Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #10132222
First, right off the bat, don't get too excited about our headline.
The Algae we make report of herein can make Oil out of flue gas Carbon Dioxide for an average of $60 per barrel only if they get subsidized by the Cap & Trade taxation of our Coal-based electrical power generation industries, and their customers, to the tune of $60 per ton of Carbon consumed by the Algae.
Those figures are averages, rough averages, we've deduced from the numbers provided, and, it all doesn't at first sound too exciting.
We've documented previously, as in:
US Navy Awarded September, 2011, CO2 Recycling Patent | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,017,658 - Synthesis of Hydrocarbons via Catalytic Reduction of CO2; September 13, 2011; Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy; Abstract: A method of: introducing hydrogen and a feed gas containing at least 50 % carbon dioxide into a reactor containing a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst ... to produce hydrocarbons"; and, in:
Germany Awarded 2011 CO2 Recycling US Patent | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,989,507 - Production of Fuel ... Utilizing Waste Carbon Dioxide; August, 2011; Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (AG), Munich, Germany; Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for utilizing CO2 waste comprising recovering carbon dioxide from an industrial process that produces a waste stream comprising carbon dioxide in an amount greater than an amount of carbon dioxide present in starting materials for the industrial process. The method further includes producing hydrogen using a renewable energy resource and producing a hydrocarbon material utilizing the produced hydrogen and the recovered carbon dioxide";
that: The technologies for directly recycling Carbon Dioxide and converting it in an industrial process into hydrocarbons are becoming more sophisticated and more practical, with the very real potentials included for harvesting environmental energy and using that energy to drive the needed reactions.
We, personally, tend to favor those sorts of Carbon Dioxide recycling technologies, since they are more direct; perhaps, in the end, simpler to conceptualize and to operate; and, likely, able to produce, again in the final analysis, liquid hydrocarbon fuels from CO2 at a lower direct cost.
But, using Algae to recycle effluent Carbon Dioxide, as explained more fully in our reports, among others, of:
USDOE Algae Recycle CO2 into Liquid Fuels | Research & Development; concerning: "Liquid Fuels from Microalgae; 1987; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO; USDOE; Abstract: The goal of the DOE/SERI Aquatic Species Program is to develop the technology to produce gasoline and diesel fuels from microalgae"; and:
USDOE Algae Recycle More CO2 and Produce Hydrogen | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,642,405 - Designer Algae for Photo-biological Hydrogen Production; 2010; This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 awarded by the United States Department of energy. The Government has certain rights in this invention. Abstract: A switchable photosystem-II designer algae for photo-biological hydrogen production (wherein) organic reserve, such as starch, is accumulated through ... algal culture growth ... using CO2 and sunlight energy in an aerobic reactor";
can also enable the co-production of other products of commercial value, in addition to hydrocarbon fuels, and, might, require less up-front capital investment, especially since our take on it is that some strains of Algae have been developed which can tolerate being directly fed untreated, or almost untreated, flue gas.
Direct Carbon Dioxide recycling processes, such as those disclosed by our above-cited "United States Patent 7,989,507 - Production of Fuel ... Utilizing Waste Carbon Dioxide" and "United States Patent 8,017,658 - Synthesis of Hydrocarbons via Catalytic Reduction of CO2", seem to require some purification and concentration of Carbon Dioxide, with the attendant considerations of investment for those CO2 capture and processing facilities.
Further, we have, in quite a number of earlier reports, as noted, documented both the potentials for using various types of Algae, and other microorganisms, to capture CO2, from one medium or another, and, then, to convert, to efficiently and profitably recycle through photosynthetic and other metabolic processes, that Carbon Dioxide into genuinely useful and desirable materials, which materials would include not just liquid hydrocarbon fuels, but, as well, potentially-valuable by-products, even including just the residual biomass, which, if nothing else, again as we've documented, can be utilized as fertilizer and soil conditioner in agricultural applications.
And, it has become clear to us that a rather startling amount of effort that has been put into utilizing Algae and their hard-to-see microscopic kin in such a way; startling, since not very many of us regular folk among the Coal Country public, whose livelihoods and standards of living are threatened by Cap and Trade taxation and economic indenture to Big Oil through mandated Geologic Sequestration, have been privileged to be publicly told a darned thing about any of it.
There is, we are thus led to suspect, some quite valuable potentials in the use of Algae to recycle Carbon Dioxide, potentials that have driven a lot of effort in further developing the techniques, and potentials that, like the technologies noted above for the direct recycling of Carbon Dioxide, have driven a corollary effort to keep such developments relatively quiet and out of genuine public awareness.
So, we feel it behooves us to become as well-educated as we can about the potentials for recycling Carbon Dioxide, especially the potentials that can be applied and utilized right here in US Coal Country, before all our great grandchildren become the indentured servants of Big Oil, the fiefs of OPEC and the punks of the Environmentalists.
Herein, via excerpts from the initial and following links, and with comment and an additional link appended, we present additional evidence that the very real potential exists to utilize Algae to directly treat, and to recycle the valuable components of, Coal-fired power plant stack gasses:
2 Mb View Document or Access Individual Pages; DOI 10.2172/10132222
"Removal of Carbon Dioxide from Flue Gases by Algae.
Date: December, 1993
Contract FC22-92PC92521
Authors: C. Akin, A. Maka, et. al., Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago
Sponsors: Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (and) USDOE, Washington, DC
The objective of this research program is to determine the feasibility of the alga Botryococcus braunii as a biocatalyst for the photosynthetic conversion of flue gas CO2 to hydrocarbons.
Free and immobilized cells of Botryococcus braunii were grown in aqueous medium supplemented with nitrogen, phosphorus and mineral nutrients. Air and CO2 enriched air in the gas phase and NaHCO3 in the liquid medium served as the carbon source.
(Note: "NaHCO3", Sodium Bicarbonate, better known as "baking soda", is, we assert, exactly what you get by scrubbing out flue gas CO2 with a water solution of Sodium Hydroxide, or lye, via the reaction:
NaOH + CO2 = NaHCO3
NaHCO3 then easily gives up the CO2 with only a little heating, or, by reaction with only slightly acidified water, and, that chemical cycle is specified by a number of other Carbon Dioxide capture and recycling processes; some of which we have previously reported, with other reports concerning them to follow.
So, this Algae-based technology could operate in a two-fold Carbon Dioxide recycling way, using both gaseous CO2 bubbled through the water in which they are grown, and, Carbon Dioxide released by flue gas scrubbing agents.)
Growth and hydrocarbon formation characteristics of free and immobilized cultures of Botryococcus braunii were determined in bench-scale photobioreactors. Technical and economic feasibility of the conversion of flue gas CO2 to hydrocarbons by Botryococcus braunii culture systems was evaluated. In free cell systems, the hexane extractable oil productivity was about 15 to 37 grams of oil per 100 grams of cell dry weight. In immobilized cell systems, the oil production ranged between 5% and 47% at different immobilization systems and immobilized surface locations, with an average of 19% of cell biomass dry weight. The feasibility and economic evaluation estimated the cost of oil produced from flue gas CO2 by algae to range between $45 and $75 per barrel assuming that a hydrocarbon yield of about 50% of the biomass weight is achievable and a credit of $60 per ton of carbon removed is available. A future research program leading to development of a multistage process, consisting of closed systems for heavy inoculum buildup followed by lower cost open systems for oil production is recommended.
(Note, the Cap & Trade "credit of $60 per ton of carbon removed", which, we must say "guess", based on our further analyses of the amounts of Algae Oil made per ton of CO2 supplied, would equate roughly to a subsidy of the Oil produced of $15 to $25 per barrel. Thus, the true "cost" of Oil produced from flue gas CO2 by algae could, based on the given "range (of) between $45 and $75 per barrel", a $60 average, be closer to the $100 per barrel mark.
That, we submit, as can be seen in one of our earlier reports:
Coal TL vs. Hidden Oil Costs | Research & Development; concerning: "NDCF report: the hidden cost of imported oil; The National Defense Council Foundation, an Alexandria, Virginia-based research and educational institution has completed its year-long analysis of the "hidden cost" of imported oil. The NDCF project represents the most comprehensive investigation of the military and economic penalty our undue dependence on imported oil exacts from the U.S. economy";
when compared to the real costs of imported OPEC Oil to our United States economy as a whole, would still be a bargain.)
Executive Summary: Various options that are suggested for the removal of CO2 from flue gas include biological removal of CO2, photosynthetic conversion of CO2 to biomass, utilization of CO2 for making chemicals, etc.
The objective of this research program is to determine the feasibility of the alga Botryococcus braunii as a biocatalyst for the photosynthetic conversion of flue gas CO2 to hydrocarbons. Alga Botryococcus braunii converts CO2 by photosynthesis to cell components and hydrocarbons. It produces linear alkenes, mostly C27, C29, and C31 dienes, branched alkenes (botryococcenes), C30-C37 isoprenoids, with a general formula of C_H2n-10 form. The actual physiological conditions that trigger the production of hydrocarbons by Botryococcus braunii are not known. In a conceptual process, CO2 is scrubbed from the flue gases by using an alkaline solution and transferred to a bioreactor where, Botryococcus braunii serves as the biocatalysts). The solar energy is used as the energy source.
(This is an indirect use of environmental energy to power, through photosynthesis, a Carbon Dioxide recycling process, as opposed to the direct use of environmental energy to the same end, as see, for just one example, in our report of:
USDOE "Green Freedom" CO2 Recycling | Research & Development; concerning: "Green Freedom (TM) - A Concept for Producing Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuels; 2007; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Introduction: We have developed a low-risk, transformational concept, called Green Freedom (TM), for large scale production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and chemicals from air and water. Green Freedom (TM) utilizes carbon-neutral power to recover carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; split water into hydrogen; and, convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels and organic chemicals.")
Diesel-grade hydrocarbons, some biomass, and oxygen are produced in the bioreactor.
(Note that "bioreactor"s have been specified for use in other biologically-based Carbon Dioxide recycling technologies about which we've reported, as in our above citation of our report concerning: "United States Patent 7,642,405 - Designer Algae for Photo-biological Hydrogen Production". A lot of work has gone into the design of such reactors, and we'll have more to offer on all of that in future reports.)
The preliminary studies in sealed bottle bioreactors indicated that Botryococcus braunii could grow (with)
air and 1 to 15% CO2 enriched air. This ... CO2 tolerance of Botryococcus braunii will be very useful in eventual industrial applications of Botryococcus braunii for the removal of CO2 from flue gases.
The amount of biomass residue remaining after hydrocarbon extraction is about half of the total dry weight (but only about 40% of total Carbon and one third of the heat of combustion). The residue would need to be treated before discharge or re-use. This could be accomplished by anaerobic digestion."
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We'll close our excerpts there so that we can make note of a few things.
First, such "anaerobic digestion", as above, for the Algae cell residues, after extraction of the Algae oil, can result in Methane gas being generated as a by-product of the digestion, as seen again in our above-cited report of "Liquid Fuels from Microalgae", wherein it's specified that "the cell residue after lipid extraction can be anaerobically digested for the production of methane and" some relatively minor amount of "carbon dioxide", which could be recycled back into the initial process of algal CO2 consumption and conversion, or, which CO2 could be combined with the co-produced Methane, in a process similar to that seen in:
Exxon 2010 CO2 + Methane = Liquid Hydrocarbons | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,772,447 - Production of Liquid Hydrocarbons from Methane; 2010; ExxonMobil;
and be thereby converted, with the Methane, into more "hydrocarbons".
Any remaining residues would, we submit, be relatively minor and could be used as agricultural soil amendments; or, if necessary, be directed into a process such as that disclosed in our report of:
Exxon Co-Gasifies Coal and Carbon-Recycling Biomass | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20100083575 - Co-gasification Process for Hydrocarbon Solids and Biomass; 2010; Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company: Abstract: A process for the co-gasification of carbonaceous solids (coal) and biomass in which the biomass material ... comprises biological matter selected from wood, plant matter, municipal waste, green waste, byproducts of farming or food processing waste, sewage sludge, black liquor from wood pulp, and algae";
and be converted, with Coal and some other "stuff", into a synthesis gas suitable for catalytic chemical condensation into additional liquid hydrocarbons. And, thus, in a complete and coordinated system, it might be feasible to, ultimately, recycle 100% of the original Carbon Dioxide consumed by the Algae.
The full report then goes on at some unfortunate length about all of their caveats, which included, very nearly two decades ago, specifications about future research that needed to be done, including the refinement and improvement of strains of Algae to be used in such Carbon Dioxide recycling processes.
And, as it happens, some of that research has been done, as we will later attempt to document for you.
However, it is clear, that, very nearly two decades ago, it was confirmed, as herein, by, among others, our own United States Department of Energy that we could produce "hydrocarbons" from "flue gas CO2" for under $100 per barrel even without artificial and punitive subsidies arising from Cap & Trade taxation.
And, quite literally all of the $100 would be flowing directly back into our domestic United States economy.
Many more of our citizens could be productively employed in the manufacture of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, and, far fewer of them would need to be employed by our government, and paid with our tax dollars, to ensure that the unfriendly sea lanes remained open for Oil tankers and that the ruling elite of OPEC nations were able to remain secure from some of their discontented citizens, and their jealous neighbors, in their lavish palaces financed by the export of Oil.
Further, more of our hard-working Coal Miners could remain productively employed, their livelihoods no longer threatened by Cap & Trade tax extortions or the expensive mandated subsidy of Big Oil's secondary scrounging of residual Oil in natural petroleum reservoirs, through the specious and technically-flawed implementation of Geologic Sequestration