Algae as energy?

EKU seeks funds to research idea

Robyn L. Minor

Next time you have negative thoughts about pond scum, think again.

The green algae could be on the next alternative energy front. Next month, Eastern Kentucky University will ask the state’s Agriculture Development Board to support its research on algae as an alternative fuel.

This month, Exxon Mobil said it would invest $600 million over the next five years to develop biofuels from algae and at least 15 companies worldwide are in some stage of its development.

Roger Thomas, director of the ag board and the Governor’s Office of Agriculture Policy, said the board is currently reviewing EKU’s application and should make a decision next month.

“Energy is an additional focus that we have here at the Governor’s Office of Agriculture Policy and it is a very important focus for Gov. (Steve) Beshear,” Thomas said. “The board has developed a new investment area for county programs with energy efficiency and energy production. We are excited about having this new program, but obviously with new programs it just takes time to get the word out and fully explain the program.”

EKU, in partnership with General Atomics in California, is seeking $220,000 from the ag board, but the largest portion of funding would come from elsewhere, said Bruce Pratt, head of EKU’s Department of Agriculture.

Pratt said it appears the project will be getting a $3.64 million federal earmark through the Defense Logistic Agency and $350,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

“The concept of our biofuels project is to take biomass — dedicated crops like switchgrass and biomass waste from crop residue and the wood industry — and digest the sugars to be used to feed heterotrophic algae,” Pratt said in an e-mail to the Daily News. “These are algae that are grown in bioreactors — fancy word for tanks — without sunlight. The algae have a high oil content of 40 percent to 60 percent. The algae can be harvested and oil extracted. The algae oil then can be used for conversion into biodiesel or even JP8 Jet Fuel.”

Pratt said in a video on the school’s Web site — www.eku.edu — that the algae and ensuing fuel would be produced and consumed locally by setting up five sites within the region where the biomass would grow and be harvested, along with the algae and its processing. The algae, consuming the sugars, grow quickly — within five to seven days.

Environmentalists consider the alternative fuel to be truly green. The biomass products used to feed the algae help to sequester carbon in the soil and it does not enter into the food versus fuel debate as corn-based ethanol has.

The same goes for another area of experimentation for the state — growing and processing miscanthus grass, Thomas said.

“Last year, about 27 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. was used for ethanol production,” Pratt said. “The price of corn almost doubled and consumers saw a dramatic increase in their grocery bills along with increased cost of feed for livestock producers. Using biomass (from switchgrass or wood products) there would not be a direct conflict between food and fuel.”

In May, Beshear and several officials helped plant a 300-acre field in miscanthus near South Shore in Greenup County. The tall, coarse grass (similar to cane), which can’t be used for food, will be harvested and pelletized to burn with coal.

Midwestern Biofuels is seeking farmers within a 50-mile radius from South Shore to grow miscanthus, which also is known as an ornamental grass. Miscanthus plugs can be planted with a tobacco transplanter and, when harvested, yield more biofuel per acre than either corn or switchgrass.

Thomas said there also is an experimental crop of the grass growing in Logan County.

There still are switchgrass projects going on in the state. One in cooperation with University of Kentucky and East Kentucky Power received some funding from the ag council.

Late last year, the project had the first burning of the switchgrass at a coal-fired plant. The grass was ground into particles and burned with coal.

“I think it went well,” Thomas said.

Thomas Keene, an agronomist at UK who is in charge of the project, said the burn went well but there was not enough switchgrass available, just about 70 tons, to produce any data on emissions.

“But there has been research done that verify carbon emissions would be less than regular coal-fired plants,” Keene said. “And growing the switchgrass is carbon friendly.

“Our goal was to show some of the logistics of transportation, delivery and processing of the switchgrass and I think we did that.”

Establishing switchgrass crops in Kentucky could have another benefit — it could be used for cattle food — and it will grow on marginal lands where crops are hard to grow.

Neither switchgrass nor miscanthus are easy to establish but once they are, they are considered to be perennials.

“They do require prudent maintenance,” Keene said. “But one of the reasons we tout this crop is that it has fairly low inputs (costs), which is important to farmers. My project is working on marginal lands with slopes or lands that have been kind of abandoned. We are also looking at possibility of doing it on reclaimed mine lands.”

Because cash crops are easier to grow in the western part of the state where the land is more fertile, for now it looks more reasonable for switchgrass and miscanthus crops to focus mostly in the eastern area of the state.

Keene said research into biofuels and energy development at universities across the state is making for an exciting time. But he is careful to note that the research is in its infancy, with the solutions being 10 or so years away.

Still, Pratt said it is important to move ahead with biofuels research to reduce dependency on foreign oil.

“Biofuels can be produced in the U.S. that can help create local jobs and displace some of the crude oil that is imported in the U.S.,” he said. “Currently, the U.S. imports about 60 percent of its oil needs, some coming from countries that are politically unstable or unfriendly to the U.S.”

Another area of agriculture could be a source of alternative energy but has not yet been developed in the state.

“We have several dairies in the state we believe could utilize methane digesters but they are extremely expensive to install and maintain,” Thomas said.

His office is looking at what federal grants might be available through the USDA or Department of Energy to install the digesters, which capture the methane produced from animal waste that could be used as energy.

Landfills across the country already are selling their methane gas to utility companies or intermediaries. Earlier this month, a company made a pitch to Glasgow City Council to build a methane capturing system to purchase the gas that otherwise would be emitted into the air. But no decision has been made.

For more information about how the Governor’s Office of Agriculture Policy could help in projects, visit agpolicy.ky.gov.

Robyn L. Minor can be reached at rminor@bgdailynews.com or 1-270-783-3249.

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