Most people which are Thinking about Algae biodiesel would like to discover the answers to the following queries…how algae biodiesel functions…how is oil removed from algae…how do researchers grow algae?..pros and cons of algae biodiesel….what can we use algae biodiesel for? In addition they want the information in laymen’s terms. So we will attemp to answer a few of these concerns now.

Algae as Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to fuel produced from as soon as living organisms. It’s generally created into a liquid or gaseous state and many people use Biodiesel for running vehicles or supplying electrical energy through a diesel generator. Due to the fact of the plentiful supply of algae biomass in freshwater and other marine sources, large-scale studies have already been performed for the use of algae as a possible source of biodiesel.

The production of biodiesel & commercial farming of algae biomass is grown in numerous countries internationally. The important fuels synthesized from algae oil are biogas, biodiesel, biomethanol, bioethanol, biobutanol and dry algae fuel (similar to coal) such as the group Robert Fulton has created. Quite a few countries around the world have integrated highly sophisticated techniques for enhancing commercial-scale cultivation of algae and the United States is a front runner within this technology.

Greatest things about Algae as Biodiesel

The fast growth of algae is a contributing factor for commercially produced algae farming. Some species of algae can double their mass in a day. When compared with other biodiesel solutions this includes soybeans or jatropha, there are certain advantages of using algae this includes:

• The quantity oil from algae is comparatively higher (about 30 times) more than land based crops.
• Marine water and also brackish water can be used for commercial farming of algae.
• Unlike petroleum fuel, biodiesel produced from algae are biodegradable, thus reducing environmental pollution. In case there is spills of algae-based biofuel in water sources, there are no long standing adverse effects on the environment.
• Algae also capture polluting Carbon Dioxide (C02), Nitrogen (N) and emit Oxygen (O)

Studies show that about 60 percent of algal biomass can be converted into biodiesel. The microalgae species are economically beneficial for biodiesel production than other larger algae species.

carbon emission after using algal biodiesel is lower than those of petroleum fuels.
Since biodiesel production from algae is a relatively new technology, more research is needed to cultivate standard protocols for cultivation and large scale commercial algae biodiesel production. Commercial production on a large scale commonly means 1million acres under cultivation. The preferred method to removing algal oils is using an industrial oil press. For more facts on what can be accomplished with algae biofuel visit the Biodiesel 101 E-Library.

Although bio diesel production has gained huge popularity only recently, it is not a new idea. The idea was present when the first diesel engine was developed since peanut oil was used to fire the first compression-ignition engine.This should not be forgotten when one wants to learn how to make bio diesel.

Bio diesel therefore refers to the non-petroleum-based fuel made from animal or vegetable fat. This fuel is usually mixed with ordinary diesel or used alone with an ordinary diesel engine. As such it is a viable alternative fuel source especially with the increase in fossil fuel prices.

Since the production process is quite easy, it makes it possible for one to learn from different sources. Considering the production materials, there is a very wide variety used in producing the diesel ranging from rapeseed, soybean oil and other feedstock. In some cases, it is also possible to extract the diesel from used vegetable oils from hotels. Animal fats such as chicken fat, tallow are also other viable sources. Apart from these oils, the diesel can also be extracted from algae although this is not feasible for commercial production.

The first step when you want to learn the art of making bio diesel is identifying the source oil. This is because the process varies slightly with different materials. Some of the materials will also necessitate the acquisition of special equipment like a bio diesel processor. Some of the cases however do not require such equipment like in the case of making the diesel from used cooking oil with methanol and sodium hydroxide. This method however, does not produce large amounts.

After establishing the oil source, the next step is testing it. This is necessary since the quality of your final product is usually determined by the ingredients. The two main factors that determine the quality of bio diesel you get are how acidic the source oil is and how wet it is.

The best oil sources, which will make the process easier, are those with relatively low water and acidic content. This necessitates the need to learn how to test the oil using different methods such as heating or using a water testing kit. Acidity is tested by adding the oil to a pH neutral alcohol, a process called titration.

Another major step when making bio diesel is filtration. This is done when using used vegetable oil and helps remove food particles and any other contaminants. Filtering is done mostly with drum filters which are very effective. You should learn about micron rating as it will help you select the most effective filter. The smaller the rating number, the smaller the holes in the filter will be.

Before you can embark of full production of bio diesel a test batch is very important. You should therefore learn how to make this using items obtained from the local grocery stores. You will also need to obtain the actual production equipment. Some of the equipments needed include oil collection containers, oil transfer and filtering capability, a bio diesel processor and bio diesel washing vessel. You also require storage containers, transfer pumps and a titration kit.

The intended production capacity will be one of the main determinants of the equipment you acquire. With these you should be prepared to learn how to make bio diesel.

Locate those many choices for renewable energy by looking online. One choice you have will be biodiesel. To learn more about it head online today to learn those benefits. Don’t reprint the same version as everyone else. Get your own unique content Renewable Energy article here.

Where is all the oil? Nearly two weeks after BP finally capped the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, the oil slicks that once spread across thousands of miles of the Gulf of Mexico have largely disappeared. Nor has much oil washed up on the sandy beaches and marshes along the Louisiana coast. And the small cleanup army in the Gulf has only managed to skim up a tiny fraction of the millions of gallons of oil spilled in the 100 days since the Deepwater Horizon rig went up in flames.

So where did the oil go? “Some of the oil evaporates,” explains Edward Bouwer, professor of environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University. That’s especially true for the more toxic components of oil, which tend to be very volatile, he says. Jeffrey W. Short, a scientist with the environmental group Oceana, told the New York Times that as much as 40 percent of the oil might have evaporated when it reached the surface. High winds from two recent storms may have speeded the evaporation process.

Although there were more than 4,000 boats involved in the skimming operations, those cleanup crews may have only picked up a small percentage of the oil so far. That’s not unusual; in previous oil spills, crews could only scoop up a small amount of oil. “It’s very unusual to get more than 1 or 2 percent,” says Cornell University ecologist Richard Howarth, who worked on the Exxon Valdez spill. Skimming operations will continue in the Gulf for several weeks.

Some of the oil has sunk into the sediments on the ocean floor. Researchers say that’s where the spill could do the most damage. But according to a report in Wednesday’s New York Times, “federal scientists [have determined] the oil [is] primarily sitting in the water column and not on the sea floor.”

Perhaps the most important cause of the oil’s disappearance, some researchers suspect, is that the oil has been devoured by microbes. The lesson from past spills is that the lion’s share of the cleanup work is done by nature in the form of oil-eating bacteria and fungi. The microbes break down the hydrocarbons in oil to use as fuel to grow and reproduce. A bit of oil in the water is like a feeding frenzy, causing microbial populations to grow exponentially.

Typically, there are enough microbes in the ocean to consume half of any oil spilled in a month or two, says Howarth. Such microbes have been found in every ocean of the world sampled, from the Arctic to Antarctica. But there are reasons to think that the process may occur more quickly in the Gulf than in other oceans.

Microbes grow faster in the warmer water of the Gulf than they do in, say, the cool waters off Alaska, where the Exxon Valdez spill occurred. Moreover, the Gulf is hardly pristine. Even before humans started drilling for oil in the Gulf — and spilling lots of it — oil naturally seeped into the water. As a result, the Gulf evolved a rich collection of petroleum-loving microbes, ready to pounce on any new spill. The microbes are clever and tough, observes Samantha Joye, microbial geochemist at the University of Georgia. Joye has shown that oxygen levels in parts of the Gulf contaminated with oil have dropped. Since microbes need oxygen to eat the petroleum, that’s evidence that the microbes are hard at work.

The controversial dispersant used to break up the oil as it gushed from the deep-sea well may have helped the microbes do their work. Microbes can more easily consume small drops of oil than big ones. And there is evidence the microbes like to munch on the dispersant as well.

It is still far too early to know how much damage the spill has done — and may still be doing — to the environment. Tar balls continue to wash up on beaches. And the risk of a leak remains, until the well is permanently capped sometime in the next few weeks.

SOURCE: YNews By JOHN CAREY, environmental writer

The Congressional Budget Office recently completed a study of biofuel tax credits that aimed to determine if existing tax credits favor one type of biofuel over another and estimate the costs of those credits on U.S taxpayers. The study, titled “Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals,” was prepared by the CBO at the request of the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure.

Although the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit expired in December 2009, the CBO included it in the analysis. According to the report, this was done to provide policymakers with information on the value of the credit, should they choose to reinstate it in the future. In addition to the biodiesel tax credit, the report includes data related to tax credits for corn and cellulosic ethanol.

The CBO’s main findings included the following:

-The incentives provided by the tax credits differ between the three fuels. When adjusted to reflect the different energy contents of the biofuels, as well as the petroleum fuel used to produce them, the CBO found that corn ethanol producers receive 73 cents for each quantity of ethanol that contains the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline. On the same basis, the incentives for cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel were a respective $1.62 and $1.08 per volume of energy equivalent fuel.

-The cost to taxpayers to use corn ethanol to reduce gasoline consumption by one gallon is $1.78. The same cost for cellulosic ethanol is $3 and the cost for biodiesel was found to be $2.55. According to the CBO, these cost estimates depend on the size of the tax credit for each fuel, changes in federal revenue streams that result from the difference in excise taxes collected on the sales of gasoline and biofuels, and the amount of each biofuel that would have been produced if the credits had not been available.

Source: Biodiesel Magazine

Source National Biodiesel Board
The U.S. House has approved H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, by a 215 to 204 margin (the second portion of the divided question adding a provision pertaining to Medicare physician payment updates was also adopted). The legislation retroactively extends the biodiesel tax incentive through December 31, 2010.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated his desire to have the U.S. Senate consider tax extender legislation when the U.S. Senate reconvenes the week of June 7, 2010.

Both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate will be adjourned the week of May 31, 2010. NBB’s Washington, DC office will continue to provide timely updates as events warrant when Congress reconvenes the week of June 7.

Biodiesel Public Policy Benefits: The biodiesel tax incentive has helped achieve the worthwhile policy goal of increasing the production and use of biodiesel in the U.S. In 2004, when the incentive was initially enacted, the U.S. produced 25 million gallons. In 2009, that number rose to 545 million gallons. There are compelling public policy benefits associated with the enhanced production and use of biodiesel in the U.S. Among the most are:

* The Biodiesel Industry is Creating Green Jobs and Making a Positive Contribution to the Economy;
* Biodiesel is Good for the Environment, reducing carbon pollution by up to 85 percent, according to the EPA;
* Biodiesel Reduces our Dependence on Foreign Oil.

The biodiesel tax incentive has helped achieve the desired goal of increasing the domestic production and use of biodiesel, and in turn has helped the U.S. realize the energy security, economic and environmental benefits associated with displacing petroleum with domestically produced renewable fuels. These benefits, however, will be lost if Congress does not act in a timely manner to address the immediate issue facing the industry and retroactively extend the biodiesel tax incentive.

What Can You Do?

Do you think Congress should reinstate the biodiesel tax incentive and continue to realize the economic, energy secur ity and environmental benefits that come from the production and use of biodiesel?

If your answer to this common-sense question is “yes,” then you should contact your Federal Elected officials immediately about this issue. For your Congressman, click HERE and for your Senators click HERE to get the contact information to reach out to your elected officials on this important issue.

Thank you for your support of biodiesel.

A new biodiesel production system has been delivered to a US Navy base in Southern California, so it can produce its own renewable fuel.

Modular Biodiesel Plant

Locally-based Biodiesel Industries, Inc., has been working with the Navy and aerospace technology firm Aerojet to set up a highly-automated production facility at the Naval Base Ventura County.

The project at the base located north-west of Los Angeles centers around an ARIES biodiesel plant – an Automated Real-time, Remote, Integrated Energy System.

The system can produce around 3-10 million gallons of biofuels per year to act as a replacement for the Naval Base’s petroleum-sourced diesel fuel. It could also produce heat for use on the base.

Russell Teall, President and Founder of Biodiesel Industries said: “The Integrated Energy System incorporated into ARIES will eventually allow us to generate our own heat and power, and to feed the surplus into a local micro-grid.”

It can be operated remotely, while its automated technology can control key chemistry and processing parameters to ensure optimized production capacity, according to Biodiesel Industries.

The company hopes the Naval project could act as a springboard to spread the use of the ARIES automated biodiesel system around the world.

Michael Cassady, Biodiesel Industries’ Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer said: “ARIES is ready now to be deployed on a global basis. The ARIES platform fundamentally transforms biodiesel production and makes this possible.”

Naval Goals

The US Navy is currently working to cut petroleum use in its non-tactical vehicle fleet in half by 2015 while also developing biofuels for use in its ships (see this BrighterEnergy.org story).

Our methods of feedstock development make ARIES an ideal solution for a globally distributed network of biodiesel production facilities” - JJ Rothgery, Biodiesel Industries

The move is being taken to improve its energy security, reducing its reliance on foreign oil, as well as environmental and economic considerations.

Global Independence

It has been reported the US government currently spends 5 dollars in transportation cost for every 1 dollars it spends on fuel in remote areas of the world such as Afganistan. A modular biodiesel processor that can produce fuel from variable feedstocks is a move towards fuel independence for the U.S. Military in its worldwide operations. Modular biofuel processing units co-location is not a new idea, but this is the first time the Navy has made a large move of this kind towards securing it’s global fuel supply using alternatives. GO NAVY!

During his State of the Union address in January, Pres. Barack Obama pleased some alternative fuels producers by giving special mention to “advanced biofuels.” Biofuels have received presidential utterances in past addresses, but results haven’t always been forthcoming. “First of all, there were no specifics, so there was really nothing there,” said Jatrodiesel president Raj Mosali. “The president mentioned biodiesel specifically when he was campaigning, and now he’s talking about ‘biofuels,’ which could mean anything—and that’s concerning.”

In addition, grants, loan guarantees and even American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are not going to biodiesel producers for the purposes of plant optimization and upgrades. “That’s 100 percent true,” Mosali says. “All of this assistance is being directed toward things like fuel cells, cellulosic ethanol and electric motors—all technologies that are still far off.”

The Obama administration coming out with billions of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to increase “clean energy manufacturing” could seem almost like a taunt to biodiesel producers.Obama announced “awardees” of the $2.3 billion clean energy manufacturing tax credits as existing biodiesel producers languish over the lapse of their specific federal blender tax credit. “Projects are assessed based on the following criteria: commercial viability, domestic job creation, technological innovation, speed to project completion, and potential for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” the White House stated on Jan. 8.

While the word “biofuels” was good to hear spoken by the president, there’s a word that describes the 2009 biodiesel year—idle. Huge plants sat quiet for months as vegetable oils were high and diesel prices were not. Imperium Renewables Inc., which suffered an explosion at its Grays Harbor plant in Washington State, said it was in no big hurry to make repairs while the tax credit is nonexistent.

Alaska is one of the coldest spots in the world, but its natural sources of heat represent a wonderful opportunity in renewable energy resources.

Geothermal Generator

One of these natural sources is the hot springs which give the town of Chena Hot Springs, Alaska its name. Recently, the owner of the Chena Hot Springs Resort, Bernie Karl, has developed a new way to harness this energy: a portable geothermal power generator which generates electricity from hot water.

The resort’s hot springs result from geothermal heat that rises to the earth’s surface through fissures in the planet’s core. But Karl realized that the heat from the springs can offer more than a spa experience; it can provide electricity. Karl developed what’s being called the first portable geothermal generator. The generator takes hot water from the ground and cycles it into a refrigeration system to generate power. Once the water is used, it gets pumped back into the ground to be reused again.

The resort’s work was the result of state and federal grants; Karl also worked with United Technologies of Hartford, Connecticut to develop the 400 kW low-temperature power generator that generates electricity from the 165 degree water at the springs. Basically a power plant on a flat bed truck, the mobile generator could be transported to communities anywhere in the world that are near hot springs.

“When this prototype starts making electricity it will totally change small energy consumption and production,” Karl said.
Karl has also developed a portable geothermal power unit that can be hooked up to oil or gas wells, which generate hot water as a byproduct of drilling. When it’s hooked up to an oil well the unit can generate enough power for 280 homes, allowing the oil industry to produce electricity as well as oil. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and several private companies will test a prototype generator at an oil well in Florida this fall.

“Any waste heat stream. Go to anybody that’s got an engine running, anybody that’s manufacturing something. It’s got waste heat,” Karl said. “You back it up and turn it into electricity.”

The technology can also use waste heat or geothermal energy to create hydrogen fuel which Chena Hot Springs plans to use to run its cars. Karl hopes the technology can help develop a cheap supply of power for rural Alaska, where fuel can cost as much as $6 a gallon.

“I’m telling you every community in Alaska can be totally sufficient in ten years,” Karl said.

Image courtesy of Chena Hot Springs