LANL Researching Algae to Convert to Affordable Fuel

Algae/Other Aquatic Organisms/Seaweed, Energy, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Feedstock, Feedstocks, New Mexico, R & D Focus

July 31, 2018

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by Andy Stiny (Santa Fe New Mexican) … And those lawn clippings? They could be used to convert algae into a mass-produced, economical biofuel to be used in cars, trucks and airplanes.

Molecular biologist Amanda Barry and a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Bio-energy and Biome Sciences group are trying to determine whether one particular strain of algae can be produced at low cost and in short periods of time so that it could economically compete with fossil fuels.

“Algae hold great potential as a source of renewable fuel due to their ability to produce refinery-compatible diesel and jet fuel precursors,” Barry said in an interview last week at the New Mexico Consortium’s lab in Los Alamos.

“We are really trying to examine the unique traits of a particular algae that have the potential to be grown for algae biofuels to see if we can exploit any of these traits to improve growth or improve oil production from algae.”

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The long game, Barry said, is finding a new domestic source of renewable biofuels and bioproducts. By doing that, “we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, enhance the energy independence of the United States, secure energy solutions for clean energy, mitigate the impacts of global energy demand growth, and contribute to job creation in a new domestic industry,” she said.

As a child growing up in the mountains of Northern California, a 20-minute drive from the nearest neighbor, Barry started reading about Marie Curie, the famed French-Polish discoverer of radium and polonium.

She never questioned that she would become a scientist.

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In her work at the lab, Barry is being assisted by three LANL student researchers: Anna Finck of Las Vegas, N.M., and Jenna Schambach and Sara Lamcaj, both from New Jersey. They were busy last week as they examined algae cultures and counted algae cells to monitor growth.

Schambach said one thing she has learned from the experiments is that the strain of algae they are working with “can utilize different plants” for a food source for growth.

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In the future, LANL will look for an industrial partner already growing algae outdoors “to work with them to see if this would help their process in actually boosting growth and boosting the products they are looking for,” Barry said.

While algae may be a future superstar in the biofuels research arena, it is not the lone ranger. About 30 people at LANL are engaged in all sorts of biofuel research, which has been going on since 2009, said Babetta Marrone, senior scientist and the lab’s biofuels program manager. READ MORE

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