ABO Blog

A small resort town on Spain’s Atlantic coast is now home to the world’s first sewage-to-algae fuel facility.  This European Union backed demonstration project was built to showcase the potential for algae to convert wastewater into vehicle grade fuel.

The €12 million, 10 hectare facility is called All-Gas, a nod to the Spanish word algas, which means seaweed, and is expected to be able to produce around 3,000 kg of dry algae per day.

While many have converted waste to energy, All-Gas project leader Frank Rogalla says that “Nobody has done the transformation from wastewater to biofuel.”

The five-year project is coordinated by the global water management giant Aqualia, which has also had contact with Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and a French company about the possibility of building and operating similar water treatment plants.

All-Gas says its sewage plant is more than 2 million euros less expensive to set up and run than a conventional sewage plant.

Based on the amount of wastewater disposed of in Spain, Rogalla believes there is a major opportunity. He says: “40 million people, roughly the population of Spain, would be able to power 200,000 vehicles from just flushing their toilet!”

Not only does the process utilize an otherwise wasted resource but the process actually cleans the water, reducing the strain on wastewater treatment facilities. This process was discussed on ABO’s recent webinar on the potential for salt and wastewater resources to be used for growing algae.

The All-Gas demonstration project is yet another example of the variety of resources and end products that can be produced sustainably from algae.

Algae.Tec has signed a deal with government-owned power company Macquarie Generation to site an algae carbon capture and biofuel production facility alongside a 2640MW coal-fired power plant in Hunter Valley Australia.

This first of its kind deal will capture an estimated 270,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which will be fed into an algae bed and converted into biodiesel. The Australian facility is expected to cost $140 million and the company has begun initial talks with funders and hopes to close its first round by the end of the year.

Algae.Tec has secured an off-take agreement with Biodiesel Industries Australia to put the fuel to use in the local area for transportation and mining.

Algae.Tec also made headlines last September when it signed a deal with German airline Lufthansa to build an aviation grade biofuels plant, but has come under construction delays and not yet come online.

In the wake of President Obama’s speech on climate change, utilities and power producers in the US can be expected to face new restrictions on CO2 emissions. As such, carbon capture has once again become a major topic of conversation. In fact, a new report estimates that the US could store a mean of 3,000 metric gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in geologic basins throughout the country. Understandably, coal proponents point to this study as a reason to keep the status quo.

However, its important to remember that adding capture technology to plants is expensive, in the many millions depending on the size of the facility. Because the emissions are treated as waste, this is pure expense. The Algae.Tec project could showcase a new model for carbon mitigation – recycling CO2 emissions into valuable products rather than burying them. This approach flips the economic proposition on its head – turning a cost center into, ultimately, a profit center.

This is a compelling economic and environmental argument that we hope will continue to get traction as companies like Algae.Tec succeed.

UPDATE: Biofuels Digest had an excellent interview with the Chairman of Algae.Tec last last week, which can be found here.

A recent report by an Australian think tank found that algae farming in that country could generation billions of dollars in economic benefits and up to 50,000 jobs. Experts at Future Directions International examined the benefits that would come from producing algae-derived Omega-3 oils, aquaculture feeds and biofuels in regions of Australia with ample land and sunlight.

The numbers are big, but might only be the tip of the iceberg when you consider that the study examines algae’s potential in just one country. The larger economy and higher fuel demand in the United States, for example, point to an even larger potential world wide.

Austrialia’s ABC has the story, along with some great video of ABO member Aurora Algae’s operations.

President Obama gave a speech today outlining how his Administration will address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for the changes that come with a warming world. One important tool he mentioned was the ability of innovators to find new ways to make products that don’t exacerbate pollution. The algae industry is proving to be one of those innovators, and ABO’s executive director Mary Rosenthal had these comments explaining how emitters of carbon dioxide may find a friend in algae:

“While many people think of CO₂ emissions as a problem, algae technology companies see them as valuable inputs for the production of algae-based food, fuel and animal feed.  Algae consume CO₂ as they grow, and for high productivity, algae require more CO₂ which can be supplied by emission sources such as power plants.   By reusing CO₂, algae-based technologies provide carbon-intensive industries with an emissions reduction approach that is a revenue-generating opportunity, rather than a costly expense.

While reducing overall emissions, these technologies also reduce our reliance on imported oil and create new sources of food and feed on lands unsuitable for agriculture and using waters unsuitable for human consumption.

Members of the Algae Biomass Organization look forward to working with utilities and other affected entities to showcase algae-based solutions that can help them meet their obligations while creating jobs, reducing costs and creating new growth opportunities.”