DEBATE using specific strains, but oil yields aren’t important to Genifuel, as it is directly converting the algal biomass to natural gas via a gasification process developed by the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Room for Both Though Genifuel is focused on mass rather than oil yields, growing the material as cheap and quickly as possible is imperative. The company has open raceway ponds in Utah, which are currently shut down for the
winter months, but produced algae last year. “In our case, we’re interested in growing the most biomass possible per unit of area in our ponds, so our goal is different than the goal of algae oil producers,” Oyler says. “We like fast-growing species and in many cases these are tough, aggressive types of algae. Many of the oil producers, especially when they are genetically modified, can be somewhat delicate or vulnerable, and are easily taken over by weeds.” Most oil producers will make the case
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BUILDING EQUIPMENT THAT CREATES OPPORTUNITIES
42 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 4|2010
that they can get faster growth in bioreactors, while at the same time avoid problems that arise from outdoor production, including susceptibility to parasites and the potential for aggressive species to take over. “The key question is, can you get enough additional productivity in bioreactors to offset the additional cost?” Oyler says. “There are some very clever designs being developed. Solix Biofuels has a design that’s not too expensive—more expensive than open ponds—but it reduces capital costs in a productive way.” Open ponds have not always been consistent, however, as they have peak productivities that aren’t maintainable or achievable in most climates over extended periods of time. “There are also some very clever designs that overcome some of those problems,” Oyler says. “But in order for bioreactors to pay off, they’re going to have to achieve something in the order of double or triple the productivity of an outdoor open pond. It’s yet to be proven that it can be done. Theoretically it might be possible, but no one’s actually demonstrated it at a commercial scale.” Another advantage of closed systems is that they open up sunny, dry areas such as the Southwest to biofuel production. Open ponds are unlikely to work in the Southwest because the water loss is going to be enormous, Oyler says. “Photobioreactors keep water enclosed, but thermal management is still needed, because if you put an enclosed system out in the desert it’s going to get really, really hot in there.” Although the problems of predators and weeds have been solved with bioreactors, such closed systems used to grow algae for other purposes have experienced problems with virus susceptibility and/or bacteria attacks, which can take the whole system down in a matter of hours. “There are ways to deal with that, but I don’t believe that it has ever been fully solved for long periods of time,” Oyler says. “Both ponds and bioreactors have advantages and disadvantages right now. There’s more experience with outdoor systems, but the closed systems have the promise of higher sustained productivity, but only if they can overcome associated problems, especially thermal management or diseases.” Al Darzins, principal group manager of NREL’s National Bioenergy Center, shares