This FAQ will be a work in progress. I intend to learn an awful lot digging up answers to these and other questions. Please be patient, I've got a lot of things going on and will update this post substantially when I am able to schedule a good 3-4 hour block of time to really do it right. I am not an expert on algae yet, so a lot of my answers will be paraphrases of the excerpts from Wikipedia with links to the wiki page or whatever source. Too many answers to count come from the Algal Carbon Capture webinar by Jim Sears which I encourage everyone interested in algae to read or listen to.

To see where a link/hypertext goes, scroll over it and look at the very bottom of the page.

I love a charged flame-war as much as the next guy. However, on this particular thread if you find something you don't like, be polite about pointing it out, or I will flag your comment as inappropriate. Just suggest a better answer and be done with it.

Of course, any questions you can think of that I've missed, please add as a reply, and I'll try my best to dig up the best answer with a source.

If I see an algae question posted under another thread I will relist the question here with an answer if I have one, as well as a link under the original post indicating that the question has been listed here.

Alphabetization and categorization will be done later. This is what I have so far:

This message has been edited. Last edited by: clean and green,

PART ONE: THE BASICS


What are algae?

The term algae (sing. alga, adj. algal), refers to any of over 10,000 species of photosynthetic aquatic plants, ranging in size from single-celled organisms to seaweeds hundreds of feet long. Algae have organelles and a nucleus, and therefore cyanobacteria, aka blue-green algae, are no longer considered true algae.


What are algae used for today?

LOTS of things, including:
-Agar - A gelatinous food additive made from seaweed
-Alginates - Snail food
-Energy Source - Wikipedia has links to the following: Algae fuel, Biological hydrogen production, Biohydrogen, Biodiesel, Ethanol fuel, Butanol fuel, and Vegetable fats and oils
-Fertilizer - once composted
-Soil Conditioner - adding nutrients along with soil structure and better water absorption
-Nutrition - Nutritional substances sold in the U.S. include Spirulina, Chlorella, and Dunaliella. Over 70 species are eaten as food in China.
-Pollution Control - Algae can be grown on municipal sewage which is then burned for energy. It is also used to catch fertilizer runoff on farms, then used again as fertilizer.
-Pigments
-Food Stabilizers - for a wide variety of foods and applications.


Where do algae grow?

Darn near everywhere. Some grow in snow (the other Frozen Tundra), some grow in hot springs like Old Faithful geyser. They all grow in water or moist climates, and always in the phototrophic zone where they have access to sunlight for photosynthesis.


How many different types of algae are there?

There are 10's of thousands of known species of algae, including red algae, green algae, brown algae, seaweed, kelp, diatoms, and a form that forms lichens through symbiosis with a fungus.


How long do algae live?

Until they get eaten by something else or asphyxiate themselves through excessive growth.


How much CO2 can algae absorb?

Almost all the CO2 they are exposed to, during the daytime when they can use energy from sunlight for photosynthesis. During the night, they "inhale" a small amount of the oxygen they produced during the day for energy to perform biological processes. They "exhale" CO2 as a result, though much less than what they absorbed during the day in their growing phase.


Can algae be used to treat municipal waste?

Numerous projects are underway, including ones in Indiana,

Do you need a permit to grow algae?

Are algae fragile or resilient?

Do algae contain much oil?

How do you kill algae?

PART TWO: ALGAE AS FUEL

SECTION A: ALGAE OIL FOR BIODIESEL

How much oil is there in algae?


Can algae oil be used straight to run a diesel vehicle?

How hard is it to remove the oil?

Can wild algae be harvested for oil?


SECTION B: ALGAE FOR ETHANOL

How much sugar or starch is in algae for ethanol production?

SECTION C: ALGAE BIOMASS FOR ELECTRICAL GENERATION

Can algae be burned to operate boilers?

SECTION D: ALGAE TO METHANE AND METHANOL

How much methane can be produced by anaerobically digesting algae?

Should the oil be removed from the algae or any other processing be done before being put into an anaerobic digester?

Can algae be put in an anaerobic digester to produce methane?

PART THREE: RAW MATERIALS AND INPUTS FOR ALGAE FARMING

What density range of CO2 can be used or tolerated by algae?

How much water do algae need?

What kinds of water can be used?

What elements should algae not be exposed to?

PART FOUR: ALGAE AS FOOD

PART FIVE: ALGAE AS FERTILIZER

What elements or chemicals should not be fed to algae grown for fertilizer or soil amendment?

Do different types of algae retain more or less water in soil?

PART SIX: ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS WITH ALGAE FARMING

Is it ok to grow algae that are from another part of the country or world?

What is the best way to handle an algae spill?

Is spilled algae oil or biodiesel a hazard?

Are certain algae harmful or poisonous to animals?

Could strains of algae mutate into another form that is invasive?

PART SEVEN: ALGAE CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING

What methods are available for harvesting algae from ponds?

Can algae be dried by vacuum?

PART EIGHT: QUESTIONS FROM FORUM MEMBERS

reserved for future use.

reserved for future use.

Are you interested in input on this, or is it your plan to tell us all how it is?

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew M:
Are you interested in input on this, or is it your plan to tell us all how it is?

I asked for as much input as possible in the introduction.

If you know something, spill it! Either here or on a new thread! Heck, write a couple of entire sections if you want, I could use the extra 3 or 4 hours for something else.

Seriously, I'm trying the 'learning through teaching' model I learned as a tutor in school. Plus I'm a structure and spelling freak, hence the division into 10 segments etc. Don't believe in being a dictator.

Since this is primarily a fuel oriented discussion board, to me, the main points of discussion are focused on fuel production. From what I can gather, production cost will be a major limiting factor for some time to come, at least.

Don't get me wrong, biodiesel fuel can be made from algal oil. That has been established, from my POV. The next major hurdles will be:

1. Establishing a way to extract the oil without excessive energy and chemical (petro based) inputs.
2. Establishing algal production methods which can get unit cost down to the point that it approaches the cost of petro fuel.
3. Establishing ways to use all of the other components of algae in a way to maximize revenue from the non-fuel components. This will make the cost of production target easier to reach.

If any of these issues has already been solved, please post the solution.

My concerns is that these issues represent MAJOR obstacles to real algae to fuel production for at least the near future.

I hope that the real technical problems involved in making useful quantities of algal fuel are solved quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew M:
Since this is primarily a fuel oriented discussion board, to me, the main points of discussion are focused on fuel production.

Algae are like soy or canola in this way: once you've successfully removed the oil, you need to do something with the rest of it, whether make animal feed or burn it etc.

So any discussion about renewable-sourced fuels needs to also consider the majority portion of the organism and it's usefulness as food.

Your other points are what I hope will be addressed and solved on this board or elsewhere.

quote:

Algae are like soy or canola in this way: once you've successfully removed the oil, you need to do something with the rest of it, whether make animal feed or burn it etc.

Agreed. And any $ that can come from the non-fuel portion can improve the overall cost effectiveness.

Here is something on the extraction side:

http://www.originoil.com/

Who knows if it is the real deal. But, at least people are working on these issues.

quote:

3. Establishing ways to use all of the other components of algae in a way to maximize revenue from the non-fuel components. This will make the cost of production target easier to reach.

Andrew, to a great extent, these specific concerns have been addressed long ago - Algae that are already harvested and dried that contain lipids yield up those lipids using conventional methods (primarily solvent extraction, the same method used for soy oil). The material remaining after lipid extraction already has some value as animal feed and a few other industrial applications. Those are the primary saleable products, not the lipids. As with soybeans, the major economic value is in the "other" products - protein, fiber, industrial chemicals, etc. The oil is a minor constituent, and (so far) not worth trying to promote or recover, economically.

I'll give you an example: If you delivered a load of dry alga containing 20% oil to a soy processing plant, it would only take a few hours for them to extract the oil and deliver the oil and meal (alga residue) back to you. Then it's up to you to use the oil and meal for whatever you can. In large soy production facilities, I've read of oil extraction costs as low as $0.05/lb of meal. That works out to $0.25/lb oil produced, if that's the only thing of value, which works out to $1.62/gallon, again, if that's the only thing of value. Of coarse it won't be the only thing of value - the meal from Canola pressing sells for $0.05/lb, so if Alga meal were as valuable, it would be worth $0.05 x 0.8#meal/1.0#alga x 5#alga/#oil x 6.5#oil/gallon = $1.30 worth of meal per gallon of oil produced. That's an offset to the $1.62, making the oil cost $0.32/gallon, net, to extract. Add the cost to grow the alga, and the cost to harvest it and dry it and you see the economic problem if it is supposed to compete against cheap petroleum or any other cheap fuel.

The major economic hurdle (at least with the processes I'm familiar with) is separating the alga from the water to yield dry alga. I'll try to find some figures to post.
Cheers,
JohnO

quote:

The major economic hurdle (at least with the processes I'm familiar with) is separating the alga from the water to yield dry alga.

I think there is a major hurdle still in term of producing algal mass at a low enough price, even if extraction were cheap and easy. From what I gather anyway. I'd be happy to be proved wrong. I am not against it.

What is the current cost to produce per KG of dry algal mass?

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew M:

Here is something on the extraction side:

http://www.originoil.com/

Who knows if it is the real deal. But, at least people are working on these issues.

Wow. Did you watch their time-lapse video of the algae biomass "dropping" out of the oil? Very cool. Just posted today. No link directly to the video or I would post it.

Like has been said before, no one company will dominate this field. Combining this new process with what other companies have developed could bring us that much closer to viability.

This company has an interesting site and method for drying.
http://www.algaevs.com/