Algae blooms into promising biofuel

Some call it pond scum, but algae is drawing increasing attention as a source ofbiofuel that can help replace petroleum or fuels made from crops like corn or soybeans.The notion of using algae to produce fuel has been around for decades, but has garnered new interest and investment amid a search for energy sources that will limit carbon dioxide emissions blamed for climate change.

Algae has obvious advantages over fossil fuels and biofuels from food-based crops, but has an additional benefit in that it absorbs carbon dioxide, and thus can be used to "scrub" emissions from coal-burning power plants, for example.

Rodney Andrews, director of the Center for Applied Energy Research at the University of Kentucky, said driving the push to algae is "an interest in getting away from fossil fuels to more renewable systems."

Andrews directs a research project that uses algae to capture carbon emissions from coal-burning plants to grow algae, getting a double benefit from the marine plant.

"If you start doing the math on how much you can produce per acre of land, algae becomes very appealing because it offers much more per acre than other biomass materials," Andrews said.

A move to algae could avoid the diversion of crops such as corn and soybeans for ethanol fuel, criticized for boosting world food prices.

Algae produces an oil that can be developed into a type of biodiesel for cars, and this can be refined into other products including jet fuel or gasoline.

Still, Andrews said creating commercial algae fuels needs more research to determine its economic viability. The process can require large amounts of land and various technologies are still being tested.

"Right now it's more expensive" than petroleum-based fuels, according to Andrews, but the landscape is shifting.

He said the price may not take into account benefits of carbon capture or any future program that includes cap-and-trade systems for carbon emissions.

"When you look at the the CO2 footprint, it's not the number of tons you release but how much usable energy you get before the CO2 is released in the atmosphere," he said.

Greener Dawn Research, a clean tech equity research firm, said algae is becoming competitive, needing far less land than corn or soybeans to provide an equivalent amount of fuel.

"Due to increased productivity, algae based fuel has the potential to be a revolutionary breakthrough," said Greener Dawn research director George Santana.