Algae as an Alternative fuel

1. ALGAE AS AN ALTERNATE
FUEL SOURCE
By Wil Borden

2. Why Algae?
 Algae is plentiful and is a renewable source for energy.
 Currently being used to make
 Ethanol
 Gasoline
 Aviation Gas
 Biodiesel
 Uses non farmable land
 Uses salt water

3. Cultivation of algae
Open water ponds Closed water ponds
Photo-bioreactors

4. Open Ponds
 Pros
 Least expensive
 Easy to construct
 Cons
 Contamination
 Poor light utilization
 Low biomass productivity
 Evaporative loss
 Limited algae strains can grow

5. Closed water ponds
 Pros
 Allows better control of climate
 More protection
 Lower evaporative losses
 Cons
 Takes up a large amount of space

6. Photo-Bioreactors
 Pros
 No contamination
 Most space savings
 Very controlled environment
 Produces most Biomass
 Can be expanded upon easily
 Cons
 Most expensive

7. Converting Algae to Energy
 Algae take in sunlight, carbon dioxide, and salt water
 Turns salt water into sugar called pyruvate
 Algae turns sugar turns into ethanol
 Ethanol is distilled and removed
 Biomass can be converted to diesel, aviation fuel, or gasoline

8. Fuel Production
Algae (per acre per year)
 Ethanol
 8,000 Gallons
 From Biomass refinement
 Bio Diesel
 550 Gallons
 Jet Fuel
 400 Gallons
 Gasoline
 400 Gallons
Current alternate fuel
sources
 Corn
 440 Gallons
 Sugar Beets
 550 Gallons
 Sugar cane
 500 Gallons

9. Environmental Impact
Current methods
 Uses a large amount of fresh water
 Corn uses about 3 gallons for 1
gallon of ethanol
 Unleaded gas production uses
2-2 ½ gallons per gallon of gasoline
 Tar sands use 8 barrels of water to
produce 1 barrel of crude oil
Algae
 Uses salt water instead of fresh
 Produces 1-1.4 gallons of water per
gallon of ethanol produced
 Carbon Dioxide buy back program

10. Other Uses for Algae
 Algae biomass can also be used for producing synthetic methane gas, and
even hydrogen.
 Medical uses where conventional medication is unavailable

11. Questions Or Comments?
Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed my presentation