21st Century Regenerative Technology

1. Aurora Calls Pilot Algae Plant a Success, Hires New CEO

Aurora Calls Pilot Algae Plant a Success, Hires New CEO

2009-03-04 13:00

Jennifer Kho - Biofuels

algaeimage Algae-based biofuel company Aurora Biofuels, after successfully concluding an 18-month trial at its pilot plant, said today it’s ready to begin developing its second factory. Aurora also said that it’s named Bob Walsh, formerly president of LS9, as its new chief executive to help commercialize its technology.

In the pilot project on a beach in Florida, the company uses carbon dioxide to grow and harvest microalgae in two ponds, each with about the surface area of an Olympic-size pool, but only a foot deep. The pilot facility produces less algae than is required to make 1,000 gallons of biodiesel per year, but that’s enough to prove the technology works, Walsh says. “Our pond has never died off — it’s always been productive — and that’s amazing,” he said, adding that the company is learning a whole new type of farming. “I know of nobody else who has done this outdoors at any scale.”

While other startups are working to grow oil-rich algae to make biofuel, it has proven difficult to do cost effectively or in large enough quantities to be useful. Companies face the difficulty of maintaining productivity rates as temperatures change, distributing nutrients throughout the pond and keeping contaminants — including other algae strains– out. Algae tends to grow fairly thinly on the surface of a pond, with top layers choking lower layers out, and distributing light and nutrients can be energy- and cost-intensive. “Everyone thinks they can grow algae because they’ve seen it in an aquarium,” Walsh said. “But it’s been a real challenge.”

Aurora claims it has solved these issues to cost-effectively and consistently produce algae year-round. For one thing, it has found a way to take advantage of the natural fluid dynamics that occur when it injects carbon dioxide into the pond, which eliminates the need to run a paddle wheel to mix the algae, Walsh said. It has developed technologies, based on those used in wastewater treatment, to eliminate the need to dry the algae, and also has learned to create ideal conditions for its algae so other types can’t become dominant, he added. In the pilot project, the algae grew so fast that Aurora harvested half of each pond every night, he said.

The company is cultivating algae in seawater, on land not suitable for other farming, and feeds the algae carbon dioxide. Aurora plans to build commercial plants next to industrial buildings, such as power plants, steel mills or other factories that emit carbon dioxide from smokestacks.

Aurora hasn’t said what kind of algae it is using, only that it’s developing a portfolio of different strains that are ideal for different climates. “It definitely won’t be one algae that [meets] all of the world’s [biodiesel needs],” Walsh said. All Aurora’s strains are naturally occurring — not genetically modified — although the company has bred them for desirable traits.

Aurora claims its technology can deliver algae at about $30 a ton, which would translate into a mere 65 cents for enough to make a gallon of biodiesel. That compares to $2-$3 per gallon for sugar, Walsh says. Because algae is so oily, it also uses land more efficiently than sugarcame, he claims, saying it would take 400 square miles of sugarcane — but only 22 square miles of algae — to make 70 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

The company, which raised $20 million in its second round of funding in June, said it has enough money to build its demonstration plant, for which it’s looking at several sites around the world. The plant will start out at 20 acres, enough to produce about 120,000 gallons of biodiesel per year, and will grow to 50 acres, which will be the company’s commercial size, Walsh said. Aurora expects to begin operating its first commercial plant in 2012.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons.