5 liter per day out of 3.5 to 5 kg of dry matter, a far cry from the 45m³/hr as you claimed in your article...
Or did i miss something?
"Cost of this Algaelink® demo photo-bioreactor is 69,000 Euro ex-works The Netherlands
The unit produce approximately 3.5 to 5 Kg dry algae per day and between 1.5 L to 2.5 L oil per day"
==auth. note==
You can see the source of the 45m3 claim at the second link cited below the article. However, you are correct to note the discrepancy in the claim. 45m3 may refer to total capacity of the photobioreactor (clearly large volumes of water also flow through this system) which yields 1.5 to 2.5 L/day oil.
Algaelink was spawned from the Dutch company BioKing. Both companies are infamous for selling unproven technology to the biodiesel industry. Before even 1 gallon of algal oil was transformed into biodiesel, Algaelink/BioKing was selling turnkey plants to process algae into biodiesel in 'photobioreactors' (read: plastic tubes with green food coloring). There is a lot of snake oil being sold in the biofuels industry, and Algaelink is poised to become the industry leader in snake oil manufacturing and sales.
Too often I read articles on TreeHugger that zealously promote new products or technologies without any background research. This type of journalism does not represent the green tech industry well.
==auth. note==
Nick, Can you provide some links or support to your allegations? Although journalism requires speed be balanced with depth of research, this article is based on respectable sources such as WirtschaftsWoche, Die Welt, and announcements from the ILA Berlin as well as research of a dozen online links. All technology is unproven until it is proven, and greentech is in the difficult phase where nothing will be proven unless money is dumped into proving it. However, we all want the money going where it can do the most good: If you provide some support for your allegations, TreeHugger will be happy to publish a counterpoint analysis. You can contact the author at Christine (at) TreeHugger.com.
By my calculations, if this reactor were to be scaled up to sustain a 50,000 kgal/day plant (a relatively small operation by todays standards), you would need roughly almost 1,000 based on the figures from the company website. That's a lot of acres. Seems one could almost grow soybeans on the same amount of land, get higher oil yield per acre, and have valuable meal to sell on the spot market.
Luc