BioProcess Algae Groundbreaking

BioProcess Algae and Green Plains Renewable Energy Break Ground on Five Acre Production Facility

BioProcess Algae LLC and Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. announced that they will start construction of BioProcess Algae's five acre production facility at Green Plains' ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. The project will be comprised of a combination of at scale Grower Harvester bioreactors and a plant to further dewater and process the algae into finished product. The horizontal reactors have been successfully running outdoors since the fall of 2011 and this marks the next step in the project to commercialize algae focused on markets for animal feed, fuel, omega-3 products and high-value nutraceuticals.

"After a successful rollout of the horizontal reactors at full commercial scale, we are eager to move forward with this project producing meaningful quantities of dried wholesale algae for use in products now," said Todd Becker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Plains. "This new phase will mark the successful transition to a larger footprint located adjacent to our Shenandoah, Iowa ethanol plant which will provide the basic inputs the bioreactors need: carbon dioxide, warm water and heat."

"Our technology has successfully brought algae directly into the sunlight using limited inputs while increasing growth rates," says Tim Burns, Chief Executive Officer of BioProcess Algae. "We continue to work with potential strategic customers including major food, animal feed, energy and pharmaceutical companies around the world," continued Burns. "Often times, this is the first access they have had to larger quantities of wholesale algae. Our goal is to produce algae in a cost effective manner that can be used as the customer sees fit."

BioProcess Algae Grower Harvester bioreactors located in Shenandoah, Iowa have been continually running since their Phase I launch in October 2009.

(Crossposted from American Fuels)

OriginOil to Collaborate with US Department of Energy to Develop Algae Feedstock Standard

OriginOil, Inc. announced it will begin to work with the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory to develop standards for converting biomass, including algae, into biofuels and other products.

On August 23^rd and 24^th, Paul Reep participated as an algae industry representative in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Biomass Preconversion and Densification Workshop, held at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Invited participants from both private and public sectors were given progress updates from DOE's Office of Biomass Programs. One of the Program's main goals will be to develop feedstock standards and specifications for different formats of bio-energy materials. While the focus of the workshop was on terrestrial biomass, OriginOil plans to work with researchers at INL to extend the concepts to include algae.

The collaboration will include how algae can add energy content to other feedstocks such as woody and herbaceous materials, which are already being configured for biochemical and thermochemical upgrading for energy production. It is envisioned that once the correct formulation is established, the combined chemical and energy value of the whole formatted feedstock will be greater than the sum of individual parts.

Until now, the focus on algae has been on harvesting its oil products for drop-in biofuels. However, using the whole algae feedstock with its lipids still in the cell is more energy-efficient and helps centralize downstream processing.

"We are very excited to help establish a uniform intermediate feedstock standard for algae, a critical step toward helping algae producers and energy refiners to collaborate for biofuels production," said Paul Reep, OriginOil Senior Vice President of Technology.

As with John D. Rockefeller's creation of a "Standard Oil," specification standards are critical enabling steps for large-scale expansion of emerging industries. Once a standard for algae feedstock is agreed, it will provide industry direction to design equipment and products to meet that standard. OriginOil intends to work closely with algae industry organizations and producers to make this standard a reality.

Microalgae could be Texas' next big cash crop

Just as corn and peanuts stunned the world decades ago with their then-newly discovered multi-beneficial uses and applications, Texas AgriLife Research scientists in Corpus Christi think microalgae holds even more promise.

"It's a huge, untapped source of fuel, food, feed, pharmaceuticals and even pollution-busters," said Dr. Carlos Fernandez, a crop physiologist at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi who is studying the physiological responses of microalgae to the environment.

There are an estimated 200,000 to 800,000 species of microalgae, microscopic algae that thrive in freshwater and marine systems, Fernandez said.

Of all those species, only 35,000 species have been described, he said.

"We're only starting to scratch the surface of discovering the natural secrets of microalgae and their many potential uses and benefits," he said. "But already it's obvious that farmers will one day soon be growing microalgae on marginal land that won't compete with fertile farmland. They won't even compete for fresh water to grow."

To understand how best to grow it, Fernandez constructed a microalgae physiology laboratory to study how it's affected by temperature, salinity, nutrients, light levels and carbon dioxide.

"We have four bioreactors in which we grow microalgae to determine the basic physiological responses that affect its growth," he said. "We will then integrate these responses into a simulator model, a tool we can use in the management of larger, outdoor systems."

In this study, different strains of microalgae will be evaluated for their capacity to produce large amounts of lipids, or fats, that can then be converted to produce and refine diesel and other biofuels, Fernandez said.

"Along with that, after extracting the lipids from the biomass of microalgae, there is a residue that we are going to analyze for its quality for use as feed for animals, including fish, shrimp or cattle."

Eventually, studies will evaluate the possibility of using the residue as a soil fertilizer.

"There are lots of other potential uses for the residue, but for now our focus is on feed and fertilizer," he said.

The microalgae study includes other researchers, Fernandez said.

"We've just started this work and we're working closely with the nearby Texas AgriLife Mariculture labs in Flour Bluff, under the direction of Dr. Tzachi Samocha, and the one in Port Aransas, under the direction of Dr. Addison Lawrence."

Studying microalgae in the Corpus Christi area is a natural fit for many reasons, Fernandez said.

"We have immediate access to seawater to grow microalgae," he said. "Because we're so close to the Gulf of Mexico, we've got lots of marginal land in the area where microalgae can be grown on a large scale. We have lower evaporation rates than in arid areas so water replacement is less.

"There are local power plants and oil refineries in the area that we can use as sources of carbon dioxide that helps microalgae grow while reducing CO2 pollutants. And we have a wealth of higher education institutions in the area with huge potentials to help in these studies, including Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Delmar College."

AgriLife Research at Corpus Christi has partnered with the Barney M. Davis Power Plant to conduct this and other studies.

"It's a natural gas-operated power plant that is an excellent source of carbon dioxide from its flue gasses that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by passing them through microalgae systems," he said.

There also is the potential to partner with the City of Corpus Christi, which has several municipal water treatment plants in the area that can be used as sources of nutrients to reduce the cost of applying them to microalgae systems, Fernandez said.

"Our center director, Dr. Juan Landivar, took a huge leadership role in moving these microalgae projects forward by seeking and obtaining federal and private funding, and by encouraging teamwork and multi-disciplinary personnel to work on this," Fernandez said.

Aurora Algae Advances Commercial Facility Construction, Achieves Major Project Facilitation Status

Aurora Algae today announced it has awarded MWH and John Holland (JH) the initial engineering contract for design and construction of the Company’s commercial facility in Maitland, Western Australia. Having just secured over 1,500 acres of land near its recently opened demonstration facility in Karratha, this signifies a concrete advancement in the process of constructing the largest commercial scale photosynthetic algae facility in the world. Aurora Algae’s commercial facility will be equipped to manufacture thousands of tonnes of algae-based biomass annually for the production of sustainable products in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, aquaculture and renewable energy markets.

Concurrently, Aurora Algae has achieved Major Project Facilitation (MPF) status, a designation granted by the Hon. Anthony Albanese, Australia’s Minister of Infrastructure and Transport. Aurora Algae’s cutting-edge cleantech project has been recognized for its potential to help Australia take advantage of the global economic recovery as well as the commercial opportunities flowing from international efforts to cut carbon pollution. The MPF program is administered by the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, and provides the project with a facilitation service to achieve quick and timely assistance from the Australian Government. Presently, there are 19 projects with MPF status across a range of industries, collectively representing a potential investment of over $120 billion.

“I’m happy to grant Major Project Facilitation (MPF) status to Aurora Algae Pty Ltd’s progressive cleantech project,” said Anthony Albanese, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Australia. “With the right support from government, Australia can become a world leader in renewable technologies such as Aurora Algae’s, with the real potential of creating tens of thousands of highly skilled ‘green’ collar jobs and new export opportunities.”

To initiate construction plans for the Maitland commercial facility, the Company chose MWH engineering firm, a global leader in wet infrastructure, and JH, the largest multidiscipline construction contracting business in Australia, to combine their expertise in the joint venture. The two companies have worked together on projects for over 30 years, with MWH as the lead designer on the $3.12 billion Panama Canal navigational locks construction (to be completed in 2014), onsite water management services for Rio Tinto, one of Australia’s biggest mining companies, and an industrial wastewater pre-treatment system for The Dannon Company. JH is currently delivering the Devil Creek Development Project, a $200 million onshore gas plant in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and has recently completed the Sydney Desalination Plant, Australia’s largest desalination plant, which uses reverse osmosis process technology to supply up to 15 percent of Sydney's total water supply. JH is also currently working in a joint venture to deliver the Hong Kong Sludge Treatment facility, a 2,000 metric tonnes per day waste treatment facility generating its own energy (to be completed in 2013).

“The John Holland team is excited to be working with Aurora Algae and MWH to deliver this commercial-scale new technology carbon reduction project that will have a positive benefit on the environment,” said Greg Taylor, general manager of John Holland’s Water and Enviro business.

“Aurora Algae is now the first global company to begin a commercial project for bioproduct and biofuel production based on photosynthetic marine microalgae,” said Greg Bafalis, CEO of Aurora Algae. “Awarding the initial engineering contract advances us one step closer to the commercialization of our revolutionary platform, and the ongoing support and validation from the Australian government, through achievements such as MPF status, is a key driver for our rapid progress.”