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ConocoPhillips, biofuels center ink research pact

Fuel from algae among aims of $5 million accord

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 1, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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ConocoPhillips has signed a $5 million agreement with a Colorado biofuels center to help find the next generation of low-carbon fuels, including fuel made from algae, also known as pond scum.

"Colorado is an incubator of renewable and alternative energy technology," ConocoPhillips spokesman Bill Tanner said Tuesday after the research agreement with the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels or C2B2 was announced. "That's why we're looking to expand our presence by building an energy research center in Louisville." The center, which eventually might generate 7,000 jobs, is slated to open in 2011 or 2012. It will be on the former StorageTek campus.

C2B2, established last year, is part of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a joint venture of the University of Colorado and Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

David Hiller, executive director of the Colorado Collaboratory, said the agreement "is another milestone in our drive to make Colorado the nation's renewable energy capital."

One project the scientists will collaborate on is looking at ways to convert algae into a low-carbon fuel for cars, trucks and buses.

Among the many kinds of algae in the nation's oceans, lakes and swimming pools are some varieties that have high concentrations of the glycerol molecule, an ingredient in many kinds of motor fuel.

Besides growing at a phenomenal rate, algae isn't going to take food away from humans and cows, as corn can do when farmers sell the crop for ethanol, said Al Weimer, executive director of C2B2.

It can be grown in tubes in the Arizona desert, where nothing much else grows, the blazing sun increasing the growth rate, he said.

"We're getting huge interest from utilities and oil companies," Weimer said.

The carbon dioxide in the coal plants' smokestacks can be captured, concentrated and piped to the greenhouses as food for the algae. "It's a way to recycle algae and help reduce the footprint," he said.

Some recent calculations suggest that if 20 percent of the Mohave Desert were converted to algae production, it could supply all the gasoline consumed in the United States, he said.

If that's too much development for one desert, there's always the Sonora Desert, or a desert in Mexico, or other land in the U.S.

"We've shown conversions where more than 80 percent of the carbon dioxide from the coal plants is consumed by the algae in the greenhouses," said Weimer, who also is a chemistry professor at CU in Boulder.

ConocoPhillips has been a strong supporter of C2B2 and chose Louisville for its research facility in part because it's just an hour's drive from the three universities and from NREL, he said.

Weimer said the new partnership - the $5 million is the largest awarded to C2B2 - is likely the first of several between C2B2 and ConocoPhillips.

Stephen Brand, ConocoPhillips senior vice president for technology, said his company found the right partner in its commitment to drive discovery of the next generation of transportation fuels.

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2897

Comments

  • July 2, 2008

    10:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    yeastyc writes:

    Wow, you do not have a clue, Sasquatch, I happen to work in this field and it has big potential, why do you think the oil companies are interested? All this PR is great for Colorado, quit being such a bitter republican.

  • July 2, 2008

    11:43 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    fntsymtn writes:

    I suspect that it will be "big oil" that funds the eventual discovery and "cultivation" of viable renewable energy solutions for this planet ... not governments.

    It is the energy providers (specifically the "big oil" companies) who stand to gain the most return on investment (or lose viability) from renewable energy research. As renewable sources of energy become less science fiction and become feasible and economically viable we will see a deluge of funding from "big oil" (much to the dismay of some "big oil" critics) that will dwarf anything that any government can contribute (past, present or future).

    This is an example of a first step in the coming renewable energy "boom" that will be financed by private industry.

    Government should stick to what it does best -- defining standards, establishing regulations and maintaining the bureaucracy that will govern energy policy of the future.

    I don't see sasquatch's comments as coming from a "bitter republican" rather I see them as coming from someone who feels that the government should stay out of renewable energy mandates. Set standards for what "renewable" and "clean" means, sure, but don't set your standards based on sources that you "have your eye on", set them on realistic, technology agnostic, goals that will evolve over time and let the researchers find a viable source that meets those standards.

  • July 2, 2008

    11:59 a.m.

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    yeastyc writes:

    That is exactly what this collaboration does, money from both sources are necessary to fund these projects from basic research to application. There are many collaborations even now between government agencies and private companies, both oil and biotech, that are only improving the overall research findings and bringing us closer to real solutions by increasing the money available for the research. The two are integral to the process--big oil companies evolve so they stay in business, and the government solves energy problems for its citizens. The negativity against Ritter and his push towards renewable energy is all I was eluding to with the "bitter republican" statement. If you look at the realm of what C2B2/NREL is involved in researching, you will see it is not just about "what the government has its eye on," its covering a large scope of renewable energies, any of which can solve a number of energy issues. I just want people to understand that this is a good thing for this state and this country, and to stop focusing on the politics.

  • July 2, 2008

    12:45 p.m.

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    JB writes:

    This is fascinating! I had heard vauge refrences to using algae as a fuel source, but after I read this article, I started to dig around on the web.

    It seems, that with the proper upfront infastructure investment, the technology is almost feasible already. Clearly Conoco's $5 Million is just for show...as it will take much, much more than that to get this moving. I hope however, that the money can be used to demostrate that this is economically sound! I imagine that growing and refining algae would cost about the same as building a new petrol refinery... but that is strictly a guess.

    Seriously though, this kills like 3 birds with one stone! Absorbing excess carbon, lowering fuel prices AND eliminating our dependance on foreigh oil! Very exciting research. I def suggest that people dig around on the web for more info.

  • July 2, 2008

    1:15 p.m.

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    Diff writes:

    I doubt that this or any of the new technologies will lower the price of energy, in the near or long term.
    These types of alternatives only become viable when the price of traditional energy (Oil, coal and Natural Gas) are high enough to make these types of things competitive.
    At best we can hope that prices will stabilize as some of these alternatives get developed and become more widely available. There are a dozen alternatives and the ways they can be used are so variable I doubt too that any one of the alternatives will become as widely used as our energy source as petroleum is now.
    $5/gallon gasoline, that's about equivalent to $0.21 per mile @ 24-25 MPG will become the "norm" and everything else will catch op to the new norm, just as Gasloline at $1.50-$2.00 per gallon became the accepted normal price in the '80s and '90s, as opposed to the $0.25 - $0.29 per gallon Gasoline of the '50s and '60s
    Of course the Big Oil companies will have their hand in whatever new energy come along ( just a note that SHELL Oil is a very large manufacture of solar panels)
    This indeed is exciting technology tho - but I would bet there are more drawbacks to overcome than we are being lead to believe here - but who knows...

  • July 2, 2008

    1:36 p.m.

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    JB writes:

    Diff... I wonder. Again, I'm no expert, but I was reading about people who right now, are growing algae on their roofs and using it to power their vehicles! They get about 10 gallons of useable fuel each week on the roof of a 2000 square foot home...

    Also, I guess algae can be used not just as diesel, but also gasoline, bio mass for powerplants, etc... a lot of possibility! Although, I'm sure you're right... if it was as good as what I've read, I think there would be much much more excitement about it.

  • July 2, 2008

    1:47 p.m.

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    yeastyc writes:

    Algae are also producers of hydrogen using light and water, with continued research the cost of all of these fuels have the potential of becoming much cheaper, but in the end hydrogen is the cleanest (no carbon emmisions) and is a much better fuel than any of them--hopefully the funding continues.

  • July 2, 2008

    1:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Diff writes:

    JB - have to agree with you. I had only heard a little about his one and did a little more looking around the web too - not much time for that tho today, but - I think this sounds pretty promising!
    Never know one huge source or Technology could emerge as the major replacement for Petroleum. I think tho that Fuel Cell technology will be a big part in the long run too - but again it is a mater of the cost being competitive with other energy and the Fuel cell technology right now is too expensive.
    Could you reference the info about people now using alge - grown on their roofs?
    What part of the country?

  • July 2, 2008

    3:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Newenergycommie writes:

    Diff,

    Check out http://www.greenfuelonline.com/ if you haven't already. This isn't roof top, but it is interesting.