Algae.

[froggy]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

No typo.
This is what BEST Energies claim they can do with papermill waste. Waste that at present is put in landfill happily polluting groundwater and producing methane..

You may even extract a trickle of bio-oil? you would have to check with BEST on that

I live in Wisconsin, the home of paper industry and BEST Energies also has a location in Wisconsin. Ofcourse there are plenty of different mill sludges so Im not sure which you/they are referring.

Paper mill sludge comes out at ~ 40% solids. Depending on what type of mill we are looking at, this stuff does not typically have a high BTU as its full of clays and other paper fillers. Plus this stuff is particularily high in heavy metals.

Knowing what I know about Best and sludge, I doubt they are able to break even energetically without drying this stuff. And I doubt they are even thinking about this stuff because there are plenty of other feedstocks of sufficient quality and quantity to satisfy a biz plan.

There is a local company called 'minergy' that tries to turn sludge into products but its been a very poor biz for them. Mostly turning gold into lead.

[Michaelangelica]

I asked two head scientists/engineers at BEST energies Australia the specific question
"What is the maximum amount of water-in-wastes your machine can handle". (Their "demo" model at Somersby NSW.-30 min drive from my home.) They specifically answered 70% but said it would be a poor show economically as so little, if any, energy could be extracted with that amount of water. (Hence the "Energies" part of BEST)

To me, that opens the doors to a huge stream of industrial waste. Perhaps even sewerage (if properly policed, it should not have a heavy metal problem).
Of course it makes algae very attractive; You just need to hang it out to dry on the "Hill's Hoist" before pyrolising.
Char made from algae or seaweeds may even have added value to the soil (research needed) and therefore to home gardeners. I note that seaweed 'fertiliser' at Nurseries etc is much more expensive than the wine I drink. I'm afraid the garden always comes out second best

If you don't believe me I suggest you take it up with BEST Energies USA as they have purchased ALL the Australian technology and patents.Now why would they do that? They continue to generously fund char-in-agriculture research with our State Government and the University of NSW.
I may be meeting with BEST in the new year and will ask again if you like. But it was a VERY specific answer to my specific question about the level of water in the waste stream.
I asked because I was surprised by some of the wet-wastes they were using.

They were developing a specific machine for paper mill waste but that is probably all confidential information & designs.

[froggy]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

If you don't believe me I suggest you take it up with BEST Energies USA as they have purchased ALL the Australian technology and patents.Now why would they do that?

I plan to.

And its some companies business plan to protect their IP like a pitbull, surrounding themselves with every and any protection they can pull fences around. I know BEST USA is well financed and suspect this is their policy. If it is your plan to own a marketplace, its good to have the legal rights to do that.

[Michaelangelica]

BEST Energies to my knowledge have not sold a pyrolysis system yet
Could you please check from your end?

Well to go in a different direction
Which is what Alage can do to a discussion

Red algae immune to bleaching
Tuesday, 16 December 2008

The chemical released by red algae could give
scientists clues on how to protect corals from
bleaching.


The key to better understanding coral bleaching has surfaced in a common red alga that produces defensive compounds against the phenomena affecting reef environments worldwide.

University of New South Wales PhD candidate Alexandra Campbell told the recent Ecological Society of Australia conference that the seaweed Delisea pulchra, found around southern Australia including WA, produced defensive chemicals called furanones.

Red algae immune to bleaching*(ScienceAlert)

[Essay]

mmmmmm.... Furanones!
===

Originally Posted by froggy

here is a link to a recent algae conference where they talk about price and supposid time lines.

Let me give you a hint, when someone says 5-10 yrs, it really means no where in sight.

I finally got thru these links, but that first link is fascinating and leads to much other great information, so I'll be returning to that one. ~Thanks again.
===

From the third link (above, post #15):
Emerging Energy News: Algae-to-biodiesel at least five to 10 years away

Originally Posted by 11/20/2008

Commercial production of microalgae as biodiesel feedstock will require substantial improvements in the present cultivation and harvesting methods and may only be economically viable in at least another five to ten years. Delegates attending the Algae World 2008 conference in Singapore said the current production cost of microalgae is too high to justify its use as a biodiesel feedstock.

Like most other microalgae farms, the Hutt Lagoon facility also does not produce supply any feedstock for biodiesel production at the moment. The plant now supplies microalgae for the production of pharmaceutical products and animal feed.

Well those are good uses for the algae.

The second link (post #14):
The Oil Drum | The Man Who Wrote the Book on Algal Biodiesel

Originally Posted by May 17, 2007 Blog

Even if R&D proves successful and we can actually produce algae biofuels (maybe even biodiesel) economically (whatever the economics may be a decade or so from now), even then, I am sorry to say that due to resource (land, water, etc.) limitations, algae will not replace all our (or their) oil wells, cannot solve our entire global warming problem, or make me rich quick, at least not honestly. But maybe this technology could be developed in the next few years so that in the future it can make a contribution to our energy supplies, our environment and human welfare.

I don't think anyone is planning on replacing All oil wells or solve the Entire GW problem with algae, but....

I think there are still lots of opportunities to expand the use of algae to sequester carbon (focusing on productivity), and then use that algae for other uses.

Let's utilize the grazers to help dry the algae and build up an insect population to feed an adjacent fish farm.
...and what about Solar Pyrolysis?

I think the focus on biofuels is blinding researchers to other possibilities.

But you're right, it sure does seem like a familiar pattern now, that "it'll be ready in a few years... just one more pilot plant...."

~

[Essay]

Thanks Michael, for the "bleaching" link.

Furans are cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are the building blocks of porphyrins.
Porphyrins are the light absorbing part of chlorophyll.
So maybe these furanones (keto-furans) act like a sunscreen for the algae.

Google furanones. Amazing bioactivity related to quorum sensing in biofilms, swarming and other anti-bacterial properties.

~

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Essay

...and what about Solar Pyrolysis?

Indeed!

Join us over here:

http://hypography.com/forums/science...coal-oven.html

[froggy]

Originally Posted by Essay

...and what about Solar Pyrolysis?

Just a book keeping reminder. If you use the sun to do your cooking, cleaning, processing, etc... make sure to add that into the sqft/gallon that it takes to grow a gallon of gasoline.

[froggy]

Originally Posted by Essay

I think there are still lots of opportunities to expand the use of algae to sequester carbon (focusing on productivity), and then use that algae for other uses.

There might be some validity to this but like anything, the devil is in the details. First, make money on the algae products and then char up the waste as sequestration, not the other way around. Which brings me to a point, waste streams.

Living in Wisconsin, I can get all the 11% solids manure I wish. Yet, even with millions of tons of feedstock floating in lagoons like a ticking time bomb, one has a very hard time trying to develop a system to utilize this as an energy product. AD and combustion product values are far too little vs the engineering and profit from energy.

So if I cant do it with 10% solids, what makes you think I can do it with algaculture whereas we start with a feedstock less than .1% solids? Granted liquid fuels sells for alot more than e' per BTU, please dont confuse that slight difference with the massive energy and engineering task of the concept of liquid fuels from algae.

By the way, what about the 30% solids waste streams, 50% solids, even 80% solids that are just left on this earth to rot, year over year.

My point here is that what makes anyone think they can grow something using $, time and energy when you can get better stuff for free or even a tipping fee? Its like sending out the complete US war machine to find a truffle.

[Michaelangelica]

PetroAlgae Announces Listing on OTC Bulletin Board

MELBOURNE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PetroAlgae, a leading developer of systems to derive biodiesel fuels from algae, today announced that its parent company, PetroTech Holdings Corp., has acquired Dover Glen, Inc., a publicly-traded company listed on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “DVGL”
. . .
About PetroAlgae

PetroAlgae is commercializing new technologies designed to grow and harvest oil from algae. This process creates a sustainable, renewable, cost-effective substitute for petroleum oil and a reliable, environmentally-friendly feedstock source for biodiesel and many other products. The Melbourne, Florida-based company offers a path to sustainable, renewable and carbon-neutral energy independence with processes that are environmentally-friendly.

PetroAlgae Announces Listing on OTC Bulletin Board

Sapphire Energy Named to Biofuels Digest '50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy' Ranking

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Algae-based fuels, one of the most promising technological developments to positively transform the world's transportation industry, gained additional momentum today when Biofuels Digest ranked Sapphire Energy, an algae-based transportation fuels company, number 2 in its 2008 "50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy" rankings. Sapphire Energy was selected out of more than 1,000 bioenergy companies eligible and was the highest-rated algae-to-energy company receiving the accolade.

Invest your money and make a fortune or loose a fortune?

Days may be numbered for toxic algae bloom
Corps officials say health advisory could be lifted for Lost Creek Lake in a few weeks
By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune

TRAIL — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials hope today to begin the two-week countdown for finally lifting a public-health advisory against water contact at Lost Creek Lake, which has been mired in a pesky blue-green algae bloom.

MailTribune.com: Days may be numbered for toxic algae bloom

Another biofuel source worth looking at is producing biofuel from algae. It makes a lot of sense producing biofuel from algae for few reasons.
Firstly it requires minimal input to grow and it grows at a very high rate with sufficient sunlight and water (doesn’t require fresh water, can survive with seawater).

Secondly, algae produce high content of biofuel in terms of dry weight ratio as well as land use. Third and most interesting fact is that it is possible to feed CO2 into the production lines which can be obtained from factory byproduct (carbon credit offset).

Practically, algae can be grown in large tubes filled with waste water and CO2 with free sunlight in a large field. Not only producing algae can be cheaper, it can reduce greenhouse gasses and sell carbon credits.

If these methods can be perfected, algae are definitely a good source for biofuel. An interesting read to complement algae biofuel use, click here.

Besides Jatropha and algae, biofuel can also be produced from used cooking oil, food waste

http://malaysia4biotech.blogspot.com/
Malaysia4Biotech

US military funds $35M in research of algae-based jet fuel
2008 December 23
by novogreen

Science Applications International and General Atomics secure contracts through 2010 to help commercialize biofuel for military jets and vehicles. A sector of the U.S. Department of Defense has signed nearly $35 million in contracts with two San Diego companies to develop biofuel derived from algae for use in Air Force jets and Army vehicles. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) signed a $14.9 million deal with Science Applications International to work on making the algae-based jet fuel commercially and technically feasible.

Read more about this here.

http://www.novogreen.com/?p=1694