We introduce ourselves as professionals in different disciplines are working together to uplift the dire situation of small farmers (Having less than 5 Acres land) in India. As per our research we found Biodiesal from Algae seems to be highly viable and may create real advantage also reducing Global warming. Your systems of Developing Algae through farmers might create a big break through in agri industry. I do believe this production methods will help a lot of marginalilsed farmers particularly in the third world countries like India.

Anybody have an idea if Farmers get the benefits of the fields below these algae tubes effectively being fallow and increasing fertility for other uses later?

On the one hand, there won't be as much mixture with the atmosphere, so perhaps microbes in the soil will be inhibited. On the otherhand, another year of slow microbes and some worms is probably still a net positive. Perhaps this means that depleted fields could be covered over with algae tubes, thus not costing the use of currently "arable" lands. The side benefit is that, assuming no problematic plastic particles leaching into the ground or other contaminants, maybe this is a great thing to add to a normal crop rotation cycle for long-term soil conservation and management.

Guys .. this article only gives you part of the story.

One of the 2 companies involved [ XL Renewables ] is bringing online a Dairy / Bio-Refinery. The Algae opperation mentioned in the above post will be adjacent to, and integrated with, this installation. See this URL for info:

http://www.xlbiorefinery.com/biorefinery.cfm

If this system works as planed .. the OTHER company involved [ Diversified Energy ] will be involved in marketing the system to the world

Ben,
OK, I conceded for jets operating at greater than mach 0.8, but claim victory for electric flight at lower speeds. (Most of airline industry?) I'm just kidding around, but did want to point out that electric plane flight is possible. Many do not realize this.
As I said above: "Hope this venture is very successful." Sounds like tremendously beneficial way to produce bio-diesel for cars and jets and plastics. Think PV electricity for PHEVs and BEVs is more efficient and will be more economical in near future, but I hope this is in-addition to algae and cellulosic bio-diesel for jets and plastics.
Hydrogen seems to have a lot of problems. It's expensive to produce by electrolysis. I'm not a fan, except maybe for storage of excess electrical power to be used during winter months and that's a big maybe. Looks like this algae bio-diesel might be a more economical choice for that as well.

I think these algae can be very nutricious and digestable for cows. It could be very economical to use algae as animal food also. Even if all engines would work on hydrogen or electricity, we still would need bilions of tons of food (in the world). Producing this food in the most efficient way would allow a gigantic area to be returned to valuable ecosystems. If oil can be produced at 0.1 $/pound, animal food will certainly be much cheaper. Since the average corn production is about 4 tons/acre, using algae to feed animals, would reduce the surface of land to 1/25 to 1/50 of the actual needs. If the algae are used to replace grass, the gain is even greater.

I'm with XL Renewables and I was reading the comments with interest. Let me give you a little more background and understanding of the Simgae system as presented by Diversified Energy.

The key to understanding the reasons for using a thin-walled tubing we call "tape" is to achieve economical and rapid installation on a large scale. The tape is rolled out from the back of a tractor, easily connected and ready for operation. It is also very easy to repair. Yes their is rodent damage from time to time but it is easily managed and maintained.

We must remeber, there is over 30 million acres worldwide of drip or micro-irrigation systems with a proven track record of performance and dependability. This system is no different. I was an early adoptor of micro-irrigation and the component manufacturers said we had to replace the drip lines every year, but we found that we could operate them for greater than 20 years. I estimate a tape life of 5 - 7 years. However, it is yet to be seen how long a good manager will extend the life before replacement. REgardless, it is easy to replace any piece of the system as normal maintenance.

As for degredation, the Alge Biotape is mostly buried, especially during the hot time of year. It is only partially exposed to assure the proper amount of light for optimum production. Dirt can be added or removed with the pass of a tractor and simple implement.

It is ideal to locate the system next to a CO2 source and fertility source. We developed this system with the intention of co-locating with our biorefinery where we will have the effluent from the anerobic digesters and CO2 from the ethanol plant. However, fertility can easily be imported, just as a farmer buys fertilizer for his crops.

One final point, we believe in a producing algae varieties for a balance of oils, starches and proteins. In our view, the focus of primarily oils pushes a concept that creates complexity and increases risk. High oil content varieties are generally achieved by restricting the accumulation of starches. We would rather go for optimum yield potential and have both the oils and starches and use the proteins, vitamins and minerals for animal feed.

I hope this information is helpful in undersanding the Simgae approach.

I have been working on a similar concept for some time and know that we can do better on the capital cost than the best stated of $45,000 per acre but that the production of even the lower figure of 100 dry tons per acre per year is optimistic.

Alain, I think there is a mistake in your calculations. Use the conversion:

1.0 gigajoule (GJ) = 109 joules = 0.948 million Btu = 239 million calories = 278 kWh. Then using a very optimistic effective say 8 hours per day of sunlight for all of the 365 days, you come to a very different conclusion of 42.34Wt.

Growing biofuels and burning it and growing more biofuels does not increase the CO2 content of the atmosphere, it just re-circulates it as opposed to digging up long buried oil and coal and releasing the CO2 into the atmosphere in a one way manner.

Dear Sir,

To introduce, we are the pioneers & the largest Producers of Bio-diesel in INDIA with an annual production capacity of

1,00, 000 Metric Tons. We are keenly on the look out for a technology and Plant supplier for Algae production at commercial scale. Having gone through your web site, we are interested in pursuing a dialogue with your good selves to seek commercial proposals.

Look forward to hear from you.

With Regards,

C.Venkata Swamy

Asst.Manager (Business Development)

Naturol Bioenergy Ltd,

Plot#1056/1, Road#45

Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033.

Mobile: +919985518375

Ph: +914023556979, Fax: +914023556989

www.naturol-bio.com

sir,
We see the great potential in these cycle. any one interested to develop it in India in 150 acres may contact me at ktcint at the rate g mail.com One who can give the technology for the production and also contact us.
Chirag

we are also in the process of making algae.
we can supply 3000 tonnes of algae oil p.a.
If anybody wants to buy algae oil contact me on beckons.india@gmail.com

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