![]() ![]() “And for the algae in these ponds to produce biofuel, it would require fertiliser equivalent to 50% of the current total annual EU crop plant needs.”Īs a result, most of the companies touting algal biofuel in 2005-2012 have been driven out of business or shifted their business models to algal production of higher-value products such as dietary supplements, food additives, animal feed and cosmetics.īut while the prospect of algal biofuel lies dormant and the venture capital funding of 2005 has long since moved on, the technology’s long-term potential remains and advances in recent years are keeping the algal ball rolling. “Simulations of microalgal biofuel production show that to approach the 10% of EU transport fuels expected to be supplied by biofuels, ponds three times the area of Belgium would be needed,” wrote Swansea University marine biologist Professor Kevin Flynn in 2017. ![]() Intractable problems have been encountered in terms of the energy balance of lipid extraction, maintaining suitable growing conditions in open ponds, and the immense volumes of water, CO₂ and fertiliser required to allow the algae to photosynthesise fast enough at large scales. In terms of cost, major oil price declines in 20 certainly didn’t help biofuel competitiveness, but technical issues have also proven a major sticking point. Despite the large sums spent on developing the conversion process, the industry’s ambitious production goals – not to mention cost-competitiveness with fossil fuels – remain a distant dream. Nearly 15 years later, the green tech world has fallen out of love with algal biofuel.
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