Pond scum used to have a bad rap. Not anymore.
In most cases, a sewage plant isn’t the kind of place you’d show off to potential investors, eminent scientists or grant makers with open checkbooks.
But the Laguna Treatment Plant in southwest Santa Rosa is attracting the attention of eco-advocates around the country. It’s demonstrating algae’s potential to “polish” wastewater, turn pollutants into resource-rich methane, and—perhaps in the near future—produce biodiesel that could fuel our cars, buses and trucks.
For the past 18 months, the City of Santa Rosa has teamed up with researchers from Sonoma State University to study the use of algae to purify wastewater and, at the same time, convert it into biofuel to help run the plant. The Aquatic Biomass to Fuel (ABF) project hopes to demonstrate that converting algae into biofuel is a cost-effective, easily replicated technology that can be used by municipal wastewater facilities throughout the United States. It could be years before the technology can be used on a commercial scale, but so far, the green, leafy globs of high-powered vegetation are doing exactly what their caretakers had hoped they’d do—and more.
“We’re getting good data, but this is really just the start,” says Professor Michael Cohen, a biologist at Sonoma State University who’s been studying aquatic vegetation for nearly 20 years. “We’ll be looking very closely at the lab results and scaling up from there.”
With funds from the City of Santa Rosa Utilities Department, Cohen and graduate student Catherine Hare worked with R.S. Duckworth Construction of Sebastopol to build six narrow algae channels next to wastewater clarifying tanks. The “crop” of floating algae is designed to scrub wastewater, which flows through the channels in a serpentine pattern, by essentially “eating” nutrients and harmful components while at the same time producing biomass—carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids (including DNA) and lipids (some of which are, basically, vegetable oil). Ultimately, the biomass will be fed to digesters, which are processing machines that work anaerobically (without oxygen) to convert it into methane-rich biogas that will then be used to generate electricity to power the plant. Aided by grants from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the California Energy Commission, an experimental digestion facility is under construction at the city’s Laguna treatment plant. The beauty of anaerobic digestion, says Cohen, is that it converts all the biomass substances, not just a portion of the lipids, into a useable energy source (methane).
“We’re learning about the operations of the channels and ways to improve the efficiency of removing the residual nutrients to make the water even cleaner,” Cohen explains. “We’re also investigating how useful the scrubbers could be in removing residual pharmaceuticals and personal care products from the water. Rather than just treating the biomass we pull out as garbage, we’re trying to convert it to methane and other products we can use for energy. For instance, we’ve seen that when we put together certain mixtures—such as dairy and winery waste—we get a synergistic reaction that produces more biogas than if we just added them up individually.”
Cohen’s design isn’t revolutionary; the idea of applying algae to treat wastewater has been around for decades and, he’s quick to point out, the cumulative research on the subject is now helping to pull all the kite strings together at the same time. But Cohen’s use of floating mats of aquatic vegetation is a unique approach to the process—and one of the things that makes the Laguna project self-sufficient and, thus, more practical and economical than other alternative energy initiatives.
The county’s collaboration with Sonoma State has propelled it into the national spotlight. In May 2008, the ABF project won the National Climate Innovation Invitational Award, which showcases cutting-edge approaches to reducing greenhouse gases at the local level. The project was recognized yet again last October, when it received one of four innovation awards from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).
“This project combines the best of the best by helping us clean our wastewater in a biological way and produce fuel for our electric vehicle fleet at the plant,” says Dell Tredinnick, project development manager for the City of Santa Rosa. “We’re in a position to advance the science of this for communities across the country.”
Although Cohen and Hare can make biodiesel from algae in laboratory beakers, it’s too early to tell if they can produce the same results on a much larger scale. But others are aggressively pursuing that goal, including several companies in the greater Bay Area (see “Bay Area Algae Companies” at the end of this article). The most optimistic say algae-based biodiesel could hit the streets within the next 18 to 24 months and be available from any retailer that currently sells diesel. But the fact is, almost all of these companies are still in the research and development or demonstration phase and won’t provide specifics about their proprietary processes, technology, production rates or energy costs.
Justifying the hype
A number of alternative energy sources have offered promises for a cleaner, greener and more energy-secure future, but algae’s potential seems to justify the hype. Because the algae make oil naturally, it can be refined into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and chemical feedstock [raw material used to produce energy] for plastics and drugs. It can be processed at existing refineries and manufacturing facilities, thereby eliminating the need for investments in new infrastructure. And it can clean up waste by processing nitrogen from wastewater and carbon dioxide from power plants—an especially attractive proposition given the growing interest in carbon tax credits.
Algae—rootless, stemless, leafless plants found in pond scum, seaweed and water—use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy. In the process, some species can theoretically produce up to 30 times or more oil per acre than other plants used to make biofuels. They grow much faster than plants like soybeans and corn, in some cases doubling their weight many times in a single day, and can be harvested in coastal or desert areas, where groundwater conditions are less than ideal. They can eat just about anything, including wood chips, corn stalks, sugarcane, even agricultural and industrial waste. Wastewater from domestic and industrial sources contains rich organic compounds that actually accelerate algae’s growth, essentially turning a waste stream into a valuable resource.
There are some obstacles to widespread production of algae for biofuels, however. One is finding the right type of algae, which has high lipid content—the percentage of its cells that yield oil—a fast growth rate and that isn’t too difficult to harvest. Scientists have found some types of microalgae can produce as much as 60 percent of their weight in oil—some can even double their mass several times in a single day—but only when they’re starved for nutrients. Unfortunately, when they’re starved for nutrients, their ability to grow and reproduce slows down. (These microalgae, Cohen stresses, are very distinct from the algae used in the ABF system.)
Another challenge is developing a cost-effective, controlled cultivation system. The cheapest and simplest way to grow microalgae is in open ponds. But open ponds are susceptible to contamination from airborne invaders that compete with the algae; evaporation; and the inability of sunlight to penetrate more than just a few inches of the surface water, which can hamper production. Many companies now use more efficient, closed systems, such as bioreactors, to eliminate contamination and maintain greater consistency, but these systems require major capital investments for high-tech equipment and processing facilities.
Scientific interest in producing fuel from algae has been around since the 1950s. The U.S. Department of Energy conducted research on it from 1978 to 1996, but ultimately cancelled the project because it couldn’t compete with the price of crude oil at the time. Today’s higher energy prices have abruptly changed the equation.
Green Chip Stocks, an online investment firm that monitors sustainable energy companies, reported in October 2008 that research at leading universities suggests “algae could supply enough fuel to meet all of America’s transportation needs in the form of biodiesel, using a scant 0.2 percent of the nation’s land. In fact, enough algae can be grown to replace all transportation fuels in the United States on only 15,000 square miles, or 4.5 million acres of land”—roughly the size of Maryland.
The race to commercialization
The project at the Laguna Treatment Plant isn’t the first time local officials have investigated the possibility of using algae to produce energy and fuel. In 2006, the Sonoma County Water Agency began talks with Community Fuels, a private biodiesel startup, and others to collaborate on the development of an experimental facility at one of the county’s wastewater treatment plants. As NorthBay biz reported two years ago (“Buying Into Biodeisel,” Feb. 2007), it would have been the first-of-its-kind public-private biodiesel initiative—but it’s still in the “serious talking stage,” according to Tredinnick.
The county had hoped to use recycled restaurant grease and oil to produce biofuel to supply its vehicles and pumping machinery with either a blend of diesel and biodiesel or 100 percent biodiesel. The move would not only have turned the used grease and oil into alternative fuel, but it also would have saved the water agency the time and money required to clean the grease out of its treatment systems.
Community Fuels, the majority of which is owned by Sonoma County investors, has already built one of the largest biodiesel production and research plants in California at the Port of Stockton. Covering three acres, the plant can process multiple feedstocks and has a capacity of 10 million gallons per year—but it’s designed to quickly expand to more than twice that size. Made up of chemists, engineers, business people and financial experts, Community Fuels is angling to become the first California company to commercialize the technology and feedstock necessary to make algae-based biodiesel a reality.
“We think algae-based biodiesel is a very important area to explore,” says CEO Lisa Mortenson. “Our project is quite different than others in that it combines waste remediation with renewable fuel production. By combining those two elements, you create a novel solution to the existing economic barriers.”
Unlike other alternative fuels, algae-based biodiesel doesn’t face the same issues in terms of integrating it into our existing energy infrastructure. “One of its biggest advantages is that it’s appropriate for most diesel engines without the need to modify them, so it can easily merge into the existing supply chain,” Mortenson says. “You don’t have to buy new vehicles or invest in new technology.”
With more and more interest at both the state and federal level in algae-based biodiesel, Community Fuels has shifted an increasing amount of effort toward securing support for its research efforts. “Our timeframes for commercial demonstration are about three to five years, which, in the world of R&D, is a pretty short horizon,” Mortenson says.
“Meeting the increasing demand for biodiesel feedstock by developing commercial-scale algae cultivation, instead of increasing the acreage of crops like soybeans and canola, won’t require the creation of additional farmland by clearing natural habitats. It also won’t divert existing agricultural lands from the production of food crops,” she points out. “It will also place less strain on water and energy resources, and we won’t be generating new sources of pollution that are associated with conventional cultivation practices.”
Mortenson admits algae aren’t about to make Saudi crude obsolete, but she’s optimistic and clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. “For algae to become a practical feedstock for commercial-scale biodiesel production, we have to overcome some fundamental difficulties,” she says. “We have to cultivate the algae in a manner that reliably produces high oil content and is cost-effective. We also have to extract, purify and convert the oils to biodiesel using techniques that don’t consume prohibitively large amounts of energy. We won’t have a feasible solution if it isn’t economically viable. It also needs a strong energy balance.”
Getting social
Others have applied a social networking approach to promoting the use of algae and other alternative fuels in the North Bay, creating online forums and newsgroups that might lack the pizzazz of MySpace but keep environmentalists, local residents and civic leaders connected.
Take the case of Bryn Deamer, a librarian by profession. He and his wife, Sherna, launched a company called Biofuels of Marin in 2002 to create biodiesel from waste oil. Before the company produced a single barrel of fuel, his Texas-based biodiesel equipment supplier went out of business and Deamer’s dream collapsed—but not his belief in the technology. He turned his website into a forum for exchanging information about alternative fuel projects and regularly corresponds with people from across the country.
“The object is to create a means of communication and community for biofuel users in Marin County,” Deamer says. “It’s more of a social network, but one that’s willing to share information and advice freely. As a librarian, I love the idea of getting knowledge out to people.”
A review of recent postings (http://deamer.org/biofuels/index.html) covered everything from the feasibility of converting waste vegetable oil to fuel to differences in types of algae that can yield higher grades of biodiesel. Deamer’s home-grown Internet outpost also includes links to electric car conversion sites, information on eco-based classes at Santa Rosa Junior College and, most important, an extensive listing of biodiesel producers and retailers throughout the Bay Area.
“Biofuels of Marin isn’t selling fuel at this time,” he says. “We’re providing free, friendly consulting for those interested in using alternative energies but who are at a loss to know where to begin. Having no financial interest in a particular producer or supplier, we can help people negotiate this new landscape and find the information they need to make their own decisions.”
Flying high
As word spreads and research proceeds, the buzz around algae continues to grow. In February 2008, Virgin Atlantic became the first airline to fly with biofuel, something its boss Richard Branson called “a vital breakthrough,” even though environmentalists accused him of greenwashing and called the maiden flight a “nonsensical” publicity stunt. The Boeing 747 plane that flew from London to Amsterdam carried a 20 percent mix of biofuel in one of its four fuel tanks; it was derived from coconut and babassu oil, not algae. But both Branson and Billy Glover, Boeing’s chief of environmental strategy, have said algae looks “promising” and will almost certainly be the primary component for commercial airline fuel in the years to come.
Professor Cohen chuckles about Branson’s foray into high-altitude alternatives. And while he doesn’t dispute the potential of algae to become a significant source of fuel, he prefers to draw attention to its more immediate—albeit blue-collar—applications.
He explains that lipids can be processed into a variety of things, including oil, which can then be refined into biodiesel. But in nitrate-rich wastewater, algae don’t produce excess lipids, and much of the lipid content of algae can be tar-like substances, distinct from the oils, that aren’t convertible to biodiesel.
“There are some people who are very high on the biodiesel aspect of algae,” he says, “but with the existing technology and the way these organisms grow, I wouldn’t bank on it happening soon. On the other hand, the methane conversion is something that can be done now with algae, and methane has a lot of uses. You can liquefy it, compress it, use it for buses and some cars—you could easily substitute algal methane for anything you do with natural gas. All the technology exists already. At the plant, they’re burning the biogas they generate to run the electrical generators that power the plant. Across the bay, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) is at the point of becoming a net energy producer thanks to its methane generation. Some wineries in Sonoma County are shipping their waste to EBMUD to be digested.
“Even if the algae project doesn’t work out in Santa Rosa the way we planned, I think we’ve shown that the process can work and can serve as a model for similar projects in other cities in the United States and worldwide.”
The system that Cohen and Hare developed removed about 1,058 milligrams of nitrogen per square meter per day over a four-month period last year. That may not sound like much, but it was as much as 30 to 50 percent more than other local studies have achieved. Hare estimates it would take roughly 5.5 acres of algae scrubbers to decrease the nitrate concentration in 1 million gallons of wastewater to meet state drinking water standards (one goal of the ABF study is to obtain a more reliable estimate), you’re talking about a lot of real estate, especially at a plant the size of Laguna, which treats 21 million gallons of sewage a day. That wouldn’t be an issue in a smaller community, however.
“The most exciting thing about this project is the sustainability of it,” Hare says. “We have an ever-increasing need for energy and an ever-increasing amount of pollution…so if we can find a way to deal with those issues on the local level—and do it right now—it’s important that we move forward. That’s what’s so great about the algae: There’s no magic wand, but they push on, removing the nitrogen and producing biomass, doing just what they’re supposed to do.
Top 10 Reasons for Using Biofuels
1. Biodiesel provides American energy security.
Biodiesel provides work for our nation’s farmers and our local communities. It’s made from domestically grown soy and vegetable waste oils collected from restaurants. It can be produced in the United States using crops grown domestically that will benefit American farmers (soy, canola, mustard, cotton seed, walnuts, flax, etc.). We now send $0.60 of every $1 we spend on petroleum out of the United States. By using biodiesel, we could help keep billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in this country.
2. Biodiesel’s lower emissions promote better health.
Biodiesel lowers both pollutant risks to our residents and associated costs to clean the air, ground and waterways of diesel pollutants and improperly disposed waste. Biodiesel lowers harmful carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrocarbon levels by 50 to 100 percent. It thus reduces soot, smog and cancer-causing compounds.
3. Biodiesel offers a high energy balance.
Pure biodiesel has the highest BTU content of any alternative fuel and the highest energy balance of any fuel. Every unit of fossil energy needed to produce biodiesel yields at least 3.2 units of energy (based on soy based biodiesel—higher still from more efficient crops). By comparison, every unit of fossil energy needed to produce gasoline and diesel fuel yields only about .8 of a unit of energy.
4. Biodiesel requires no engine modification.
Biodiesel is the one alternative energy we can use now. It requires no new vehicles, pumps or infrastructure. Higher lubricity adds more life to your engine, particularly the new ultra-low sulfur diesel. It mixes easily with petroleum diesel at any level. It has higher cetane, similar power and torque, and meets ASTM standards.
5. Biodiesel is the safest fuel.
One hundred percent pure biodiesel is nontoxic and biodegradable. Its flash point is 150 degrees higher than diesel, making it the safest fuel on the market. It’s 10 times less toxic than salt, and it biodegrades quickly.
6. Biodiesel offers EPACT benefits.
Congress approved the use of biodiesel as an Energy Policy Act (EPACT) compliance strategy in 1998. The legislation lets EPACT-covered fleets meet their alternative fuel vehicle purchase requirements simply by buying 450 gallons of 100 percent biodiesel and burning it in a 20 percent or higher blend with diesel fuel in vehicles heavier than 8,500 pounds.
7. Biodiesel turns waste into energy.
Biodiesel can be produced cheaply from widely available and recyclable feedstocks. Many of these feedstocks are byproducts that, until now, have had little market value, including waste cooking oil, yellow grease, mustard seed, canola and soy bean oil.
8. Biodiesel aids regional independence.
By supporting biodiesel, everyone in the region wins. Farmers and restaurant owners get more value for their work. Cities get cleaner and have a higher tax base. The job base gets larger and children get healthier. The energy created within any region stays in that region, which makes good economic sense. The Department of Energy recognizes biodiesel as the fastest growing alternative fuel in the United States.
9. Biodiesel aids oil spill clean up.
Biodiesel can be used to “cling” to petroleum in spills; it increases the breakdown rate of petroleum components.
10. Biodiesel offers energy for developing countries.
The diesel engine is the backbone for most developing nations. Building a biodiesel infrastructure in the United States paves the way for our poorer neighbors to clean their environment while creating jobs and energy.
Source: Community Fuels
Bay Area Algae Companies
More than a dozen algae-to-biofuel startups have opened for business, ranging from well-financed biotechnology companies with corporate pedigrees, to university-supported initiatives, to private firms living off venture capital and angel investors. Several exist right here in the Bay Area.
Aurora Biofuels, Alameda
www.aurorabiofuels.com
Aurora uses genetically modified algae to create biodiesel, which can burn in unmodified diesel engines and be distributed via our existing infrastructure. A renewable energy company exploring the use of algae as feedstock for biofuels and to generate bio-oil, which can be converted to biodiesel, Aurora is built on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as well as academic research. One of its founders was involved in the federal Aquatic Species Program in the 1980s and has built and operated large-scale demonstration algae ponds.
Live Fuels, Menlo Park
www.livefuels.com
Live Fuels uses open-pond algae bioreactors to create “green crude” that can be fed directly into the nation’s current refinery system. It’s a national alliance of laboratories and scientists dedicated to transforming algae into biocrude—the renewable equivalent of petroleum—by 2010. The alliance is the largest of its kind in the country, focusing on commercializing the technology necessary to make millions of barrels of biocrude oil per day (for less than $60 per barrel).
Solazyme, South San Francisco
www.solazyme.com
Supported in part by Chevron, Solazyme uses synthetic biology and genetic engineering to turn microalgae into biofuel, industrial chemicals and health and wellness products. The only company of its kind producing commercial-scale quantities of biofuels (and the only one whose fuels meet rigorous ASTM specifications), its microbial fermentation process lets algae produce oil in standard conversion technology facilities quickly, efficiently and in large quantities. In November, Solazyme showed off the world’s first algal-based renewable diesel fuel, Soladiesel RD, at the Governor’s Global Climate Summit in Beverly Hills.
LS9, San Carlos
www.ls9.com
LS9 uses biology at the molecular genetic level to produce biofuels that resemble petroleum but that are renewable, domestically produced and cost-competitive. Founded in 2005 by two large investment firms and several distinguished scientists, its strengths lie in industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology to design, develop and commercialize the algae-to-biofuels process.
