Two researchers from the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands, say that with recent advances in systems biology, genetic engineering, and biorefining, microalgae could be produced on an industrial scale for fuel production within 10-15 years.

Rene H. Wijffels and Maria J. Barbosa penned a perspective in the August 13th issue of Science.

The current worldwide microalgal manufacturing infrastructure (producing the equivalent of ~5000 tons of dry algal biomass) is devoted to extraction of high-value products such as carotenoids and ?-3 fatty acids used for food and feed ingredients. The total market volume is 1.25 billion, implying an average market price for microalgae of 250/kg dry biomass. As an example for comparison with land-based oleaginous crops, the world production of palm oil is nearly 40 million tons, with a market value of ~0.50 /kg.

Production of microalgae for biofuels needs to take place on a much larger scale at much lower costs. If all transport fuels were to be replaced by biodiesel in Europe, there would be an annual need for nearly 0.4 billion m³. If this biodiesel were to be supplied through microalgae, 9.25 million ha (almost the surface area of Portugal) would be needed to supply the European market, assuming a productivity of 40,000 liters per ha per year. This productivity is based on a 3% solar energy conversion to biomass (theoretical maximum is 9%) and a biomass oil content of 50%, under the solar conditions of Portugal.

A leap in the development of microalgae technology is therefore required; on a practical level, the scale of production needs to increase at least 3 orders of magnitude, with a concomitant decrease in the cost of production by a factor of 10. In the past few years, there has been a rather polarized debate between researchers in the field over technology readiness and the prospects for productivity enhancement, with some parties pressing for scale-up and commercialization now, while others cautiously stress the need for additional research leading to more careful step-by-step development.

—Wijffels and Barbosa

Algae is one of the most promising of the biofuel sources for the future.  It stores chemical energy through the natural plant process of converting sunlight into carbon-rich plant oils.  These can be extracted, as with any other plant oil, and made into fuel.  Algae has the benefit of being easily bred and manipulated to increase yields and does not require displacement of food-bearing crops for its growth.

Currently, in the U.S., there are algae growers working on algal-based fuels in Texas, Arizona, California, Michigan, and others as well as at least two research efforts in Canada.

Algae can synthesize a number of different elements for fuel.  It can be used to release hydrogen, to make ethanol or butanol, to make diesel additives or replacements (biodiesel), aircraft fuels, and even crude oil replacements for plastics and lubrication.

It’s all a matter of finding the right strain, perfecting it, and then moving it to industrial scale production.

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