Jan 25 2010
Researchers from the University of Virginia’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering have discovered that a number of significant environmental challenges should be successfully tackled before the production of fuel increases. These researchers recommend the usage of wastewater as a solution to address these challenges. The research was supported by ExxonMobile, who had invested $600 million last summer. An announcement was made by the US Department of Energy last week that an incentive of $78 million will be awarded for research and development of the biofuel.
The journal “Environmental Science & Technology” recently published the University of Virginia’s research work, which explains that algae production consumes more energy, uses extra water than other biofuel sources that include corn, canola and switchgrass and has higher greenhouse gas emissions.
Andres Clarens, assistant professor in University of Virginia’s Civil and Environmental Department and lead author of the paper, remarked that the researchers, from their knowledge gained through a number of pilot projects over the past 10 to 15 years , have discovered that the environmental foot print of algae is larger than other terrestrial crops. Others who assisted Clarens in this paper include Eleazar P. Resurreccion, a graduate student in the department; Mark A. White, a professor in University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and Lisa M. Colosi, an assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
The researchers suggest locating algae production ponds behind wastewater treatment facilities to capture nitrogen and phosphorous, which are vital nutrients used for growing algae instead of being produced from petroleum. This suggestion was made as an environmentally sustainable alternative to the existing algae production methods. The same nutrients are discharged to local waterways and they damage the Chesapeake Bay and other water bodies. The currently available technology to remove them is expensive.
Researchers have thus discovered the production of algae to have a greater environmental impact in comparison with other sources. Algae, grown in water, have higher energy yields than other sources like switchgrass or corn. The research highlights that algae’s high lipid content brings about efficient refinement to liquid fuels that can be used to power vehicles.
Clarens suggests that it is essential to know the environmental impact of this technology before making additional investments. Before considering algae as a fuel source, it is important to understand the different ways of producing algae with less environmental impact. This is the area where combining production and wastewater treatment operations play a vital role.
The research group plans to conduct demonstration projects for the wastewater production methods. A complementary research on the economic lifecycle of algae compared to other bioenergy feedstocks is also being conducted by this team of researchers.
Source: http://www.virginia.edu/