Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States

by Bradley Frieze (Advanced Biofuels USA) Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera and Dr. Mark Jones of the National Academy of Science Division on Earth and Life Studies gave a public webinar on November 27th, 2012 about the sustainable development of algal biofuels in the United States. The study was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy and looked at the kinds of research and development that is needed to address the challenges that are faced when deciding to scale up production of algal biofuels. The report also described the determination of whether algal biofuel is a viable fuel alternative by comparing the environmental, economic, and social impacts of algal biofuel production and use to those associated with petroleum-based fuels. The committee reviewed the recent literature published on the subject and concluded that the scale-up of algal biofuel production that would be sufficient to meet at least 5 percent of the U.S. need for transportation fuels would place unsustainable demands on energy, water, and nutrients with the current technology being applied.

The committee also concluded that the development of algal biofuels would require research, development and demonstration of a few key improvements. These improvements include: improved algal strain selection to enhance desired characteristics and productivity, an improvement in the energy return on investment (EROI) that is comparable to other transportation fuels, improvements in the use of wastewater for cultivating algae for fuels or the recycling of harvest water, particularly if freshwater algae are used, and lastly, improvements must be made in the recycling of nutrients in algal biofuel pathways that require harvesting.

The committee also stated that there is a great need for more assessments on the land requirements for algae cultivation. This study would also need to take into account climate conditions, sources of carbon dioxide, and land prices to fully understand the potential amount of algal biofuels that could be produced economically in the United States.

Algal strain development is needed to enhance the certain traits that contribute to the optimization of fuel production per unit resource use and input. Selecting better strains of algae will also reduce the environmental effects per unit of fuel produced and will enhance economic practicality. Improvements in this field will improve biomass yield, lipid, alcohol and hydrocarbon yields as well as culture density, nutrient uptake, and photosynthetic efficiency. All of these improvements together would ultimately improve the overall sustainability of algal biofuels.

Lastly, engineering solutions to enhance the cultivation and collection as well as processing of the algal biofuels need to be created to increase the EROI and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of algal biofuel production.

The committee conclusively agreed that algal biofuels do have the potential to contribute to improving the sustainability of transportation in America, but their full potential is not near to being achieved. Additional innovations in each sector of algal biofuel production are required as well as more research and development to realize the full potential of algal biofuels. READ MORE and MORE (Algae Biomass Organization/Algae Industry Magazine) Watch Webinar