INDUSTRIAL FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF MICROALGAL BIOFUEL SYSTEMSAND THEIR TARGETED IMPROVEMENTAND THEIR TARGETED IMPROVEMENT

BEN HANKAMER

b.hankamer@uq.edu.au

SOLAR BIO-FUELS CONSORTIUM www.solarbiofuels.org

DIRECTORS

Ben Hankamer (UQ, Australia) Biochemistry, Industrial feasibility

Clemens Posten (Karlsruhe, Germany) Bioreactor Design

Olaf Kruse (Bielefeld, Germany) Molecular Biology, Biochemistry

Team Leaders

Ute Marx (Bruker,Germany) Metabonomics

Anthony Larkum (USyd, Australia) Marine microalgae, cyanobacteria

Michael Hippler (Münster, Germany) Proteomics

Peter Nixon (ICL,UK) Photorespiration

(~70 Researchers)

INDUSTRY PARTNERS: CURRENTLY 10

GRANT SUPPORT: ARC DAAD DFG BMBF EU

INDUSTRY PARTNERS: CURRENTLY 10

INTERNATIONAL PANEL CLIMATE CHANGE 2007 REPORT:"What we do in the next two or three years will define our future"

(Pachauri IHT 2007)(Pachauri, IHT, 2007).

STERN REPORTSTERN REPORT:DEFINED THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THESE PREDICTED CHANGES

‘

GARNAUT REPORT INTERNATIONAL COST OF TRANSITION: DEVELOPED COUNTRIES: APPROXIMATELY US$100 BILLION PER ANNUMAUSTRALIA:~$2 7 BILLION PER ANNUMAUSTRALIA:~$2.7 BILLION PER ANNUM

CAN WE AFFORD IT?INTERNATIONALLY: BANKING COST ~$1.5 TRILLION IN 1 YR (LIKELY MORE). = 15 YEARS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

ENERGY DEMAND: BUSINESS AS USUAL 2-3% ECONOMIC GROWTH (per year)

FUTURE GLOBAL ENERGY MARKET

(p y )1% INCREASE IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY(per year)

HOFFERT ET AL 1998 NATURE 395:881-884TOTAL ENERGY CLEAN ENERGY

(TW-YR) (450 ppm CO2 TARGET)

2000 13 2 (0.7)

2010 17 5

2025 22 112025 22 11

2050 30 22

2075 38 33

2100 46 42

450PPM TARGET 11 TW YR BY 2025450PPM TARGET: 11 TW-YR BY 2025550PPM TARGET: ~7 TW-YR BY 2025

CONCLUSIONS: 1 50 75% OF OUR ENERGY SHOULD BE CO FREE IN 15 YEARS TIME TO AVOID MAJOR1. 50-75% OF OUR ENERGY SHOULD BE CO2 FREE IN 15 YEARS TIME TO AVOID MAJOR

CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS.2. AN ALTERNATIVE IS TO EXPAND CO2 SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY

IMPORTANCE OF CO2 SEQUESTRATION

ULTIMATELY BOTH INDUSTRIAL AND ATMOSPHERIC CO2 NEEDED

COUPLING BIOFUEL PRODUCTION WITH CO2 SEQUESTRATION

SUNLIGHT

WATER

BIOFUELS: BIO-H2BIO-METHANEBIO-DIESELBIO-ETHANOL

CO2ALGALBIOMASS

SOLARDRY

PYROLYSIS

BIO-CHAR(SEQUESTEREDCARBON)INCREASED SOIL FERTILITY )

+ BIO-CHAR - BIO-CHAR

INCREASED SOIL FERTILITYINCREASED CO2 SEQUESTRATION

LEHMAN 2007 NATURE 447: 143-144Marris 2006 Nature 442: 624-626

MICROALGAE:

POTENTIAL USES:

1. BIOFUEL PRODUCTION

2. BIOCOMMODITY PRODUCTION

3. HIGH VALUE PRODUCT SYNTHESIS

4. CO2 SEQUESTRATION

SOLAR: 128,000 TW BIO-FUELS

SOLAR ENERGY: SOURCE TO DRIVE FUEL PRODUCTION

SOLAR: 128,000 TW BIO FUELS

GEOTHERMAL: 92,000 TW-YRGEOTHERMAL: 92 000 TWGEOTHERMAL: 92,000 TW

R bl CO f TIDAL POWER: 0.1 TW-YR

OCEAN THERMAL: 10 TW-WIND: 5 TW-YRWAVE: 2 TW-YRTIDAL POWER: 0.1 TW

OCEAN THERMAL: 10 TWWIND: 5 TWWAVE: 2 TW

Renewable, CO2-free energy sources …

BIOMASS: 172 TW-YR

YR

BIOMASS: 172 TW

vs. currentenergy demand

WORLD ENERGY DEMAND: 15 TW

10% EFF (81 x 81 km)

AREA REQUIREMENTS

1% EFF (255 x 255 km)2% EFF (180 x 180 km)4% EFF (127 x 127 km)7% EFF (96 x 96 km)

10% EFF (81 x 81 km)

2020 BIOFUEL TARGETS

RESEARCHBIO-H2BIO-METHANE

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDIES

RESEARCHMODULES

BIO-

BIO METHANEBIO-DIESELDIESEL & HVP

REACTOR

PRODUCTION

REVENUESCHEDULE

CAPITALCAPITAL,OPERATING & LABOUR

COSTS

PROFIT &LOSS

SCHEDULE

INTERNALRATE OF RETURN

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDIES

EVAN STEPHENSIAN ROSSIAN ROSSOLAF KRUSECLEMENS POSTENMIKE BOROWITZKA

AREA REQUIREMENTS FOR MICROALGAL C- SEQUESTRATION

DOE REPORT ON CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM THE GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER FROM COAL IN THE UNITED STATES:

• In 1999 US coal fired power stations had an electricity production capacity of• In 1999 US coal fired power stations had an electricity production capacity of214,791MW.

2. = 1,787,910 x 103 metric tons of CO2 per year.2 y

3. So 1MW = 8323 metric tons of CO2 = 2269 metric Tons of C.

4 Microalgal biomass has ~50% carbon content4. Microalgal biomass has ~50% carbon content.

5. 1MW plant therefore requires a 64 hectare algal facility yielding 20g DW m-2 day-1.

6. Or a 16 hectare algal facility yielding 80g DW m-2 day-1

A sensible estimate of the microalgal bioreactor area required to capture the CO2 from a 1MW coal fired power station is approximately 16-64 haCO2 from a 1MW coal fired power station is approximately 16 64 ha.

ECONOMICS OF CO2 SEQUESTRATION

US$50 TON-1 OF CARBON WAS THE HIGHEST EU TRADING PRICE REACHEDBETWEEN 2005-2007.

US$150 TON-1: A LIKELY PREDICTED VALUE BY 2030 IF PROJECTED CO2US$150 TON : A LIKELY PREDICTED VALUE BY 2030, IF PROJECTED CO2EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS ARE TO BE ACHIEVED.

CONCLUSION:1 CARBON VALUE IS LIKELY TO HAVE LITTLE EFFECT IN THE NEAR TERM (US$1. CARBON VALUE IS LIKELY TO HAVE LITTLE EFFECT IN THE NEAR TERM (US$

50 - US$150. …..INCREASES BASE CASE FROM 15% IRR TO 16.8% (@$50 Ton -

1) TO 20.2% ($150 Ton-1.

ADVANTAGES OF MICROALGAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION1. LOCATION (FLEXIBLE COMPARED TO GEO-SEQUESTRATION2. POTENTIAL TO INCREASE FERTILITY OF AGRICULTURAL LAND3. POTENTIAL FOR ATMOSPHERIC CO2 SEQUESTRATION3. POTENTIAL FOR ATMOSPHERIC CO2 SEQUESTRATION

HOW CAN MICROALGAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION BE REALIZED1. DEVELOP AS PART OF A WIDER BUSINESS MODEL (EG. OIL & BIO-

COMMODITY PRODUCTIONCOMMODITY PRODUCTION

MICROALGAE PURIFICATION

WATER SOURCE WATER SAMPLING

CLEMENS POSTENBIOREACTORS

700,000L SYSTEM Kloetze

FOCUS: HIGH EFFICIENCY LOW COST SYSTEMSFOCUS: DEVELOPING LOW COST HIGH EFFICIENCY REACTORS WITH A POSITIVEFOCUS: HIGH EFFICIENCY LOW COST SYSTEMSFOCUS: DEVELOPING LOW-COST, HIGH EFFICIENCY REACTORS WITH A POSITIVEENERGY BALANCE

OPTIMIZING LIGHT CAPTURE

SMALL ANTENNA

SMALLER ANTENNA(ENGINEERED)?

SMALL ANTENNA(NATURAL DOWN REGULATION)

LARGE ANTENNA

MELIS ET AL 1998 J APP PHYCOL 10: 515

WHEN LIGHT IS SATURATING, EXCESS IS DISSIPATED (WASTED) AS HEAT AND FLUORESCENCE

OPTIMIZING LIGHT CAPTURE

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

GranumChloroplast

Chlorophyll aAntenna (LHC)

Chlorophyll a

Photosystem (II)

ELECTRON TOMOGRAPHY

BRAD MARSHBRAD MARSH

STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY: GUIDES TARGETTED ENGINEERING OF LIGHT CAPTUREELECTRON TOMOGRAPHY SPA & ELECTRON CRYSTALLOGRAPHY

ENERGY LOSS

ENERGY DISTRIBUTION

BRAD MARSH EMILY KNAUTH / DREW RINGSMUTH

mRNA LEVELS (in RNAi KNOCK DOWN STRAIN Stm3lr3)

CHLOROPHYLL & CAROTENOID BIOSYNTHESIS FUNCTIONAL

INCREASING PHOTOSYNTHETIC EFFICIENCY: DOUBLES BIOMASS PRODUCTION

HIGH EFFICIENCY CELL LINE

INCREASED PHOTO-PROTECTION

2x BIOMASSPRODUCTIONJAN MUSSGNUG

OLAF KRUSE

BIO-H2

+S

HIGH H2 STRAINREDUCED O2 CONCENTRATIONREDUCED O2 CONCENTRATION

INCREASED STARCH

BLOCKED CYCLIC e- TRANSPORTBLOCKED CYCLIC e TRANSPORT

1. H20 > H+ + e- > H2

-S

2. H20 > e.g. STARCH > H+ + e- > H2

Photosynthetic H2 production in green algae

Small scale Experimental set up:Small scale Experimental set-up:

In lab: 2% Light to H2 conversion efficiencyOutside: 1% Light to H2 conversion efficiency

Note: 1-4% Light to oil conversion efficiencytheoretically economically viable now.

COUPLING BIOFUEL PRODUCTION WITH CO2 SEQUESTRATION

SUNLIGHT

WATER

BIOFUELS: BIO-H2

CO2ALGALBIOMASS

SOLARDRY

PYROLYSIS

BIO-CHAR(SEQUESTEREDCARBON)INCREASED SOIL FERTILITY )

+ BIO-CHAR - BIO-CHAR

INCREASED SOIL FERTILITYINCREASED CO2 SEQUESTRATION

LEHMAN 2007 NATURE 447: 143-144Marris 2006 Nature 442: 624-626

DEVELOPMENT OF SALT TOLERANCE

% SEA WATER

EVAN STEPHENS

CONTROLS ENHANCEDSALT

TOLERANCE

My group (UQ)Rosalba Rothnagel

Olaf Kruse (Bielefeld)Anja Doebbe

SUPPORTING GRANT AGENCIES

THANK YOU

Rosalba RothnagelMichael LandsbergRadosav PantelicEvan StephensAlizee Malnoe

Anja DoebbeJulie BeckmannArmin HallmannJan MussgnugAnh-Vu Nguyen

AGENCIES

ARC SRC IMB IMBcomNHMRC UQ Res Dev Alizee Malnoe

Emily KnauthDrew RingsmuthErin AhernLysha Lim

Anh-Vu Nguyen

Clemens Posten (Karlsruhe)Florian LehrAnna Jacobi

NHMRC UQ Res. Dev. DFG Smart State NANO QPSFBMBF DFG EU Lysha Lim

Matt TimminsDavid WoolfordWinnie WaudoJohannes Kuegler

Anna JacobiMichael Mohrweiser

Jens Rupprecht (MPI)

EU

INDUSTRY PARTNERSJohannes KueglerHong Wai ThamAnne SawyerEugene ZhangGisela Jakobs

Jens Rupprecht (MPI) THANKS TO OUR INDUSTRYPARTNERS

Gisela Jakobs

Ute Marx (UQ)

Alasdair McDowall (UQ)

Brad Marsh (UQ)