Sapphire Energy, a San Diego based company, announced last month it can convert algae into oil, and estimates their green biofuel could be ready for full consumer production in five years. Sapphire claims the algae gasoline and diesel will have an identical molecular structure to petroleum products, which suggests utilization of the current infrastructure of vehicles, pipelines, and refineries is possible.
The founders of Sapphire were motivated by the question: Why is the biofuel industry spending so much time and energy manufacturing ethanol — a fundamentally inferior fuel? Producing ethanol from slow growing plants like corn requires large amounts of energy, land, and chemical resources while algae double their mass several times in one day using only sunlight and CO2 in the process. These lovely photosynthetic reactors produce 15 times more oil per hectare than alternatives like soy and palm. Algae is also extremely low maintenance, thriving in non-potable water on non-arable land and delivering 10 to 100 times more energy per acre than cropland biofuel.
Sapphire claims that Green Crude Production has the potential to profoundly change America’s energy and petrochemical landscape. No doubt if brought to full-scale production it would enable the United States and other countries to become energy independent. But don’t start the celebration yet - there are concerns about the greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of algae fuel. Sapphire Chief Executive Officer Jason Pyle says green crude produces fewer pollutants in the refining process. Also, the fuels themselves do not contain the nitrogen found in petroleum so they should burn cleaner. Nevertheless, Pyle is having the fuels tested by an outside company. Algae biofuel is so promising many companies are developing the technology including: Royal Dutch Shell and Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation. Shell partnered with Hawaii based HR Biopetroleum forming joint venture Cellena to build a pilot facility growing algae for conversion to biofuel in Hawaii. New Zealand’s Aquaflow is trying to become the first company producing large amounts of fuel from wild algae instead of the genetically modified microorganisms employed by some of their competitors. Algae appears to be the strongest contender to reduce the world’s petrochemical addiction and Sapphire is in the enviable position of frontrunner in production. Further Reading:
