Green, slimy algae could one day run your car, hopes Bluffton entrepreneur

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Forget wind. Give solar a pass, too. The next source of green energy may just be floating all around us.

A Bluffton, S.C., man is working to make algae _ what many call good old-fashioned pond scum _ the next big trend in green power.

Chris Gerards of ALGBio hopes to scrape success from nature's slime by converting it into a viable source of biofuel. He's growing a local strain of freshwater algae and researching ways to develop it at the Waddell Mariculture Center, which is run by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

While the idea is gaining popularity around the world, it hasn't proved practical yet.

In South Carolina, Clemson and Claflin universities are researching the potential of algae as a source of sustainable energy. Those efforts are supplemented by a handful of entrepreneurs such as Gerards.

"They haven't learned how to commercialize from the university laboratory to a viable business operation yet," said Jim Thompson, co-owner of SouthEast Biodiesel in North Charleston. "We do think it's a viable source. It's not right now, but it's very definitely part of the future of biodiesel industries' success."

Biofuel is produced by combining vegetable oils or animal fats with an alcohol, usually methanol or ethanol, and a catalyst. That mixture can then be used to power vehicles.

But using soybean oil or chicken fat to produce biodiesel is expensive, much more so than traditional fossil fuels, Gerards said.

Algal oil, on the other hand, has the potential to become an important ingredient in biofuel and could be somewhat cheaper if developed from local sources.

"In a matter of days, you'll have a harvest, which is an advantage over corn and soybeans that take months to grow," Gerards said.

He acknowledges there are challenges, among them selecting the proper strain of algae, finding a way to grow it on a large scale, and figuring out how to harvest it by separating the water, letting the algae dry out and extracting its oil.

Currently, Gerards is testing a freshwater strain. He plans to pursue three saltwater ones as well.

He begins by taking algae samples and growing them inside a sterile lab.

Algae requires carbon dioxide, sunlight and nutrients from fish waste to grow. In exchange for the use of Waddell's equipment, Gerards provides the state research center with algae to use in fish and shrimp meal.

In five days, the samples reach a growth rate high enough to move from test tubes to beakers of varying sizes.

In 20 days, Gerards moves them outside to 55,000-liter tubs where he can expose the strain to varying environmental stresses.

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As algae cells mature, they fall to the bottom of the tub and create a green paste.

Gerards vacuums up the paste and moves it to 200-liter tubs, where he separates any remaining leftover water.

Once it's dry, all that remains is a cake of green biomass _ a substance high in protein and carbohydrates _ and, Gerards believes, potential.

He hopes his research proves algal oil can be a useful biofuel.

Even if it's not, it has other uses, he said. In some areas, it's used to feed livestock or ground into flour to bake bread, he said.

Two weeks ago, Gerards sent his first batch for testing to the Clemson extension office to determine its oil content. He hopes to have results soon.

Some scientists say algae can have 40 times more oil than other sources of biofuel. The level depends on the algae strain, they say.

Bert Cutts, who used to serve on the South Carolina Biomass Council and now owns a business called Synfratech, has been working with algae for about six months. He said there are thousands of algae strains, but only 300 or fewer have been identified as containing enough oil to produce a fuel.

While the research presents challenges, Cutts said the largest hurdle is figuring out how to commercialize algae farming _ something vastly different from scratching rows in the dirt and sowing seeds.

"Even though (algae) is probably the Holy Grail, it will be very expensive," he said. "To produce a half-a-million gallons a year will require at least a 500-acre farm with tanks, ponds and bioreactors."

But those high costs could bring high payoffs. An algae farm could produce anything from 2,000 to 10,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year, Cutts said. Cutts plans to open an algae farm in Orangeburg.

Currently, researchers and scientists are tight-lipped about their work, which limits collaboration on alternative energy production. Gerards hopes the state can eliminate that obstacle by providing money for researchers who work together. The South Carolina Energy Office said it is working with legislators to establish a renewable-energy grants program.

"With sunlight, heat, a flat topography and saltwater, South Carolina is a very good place to grow algae," Gerards said. "I'd like to see that as a good energy alternative because we import all of our energy, and that leaves us in a very vulnerable position."

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© 2008, The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.).