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PHOTO: PETER BROWN
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Port of Algae Above the Port of Lorient on the Golf de Morbihan in Brittany, France, resides the Kaolin algae pits of Lorient where Safeoil is experimenting with openpond algae growth for biodiesel production.
The Kaolin Algae Pits of Lorient
and very high technology sailing boats, one of them currently holds the sailing speed record. It is also a city that The French government wants you there has seen its share of failBy Peter Brown ures usually at the hands of outside investors with The port of Lorient on big ideas, large promises and short attention the Golf de Morbihan in Brit- spans. Each blighted project becoming the aptany, France, is one of the ma- ple in the eye of a local entrepreneur who will jor French seaports, a former attempt to make happen what others could military naval base and during not. Such a project is the biodiesel algae projWWII it was the site of Germa- ect taking place in the hills above the city in ny’s largest U-Boot refuel, refit abandoned kaolin quarries that have spawned and rearm facility. It is a resilient and not only a whole colony of promising algae gritty city that has suffered much, learned but also a development project called SafeOil a lot and insists on being one of the major that has expressed the intention of harvesting centers for France’s renewable energy tech- the algae and making an experimental run at nologies with an emphasis on wind and wa- producing biodiesel from open air algae proter. Around Lorient are small fishing villages duction. $OJDH ,QGXVWU\ 8SGDWH
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Kaolin is a naturally occurring, soft white clay that is used extensively in the paper industry, and is essential for creating fine ceramics. It is also used in medicine, cosmetics and other industrial applications. The name is derived from the Chinese Kao-Ling, where it was first mined centuries ago. Brittany is an energy poor region in France, there are no nuclear power plants, nor would they be accepted, there is no coal, petroleum, biofuels or other energy production available, which is why the government is very open and receptive to energy projects and the region is developing a reputation for audacious wind power projects. In 2007, an American company was invited to review the area and, because of the farming and animal infrastructure, consider starting a biodiesel facility. During the course of the meetings we noticed repeated references to the closing of the kaolin quarries. This was the period when algae, food or fuel, deforestation, carbon credits and greenhouse gasses were becoming industry and popular press buzzwords. Putting it all together, and after a meet-