Filed under: Biodiesel, Emerging Technologies, Vegetable Oil, Carbon Offset, Carbon Capture, Pacific Region
Shell Oil to grow biofuels from marine algae
Shell Oil formed a joint venture with HR Biopetroleum called Cellana and they plan to produce biofuels from marine algae. Shell, which owns a majority stake in the venture, will start production of a demonstration facility on the Kona coast of Hawai'i Island immediately. The production volume for the facility, which is on a site leased from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), will be small but the main goal is to research which natural microalgae species produce the highest yields biofuels. Scientists from Hawai'i, Mississippi and Canada are a part of the project that will also explore the potential of algae to capture CO2 from power plants. Graeme Sweeney, Shell Executive Vice President Future Fuels and CO2, says:
Algae have great potential as a sustainable feedstock for production of diesel-type fuels with a very small CO2 footprint. ... This demonstration will be an important test of the technology and, critically, of commercial viability.
Sweeney denies this is all a publicity stunt but they are smart to invest in biofuels from marine algae. The economic viability of the process has to be proven but algae is the most promising non-food source of biofuels, providing 15 times the yield of rape seed, and using the ocean would mean farmland that could grow food would not be a part of the biofuel equation. It's really too bad Shell is a giant oil company. I wonder if anyone will ever take news like this from oil companies seriously?
Related:
- Grow car fuel in the ocean? A very good idea
- Who's behind a better lithium-ion hybrid/EV battery? Why, it's Exxon Mobil
- Boeing likes algae as a source for new biofuels
- Solix and Colorado State University team to commercialize algae to biodiesel process
- AlgaeLink introduces 2nd generation algae bioreactors
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dad 6:03PM (12/12/2007)
"It's really too bad Shell is a giant oil company. I wonder if anyone will ever take news like this from oil companies seriously."
I take them seriously. They are out to make money (just like you and me) and harvesting algae to make fuel is no different than pulling crude out of the ground. Both can be "slimy".
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rgseidl 6:52PM (12/12/2007)
Exxon owns lots of rights to oil that would be profitable to extract at $20 a barrel. Shell has far fewer and is getting creative just to keep up its "proven reserves" i.e. secure its future. Dodgy accounting wasn't the answer and oil sands will eventually face massive environmental protests, even in Alberta. Algal oil is definitely a departure for an oil company, but Shell probably isn't making this investment just to secure patents and then sit on them.
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Dad 9:44PM (12/12/2007)
"oil sands will eventually face massive environmental protests, even in Alberta"
I did not know this, what kind of problems does oil sands produce?
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Guenther 11:29PM (12/12/2007)
To extract oil from oil sands, you have to dig it up and then cook the oil out. You have to dig up huge amounts of dirt and process it. Think of it more like a gigantic open mining operation, only the left overs aren't 'clean' sand and gravel, but still tary, oily gravel and sand. That is why no one did it until the price of a barrel went over $35.
Cultivating large quantities of algae in the open ocean is a little unsettling to me, but I suppose if you're going to farm energy, you have to do it somewhere. If the Chinese were doing it, I'd be REALLY scared.
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GreyFlcn 11:43PM (12/12/2007)
I dunno, do you find anything wrong with a 2-5x increase in greenhouse emissions, ravaging millions of acres of boreal forests, creating miles and miles of toxic cesspools devoid of life, and mountains of sulfur, to be a bad thing?
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=16059
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/22/MNG46CMUPL60.DTL
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/tarsands/greenpeace-to-alberta-legislat
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GreyFlcn 11:44PM (12/12/2007)
As for the Algae, they are in a fight with the laws of thermodynamics.
And I think I already know who the winner is going to be.
http://greyfalcon.net/algae4
http://greyfalcon.net/algae
_
If anything if we absolutely MUST have liquid fuels, this is far more promising:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/12/sandia-applying.html
And even thats still pretty stupid.
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GreyFlcn 11:48PM (12/12/2007)
And no, you aren't going to be growing Algae in the damned ocean.
We got more important priorities there.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=AAFCC579-E7F2-99DF-33CF444CDD8F7AAF
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Tim 8:55AM (12/14/2007)
Esterholâ„¢ works better in diesel engines than biodiesel. It is 30% cheaper to produce, requires no heat for production for a higher net energy gain, produces far less emissions than biodiesel, is nontoxic and 100% biodegradable. Esterholâ„¢ also reduces the tendency toward engine knocking with improved lubricity that also increases fuel injector and pump life and helps to keep injectors. Esterholâ„¢ even meets the diesel spec ASTM 975.
http://www.gmax100.com/
http://www.nrel.gov/technologytransfer/pdfs/naturally_renewable.pdf
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david 4:52AM (11/18/2008)
i live in hi and ca ihave some great ideas but need some tec help on what to try to grow i think the ocean is our answer and would be able to get some grants and use some of myown money to get a start any ideas??????
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ROBERT WIENER 1:37PM (11/21/2008)
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