Posts Tagged ‘algae’

Article courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News

By Brook Stockberger

As you travel on Interstate 10 south of Las Cruces near Mesquite, the discernible aroma of cow is often in the air. Now that smell could be a multimillion dollar business that helps the environment as well.

R-Qubed Energy, a New Mexico-registered company operated by a group of El Paso business folks, hopes to break ground this summer on a $74 million, 11-acre plant that will employ 80 to 90 full-time workers and turn methane from cow manure into energy.

And, oh yeah, the process could cut down on the odor in the area by collecting up the manure. Sound too good to be true? Michael Weatherly, who owns Buena Vista farm in Mesquite, believes in the process. He is selling land to R-Qubed to build the facility. “You have the cows and they produce manure (and) people have complained about the odor of the dairies,” Weatherly said. “This is kind of a win-win for everybody. It takes our dairy waste and converts it into energy. It’s just better for the communities and the neighbors.”

The company already has a deal to sell gas to PNM, the utility company that provides electricity to much of the state, although not Dona Ana County.

Lori Hughes, manager director with R-Qubed, said that the company researched a variety of places, but that the location of multiple dairy farms near Mesquite made the most sense. “Within about 16 miles, you have between 40 and 50,000 cows,” she said. “And of course you’ve got the waste stream here 24/7, it just doesn’t stop.”

John Davis with the company said that, as green source of energy, this will be one of the most consistent. “Wind will produce as long as wind blows and sun as long as the sun shines but biogas is a very stable, 24/7 product,” Davis said.

The plant will be built by Austrian-based company Entec Biogas GMBH. It will be constructed in four quadrants, with the first scheduled to break ground in June or July.

Manure will be captured and piped to the plant, into what is called a digester. There, it will spend about 30 days in a one of several, 60-foot tanks, where it will be constantly stirred and kept at a temperature of about 100 degrees. The methane released will be routed through a pipe in the top of the tank, go through a scrubbing process and sent on its way to a PNM transmission pipe.

“It’s like a continuation of a cow’s stomach,” Davis said. “It works on the microbes that are already in the manure, so putting it in digester is just continuing the process.”

After 30 days, much of the manure will have been degraded, or converted to methane, and what Hughes called the “slurry” left behind will then be pumped into a centrifuge to separate liquid from solid. The solid will be collected for compost and the liquid will either be used for fertilizer or pumped to a water treatment facility there. In fact, the composting and water treatment process are every bit as important to the company as the methane collection.

“It is not economically viable as a commercial operation based on energy alone,” Hughes said. “There had to be other revenue streams that were developed; that brings in the composting and water side of that.”

In addition, carbon dioxide is also produced during the process, and that gas can be sold as well, for use in oil wells to help push oil out of the ground or even to Sapphire Energy, which is producing algae in Las Cruces in hopes of extracting oil from the plant-like organism. In return, Keith Hughes with the company said that algae left over by the process can be composted at the plant.

R-Qubed is not the only group in the area working on the manure-to-energy angle. New Mexico State University researchers Zohrab Samani and Adrian Hanson have developed a digester system as well.

The school reports that it received a $321,000 grant that will enable the researchers to build a full-scale digester system to test their process. The model digester will be built in La Mesa, where a local grower will use this electricity to heat greenhouses and will use a byproduct compost to help grow plants.

Hughes said that the idea, which has been in use in Europe for years, is catching on in the area, although the understanding of the process is still in its infancy. The point was driven home when the company made a presentation to government officials in Santa Fe. “We did a presentation up at the Roundhouse and one of the comments made was, ‘This better not be a scam,’” he said.

If R-Qubed vision comes true, one day when you flip your light switch, you could just have Bessy to thank.

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010.  As we start a new year it is always important to reflect upon the past year’s events, both the challenges and the opportunities, and use these experiences to change strategies and/or direction where they are needed to become more productive and successful.

We started 2009 with what I believe were a greater amount of “unknowns” than “knowns”;  fears following a stock market crash, government bailouts, mass foreclosures, growing unemployment rates, and discussions of a recession was the topic of many conversations.   These were the challenges over the past year that all communities, businesses, and economic development agencies had to deal with, not just MVEDA.  As a region, Dona Ana County was not immune to this crisis.  We began the year at 5.5% unemployment and ended the year hovering around 7%.  However, compared to a 7.8% unemployment rate at the State level and a 9.4% rate at the national level (as of November), Dona Ana County actually fared pretty well.  And although we experienced the loss of a large employer with the Frontier Airlines’ reservation center closing here in Las Cruces, we were also balanced by increases in hiring by other service centers including Sitel, CyraCom, and Convergys.  We also experienced some decline in production/manufacturing jobs and the loss of Multi-Plastics.  However, we also experienced an unprecedented level of interest by companies in the emerging alternative energy sector which has led to some key opportunities; earlier in the year eSolar and NRG Energy announced a 92 megawatt solar project for Santa Teresa and earlier today, Johnson Plate and Tower announced their plans to build a wind tower manufacturing facility, also in Santa Teresa.    Sapphire Energy has invested $8 million in its research and development facility at the Las Cruces West Mesa Industrial Park and will invest another $100 million in Southern New Mexico to produce biofuel from algae.  Along with other alternative energy groups who have identified the region for their projects, Dona Ana County could realize up to 200 new jobs and up to $300 million dollars in new capital investments in the years to come as a result of 2009 activity.

At MVEDA, we enter 2010 optimistically.  After dropping out of the top five rankings of the best performing small cities by Forbes and the Milken Institute between 2002 and 2006, the Las Cruces NM MSA has again made the list of the Milken Institute’s top ten “Best Performing Small Cities.”  As Spaceport America comes on-line and if some of the other projects in our pipeline materialize, it should lead to regaining a top five position in the near future.

But we also realize that we have not yet fully escaped the economic crisis of the past year.  We know that economists are now beginning to talk about a recovery.  We know the current holiday shopping season experienced a 3.5% increase over last year’s holiday season illustrating an increase in consumer confidence.  We know from reports that foreclosure numbers will decrease from the levels experienced in 2008 and 2009.   We also know we have a pipeline of projects and companies that we are working with who are considering the region for growth.  We know that there is a growing alternative energy industry with its eyes on New Mexico and that MVEDA has been aggressive in gathering the attention of this industry.  But we also know that we still have a lot more to do.   But at least we enter the New Year with a few more “knowns” than the “unknowns” of 2009.

Release Courtesy of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today commended Sapphire Energy, Inc. for a successful application to the U.S. Department of Energy for a grant to launch a new multi-million dollar algae biofuels demonstration project in Luna County, New Mexico.

Sapphire Energy has been awarded a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as well as a loan guarantee of $54.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The San Diego-based company plans to build a demonstration project in Luna County near Columbus and Deming. The company also has a research and development complex in Las Cruces.

The grant award is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the loan guarantee is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biorefinery Assistance Program, authorized through the 2008 Farm Bill.

“Investments in advanced biofuels are crucial to improve America’s energy independence and to keep energy dollars at home,” Governor Richardson said. “This project will create jobs, invest in new technology and boost the economy in rural New Mexico.”

The project is being funded to demonstrate the technology developed by Sapphire Energy to produce a large scale algae facility which cultivates algae in open ponds to produce Green Crude which can be refined into fuels.

The project is expected to create 750 direct and indirect jobs. Sapphire has an option to buy roughly 2,200 acres of land near Columbus. With the infusion of capital from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the company plans to build a demonstration project to validate the economics of large scale algae to energy production. As part of the project the company also plans to set up an extraction facility to convert the oil from the algae into Green Crude which can be refined into a variety of fuels.

“Governor Richardson is a true advocate for smarter energy resources,” Sapphire Chief Executive Officer Jason Pyle said. “His leadership has played a crucial role in the federal grant funding for our algae-based fuel work. This is a win-win for New Mexico, Luna County, and Sapphire Energy.”

Release Courtesy of U.S. Congressman Harry Teague

Washington, DC – Thursday, Congressman Harry Teague introduced legislation that would make algae-based biofuels eligible for the same tax incentives available for cellulosic biofuels such as ethanol.  H.R. 4168, the Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act, expands the definition of cellulosic biofuel to include algae for the cellulosic biofuel producer credit, and the special allowance for cellulosic biofuel plant property.

“In New Mexico’s second congressional district we have already started to take algae-based biofuel to the commercial level and there is enormous potential to expand this industry,” said Congressman Harry Teague.  “It is time to give this proven source of renewable fuel the same advantages that other renewable fuels currently enjoy so we can continue to create good clean energy jobs in New Mexico producing homegrown American power.”

Algae to produce green crude can be grown on non-arable land, in salt or brackish water, and using carbon dioxide and sunlight as its primary feedstocks.  Therefore, algae has not presented the same land use concerns as other biofuels and does not have any of the ‘food versus fuel’ implications that plague some other biofuels.

Green crude derived from algae can be refined into drop-in transportation fuels, such as jet, gasoline, and diesel that are entirely compatible with existing infrastructure and engines.  Algae can also be used to produce ethanol and biodiesel.

Recently, algae has been tested in the real world.  On Jan 7, 2009, algae-based fuel was used to successfully propel one of the two engines of a Continental 737-800 jetliner.  And this summer, a modified Toyota Prius dubbed “the Algaeus” successfully drove cross-country fueled by algae-based gasoline.

The legislation is endorsed by Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO), the Southwestern Biofuels Association, Sapphire Energy, and Algenol Biofuels.