How much biofuel can you produce from algae?
How much biofuel can you produce from algae?
Some researchers reported that biomass yield can be as high as 50 g/m2 per day, i.e., 74 ton biomass/m2 per year in an open pond. For enclosed photobioreactors, the biomass yield can be approximately 2 to 3 gram/L per day, i.e., 0.73-1.05 ton (dry biomass)/m3 per year.
What algae produces the most biofuel?
green algae
Highest-yielding algae. The algae used in biodiesel production are usually aquatic unicellular green algae (Chlorophyceae). This type of algae is a photosynthetic eukaryote characterized by high growth rates and high population densities. Under good conditions, green algae can double its biomass in less than 24 hours.
How do you make algae biofuel?
Using a process called transesterification, mix barium hydroxide with the algal lipids in the presence of methanol. The barium acts as a catalyst that, over a three-hour period, causes the methanol to react with the lipids to form biofuel.
What is production of algae?
Algal biomass includes microalgae, macroalgae, and cyanobacteria. Algal biomass development focuses on identifying or improving on those properties—such as a fast growth rate and high oil content—that make algae attractive for biofuel conversion.
How much algae can an acre produce?
Most algae proponents say that algae, when it becomes mature, will yield 5,000 to 10,000 per acre.
Which algae has high oil content?
Among all species of microalgae studied, Nannochloropsis sp. was found to have the highest algal oil yield (0.0346 g dry algal oil/g dry microalgae) and theoretical calorific value (187.69 kcal/kg dry microalgae).
How does algae farming produce biofuel?
Algal oils, just like oils produced by soy, canola, palm and the less-known jatropha plants, can be made good biodiesel feedstocks through transesterification. In that process, a catalyst creates a biodiesel fuel (consisting of fatty acid methyl esters) by hydrolyzing and methylating fatty acids in the oils.
What are the by products of algae production?
Algae take carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air while growing, making carbon sequestration a beneficial by-product of large-scale algae production. Algae farms could be located near industrial pollution sources, such as carbon-producing refineries or power plants, and help clean the air by consuming CO2 as they grow.
Where should algae be produced?
Algae can grow in areas where food crops cannot. They can also grow using wastewater and seawater for nutrients and water, something conventional crops also can not do. One acre of algae has the potential to generate 15-30 times the amount of biomass as a first generation biofuel (e.g., corn).
Can we save the algae biofuel industry?
To make this model cost-effective and sustainable, we would need to use waste sources of heat, carbon dioxide and nutrients to grow the algae. These are widely available from power plants, factories and water treatment plants and so could reduce some of the costs of growing algae.
What is algal biomass?
Assess the environmental sustainability of resource use. Algal biomass includes microalgae, macroalgae, and cyanobacteria. Algal biomass development focuses on identifying or improving on those properties—such as a fast growth rate and high oil content—that make algae attractive for biofuel conversion.
What is the main focus of biofuel production from algae?
Their main focus on biofuel production from algae was to deliver scalable, cost-effective technology to produce biofuels from algae.
What is algal production research and development (R&D)?
Algal production research and development (R&D) explores resource use and availability, algal biomass development and improvements, characterizing algal biomass components, and the ecology and engineering of cultivation systems. A field of algae raceway ponds.
Who are the main players in the algae energy sector?
One of the main players in this sector is definitely Solix Biofuels, a company that has refined multiple generations of the Algal Growth System (AGS) technology now operating at the Coyote Gulch Demonstration Facility in south-western Colorado. Solix Biofuels Inc. is the leader in the production of technologies used to create energy from algae.
