Think “biofuels,” and corn and sugarcane-based ethanol probably comes to mind. Switchgrass, miscanthus gigantus, and other non-edible plants might ring a bell as prime candidates for making biofuel that doesn’t jack up food prices, otherwise known as “cellulosic biofuel.”
And then there’s algae.
Yes, algae–the viscous, greenish stuff that turns unkempt pools and other stagnant bodies of water into non-swimming zones. Algae may look uninviting, but because certain strains of the stuff are filled with natural oil that can be efficiently processed into fuel for cars, trucks, and airplanes, algae is tantalizing for scientists and entrepreneurs in the alternative fuel business.
But because algae is currently not included in the Clean Air Act’s definition of advanced biofuels or cellulosic biofuels, companies that research and manufacture algae-based biofuels don’t get the same incentives and tax breaks as other biofuels. Which is why senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) recently proposed the “Renewable Fuel Parity Act of 2011″ to allow algae-based fuels to compete on a level playing field with other biofuels.
“The current policy sends a confusing message to the investment community in that it favors certain feedstocks over others,” says Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO), a non-profit institute promoting the development of markets for algae-based biofuel. “With the incentive applied evenly, algae-based fuels can compete on the basis of cost, CO2 emissions reductions, and drop-in capability.”
The bill proposes to amend and expand the Clean Air Act’s definition of an “advanced biofuel” to include fuels made from algae — a change, Rosenthal says, that would remove significant barriers to the growth of the algae biofuel business.
Although programs for making algae-based fuel have been around since the late 1970s, algae biofuel technology, much like cellulosic biofuel, is still in the early stages of development, at least compared to ethanol made from corn and sugarcane. Yet the algae biofuel industry, which involves identifying, breeding, and in some cases genetically engineering for algae strains that produce copious amounts of lipids, or natural oils, has since 2008 experienced a Renaissance.
Much of the interest in algae-derived biofuel centers on the fact that, unlike ethanol made from corn, algae fuels do not drive up food prices. Because algae eats carbon dioxide, it could help absorb carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel burning power plants. So despite the absence of significant tax breaks and other federal incentives, companies including Sapphire Energy, Solazyme, Algenol, Heliae, and dozens of others are rapidly developing technologies for everything from discovering promising oil-producing algae species to growing algae stocks in large amounts to efficiently extracting and processing algal oil.
Still, as ABO spokesman John Williams cautions, producing industrial volumes of algae-based biofuel will take time. “I like to say that we’re prospecting for oil that happens to grow above ground inside these aquatic organisms,” he says. “It typically takes 10 to 15 year for an oil exploration company to find and develop a major discovery; it’s no different for algae-based oil exploration. But we’re much further today than we were just a few years ago.”
Although there are currently no plants manufacturing algae biofuel on an industrial scale, Rosenthal is optimistic that the industry is primed for growth, noting that there are already algae projects underway in research labs and pilot plants in 44 U.S. states.
Should the “Renewable Fuel Parity Act” pass, she reasons, the industry can’t help but grow.
“Some researchers are projecting that the algae industry will be producing 6 billion gallons of fuel by 2022,” she says. “With the right policy support, continued investment from the private sector, and federal investments in R & D, we are bullish on those targets.”
