Algae as a feedstock appear to have many advantages relative to other bio-feedstocks.
Anyone familiar with the field of alternative energy (and that
anyone is practically every one these days!) knows that there is no
silver bullet. For every positive aspect of a specific alternative
energy domain, there appears to be at least one negative aspect.
Examples: (1) Solar energy: available in plenty, all around us
and free, but how does one get a higher power density? (2) Wind energy:
similar to solar energy available in plenty all around us, but presents
problems with continuous availability among others, (3) Hydrogen energy
appears to be simple and clean but how on earth does one store it in a
safe and efficient manner? Such discussions go on for each and every
alternative source of energy being explored.
As a result, a growing consensus amongst the energy industry experts
is that rather than focusing on one avenue of alternative energy,
perhaps it is a combination of alternative energy avenues that should
be considered to provide a sustainable solution.
Even if one were to agree to this rather sensible consensus, it
still is imperative that there are 2-3 main sources of alternative
energy that can satisfy a large percentage of our energy needs – as
against an array of 10 different sources. One might ask why we cannot
have ten different sources of energy to meet all our energy needs. We
can have - and even today, we have a multitude of diverse energy
sources - but in order for the energy industry to obtain
standardisations and consequent economies of scale, the industry will
have to rely on a few dominant alternative energy sources. A whole
range of energy sources will likely co-exist, but it will likely be 2-3
sources that will supply a very large percentage of our future energy
needs. This is just another manifestation of the 80-20 rule that
appears to govern most phenomena around us!
That leaves us with the question: So which are these 2-3 key alternative energy sources?
While a number of eminent and brilliant professionals are putting their
heads together to come up with all kinds of ingenuous sources, it
appears that oil (in the form of Biodiesel primarily) derived from
algae could be one of them.
Why is this so?
Algae as a feedstock appear to have many advantages relative to other bio-feedstocks:
(1) They can grow in many different areas, even in areas far from
seas, in deserts and even in snow (most other oil crops need specific
climatic conditions for their growth)
(2) Their yields are substantially higher than those for traditional
oil crops - many oil crops cannot even theoretically replace
petro-diesel or gasoline because that would require almost all the
world’s cultivable land to be dedicated to produce biofuels alone (so
hello, what do we eat?)
(3) Algae also present an interesting possibility of being grown
right next to pollutants creating industries (such as coal-based power
plants), with the CO2 from the industries used to grow the algae - an
extention of this concept is to cultivate algae in sewages! A couple of
commercial ventures (some in the US and one in New Zealand) are
experimenting with methods such as these.
(4) And algae have a bit of history too – oil was originally formed
from the millions of years’ of nature’s work on algae! Yes, the oil we
are using today as fossil fuel was originally formed from the algal
masses.
And lest one just shrugs his shoulders and thinks, "they are just
algae," it is probably worth pointing out that algae - and not humans -
are perhaps the most important living beings on earth! Why? For the
simple reason that algae contribute over 70% of all oxygen in the
atmosphere, some estimates put the % even higher. If it were not for
the humble algae, it is unlikely that earth would be able to support
the billions of teeming human beings today. This bit of information
about algae is not just trivia but it once again signifies their
abundance and hence also their potential to produce abundant amounts of
oil.
If algae appear so promising, how come the world's energy majors are not pumping billions of dollars to get oil from algae?
Well, algae do not present a "silver bullet" solution either, at least
not at the moment. There are serious bottlenecks to be overcome before
oil from algae can be proved an economical, sustainable, large-scale
solution for our fuel and energy needs. Some of these bottlenecks have
to do with lack of capabilities to cultivate and harvest optimal
strains of algae in a cost-effective manner, and cost-effective methods
of extracting the oil from algae.
While these appear to be simple problems on paper, they
unfortunately are not in reality. In order for these bottlenecks to be
ovecome, a significant amount of research needs to be undertaken,
possibly with a lot more attention from the major governments and
corporates of the world.
But surprisingly - and for reasons not really clear - there are no
signs of such massive amounts of research being done in the field of
oil from algae. For sure, research is being conducted by some brilliant
and devoted scientists, but we fear that these isolated efforts will
not be enough.
With all of us now keen on doing our best to find out those
alternative energy avenues that will make or break civilization fifty
years from now, it is imperative that individuals and professionals try
to convince their goverments, corporates & scientific research
institutions of the need to put in more research into exploring algae
as a feedstock for oil.
One may ask: "Isn't it a possibility that the research could prove
that algae are not a suitable feedstock for our future oil needs?"
Indeed, it is indeed a possibility, but it is much less of a
possibility that soy or palm or corn powering our future. Or hydrogen
for that matter.
Editorial prepared by: Narsi Santhanam
Web site: http://www.oilgae.com
Title: Oilgae & Energy from Algae
Site description: Oilgae provides resources and inputs for those
doing research on deriving oil and Biodiesel from algae, and is
evolving into a community for all the oil from algae enthusiasts and
professionals.
