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Full Lifecycle Analysis Finds Solazyme’s Algal Biofuels Reduce Field-to-Wheels GHG Emissions by More Than 85% Versus Petroleum-Based Ultra-low Sulfur Diesel

A study undertaken by Life Cycle Associates, LLC, using the Argonne National Laboratories GREET model, concluded that full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from field-to-wheels for Solazyme’s Soladiesel algal biofuels are 85 to 93% lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD).

The analysis also reveals that Solazyme’s advanced biofuels result in a significantly lower carbon footprint than any currently available first-generation biofuels.

Additionally, testing undertaken by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) ReFUEL laboratory shows that Solazyme, Inc.’s SoladieselBD—which shows the 93% reduction in GHG—significantly outperforms ULSD in total Hydrocarbons (THC), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Particulate Matter tailpipe emissions. This includes an approximately 30% reduction in particulates, an approximately 20% reduction in CO and an approximately 10% reduction in THC.

Solazyme currently has produced two algal biofuels: SoladieselBD, a fatty acid methyl ester biodiesel derived from algal oil; and SoladieselRD, a renewable diesel. SoladieselRD is output from a refinery, where a hydrotreatment stage deoxygenates the algal oil, resulting in a pure hydrocarbon product.

Comments

HarveyD

A PHEV-40 or PHEV-60 using a small on-board biodiesel genset could almost be called a green vehicle when the appropriate fuel is used?

Reel$$

As the world is now aware - CO2 plays little or no role in Earth's climate. So, could it be that the GREET model has wisely rejected CO2 as a pollutant? And that we are on our way to a newly sane and productive environmental overview? Notice no CO2 numbers here.

Doubtful.

Lucas

Reel$$ - Are you really real? Sounds like your mind has been made up for you and you aren't going to let any liberal puke confuse you with the facts.

Algae uses sunshine and CO2 to produce an oil that can cheaply be converted to bio-diesel. We should have started producing it in 1974 when we could first clearly see that we were about to become hooked on foreign oil.

HealthyBreeze

@ Lucas,

Would that it were true that Algae can cheaply be turned into oil. Hopefully it will be true someday soon.

The best financial bet for algae near-term is to get money coming and going. Get paid for taking the CO2 off of a polluter's hands, and get money for selling the oil as well as the remainder of the algae for other useful products (e.g., animal feed).

I think the ideal place for large algae bioreactors (maybe those cheap 50 meter long plastic-bag-tubes that a Colorado professor was working on) would be within pipeline distance from a coal-fired power plant. You shunt the CO2 and NOx from the plant to the algae system and reduce something like 80% of the pollutants.

I'm concerned that may put mercury or something else unpleasent into the algae, which could compromise its use as animal feed, but maybe scrubbers could remove the metals before the flue gasses get to the algae system.

In this model, I think biodiesel from algae becomes much more land-efficient, and raises revenues. I'm assuming not too many people want to live right next to a coal fired power plant, but I don't really know how many coal-fired power plants have 1,000 acreas of open, sun-drenched land nearby to suck up enormous amounts of CO2. I also don't know what you do with the CO2 released at night. I suppose some of it dissolves into the algae broth, but not much.

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