Posts Tagged ‘ethanol’

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

Written by Jay Rodman

Research being done at New Mexico State University on the production of algae-based biofuels would become increasingly impor­tant to New Mexico’s – and the na­tion’s – economic prosperity, if U.S. Sen. Tom Udall has his way.

Udall visited NMSU to announce legislation he will introduce in the Senate to ensure a more level playing field for the algal biofuels industry.

Joining Udall at the news confer­ence were NMSU President Barbara Couture; Pete Lammers, NMSU re­search professor and the technical director of the university’s Algal Bio­energy Program; Jim Peach, regents professor of economics; and Denise Gitsham, director of corporate af­fairs and legislative counsel for Sap­phire Energy, Inc., owner of a large biorefinery in Columbus, N.M.

The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established a production target of 36 billion gal­lons of advanced biofuels by 2022, with separate volume requirements for each category of renewable fuel. It also required that life-cycle analyses be used to ensure that each renewable fuel emits less greenhouse gas that the petroleum it replaces.

Udall said he feels the renewable fuel standards established by than law go a long way toward promoting U.S. energy security through domes­tic production of fossil fuel alterna­tives. In the current version; however, mandated targets for alternative fuel production favor corn-based and cellulosic ethanol over algae-based and other “advanced” biofuels.

He expressed his belief that Con­gress should promote research and development of alternative energy sources, but that the market should determine the balance among the various alternatives. The legislation that he and Public Works Commit­tee colleague Larry Crapo of Idaho plan to introduce will mandate par­ity for algae and other non-cellulosic advanced biofuels, in terms of pro­duction requirements and subsidies under the renewable fuel standards. Comparable bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Udall chose NMSU as the site for his announcement because of the university’s established com­mitment to algal biofuel research. NMSU recently moved into algae bio-oil production mode with a new 4,000-liter Solix BioSystems algal photobioreactor, which joined four smaller algae “raceways” at the Fabi­an Garcia Science Center in Las Cru­ces. The university is a member of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts consor­tium, established through $49 mil­lion in grants from the Department of Energy to explore all aspects of algal biofuel production, harvesting, extraction and upgrading to diesel and jet fuels.

Prior to the news conference, Udall was greeted by Couture at the science center. He then met with a group that included other NMSU ad­ministrators, New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, and faculty and staff members involved in algal research. They showed him the new algal photobioreactor, as well as an automated biodiesel processor, and discussed various ways NMSU’s algal technology might be integrated into dairy and livestock production facili­ties, or even inland shrimp farming.

Lammer’s stressed the impor­tance of algae research in benefiting humankind. He foresees a situation in the not-too-distant future where converting algae into fuel will not only fill a significant portion of the nation’s energy needs, but will also capture value from waste streams to create a “cradle-to-cradle” approach to industrial ecology. Lammers sees the current push to develop renew­able fuels to blend with traditional petroleum products as a turning point in global energy policy, and he believes algae can play a key role.

“I think of algae cultivation as a waste-to-energy process that will benefit the economics of existing agricultural enterprises,” Lammers said. “This is the first step in a long journey. Industrial ecologies capable of sustaining a population of 7 bil­lion people for a thousand years will waste nothing and recycle ev­erything. In the long run, that will include industrial, municipal and agricultural waste streams.”

In his news conference remarks, Udall pointed out the advantages al­gal biofuel has over other options and the advantages New Mexico has over most other states in producing it.

Comparing algae to corn grown for ethanol and to soybeans used for biodiesel production, Udall explained that algae production requires much less land, can be accomplished with lower quality water, results in the absorption of large amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide – and it is not a food crop, so growing it for fuel production doesn’t impact the food supply.

New Mexico is an ideal place for algal biofuel production. It has plen­tiful sunshine, an abundance of water unsuitable for consumption or crop irrigation, and land is not scarce.

“I believe New Mexico is well po­sitioned to be a leader in this,” Udall said. “And with policies that encour­age the production of clean energy, our state can create an energy econo­my that leads the nation in develop­ing the jobs of the future.”

Udall shared the results of a sur­vey of 52 Algal Biomass Organization member companies on the issue of potential job growth from legislative and regulatory parity for algae. The estimate based on this survey sug­gested that “explosive” job growth – more than 200,000 jobs nationwide – could be expected over the next de­cade if Congress puts algae on a level playing field with ethanol and other advanced biofuels.

Peach and colleague Meghan Starbuck-Downes have studied the potential economic impact of algal biofuel production. Based on their economic model, they estimate that for every 100 million gallons of algal biofuel produced in the state, there would be 450 jobs created, includ­ing direct, indirect and induced jobs. State revenues would likely be boost­ed by $8 million to $9 million.

“New Mexico is an energy state with vast reserves of oil, natural gas, coal and uranium,” Peach said. “Wind and solar are significant parts of the state’s energy industry. Nearly all energy analysts agree that we need to develop all forms of energy. The algal biofuels industry could be­come an important part of the state’s energy portfolio and could have sub­stantial economic impacts.”

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

One of the tiniest plants on Earth will soon be swimming all across the dusty desert of New Mexico. That’s a result of New Mexico State University and its newly created Algal Bioenergy Program. The program is a centralized effort to coordinate research and economic development opportunities related to fuels made from algae.

“There is enormous potential for a fully functioning algal fuel industry to create jobs and generate revenue for New Mexico, and these are jobs that cannot be shipped overseas,” said Vimal Chaitanya, NMSU’s vice president for research. “This program helps the state of New Mexico, as well as NMSU, which is already considered one of the top universities in the nation for algae research.”

NMSU currently has scientists researching every step of the algae production process, including cultivating, harvesting, extracting, refining and fuel testing. NMSU is also investigating the sustainability and economic impacts of algae production, which would support a variety of products. The university is part of a consortium awarded $44 million earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Energy to study the commercialization of algae-based fuel.

Algae are essentially tiny green oil factories, continuously turning sunlight and carbon dioxide into oils, also known as lipids. Once extracted, those lipids can then be refined into oil, gasoline, diesel and even jet fuel. Unlike ethanol made from grains, algal fuels can be stored in the same tanks, shipped through the same pipelines and run in the same engines as traditional fuels without any necessary modifications.

Additionally, oil production in algae is typically 10 times more efficient than oilseed crops and algae can be grown on arid land using salty water unsuitable for other agricultural purposes.

“New Mexico is an ideal location for growing algae because it has lots of high intensity sunshine, relatively few cloudy days and access to brackish water supplies, which can be used to grow algae,” said Peter Lammers, an NMSU research professor and technical director of the Algal Bioenergy Program.

He said further research and development are needed to lower production costs while increasing the productivity of algae. The five-year goal is to deliver reliable agronomic systems and what he calls “bankable business plans” to farmers who can use them.

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.