SAMS news room

Carbon Trust "dream team" for algal biofuel research

 

Carbon Trust creates ‘UK dream team’ of top scientists to find world beating formula for algal biofuel production


The Carbon Trust today announced plans to take on the world in the global
race to develop a sustainable, cost-effective biofuel from algae. The “dream
team” of eleven leading UK institutions was unveiled who will work together
with the Carbon Trust to find a winning formula for cultivating 70 billion
litres of algae biofuel a year by 2030. This will be the equivalent to 6% of
road transport diesel and a saving of over 160 million tonnes of CO2 every
year. The eleven institutions were selected from over 80 initial proposals
following an extensive competition and detailed assessment process.

The research projects address five key challenges identified by the Carbon
Trust:

   1. Isolation and screening of algae strains
   2. Maximising solar conversion efficiency
   3. Achieving both high oil content and high productivity
   4. Sustained algae cultivation in open ponds
   5. Design & engineering of cost effective production systems

Starting from first principles of agriculture, thousands of strains of algae
will be screened to find the winning few that can produce large quantities
of a substance similar to vegetable oil. Additional research will develop
methods for enabling large-scale production in algae ponds and next year the
Carbon Trust plans to start construction of a pilot demonstration plant in
an equatorial region where algae are most productive.

Algae has the potential to deliver 5 to 10 times more oil per hectare than
conventional cropland biofuels and new Carbon Trust lifecycle analysis
indicates that, over time, it could provide carbon savings of up to 80%
compared to fossil fuel petrol and jet fuel.  With costs of algae biodiesel
currently estimated to be approximately $5-$10 a litre, Carbon Trust is
focusing on more cost-effective production methods to ultimately bring the
cost down to less than $1 a litre.

Launching Europe’s most significant public initiative into algae biofuels,
Tom Delay chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “We have pulled
together a dream team of over 70 UK algae scientists who have the expert
knowledge to turn algae into a British biofuel success story.  Applying
principles this country has developed from its proud agricultural heritage
and leading bioscience expertise we will be developing a truly sustainable
biofuel that could provide up to 80% carbon savings compared to diesel
savings in car and jet fuel.  With a market value of over £15 billion the
potential rewards are high.”

The research projects address five key challenges identified by the Carbon
Trust:

Production of 70 billion litres will require man-made algae ponds equivalent
to a landmass larger than Wales to be built in optimum locations across the
world.  Algae need a source of carbon dioxide and water to grow so Carbon
Trust is now looking to investigate possible locations for large-scale
plants which could be, for example, next to industrial facilities located
near the sea.

The Carbon Trust is investing £8 million over 3 years into the projects
using funding from the Department for Transport and the Department for
Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Those universities and institutions selected to conduct the research are:

-      University of Coventry
-      London Queen Mary
-      University of Manchester
-      University of Newcastle (Supported on one project by Critical
Processes Ltd)
-      Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)
-      Scottish Association for Marine Science
-      University of Sheffield
-      University of Southampton
-      University of Swansea (Supported by Bangor University and PML)

SAMS scientists are part of a group of eleven leading UK research institutes funded by the Carbon Trust to investigate the most effective ways to cultivate micro-algae for biofuel production on a commercial scale. Media release 19th March 2010,