PTT Pins Hopes on Algae-Based Biofuel
(Bangkok Post) National oil conglomerate PTT Plc expects algae-based biofuel will be commercially viable by 2017 at the price of US$150 per barrel, says chief executive Pailin Chuchottaworn.
Within that date algae-based petrol could be able to compete with fossil oil, which is expected to hit $150 per barrel, up from this year’s average of $110, Dr Pailin told a forum of the second Asia-Oceania Algae Innovation Summit held in Bangkok yesterday.
”Although the price of algae biofuel is two to three times higher than fossil fuels, in the future we are going to have economy-of-scale production and appropriate strains for biofuel production,” said Dr Pailin.
PTT has teamed up with leading universities, the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technology Research (TISTR) and the National Science and Technology Development Agency developing algae biofuel since 2008.
… Oil extracted from algae in the lab is around 20-30% of its total dry weight, he said, adding that research will focus not only on biofuel but also on by-products such as animal feed, food supplements, antioxidants and pigments. READ MORE
