HOW ALGAE REPLACES OIL

Biofuel From Algae Could Compete With Oil, Report Says
John Platt, March 16, 2011 (Mother Nature Network via Forbes)

"Biofuels made from algae can be produced in a way that make this energy source cost-competitive with crude oil by increasing the amount of energy algae stores as fat, according to [new] research…

"Algae typically store energy as carbohydrates or fat. But…[The potential impact of VG Energy’s lipid oxidation inhibitors on the economics of algal biofuels] by biofuels expert John Sheehan suggests that techniques developed by the company to target tumors in humans could change that process — and in the process could increase algae oil output during [production]…"

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"The resulting biodiesel and algae-based jet fuels could be produced at a cost of $94 per barrel, well below the current crude oil price of above $100 a barrel, according to the report by Viral Genetics, of which VG Energy is a subsidiary. Sheehan, a researcher with the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, is an advisor to Viral Genetics.

"It’s all based on a technique developed by Viral Genetics researcher Dr. Karen Newell-Rogers…Newell-Rogers has [working on the ‘lipid trigger’]…to disrupt tumor metabolism…prevent them from burning fat…[and make] them more susceptible to chemotherapy and radiation…The same switch could force the algae to store energy as fat, which could then be extracted as algal oil…"

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"…Algae typically do not produce oil under normal conditions, but they do when they are stressed…[They] are highly valued in biofuels research because of their high growth rate…[The new] technique increased production of extractable lipid, or fat, by at least 300 percent when applied in the lab. The fat was stored outside the cell walls, making it easier to extract without first killing the algae…

"…The technique also makes as much as 75 percent of the rest of the algae recyclable, further reducing costs…[It could] allow greater extraction of Omega-3 fats, also at much lower price than currently marketed processes…Sheehan’s report details several ways that algal oil can be produced…"