Interest in algae as a source of FAME (fatty acid methyl ester, or biodiesel) appears to be increasing as concerns grow about the practical large scale availability of food crop and biomass biofuels feedstocks. Planet Ark has reported that Valcent Products, a Texan company, has formed a joint venture called Vertigro with Global Green Solutions, Inc., funded in part by a Canadian private equity investor, to build a pilot algae bioreactor and research laboratory in El Paso, at a cost of US$3 million.

A small volume of algae-derived vegetable oil convertible to FAME is expected to be produced there by mid-2008. The same report mentioned Livefuels, Inc. and Greenfuel Technologies as other investors in algae-based biofuels technologies. Algae is claimed by Vertigro to be capable of
producing far more fuel feedstock per acre than food crops such as soy beans, the U.S.’s current leading biodiesel source: 100,000 gallons per acre annually, compared with about 50 gallons per acre for soybeans.

Single-cell algae can be grown in aquaculture anywhere with sufficient sunlight and nutrient sources, though the distribution systems for mineral oil are still not considered compatible with biofuels, which provides biodiesel suppliers with an infrastructure problem. A report by an energy study panel of the Inter Academy Council (IAC), which brings together national science academies from around the world including the UK’s Royal Society, endorses biofuels as holding “great promise for simultaneously addressing climate change and energy security concerns”.

To get the most out of biofuels, the scientists say the focus should be on fuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks (including agricultural residues and waste), which have the potential to generate five to 10 times more fuel than processes using feedstocks such as sugar cane and corn. This should be a research priority, along with methods for the direct microbial production of butanol or other forms of biofuels that may be superior to ethanol. (www.interacademycouncil.net/?id=12161)

A commercial future for algae culture may be brought forward by the growing controversy over food crop biofuels; Last week Jean Ziegler, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, called for a five-year moratorium on biofuels, saying it was a "crime against humanity" to convert food crops to fuel at a time when there are more than 850 million hungry people in the world, while an online survey of 807 Americans released yesterday by meat processor Hormel Foods and carried by Planet Ark showed 47% of them opposed U.S. ethanol production subsidies because they increased food prices.

(Autoindustry, 30/10/2007)