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Valcent says lab results show up to 33,000 gallons per acre in algae production; harvesting, extraction, algae strain optimization research still ahead

July 3, 2008

Valcent Products said that its algae R&D team had reported producing one gram per liter of microalgae during a 90-day continual production test at lab scale. The company said that, based on its configuration of vertical growing plastic bags and 50 percent oil content in optimal microalgae strains, this result translated into a production rate of 276 tons of algae per acre or 33,000 of algae oil. The company has continued to discuss its targets in terms of 10,000 gallons per acre, but said that it would continue research upon completion of a 100 panel bioreactor, from 30, and said that it was commencing research into harvesting and extraction, as well as optimizing its selection of algae strains. The company said that it would then move to construction of a one-acre pilot-scale plant.

Last year, Valcent had projected yields of up to 100,000 gallons per acre projections from Valcent for its algae-based biodiesel production system, prompting protests from researchers who said that these production levels exceeded the theoretical physical limits of energy from photosynthesis.

Valcent projected that it could supply the whole of US gasoline consumption off 2,817 square miles of cultivation.

The U.S. Department of Energy is resuming work on algae-based biodiesel. The National Bioenergy Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden is said to be nearing a cooperative research and development agreement.

Numerous algae ventures have been in the news lately, with ventures such as PetroSun, Solazyme, Valcent and GreenFuel working on ventures which are primarily located in Arizona and Georgia.

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    Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Producer News 

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