Fueling the Future: Fueling the Future: Biofuels for Economic Biofuels for Economic

Development and Development and National SecurityNational Security

Biofuels InitiativeBiofuels Initiative

Utah State UniversityUtah State University

July 29, 2008July 29, 2008

Solar bioreactor microalgae oil biodiesel

World Energy Challenge

• “The supply of secure, clean, sustainable energy is arguably the most important scientific and technical challenge facing humanity in the 21st century.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2006) 103, 15729

• Present technology cannot meet our needs for sustainable, greenhouse neutral energy.

Global Energy ConsumptionGlobal Energy Consumption

N.S. Lewis 2004

FranceS. KoreaBrazilCanadaIndiaRussiaGermanyChina

U.S.Japan

Mexico3%3%3%3%3%3%3%

7%

25%7%

3%

WORLD ENERGY SUPPLY & DEMANDLooming Energy Crises

Source: International Energy Annual 2003 (EIA)

Oil Reserves

U.S.NigeriaLibyaRussiaVenezuelaU.A.E.KuwaitIraqIranCanadaSaudi Arabia

2%2%

3%5%

6%8%8%

9%10%

14%21%

Annual Consumption

0% 10% 15% 20%5% 25%

The United States uses more oil than the next five highest-consuming nations combined.

Supply

Demand

Time

Now

World Oil Supply & Demand: The real issue is when will production be insufficient to cover demand? That largely depends on demand, not on reserves.

(in the U.S. in 2002)

1-4 ¢

2.3-5.0 ¢ 6-8 ¢

5-7 ¢

Production Cost of ElectricityProduction Cost of Electricity

6-7 ¢

25-50 ¢C

ost,

¢/k

W-h

r

5-7¢

N.S. Lewis 2004

THE MAJOR ENERGY ISSUESTHE MAJOR ENERGY ISSUES

Depletion of fossil fuel energy resourcesMajority of petroleum resources

controlled by unfriendly nations Degradation of the natural environment

through the energy conversion processes

Affordability and reliability of future energy resources

Global Energy ResourcesI) Need

13 TW/year today26 TW/year by 205039 TW/year by 2100

II) Resources (C neutral)1) Fossil Fuel/Carbon Capture

-25 billion metric tons of CO2/year-Volume of Lake Superior

2) Nuclear-10 TW/year requires 1 new GW fission plant every day for 50 years-Terrestrial uranium would be exhausted in 10 years-Fusion – no sooner than 2040

3) Renewable-Hydroelectric 0.5 TW maximum (UN estimates)-Tides and oceans <2 TW/year maximum-Geothermal 12 TW/year (but only fraction extractable)-Wind 2-4 TW/year maximum-Sun 120,000 TW/year (biomass + electricity <2% today)

Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy UtilizationReport of the Basic Energy Sciences Workshop on Solar Energy Utilization, April 18-21, 2005, DOE

Global Energy ResourcesI) Need

13 TW/year today26 TW/year by 205039 TW/year by 2100

II) Resources (C neutral)1) Fossil Fuel/Carbon Capture

-25 billion metric tons of CO2/year-Volume of Lake Superior

2) Nuclear-10 TW/year requires 1 new GW fission plant every day for 50 years-Terrestrial uranium would be exhausted in 10 years-Fusion – no sooner than 2040

3) Renewable-Hydroelectric 0.5 TW maximum (UN estimates)-Tides and oceans <2 TW/year maximum-Geothermal 12 TW/year (but only fraction extractable)-Wind 2-4 TW/year maximum-Sun 120,000 TW/year (biomass + electricity <2% today)

Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy UtilizationReport of the Basic Energy Sciences Workshop on Solar Energy Utilization, April 18-21, 2005, DOE

More energy from the sun strikes the earth in 1

hour than all of the energy currently

consumed on the planet in 1 year!

Solar Thermal Photovoltaic Photosynthesis

HeatElectricityChemical

ElectricityBatteriesMechanicalChemical

BiomassCellulose EthanolStarch MethaneFats BiodieselOther

Reduce cost by 25-50 fold with new materials and technology

All arable land on Earth with switchgrass to displace all fossil fuel used today

Materials and technical breakthroughs needed

CO2Light

TriglyceridesHeatAlcoholBase

Glycerol + O

O

CH3

Biodiesel

Soybean oil Biodiesel

First Generation Renewable Fuel

CO2Light

TriglyceridesHeatAlcoholBase

Glycerol + O

O

CH3

Soybean oil Biodiesel

Soybeans = 48 gal oil/acreCanola = 140 gal oil/acreAlgae = 10,000 gal oil/acre

Biodiesel

First Generation Renewable Fuel

Second Generation Renewable FuelUSU System 2:

Biodiesel from an Algal Solar Bioreactor

Light and CO2

Oil

Biodiesel

WaterMicros

Potential: 200x more oil per acre vs soybeans, low quality land.USU Goals: Produce biodiesel that is cost competitive by 2009 through strain selection and optimization of system.

Algae

Second Generation Renewable FuelUSU System 2:

Biodiesel from an Algal Solar Bioreactor

Light and CO2

Oil

Biodiesel

WaterMicros

Potential: 200x more oil per acre vs soybeans, low quality land.USU Goals: Produce biodiesel that is cost competitive by 2009 through strain selection and optimization of system.

Algae

140 billion gal of biodiesel would displace all gasoline and diesel used in the US.Would require 12 % of the area of the Sonora desert using algae.

Why BiodieselDirect substitute for petroleum-

based diesel;Existing infrastructure for

distribution to market;Environmentally cleaner fuel - free

of sulfur and aromatics;Reduction in CO2 emissions;Distributed refineries;

(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)

Solar Bioreactors

Algae and Lipids

USU Dried Algae

USU Algae Lipid Extract

USU Biodiesel

USU Phototrophic Organisms

• >40 different phototrophic microbes including bacteria, cyanobacteria, and algae.• Production of a range of products.•Analytical laboratory for small scale culture (3 L) and analysis of CO2 capture and conversion to a variety of products.

•50-100 L scale bioreactors in the USTAR Phase I Building.

Goal: Order-of-magnitude improvement in sunlight utilization

Challenges Being Addressed:• Eliminating photosynthetic saturation

– Redistribution of visible portion of sunlight over an order-of-magnitude larger surface area

• Minimizing surface shading• Converting otherwise-wasted UV/IR portion of solar

spectrum into usable energy streams• Eliminating biofouling in closed reactors• Scalable, low-cost reactor designs

Strain selection

Incubation & Culturing

Feedstock Production

Harvesting Dewatering &Drying

Oil Extraction & Pretreatment

Oil Conversion & Refinement

UV Infrared

Visible

In passive systems, less than 4% of the incident energy in sunlight

is used constructively to grow algae

Incident sunlight

Steps in the production of biofuels

USU Focus Areas

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

For Information

Byard Wood

435-797-2868

byard.wood@usu.edu

• $6 M over 5 years approved by USTAR Board (Jan. 2007).

• Three new hires (first hire started Jan. 2007 from the National Renewable Energy Lab).

• Pilot and production scale operations underway.

• Seeking additional funding from NSF, DOE, and investors.

FundingFunding

Strain Collection/Characterization

• More than 30 species of known phototrophs have been collected and subcultured– Include species from the aquatic species program

• Approximately 15 species have been grown in large cultures (5 Liters) for lipid characterization– Total yields– Absorbance Comparisons– Time of growth

• Lipid quantification underway

Algal Characterization Outcomes

• Compounds vary– Fatty Acids– TAGs– Sterols– Phytols (branched chain alcohols)– Straight Chain Alkanes

• Total lipid quantification underway in second round of experiments

Performance Specifications

achieved to date50,000 Lumens delivered

50% Efficiency

10 m2 algae illumination area

50 mph operating wind speed

120 mph survival wind speed

60” height

100 lbs. weight

0.1o tracking accuracy

Photobioreactor ResultsUp to 300 mol/m2-s provided to algae

PVC headers successful at producing uniform growth

2 months continuous operation w/ no problems

Low water and heat loss

Vegetable oil yields

Algae: Up to 10,000 gal/acre

Technical Definition: Biodiesel, n—a fuel composed of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, designated B100, and meeting the requirements of ASTM D 6751.

Crop US gal/acrejatropha 202oil palm 635peanuts 113

rapeseed 127soybean 48

Lipids and Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a direct substitute for petro-diesel!

Worldwide refinery capacity is about 85 million barrels per day. To meet the projected growth it will have to increase by more than 45 million barrels per day by 2025.

World Oil

Production Capacity

1990 - 69.4 MMb/day

2002 – 80

2010 – 96.5

2025 - 122