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Scientists consider energy from algae
An alternative fuels study committee is excited about the possibility of using algae to produce oil.
“Fuel is the highest thing on everyone’s radar screen,” said Doug Lynn, an environmental scientist with Carlsbad’s Center for Hazardous Materials Management, the lead agency in the alternative fuels group, which began about two months ago.
The center is involved in research and development of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil from area restaurants. Lynn said that puts the center ahead in investigating algae for the same purpose.
The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in studies done in the 1990s, found algae can produce more oil than soybeans or canola. A canola crop could produce about 100 gallons of oil an acre, while algae could produce more than 5,000 gallons an acre.
Algae: oil, livestock feed Algae would be harvested and dried, then oil would be extracted through methods such as pressing. There is no waste because after the oil is removed, the cake-like substance that remains makes a high-quality livestock feed, Lynn said.
Sunny, frost-free days and warm temperatures make the Carlsbad area an optimum one for algae farming, he said. Algae farming also does not require fresh water, and algae can be produced on land not suitable for traditional agriculture.
The committee’s first step will be to secure funding for a feasibility study that would include culturing different species of algae in various types of water, Lynn said.
The possibility of large-scale production near Carlsbad would improve if species unique to the area and the type of water readily available — such as brine or dairy wastewater — produce the highest quality oil or the largest amount of oil per acre.
“It’s a wonderful thing to know that resources that no one currently uses, like brine water, could be the answer to our dependency on foreign oil,” Lynn said.
Biodiesel is a clean fuel with fewer emissions that is 100 percent biodegradable and needs no engine modifications, he said.
The alternative fuels committee also includes Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories and the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office.
—The Associated Press
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