Biofuels from Algae Michele Stanley
Market Sectors Base commodi1es Added value base commodi1es Biogas Bioethanol Biobutanol Biodiesel Feed Speciality products & ceu1cals Integrated biorefinery Bioremedia1on Commodity chems Bioplas<cs Aquaculture feed Personal care Cosme<cs Pharmaceu<cals Nutraceu<cals Food Waste CO 2 Wastewater Anaerobic diges<on (sludge)
Algal biodiversity an untapped biotechnological treasure chest?
Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group Accelera(ng innova(on
What is the bioenergy poten1al? Fig 1: Example of beach cast kelp washed ashore a^er storms, November 2011, North Uist, Scotland TOTAL biomass of beach cast es<mated in the en<re Outer Hebrides: 210 000 tons/year (Walker 1954) 1 = 4.62 x 10 6 m 3 methane - enough methane to heat 2874 houses (24% of total households) - Equivalent to ~ 5 000 000 liters petrol Where: 2 One wet ton of seaweed yields 22 m 3 of methane with a gross calorific value of 39.8 MJ/m. 3 One m 3 biogas is equivalent to 1.1 liters petrol 2 Walker, F. T. (1954). "Distribu<on of Laminariaceae around Scotland." Journal du Conseil 20(2): 160-166. 2 Bruton, T., H. Lyons, et al. (2009). A Review of the Poten<al of Marine Algae as a Source of Biofuel in Ireland, Sustainable Energy Ireland., 3 hep://www.bal<cbiogasbus.eu/web/about- biogas.aspx
Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group Accelera(ng innova(on
Microalgae Microalgae the green colour in your pond (or some1mes on your walls) Biofuels from microalgae- mainly oil As well as being capable, like macroalgae, of fermenta1on and anaerobic diges1on, microalgae are prolific oil producers.
Microalgae screening CCAP culture collec1on based at SAMS contains over 3000 strains 500 capable of growth under saline condi1ons. These strains have the greatest economic poten1al since they will not impact freshwater supplies. Selected 200 of these based on commercial considera1ons and to avoid repe11on 1 11 3 2
Screening micro- algae in the CCAP Starter culture Eliminate poor growers Growth with aera<on Eliminate poor growers Measure oil yields Eliminate low yield strains Inves<gate physiology and oil regula<on The CCAP collec1on contains over 3000 micro- algal strains
Highlighted 11 Environmental Research Challenges linked to both macro and microalgal bioenergy Five main pathways 1. macroalgae (nearshore) to bioenergy [via food and HVCs] 2. macroalgae (offshore) to commodity chemicals 3. heterotrophic microalgae to biofuels [via nutraceu<cals/hvcs] 4. wastewater to biofuels 5. microalgae (offshore) to biofuels Strategy Research Agenda: heps://connect.innovateuk.org/ web/algal- biotechnology- special- interest- group/ar<cles
Underpinning Research Needed for LCA
Development of Industrial Algal Roadmap Algal Biomass cultivation processing manufacture markets
Output from 2 Road mapping workshops Objec1ves Ascertain algal products & services: a) On market or close b) Under deployment c) Require further R&D d) Have highest poten<al for UK Iden<fy barriers & opportuni<es towards crea<ng a robust & sustainable algal- based industry Short Medium term opportuni1es HV products for nutraceu<cals & personal care (condiments, bioac<ves, DHA etc) Bioremedia<on Medium- long term opportuni1es Integrated biorefinery Novel bioac<ves through bioprospec<ng & metabolic engineering (micro) for pharma, cosme<cs & nutri<on
IMTA? Bioplas<cs Fish Farm/ Mussels? Macroalgae Bioremedia<on Protein Bioenergy Bioremedia1on - Palmaria palmata (growth rate 48% and biomass 63%) - S. la1ssima (growth rate 61% and biomass 27%) Placement of seaweed- nitrogen content increased to as you got closer to the fish cages Poten1al to remove 5% to 12% of waste nitrogen from 500 tonnes salmon farm over 2 yrs (ref. Sanderson et al (2012) Aquaculture)
Challenges Science on bioethanol, biobutanol, biogas, biodiesel from algae needs to move forward Location, scale-up, multiple locations, multiple years, regularity of supply, financial incentives/ returns Product value, specialized markets Pollution alleviation- heavy metals, CO 2 Commercial sized projects/ research station- like land based farm industries- allowing industry and science to work together
Project supported by the INTERREG IVA Programme! Managed by SEUPB