31 May-01 Jun, 2010 - Brussels, BELGIUM
Conrad Brussels
Conrad Brussels
As researchers continue to work hard on discovering, and developing strains of algae that yield greater volumes of lipids to process into biofuels, new and established algal biofuel companies are studying methods of scaling up lab processes to commercial levels.
According to a recent editorial in the Scientific American, scientists and engineers in the industry are now discovering that standalone operations alone may not be economically viable.
The solution proposed by the writer? Co-locating algae farms with other industrial facilities!
Co-location is a key issue at the heart of the Algae commercialization process, mainly because algal strains need sunlight, CO2, water and nutrients, and at the industrial scale, large quantities of these substances can add heavily to costs, as purchasing them at market prices would make algal biofuels too expensive.
With Co-location, Algal tap on waste from other industries as a resource, hitting two birds with one stone in terms of acquiring a supply of required resources, and helping the other industry reduce waste. The idea that industries can supply one or more nutrient streams for Algae producers is an idea gaining popularity in the industry.
A good example of this would be 2nd Algae World Europe panelist Seambiotic. Seambiotic’s Algae production facility in Tel Aviv, Israel is co-located next to a coal power plant, and tapping on the flue gas emissions (CO2) for their cultivation purposes. Other types of co-location include situating near wastewater treatment facilities, tapping on the nitrogen & phosphorus rich water for algae cultivation.
Integration can be taken beyond the co-location concept; after harvesting the algae for lipids, the remaining plant matter can be processed into animal feed or used as a source of biomass for and other substanced. Alpha Biotec, another high-level panelist at the 2nd Algae World Europe, will be examining the integration concept at the conference, highlighting how process integration can decrease production cost, produce the right products and bring extra value to project economics.
While the Algal industry races on towards wide-spread commercialization and biofuel production, it seems likely that co-location will definitely contribute towards the 4 key pillars of algae commercialization. To find out more about what these 4 key pillars are, and how innovation across these 4 ‘pillars’ can help your algae business, come to 2nd Algae World Europe in Brussels.
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