Page 192 - CW E-Magazine (7-1-2025)

Special Report

Initiatives to optimise algae biofuel technology
lgae has been considered a  They can yield N.S. VENKATARAMAN
potential source of biofuel to more biofuel per Director
Ahelp India address its fuel needs, acre than plant- Nandini Consultancy Centre
particularly since Indian production of based sources. Chennai - 600090
crude oil is now virtually stagnant and  Algae crop can be Email: nsvenkatchennai@gmail.com
imports have crossed 220-mtpa and grown in brackish
steadily increasing. water, including strain of microalgae, breaking down
seawater, and its production will not their cell walls, and extracting the
India has several advantages for strain freshwater resources. inner lipids, carbohydrates, and pro-
cultivating algae and producing algae  Algae is the fastest growing plant in teins. Algae can produce 5,000 to
biofuel. Unfortunately, algae biofuel the world – doubling in its biomass 20,000 gallons of oil per unit area per
projects have not made much headway in less than 24 hours. year, depending on the species.
so far.
If proper methods are used, more According to Algae Biomass
This article highlights the initiatives than 30% oil can be obtained consis- Organisation, a US-based non-profi t think
of selected companies across the world tently from algae. The leftover biomass tank, algae biomass’ molecular compo-
to develop algae biofuels, and are as after oil extraction holds further value, sition is ideally suited to enter into an
per the claims of the companies. and can be transformed into high-pro- existing refi nery’s hydrotreater to pro-
tein animal feed, fertiliser, or even pro- duce blend-ready SAF, either directly
INTRODUCTION tein powder. This versatility maximises or in combination with other feedstocks.
Algae can be a major raw material resource utilisation and minimises
for cheaper biofuel production and rep- waste. Algae-derived sustainable aviation
resents a signifi cant improvement over fuel (SAF) has already been used in two
alternate biofuel sources for several Production fl ights in Japan. Honeywell’s Ecofi ning
reasons: Algae biofuel is produced by ex- technology processed the crude algae
 Algae can be used to manufacture tracting oils from the lipids in micro- oil into SAF in partnership with a
biofuels similar in composition to algae, which are single-celled plants. The Japanese fi rm in 2021.
today’s transportation fuels. process involves identifying the right
Microalgae have a carbon capture
potential of 1.8 kg CO per kg algae dry
2
weight.

According to the Dutton Institute
(USA) the cost to produce algae oil on
a scale of 10-ktpa is ~$0.95 per pound.
Exxon Mobil Corporation, USA
In 2022, ExxonMobil and Viridos
Inc., a US-based biotechnology com-
pany that focuses on developing renew-
able algae-based biofuels and transfor-
mative solutions, announced a research
programme to develop algae biofuels
and produce 10,000 barrels per day by
2025.

The partnership aims to bring sus-
tainable algae biofuel technology closer
to commercial deployment, with the

192 Chemical Weekly January 7, 2025

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