Algae Farm Aims to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

NY Times
Matthew L. Wald
Monday, June 29, 2009

Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol as a vehicle fuel or an ingredient in plastics.

Because algae does not require any farmland or much space, many energy companies are trying to use it to make commercial quantities of hydrocarbons for fuel and chemicals. But harvesting the hydrocarbons has proved difficult so far.

The ethanol would be sold as fuel, the companies said, but Dow’s long-term interest is in using it as an ingredient for plastics, replacing natural gas. The process also produces oxygen, which could be used to burn coal in a power plant cleanly, said Paul Woods, chief executive of Algenol, which is based in Bonita Springs, Fla. The exhaust from such a plant would be mostly carbon dioxide, which could be reused to make more algae.

“We give them the oxygen, we get very pure carbon dioxide, and the output is very cheap ethanol,” said Mr. Woods, who said the target price was $1 a gallon.

Algenol grows algae in “bioreactors,” troughs covered with flexible plastic and filled with saltwater. The water is saturated with carbon dioxide, to encourage growth of the algae. “It looks like a long hot dog balloon,” Mr. Woods said.

Dow, a maker of specialty plastics, will provide the “balloon” material.

The algae, through photosynthesis, convert the carbon dioxide and water into ethanol, which is a hydrocarbon, oxygen and fresh water.

The company has 40 bioreactors in Florida, and as part of the demonstration project plans 3,100 of them on a 24-acre site at Dow’s Freeport, Tex., site. Among the steps still being improved is the separation of the oxygen and water from the ethanol. The Georgia Institute of Technology will work on that process, as will Membrane Technology and Research, a company in Menlo Park, Calif. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, an Energy Department lab, will study carbon dioxide sources and their impact on the algae samples.

Algenol and its partners are planning a demonstration plant that could produce 100,000 gallons a year. The company and its partners were spending more than $50 million, said Mr. Woods, but not all of that was going into the pilot plant. The company had applied to the Energy Department for financing under the stimulus bill, but would build a pilot plant with or without a grant, he said.

With a stimulus grant, he said, the division of spending would be slightly more than 50 percent from the private sector, although the normal level was 20 percent. The project would create 300 jobs, he said, adding that Algenol and Dow were “incredibly hopeful” of getting the grant, partly because they had a combination of an innovative start-up company, a major company with extensive experience in industrial processes, a university and a national laboratory.

At Dow, Peter A. Molinaro, a spokesman, said that the ethanol was “intriguing to us as a feedstock, because the chemistry is simple.” Dow is already working on using ethanol from Brazilian sugar cane as a replacement for natural gas as an ingredient in plastics.

When Congress created a tax subsidy for ethanol, it raised the price for nonfuel users like Dow, he said. “We’re looking at options, and this is one,” he said.

Wind farms could supply planet’s power

Telegraph

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Even operating at just a fifth of their full capacity, a global network of 2.5 megawatt wind turbines sited away from urban centres would easily meet global electricity demands, a study suggests.

Currently only a fraction of energy is supplied by wind power, even in the UK which is considered the windiest country in Europe.

In 2007 wind energy overtook hydropower to become Britain’s largest renewable generation source. However, it still only contributed 2.2 per cent of the UK’s electricity supply.

The Government has set a target of meeting 15 per cent of all the UK’s energy demands from renewables by 2020, which means between 35 per cent to 45 per cent of electricity will have to come from green sources. Most of this is expected to be generated by wind farms.

For the new study, a team of international scientists led by Professor Michael McElroy at Harvard University in the US, divided the world into areas of around 3,300 square kilometres.

They then identified regions that would be suitable for wind farms.

The scientists worked out the potential for wind power electricity generation based on wind speed, air density, the spacing of turbines, and the size of turbine blades.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers concluded: “The analysis suggests that a network of land-based 2.5 megawatt turbines operating at as little as 20 per cent of rated capacity, confined to non-forested, ice-free regions would be more than sufficient to account for total current and anticipated future global demand for electricity.

“The potential for the contiguous US could amount to more than 16 times current consumption. Important additional sources of electricity could be obtained by deploying wind farms in near-shore shallow water environments.”

Nick Rau, of Friends of the Earth, said: “This is further evidence of the huge role that wind power can play in cutting climate-changing emissions and meeting our energy requirements.

“The report also highlights the UK’s huge wind power potential, one of largest in the world, and suggests it could easily supply our electricity needs many times over.

“The Government must reap the economic and environmental rewards from developing green energy by urgently tackling the barriers that prevent wind energy from taking off, and make this country a world leader in developing a clean and prosperous low-carbon economy.”

“Revelry by the River” Honors Some, Inspires All

ENN.com
M Molendyke
Friday, June 5, 2009

On a balmy summer night this week, the kind perfect for reflecting on the beauty and vitality of nature, supporters of Solar One gathered to champion just such a vision at the Revelry by the River event.

Solar One stands as a center for environmental conservation and learning, and since 2004 has been reaching out to students in the city to promote green learning and living. “Solar One is a leading environmental organization that addresses issues of sustainabiliy in the urban environment through the many programs we offer. These include our K-12 enrichment courses that focus on renewables, sustainable design, water ecology and horticulture; our green collar job training programs in building performance, PV (solar) installation, deconstruction, horticulture and youth green entrepreneurship; our solar advocacy program; and our solar powered arts festival” said director Christopher Collins in a statement made to ENN.

The fundraising efforts held on Tuesday June 2, 2009 were in support of the Solar Two project, Solar One’s big brother. Solar Two will be New York’s “Green Energy, Arts, and Education Center”, the city’s first carbon- neutral, net- zero energy use building. “Solar 2 will showcase state-of-the-art green building design and technology while operating as a thriving center for diverse environmental activities” outlined executive director Christopher J. Collins in a Director’s Letter given to attendees. In the same address, Collins also noted that “Solar 2 will embody our organization’s mission to provide people of all ages with the vision, knowledge and resources to achieve an environmentally
sustainable future.”

Chaired by H. Hartley du Pont and Jane Steiner Hoffman, the event brought together leaders from the conservation community as well as the most environmentally committed of the New York glitterati. Among the attendees were Governor George Pataki, actresses Lake Bell and Brooke Shields, and Real Housewives of NYC’s Alex McCord. “Revelry By The River” took time to hand out three honors to outstanding contributors to Solar Two and other environmental causes.

First, bank HSBC was honored for its $100 million contribution to a variety of environmental causes as well as its commitment to being carbon neutral (it reached this goal in 2005). Accepting the Sustainability Achievement Award, Vice President of Human Resources Suzanne Brienza thanked Solar One for introducing HSBC as a “corporate leader in doing the right thing”.

Actor Matthew Modine accepted the Environmental Stewardship Award in recognition of his founding of the Bicycle For A Day initiative, a foundation committed to promoting increased bicycle use for the dual benefit of reducing auto emissions and promoting human health and fitness. Said Modine in his acceptance speech, “there should not be a building in the US that does not incorporate the technology and knowledge that we have today” in order to promote green living.

Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, granddaughter of Robert Kennedy, charmed the supportive crowd with her lighthearted acceptance of the Young Environmentalist Award for her work with the Waterkeeper Alliance and her recent appearance in the film Grand Canyon Adventure. Opening with a joke to illustrate that “solar power is no laughing matter”, Kick thanked her family and the audience for their support in her environmental efforts. ENN spoke to Kick before the ceremony, where she expressed her ardent support of public officials who encourage environmental conservancy in legislation and noted that “there should be more stringent laws” to prevent air and water pollution.

As the sun set over the New York City skyline, guests departed with the themes of the night in their minds: Education, conservancy, and the inspiration to do the right thing. The event was a “huge success, both financially and in terms of our overall mission of education on the issues of sustainability in the built environment” remarked Chris Collins.