A Portable Microalgal Photobioreactor System
San Diego Center for Sustainable Bio-Energy (SDCSBE)
An Academic - Industrial Consortium for
Algal-based Biofuel Production and CO2 Sequestration
Prepared by B. Greg Mitchell, Stephen Mayfield, Michael Burkart and Steve Briggs
For further information, contact:
Greg Mitchell ; 858-534-2687
Stephen Mayfield 858 784-9848
Executive Summary
This DRAFT white paper describes an integrated research, development and demonstration (RD&D) center as a regional partnership to pursue the production of biofuels and to sequester CO2 using algae. This initiative would build upon successful models in biotechnology where San Diego academic institutions have partnered with private capital, large scale industry and government agencies to build new industries. This algae-based RD&D initiative will be coordinated by a new 501c(3) not-for-profit research organization called the San Diego Center for Sustainable Bio-Energy (SDCSBE). The fundamental structure of the SDCSBE is envisioned as a stand-alone center that incorporates research scientists from UCSD/SIO, The Scripps Research Institute and other regional academics, together with industrial partners from the biotech, power generating, energy and private equity sectors. SDCSBE provides clear differentiation with previous proposals on biofuel centers focusing on cellulosic ethanol from plants grown on agricultural lands.
Vision
Our vision is to create a research center of excellence for sustainable algae biofuel production and CO2 abatement. This goal will be achieved by integrating research of individual scientists from the fields of biology, chemistry, and engineering within a newly created regional facility focused on development and demonstration of innovative research solutions, at industrial scale, for the commercialization of biofuel production and CO2 sequestration by algae.
Introduction
Due to issues related to arable land, fresh water, nutrient loading of waterways, and N2O loading of the atmosphere, large scale production of bio-energy from row crops faces significant environmental challenges and would have a negative impact on food production. Algae can produce biomass at more than ten times the rate of terrestrial plants on a unit area basis, making algae a potentially significant and economically viable source of sustainable bio-energy. Many strains of algae can grow in brackish, saline or waste waters. Concurrent with the production of biofuels algae can be used to efficiently sequester carbon dioxide released from fossil fuel power plants; residual non-fuel biomass can be used as animal feed. We believe that SDCSBE must be focused on sustainable bio-energy options that do not compete with food crops and that minimize requirements for arable land and fresh water. Algae offer the real potential to directly impact biofuel production in this country in a sustainable manner that does not detract from food production, minimizes ecosystem degradation, and most effectively captures CO2 at power plant point sources. The San Diego region is ideally suited for aggressive development of algae industrialization, due to the outstanding talent in science and technology for biology, genetics, and engineering that are all essential for success. The region also has ideal solar forcing and temperature conditions, as well as a regional need to solve issues related to wastewater, fresh water, alternative fuels, and CO2 remediation. With San Diego well established as a biotechnology hub, the financial resources and industrial infrastructure are available to rapidly bring scientific discoveries to industrial application. Proximity to the Imperial Valley, which is an ideal region for future scale-up of industrial algae agriculture, further motivates consideration of San Diego as an appropriate region to establish a Center of Excellence in algae biofuels research.
The San Diego Center for Sustainable Bio-Energy
SDCSBE would be established as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit research organization, and will be operated as a consortium of the regional research institutions, in partnership with private industry. Intellectual Property will be managed by the center in a manner conducive to investment and partnership by private industry and venture capital interests. The center would act as the hub organization facilitating the interactions of multiple researchers at separate research institutions with private and public industry with the goal of developing and implementing innovative solutions that move algal biofuels to industrialization and economic viability. We believe that these goals can only be attained through a focused and integrated RD&D effort that encompasses biology, chemistry and engineering, and couples these research efforts with the private sector to move research discoveries from the lab into the industrial sector. The center will only achieve its’ mission when we are able to demonstrate solutions that can be scaledto meaningfully impact fuel production in this country. A simple framework for the center organization is shown in Figure 1. The diagram illustrates that the center will act as a central hub to facilitate the integration of basic research from separate institutions, and to facilitate the collaboration of basic research scientists with the private sector to allow for an efficient transfer of basic research into commercial application. In parallel with the creation of a robust research and collaboration plan, SDCSBE will mediate discussion with regional, state and national policy makers regarding the potential of algal industrial agriculture as a viable source to fulfil the energy needs and security of our country and to contribute to CO2 abatement. A project overview for algae RD&D as part of SDCSBE is presented in Figure 2. Our concept recognizes the role of traditional investigator-initiated research, as well as collaborative research within and between consortium members. The center also recognizes the need to establish a productive algae farm with sufficient land to expand as needed. The overall plan includes a vision for commercial scale-up when the efforts of the consortium have demonstrated the merit of such scaling.
Objectives of this white paper
We believe that only through a focused and integrated approach will the goal of obtaining a scalable and sustainable production capacity for biofuels from algae be met. We propose that a well-designed consortium of research institutions and private industry participants will attract the funding required to establish and sustain the proposed SDCSBE. By maintaining a focus on algae for biofuel feedstock and CO2 sequestration we can create a Center of Excellence that, if pursued aggressively in the near-term, could establish the San Diego regional partners as leaders in one of the most promising facets of sustainable bio-energy. Southern California is arid, has significant non-arable land, and San Diego has some of the world’s leaders in algal physiology and genetic engineering. These are compelling reason why we should consider focusing on an algae-based bio-energy center here. The purpose of this white paper is to establish a working group to facilitate the implementation of the envisioned center. The consortium facility described here would be led by academic scientists from UCSD/SIO and The Scripps Research Institute, in collaboration with other interested research scientists (e.g. Salk, Burnham). These academic members would seek funding from public sources (local, state, federal) and also collaborate directly with interested private sector partners (e.g. Sapphire Energy, General Atomics, Kent SeaTech, Sempra Utilities, Earthrise Farms, Live Fuels, Neste Oil, Eni, SINOPEC), and venture capital sources.
At this time, there are no integrated research and development centers in the United States where the challenges of algal-based biofuels can be addressed in an interdisciplinary way between relevant scientists and engineers in both the academic and private sectors. We propose to create the required infrastructure, ranging from single-PI laboratory research into basic biology or engineering challenges, through small-scale integration and test facilities, to full-scale production systems that are relevant for industrial commercialization. Figure 3 illustrates the Earth Rise commercial algae farm in the Imperial Valley.
What do we need to accomplish next
We believe that if we act quickly and aggressively that we can establish the world’s premiere center for algal-based sustainable biofuel research and development. By placing this center in San Diego we can leverage the resources of the community (intellectual, industrial and financial) to build a sustainable biofuels industry that will improve the social and economic stature of San Diego and enable the interaction of diverse research groups and private sector industries in a focused effort towards adapting sustainable biofuels for our country’s energy needs.
Academic: In the coming weeks we will continue the process of developing a detailed research plan that will enable us to achieve the goals presented here. In order to facilitate this effort we will solicit short (one or two paragraph) descriptions of research interests from the academic community regarding their vision of how they would participate in the center and preliminary costs for the research they envision. This effort has been initiated with the microbiology, biochemistry and genetics academics, but we still must coordinate with engineering academics.
Private Sector: We need to identify appropriate commercial partners and have them describe their needs. We can then appropriately align research programs to meet those needs. We anticipate that there will be substantial interest in our center, based on the short timelines for algal biofuel production versus row crop cellulosic feedstocks.
State and Federal: We recommend direct engagement with policy makers to educate them about the potential of sustainable bio-energy derived from algae, and to encourage re-establishment of a robust research program that expands upon the previous efforts of the DOE aquatic species program. It is also important to ensure that the pending energy science bills encourage both research and private sector investment in algae bio-energy.
1