Page 193 - CW E-Magazine (7-1-2025)

Special Report

potential to facilitate signifi cant reduc- construction of a multi-million dollar Algenol Biofuels, Sonoran Desert
tion in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pilot plant to test the whole process on (Mexico)
in the heavy transportation sector. a larger scale will begin in Karratha in The company’s goal is to produce
the north-west of Western Australia. fuel directly from the algae without
Algae Capital, Iceland harvesting the creatures, allowing for
Algae Capital, whose production The scientist have achieved produc- a shorter turnaround time to make fuel.
facility is located in the Icelandic muni- tion rates of 50 tonne per hectare per year, The company claims its process lets it
cipality of Reykjanesbær, specializes over half of which is converted to oil. make around 6,000 gallons per acre per
in the large-scale and sustainable culti- year.
vation of microalgae to produce plant- The fi rst stage is costing $1.5-mn.
based omega-3-rich oil and proteins. Algenol Biofuels’ plant in Fort
Chitose Bio Evolution, Malaysia Myers, Florida has the capacity to produce
The greenhouse contains a proprie- Chitose Bio Evolution, which 18-million gallons of ethanol per year.
tary production system with closed received funding from oil & gas com- The plant includes a 2-acre demonstra-
tube-shaped glass photobioreactors pany, Eneos Holdings, is planning to tion module that can produce 16,000-
(PBRs). The climate-control system is expand production of algae that can gallons of ethanol per year.
designed to combine natural daylight generate biofuels in Malaysia.
with artifi cial lighting to make optimal Solix Biofuels, USA
use of the available light. The two- The company has a 1,000-sq.m. Solix uses specialized photo-biore-
hectare production facility is set up for production facility in the Sarawak Bio- actors in which batches of microalgal
future upscaling to a size of 12 hectares diversity Centre, and is looking to grow cultures are grown in large, closed-
in total. its production facility to larger than growth chambers under controlled
200,000-sq.m. light and temperature conditions. The
LG Sonic, The Netherlands company claims its closed systems
LG Sonic’s ultrasonic algae con- Eves Energy, Singapore can produce up to seven times as much
trol technology has been recognized as Eves Energy in Singapore will biomass as open-pond systems.
an effective and eco-friendly solution produce algae oil for SAF.
for controlling algal blooms in lakes, Once the cultures are fully grown,
ponds, reservoirs, and other bodies of The company will set up a facility the oil is extracted through the use of
water. The technology uses ultrasonic in Indonesia with 400,000 tanks that chemical solvents. The solvents are
sound waves to target and disrupt the could produce 1.2-mtpa of microalgae mixed into the chambers to separate
cellular structure of algae, preventing oil and 1.2-mtpa of algae cake within the oil from the algae, and it is then
them from blooming and spreading. two years. collected from the surface.

LG Sonic commenced production Chiclana, Spain Sapphire Energy, USA
in Q1 2023. The facility for microalgae bio- Sapphire has a 100-acre pilot
fuel generation is located in Chiclana, facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico
Murdoch University, Australia Spain. The plant can produce enough (USA).
A joint $3.3-mn project led by biofuel to power 40 cars.
Murdoch University and University of The company’s focus is on ‘green
Adelaide is now involved in algae bio- Teregroup, Italy crude’, a liquid that has the same com-
fuel research after more than 12 months The company in Modena has a position as crude oil, and is therefore,
of consistent results at both universities. capacity of 3-million litres per annum compatible with existing refi neries. The
and produces 7 gram of algae per litre. company has already shown that its
The project has received $1.89-mn The end products include biodiesel, fuel can be used in cars and even jets.
funding from the Australian Govern- animal feed, and fertilizer.
ment as part of the Asia-Pacifi c Part- Solazyme, USA
nership on Clean Development and The new green refi nery for process- Solazyme produce algal cultures
Climate. ing oil from algae into biofuel, jet fuel using DNA from different strains to maxi-
or eco-plastic materials has production mize oil production and size and grows
Due to the project’s success, capacity of 200-ktpa. them in large fermentation vessels

Chemical Weekly January 7, 2025 193

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