Why algae?
Given current developments, the world has to search and push for alternative transportation fuels.
- Climate changes are becoming the challenge of the twenty first century for the global community.
- Crude oil prices have increased over several years putting more and more pressure on economic growth.
- Crude oil production is expected to peak within the next decade leading to sustained high price levels.
First generation biofuels are not without problems
Driven by high crude oil prices and government support a significant biofuel industry has emerged. Production volumes have reached 50 billion liters of biofuels per year, in Europe mostly substituting diesel, meaning that roughly 2% of global transportation fuels are today bio-based. Still, a dramatic growth lies ahead of us.
The current biofuel industry is based almost exclusively on food crops with major feedstocks being sugar cane, corn, rapeseed oil and palm oil. However, many non-governmental organizations and scientists are criticizing current developments.
- Simply speaking, there is just not enough land to provide both food and fuel and this is especially true for oil crops.
- Plantations for biofuels lead to increased deforestation of tropical forest and accelerate the loss of our unique biodiversity.
- The increase of food prices is impacting the poorest of the world.
Algae - the best feedstock for next generation biofuels
Algae alleviate many of the problems related to first generation biofuels.
- Algae can be grown in both open ponds and closed bioreactor systems and agricultural land is not a requirements for cultivation of algae.
- Algae can reach yields that are more than 10 times higher than even then the most productive current crops.
- Algae sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide as they grow.
In fact, you would only need 1-2% of Spanish land for algae cultivation in order to replace the entire domestic diesel demand in Spain based on a yield target for algae production of 35,000 liters per hectare per year.
Algae can be distinguished into macro algae and micro algae. Macro algae are the weed like plant found in the ocean, whereas micro algae are so small that you can see them only under microscope. In order to be able to optimize process design, Algasol Renewables has chosen micro algae as the preferred source of biomass.
Scientists estimate that there are more than 100,000 micro algae species allowing us rich opportunity to find the optimal species depending on the chosen product, location and other factors. Many attempts have already been made to grow micro algae, but none of them has successfully reached industrial-scale production. The main reason for this is the lack of a technology for the cultivation of micro algae with low investment and operating cost, no contamination and sufficient productivity.
On the basis of previous scientific research and new innovations, Algasol Renewables has developed a low-cost photobioreactor technology, which will significantly reduce the production cost for the cultivation of algae biomass, while at the same time avoid contamination, which is a common problem in other low-cost systems. More about technology »
Algasol Renewables SL, ParcBIT Parque Tecnológico, Po Box no 2, E-07121 Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain | info@algasolrenewables.com