Pond Biofuels pilots unique algae bioreactor at cement plant

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  Pond Biofuels assessed and selected strains based on robust growth rates and reliability for use in southern Ontario environmental conditions.
  
  

Toronto, Ontario-based Pond Biofuels Inc. is piloting a unique algae production system at St. Mary’s Cement with support of the Ontario government. According to Pond Biofuels, the new system will reduce greenhouse gases by absorbing dirty smokestack emissions to grow algae, which can be used in oil production, converted into biodiesel or bioplastics, or act as a renewable replacement for coal.

“Ontario is proud to support innovative companies like Pond Biofuels that are turning innovative ideas into great jobs,” said Brad Duguid, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Innovation. “We are proud to support the development of new technology that benefits the environment, provides an alternative source of energy and creates new, high-quality jobs in Ontario.”

Pond Biofuels is currently piloting a 16,000 liter (4,227 gallon) algae production facility at the cement plant. According to Pond Biofuels Project Manager Jaime Gonzalez, the company’s technology utilizes a unique bioreactor system. Unlike most traditional algae bioreactors, Gonzalez said Pond Biofuels’ system utilizes high-efficiency LEDs. “We use these LEDs to produce wavelengths of light that algae use for photosynthesis,” he said. LEDs, however, aren’t the only source of light energy the technology employs.

“To be even more energy efficient, we also use solar light during the day,” Gonzalez said. “We filter it so we don’t have to transmit all of the solar spectrum into the bioreactors. We only transmit the wavelengths in the spectrum that algae need for photosynthesis.” The remainder of the light can be used to produce electricity via photovoltaic systems. According to Gonzalez, the system is able to put almost as much power into the grid during the day as it pulls at night, making the energy balance nearly zero. Pond Biofuels has designed it’s systems to be even more energy efficient by utilizing waste heat from industrial hosts as energy to dry the algae.

“One of the main criticisms of bioreactors is they use a lot of energy [when compared to raceways or open ponds],” Gonzalez said. He noted, however, that Pond Biofuels has been able to significantly reduce the energy required to run its systems. The unique systems are also more suitable for co-location with industrial hosts, he said, due to the fact that the bioreactors require far less land than open ponds.

With the pilot plant already in operation, Pond Biofuels is preparing to scale up its system. According to Gonzalez, a 100,000 liter (26,417 gallon) demonstration scale facility should be operational by mid-2012. A commercial-scale facility could be operational at St. Mary’s by 2014.

Max Kolesnik, Pond Biofuels’ president, noted that his company is able to leverage two different business niches: reducing greenhouse gases at industrial emitters, and producing feedstock for the biorefining indsutry. “The two-sided coin of a business model has a very big potential in the marketplace,” he added.

Once commercial production is reached, Kolesnik said he expects Pond Biofuels will expand its operations in three ways. It will build, own and operate its own algae production facilities. It also plans to build, own and operate facilities in partnership with industrial emitters. Finally, he noted that his company plans to license its technology to third parties.

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Algae.Tec: Standard and Poors initiates Factual Stock Report coverage

Algae.Tec (ASX: AEB) has become the subject of Factual Stock Report coverage by New York financial services firm Standard and Poors.

“The S&P coverage will extend our reach to a wide range of investor audiences in the USA and internationally providing weekly updates on pricing, trading volume, recent developments, a financial review, key operating information, industry and peer comparisons, and institutional holdings analysis,” executive chairman Roger Stroud said.

The coverage coincides with Algae.Tec’s recent successful $5 million capital raising. This will fund the fast tracking of the company’s recently announced commercial projects.

The market continues to respond to the company's recent milestones including the signing of major deals with companies in China, Sri Lanka and Europe.

Algae.Tec is now well funded for 2012, as the company continues to talk to groups about potential offtake agreements.


Shandong Kerui Group Holding Milestone Deal

Earlier this month, Algae.Tec signed a binding memorandum of understanding for a 50:50 equity joint venture in China with Shandong Kerui Group Holding to build the first biofuels and carbon capture facility in China.

Importantly, Shandong will be putting half the equity into the project, which shows very strong commitment to the project on their part.

The 250-module biofuels facility will be built in Dongying, in Shandong Province, and will produce about 33 million litres of algae derived transport oil and 33,000 tonnes of biomass per annum at a combined value of over $40 million. It will capture 137,000 tonnes of waste carbon dioxide.

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Microbubble technology improves algae harvesting

Researchers at the University of Sheffield (UK) have developed a technique for harvesting algae using microbubble technology. The technique builds on previous research in which microbubbles were used to improve the way algae is cultivated.

Algae produce an oil which can be processed to create a useful biofuel; however, cost-effective methods of harvesting and removing the water from the algae for it to be processed effectively are challenging.

A team led by Professor Will Zimmerman in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering developed an inexpensive way of producing microbubbles that can float algae particles to the surface of the water, making harvesting easier, and saving biofuel-producing companies time and money. The research will be published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering.

Zimmerman and his team won the Moulton Medal, from the Institute of Chemical Engineers, for their earlier work which used the microbubble technology to improve algae production methods, allowing producers to grow crops more rapidly and more densely.

“We thought we had solved the major barrier to biofuel companies processing algae to use as fuel when we applied microbubbles to grow the algae more densely. It turned out, however, that algae biofuels still couldn't be produced economically, because of the difficulty in harvesting and dewatering the algae. We had to develop a solution to this problem and once again, microbubbles provided a solution”, Zimmerman said.

Microbubbles have been used for flotation before: water purification companies use the process to float out impurities, but it has not been done in this context, partly because previous methods have been very expensive.

The system developed by Zimmerman's team uses up to 1,000 times less energy to produce the microbubbles and, in addition, the cost of installing the Sheffield microbubble system is predicted to be much less than existing flotation systems.

The next step in the project is to develop a pilot plant to test the system at an industrial scale. Zimmerman is already working with Tata Steel at their site in Scunthorpe using CO2 from their flue-gas stacks and plans to continue this partnership to test the new system.

The research was supported by the University of Sheffield's Knowledge Transfer Account, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It was also backed by the Royal Society Innovation Award 2010, and the Concept Fund of Yorkshire Forward.

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Aurora Algae set to raise $100M

Aurora Algae began operations in Karratha mid last year and now has its sights on raising $100 million after hitting the $22 million mark a few months ago.

The $22 million has left the company fully funded until its next expansion phase of harvesting algae-based biomass for products in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, aquaculture and renewable energy markets.

Daniel Sanudo checks the water quality in the 50sqm pond

The company’s Karratha operation is planned to be increased from the initial 100 hectares of commercial operation to 400 hectares in the next stage, and then 1000 hectares.

The company is looking to raise $100 million from existing and new private investors by mid-year, and is aligning at an IPO later in the year.

Founder and managing director, Matthew Caspari said the next phase will get Aurora Algae into profits.

“It’s highly scalable,” he said.

Mr Caspari said that existing investors such as Gabriel Venture Partners are expected to return in this round, plus an un-named strategic investor.

The venture uses a large amount of marginal land, but being in Karratha enables it to take advantage of the improving infrastructure, thanks to the resources boom.

‘’It is easy to get things in and out, thanks to the resources industry,’’ Mr Caspari said.

‘’The downside is labour is amazingly expensive and housing is amazingly expensive.”

The company has not provided any indication of likely production volumes as it scales up, but it will produce ‘’hundreds of tonnes of material a month; thousands of tonnes a year’’.

Karratha has been the perfect place for Aurora Algae to make profit within a few months.

The abundant sunlight means the algae grow quickly – doubling in volume in a day – ensuring plentiful product for processing.

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Scientists hail algae biofuel breakthrough

New production method promises to save cost and energy as Etihad becomes latest airline to trial biofuels

Using algae to produce sustainable biofuel could become a commercially viable option after scientists claimed to have developed a new cost-effective harvesting method.

One of the major stumbling blocks to the technology, which promises to yield greener fuels without impacting food production, has been removing water from the algae to allow it to be processed effectively.

But by creating a cheap method of producing microbubbles that allow algae particles to float to the surface of the water, researchers at the University of Sheffield believe they can make harvesting easier and save biofuel producers time and money.

The system also uses 1,000 times less energy to produce the bubbles than previous methods and could be installed at much lower cost, professor Will Zimmerman, who led the research, claimed in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering.

The research builds on earlier work by the team at Sheffield, which allowed producers to grow algal crops more rapidly and more densely.

"We thought we had solved the major barrier to biofuel companies processing algae to use as fuel when we used microbubbles to grow the algae more densely," professor Zimmerman said.

"It turned out, however, that algae biofuels still couldn't be produced economically, because of the difficulty in harvesting and dewatering the algae. We had to develop a solution to this problem and once again, microbubbles provided a solution."

Algae-derived fuels are thought to be highly suitable for industries such as aviation, which is looking to lower its environmental impact with the advent of emissions trading in the EU.

Qantas and the US Navy are both experimenting with algae-based fuels, which according to advocates could produce the huge quantities needed to decarbonise aviation without affecting agricultural output.

Fuels produced from waste have also proved popular, with airlines including Lufthansa, British Airways, United and Virgin exploring the concept, while Etihad, national airline of the UAE, piloted the Gulf's first biofuels flight earlier this week.

he airline's newest Boeing 777-300ER landed in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after a 14 hour flight from Seattle, during which it used a combination of traditional jet fuel and fuel derived from recycled vegetable cooking oil.

The fuel, produced by Dutch company SkyNRG, has been used by Boeing as a 'fly-away' fuel for every new delivery, a programme that was praised by James Hogan, Etihad Airways' president and chief executive.

"This flight marks a significant milestone in our efforts to support and drive the commercialisation of sustainable aviation fuel in Abu Dhabi, the region, and globally," Hogan said in a statement.

"However, the use of a presently available biofuel is just one part of a more comprehensive long-term biofuel strategy to ensure that we are able to use biofuels to decarbonise substantially an entire industry sector in the long term."

Original post available here.