MicroBio Engineering Inc., San Luis Obispo, California

Transcription

1 . Keynote address The Solar Microalgae Industry: Then, Now, and Coming John Benemann CEO, MicroBio Engineering Inc. San Luis Obispo, California

2 MicroBio Engineering Inc., San Luis Obispo, California Founded 2006, John Benemann (CEO) and Tryg Lundquist (CTO, Professor Cal Poly) Facilities Designs Equipment Wastewater Reclamation Scientific Consulting R&D Life Cycle Assessments Techno-Economic Analyses

3 Delhi, California, wastewater treatment with raceway ponds San Francisco San Francisco Delhi San Luis Obispo Los Angeles Los Angeles

4 Delhi, CA, Algae Wastewater Treatment Plant, present Wastewater inflow Wastewater influent ( Facultative ) ponds Effluent storage/ maturation pond Paddle Effluent discharge to percolation beds wheels Harvested algae biomass drying beds Two 1.4-hectare raceways

5 Delhi, CA. Dept. of Energy project to maximize productivity

6 50 33 g/m 2 -d annual average yield in small raceways with wastewater influent and resulting mixotrophic biomass growth 40 Productivity (g-m2-d)

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8 Recycle Nutrients Energy Water The RNEW Process CO 2 addition for complete nutrient removal Algae harvesting by bioflocculation (settling) Biofuels co-products (anaerobic digestion, HTL, etc.) Low cost and low energy vs. conventional treatment

9 Coal Power Plant flue gas CO2 utilization for biogas production (MicroBio Engineering Inc, OUC-SEC, others. DOE NETL Project) Future Algae Farm (100 ponds; 1,000 acres) wastewater / Nutrients & water Landfill Landfill Gas Flue Gas CO 2 & Electricity Biogas Orlando Utilities Commission Stanton Energy Center (OUC-SEC ) ~900 MW Coal-fired Power Plant

10 ~900 MW Coal-fired Power Plant OUC-SEC MicroBio Engineering Inc. (MBE, with OUC- SEC and Arizona State U.), has operated four 3.5 m2 microalgae ponds (provided by MBE) using flue gas CO2. Techno-economic analysis concluded that biogas production much too expensive to replace coal. Now studying process for filamentous algae (above) cultivation for production of animal feeds

11 The Solar Microalgae Industry: Then, Now, and Coming Then: Chlorella, 1960s: Japan, nutritional supplements, circular ponds Spirulina, 1970s: Mexico (carbonate pond), 1970s Thailand, raceways Dunaliella (betacarotene), 1980s: Australia, ponds; Israel raceways Haematococcus (for astaxanthin), 2000s: Israel, PBRs; Hawaii raceways Now: Phycocyanin (food coloring) 2015 extracted from Spirulina (Earthrise). Diatoms (Cyclotella, etc.) aquaculture feeds (hatcheries, nursery) Spirulina microfarms, France, Africa, expanding around world. Green Algae for wastewater treatment (with biofuels); Biofertilizers Coming: Nannochloropsis,2017?, nutraceuticals, USA, China raceways, PBRs Tetraselmis, Isochrysis, Porphyridium,?? Nutraceuticals, pigments AquaFeeds to replace fish meal and fish oil Specialty animal feeds (carotenoids, vitamins, nutrients Commodity feeds and fuels ($<500/t )?? However, first a brief history of applied phycology, algal foods & fuels

12 Jackson and Ellms (1886): H2 Evolution by Anabaena cylindrica - collected from a pond, placed into glass bottle

13 ...on the arid lands... forests of glass tubes will extend... inside of these will take place the photochemical processes mastered by human industry,... make them bear even more abundant fruit than nature Giacomo Ciamician, Univ. Bologna Science 36:

14 edible microscopic organisms in lakes. Every lake will become a kettle of ready-made soup that only needs be heated. Contented people will lie about on the shores having dinner. from Took - The Futurists Drum. Moscow, 1915 Velimir Khlebnikov (poet and futurist)

15 Algae mass culture was first investigated over sixty years ago Carnegie Institute of Washington Algae for Food Project Jack Myers Bessel Kok 2006, Austin, Tx 1956, Stanford Burlew (ed.) Algae Culture from Laboratory to Pilot Plant, 1953

16 First algal mass culture project (Chlorella), 1950 Inoculum Tubes Plastic bag-type photobioreactors

17 First algal mass culture project (Chlorella), 1950 Inoculum Tubes Plastic bag-type photobioreactors March 1954: The time may come, and in the fairly near future at that, when you ll walk into a restaurant and ask the waiter for an order of roast algae.

18 studying past predictions should build a healthy skepticism Technology and Culture, Vol. 38, No. 3, July 1997, pp

19 Shallow, raceway mixed ponds ( High Rate Ponds ) developed by Prof. Oswald et al., U. Calif. Berkeley, 1950s for more efficient wastewater treatment First Wastewater treatment plant with high rate ponds, Concord, Calif., ~1960 (Precursor to Delhi, see above)

20 Oswald, Golueke (1960) first proposed integrating wastewater treatment with large-scale algae biofuels production and carried out first techno-economic analysis Prof. Bill Oswald, Univ. Cal Berkeley

21 US DOE Production Aquatic Species of Microalgae Program for : Algae-to-Oil Fuels based on Benemann et al., 1978, 1982, UC Berkeley

22 THE US DOE AQUATIC SPECIES PROGRAM J. Sheehan, P. Roessler, T. Dunahay, J. Weissman J. Benemann Paul Roessler prior Joe Weissman Now at Algenol in Florida now at ExxonMobil

23 In 2005 GreenFuel Technologies Inc. MIT Campus (left picture) the trigger for algae biofuels hype boom Claimed 85% Nox, 50% CO2 removal, 250,000 l oil/ha-y. Raised>$70 million. Moved to Arizona power plant (right, greenhouse) Went broke in 2009, but that did not discourage investors

24 (2008: Algenol, Sapphire, Joule, etc.) HYPE CYCLE Typical sequence of new technologies also for algal biofuels (when, soon? ) (now?) (by 2015) (Green Fuel Technologies, 2005)

25 Algenol CEO Paul Woods Oct 2015 resigns Lay off 45+ staff Examples of algae biofuel companies in US. Investments ~200 million each Joule, Red Rock Biofuels to merge, Nov 12, 2015 Layoff 60+ workers and CEO Both companies still operating, a year later

26 40 ha biofuels demonstration plant, New Mexico $50 million in DOE funding, >$200 million in venture investments. Plant no longer operating, is for sale.

27 Cellana (Hawaii) ALDUO process Mutiproduct biorefinery biofuels and feeds, also with DOE funding

28 Global Algae Innovations LLC (GAI) Hawaii Bioenergy (DOE funded project, also projecting biofuels + feeds) Gravity fed series of ponds, up to about ~1.3 ha, no paddle wheel mixing Power Plant (for CO2)

29 The year was 1975, and my professor in Berkeley asked me if I wanted to change the world, and I said, sure, lets grow algae, that started it (Largest algal biofuels project, $300 million? with Synthetic Genomics) TV spot,

30 Interview by Charlie Rose, with Rex Tillerson, CEO ExxonMobil, March 12, 2013 Charlie Rose: in a 2009 joint venture with J. Craig Venter s Synthetic Genomics, Exxon predicted it could produce fuels in 5 to 10 years Rex Tillerson: Exxon is at Least 25 Years away from making fuel from algae We ve come to understand some limits of that technology, or limits as we understand it today, which doesn t mean it s limited forever 12/12/2016 Tillerson selected as US. Secretary of State!

31 The Solar Microalgae Industry: Then, Now, and Coming Then: Chlorella, 1960s: Japan, nutritional supplements, circular ponds Spirulina, 1970s: Mexico (carbonate pond), 1970s Thailand, raceways Dunaliella (betacarotene), 1980s: Australia, ponds; Israel raceways Haematococcus (for astaxanthin), 2000s: Israel, PBRs; Hawaii raceways Now: Phycocyanin (food coloring) 2015 extracted from Spirulina (Earthrise). Diatoms (Cyclotella, etc.) aquaculture feeds (hatcheries, nursery) Spirulina microfarms, France, Africa, expanding around world. Green Algae for wastewater treatment (with biofuels); Biofertilizers Coming: Nannochloropsis,2017?, nutraceuticals, USA, China raceways, PBRs Tetraselmis, Isochrysis, Porphyridium,?? Nutraceuticals, pigments AquaFeeds to replace fish meal and fish oil Specialty animal feeds (carotenoids, vitamins, nutrients Commodity feeds and fuels ($<500/t )?

32 Chlorella Production started in Japan, 1960

33 Bicarbonate Evaporation Pond Near Mexico City Site of first Spirulina production facility ( )

34 Earthrise in S. California (start 1980), near Salton Sea produces Spirulina, also extracts Phycocyanin

35 Cyanotech Corp., in Kona, Hawaii (1983) Produce Spirulina and Haematococcus (astaxanthin]

36 Parry Nutraceuticals, Ltd. India (1996)

37 Cognis -BASF plant Dunaliella production beta carotene Western Australia (~1980)

38 Haematococcus pluvialis, astaxanthin, Israel, 2000s

39 Cyanotech Corp in Hawaii. Red ponds for Haematococcus, for astaxanthin, others cultivate Spirulina

40 Heliae

41 World s largest Haematococcus farm, in China

42 The Solar Microalgae Industry: Then, Now, and Coming Then: Chlorella, 1960s: Japan, nutritional supplements, circular ponds Spirulina, 1970s: Mexico (carbonate pond), 1970s Thailand, raceways Dunaliella (betacarotene), 1980s: Australia, ponds; Israel raceways Haematococcus (for astaxanthin), 2000s: Israel, PBRs; Hawaii raceways Now: Phycocyanin (food coloring) 2015 extracted from Spirulina (Earthrise). Diatoms (Cyclotella, etc.) aquaculture feeds (hatcheries, nursery) Spirulina microfarms, France, Africa, expanding around world. Green Algae for wastewater treatment (with biofuels); Biofertilizers Coming: Nannochloropsis,2017?, nutraceuticals, USA, China raceways, PBRs Tetraselmis, Isochrysis, Porphyridium,?? Nutraceuticals, pigments AquaFeeds to replace fish meal and fish oil Specialty animal feeds (carotenoids, vitamins, nutrients Commodity feeds and fuels ($<500/t )??

43 Dec 2013: DIC announces $10 M Plant Linablue natural blue food coloring at Earthrise. Plant inaugurated July 31, 2015 Phycocyanin

44 SeaAg, Inc., Florida, Joe Weissman John Benemann, produced littleneck clams on-shore (grow diatoms in open ponds for seed clams and grow out) Cyclotella grown in open ponds, fed to clams From larvae to seed to market size Clam hatchery -nursery

45 Belgium, manufacture Phylavive (freeze dried)

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47 AFRICA:, Bengui, Central Africa Republic, June Example of a Spirulina microfarm

48 Lamellar settler harvesting Sump for CO2 transfer Paddle wheel Ponds, Christchurch 5 Ha 4 ponds, $<500K Dr. Rupert Craggs, NIWA, New Zealand (Ponds destroyed by earthquakes, rebuilt in N. island)

49 Typical Green Algae Species Dominating in Wastewater Ponds Micractinium Scenedesmus Actinastrum Chlorella

50 Cultivation of N2-fixing Nostoc and use as bio fertilizer, Weissman & Benemann, 1986 (unpublished)

51 The Solar Microalgae Industry: Then, Now, and Coming Then: Chlorella, 1960s: Japan, nutritional supplements, circular ponds Spirulina, 1970s: Mexico (carbonate pond), 1970s Thailand, raceways Dunaliella (betacarotene), 1980s: Australia, ponds; Israel raceways Haematococcus (for astaxanthin), 2000s: Israel, PBRs; Hawaii raceways Now: Phycocyanin (food coloring) 2015 extracted from Spirulina (Earthrise). Diatoms (Cyclotella, etc.) aquaculture feeds (hatcheries, nursery) Spirulina microfarms, France, Africa, expanding around world. Green Algae for wastewater treatment (with biofuels); Biofertilizers Coming: Nannochloropsis,2017?, nutraceuticals, USA, China raceways, PBRs Tetraselmis, Isochrysis, Porphyridium,?? Nutraceuticals, pigments AquaFeeds to replace fish meal and fish oil Specialty animal feeds (carotenoids, vitamins, nutrients Commodity feeds and fuels ($<500/t )??

52 Hearol Plant 10 hectares 100 ponds Yantai Heirong Biology Technology Co. Ltd: Nannochloropsis production (2012). Plant failed due to product contamination, other issues

53 Imperial, Texas Unlined production Ponds for Nannochloropsis for EPA, uses Valicor oil extraction technology In-Pond Algae Tube Settler Effluent

54 MARKET SIZE FOR ALGAE CHEMICALS, FEEDS, FUELS, Price ($/Mt) $7m In-Pond Algae Claire Curry, Tube Settler Effluent ABCL NEXT Biofuels Digest, San Francisco November 3, 2015 Market s

55 Everyone wants to get their hands on algae

56 We seem to have a few problems going from lab-scale to full-scale production

57 Some factors affecting algae growth in outdoor cultures mixing rate contamination temperature From Mario Tredici (ponds by Ami Ben Amotz) nutrient availability ph O2 accumulation CO 2 supply

58 CHALLENGE: ROTIFERS ( JUST ONE TYPE OF ALGAE GRAZER] Must manage ponds for algal species & culture stability

59 Botryococcus braunii

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61 Global Warming not a new story: 25 years ago alredy making headlines

62 Positive Proof of Global Warming

63 S. Slocombe, J. Benemann (eds.) and High Value Microalgal Production for Biomass Products 2016 CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group US$ Available at Amazon, etc.

64 MicroBio Engineering Inc., San Luis Obispo, California Founded 2006, John Benemann (CEO) and Tryg Lundquist (CTO, Professor Cal Poly) Thank You!! Facilities Designs Equipment Wastewater Reclamation Scientific Consulting R&D Life Cycle Assessments Techno-Economic Analyses