Save Eco Destinations

Seaweed growing on rocks in California.

direct lender payday loans

A team of scientists from various universities in Israel has been studying marine macroalgae, also known as common seaweed. The group has determined that these algae can be farmed more quickly than land-based crops used for bioethanol and harvested as fuel without taking up land that could be employed in more profitable or environmentally conscious ways.

In addition, although both seaweed biofuels and bioethanol from food crops are less environmentally destructive than burning fossil fuels, using seaweed to develop biofuels is much more environmentally beneficial than creating bioethanol from crops like corn and sugarcane, as applying such crops for this purpose instead of using them to feed people causes food prices to rocket and can lead to food shortages.

Avigdor Abelson, a professor of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Zoology and the new Renewable Energy Center, also believes that growing macroalgae for bioethanol production can take care of the problem of eutrophication along the country’s coasts.

Eutrophication is pollution in waterways caused by human waste, or sewage, and aquaculture or fish farming operations. The result is excessive amounts of nutrients including phosphates and nitrates as well as harmful algae, all elements that ultimately damage endangered coral reefs. Multiple coastal regions, such as the Red Sea in the south of Israel, have suffered from eutrophication.

Land Drain near Holbeach Drove. The growth in the water plants suggests heavy run-off of nitrates and other chemicals.

The scientists created an artificial “ecosystem” which they call “Combined Aquaculture Multi-Use Systems” (CAMUS). It incorporates the effects of human activity and realistically mimics the marine environment.

According to the scientists, the excess nutrients that come from man-made fish feeders, which are considered contaminants due to their harmful effects on the marine ecosystem, could be utilised by filter feeders like oysters and other shellfish and thus turned into food by these animals to sustain the growth of more seaweed.

Moreover, the seaweed can be grown along the coast unobtrusively, Abelson said.

“By employing multiple species, CAMUS can turn waste into productive resources such as biofuel, at the same time reducing pollution’s impact on the local ecosystem,” he stated.

Another advantage is that seaweed could become a renewable energy source that does not jeopardize natural habitats, biodiversity or human food sources.

Now, the scientists are collaborating to boost the carbohydrate and sugar contents of seaweed so they can efficiently ferment it into bioethanol.

The team is confident that macroalgae will be a major source for biofuel in the future. Let’s hope so!

Algae harvester

U.S. companies producing algal biofuels may soon rejoice: The U.S. House of Representatives last Tuesday (9/28/10) passed a bill meant to give tax breaks to companies working on algae feedstocks-generated biofuel.

The Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act (HR 4168) was sponsored by New Mexico Congressman Harry Teague and has a corresponding bill in the Senate that was introduced by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) which is awaiting action after being referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Teague’s HR 4168 modifies the Internal Revenue Coded such that algae-based fuels can qualify for benefits now going to cellulosic biofuel makers. The bill includes a USD 1.01 per gal production tax credit and 50 per cent bonus depreciation for property employed to produce algae-based biofuel.

The bill defines “algae-based biofuel” as “any liquid fuel which is produced from the biomass of an algal organism (in essence, an organism that is primarily aquatic and classified as a non-vascular plant),” said the Congressional Research Service, Feedstuffs reports.

“[…] The House sent an unmistakable message of bipartisan support to the hundreds of companies, scientists, entrepreneurs and government agencies working to accelerate the development of algae-based fuels, which will create jobs, decrease emissions and reduce our nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels,” told Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algal Biomass Organisation (ABO) trade group, reports BrighterEnergy.org. “The passage of this bill is a huge first step towards our goal of creating parity for algae-based biofuels within the tax code and among various other government programmes.”

This bipartisan bill did not cause controversy and passed without objections and without a roll call vote. It also received backing from Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA), among others.

“Algae to produce green crude can be grown on non-arable land, in salt or brackish water and using carbon dioxide and sunlight as its primary feedstocks,” Teague’s statement said.

“Therefore, algae has not presented the same land use concerns as other biofuels and does not have any of the ‘food versus fuel’ implications that plague some other biofuels. Green crude derived from algae can be refined into drop-in transportation fuels, such as jet, gasoline and diesel, that are entirely compatible with existing infrastructure and engines. Algae can also be used to produce ethanol and biodiesel,” it noted.

His bill received endorsement from the Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO), ABO, the Southwestern Biofuels Association, Sapphire Energy, and Algenol Biofuels, Dairy Producers of New Mexico and Farm Credit Services Southwest plus various regional business, civic and economic development organisations in his district.

The bill’s passing coincided with this year’s Algal Biomass Summit in Phoenix, Arizona, last Tuesday.

A diving buddy pair taking Reef Check Australia substrate data on the Great Barrier Reef.

In this last of four posts, I will discuss some unknown causes of coral reef mortality. In the first post, I looked at the dismal situation of coral reefs and their lack of official protection from trade, plus the incredible importance of these species for the survival of marine life and, in turn, human life. In the second post, I explored how climate change is jeopardizing the existence of coral reefs across the world’s oceans. And in the third post, I wrote about the overexploitation of pink and red corals in particular.

Unknown causes of seaweed overgrowth

Australia’s 345,000-square-km Great Barrier Reef has been found partly choked by seaweed, according to surveys conducted in 2009. Over 40% of the coral reef areas closest to shore were found clogged with the weed.

“We are concerned about it because it does look like a lot of weed and in other places in the world, weed is an indication of decline,” said marine biologist Professor David Bellwood from James Cook University.

Bellwood suspects the overgrowth has been caused by the depletion of algae-eating fish around the coral reef. Without the presence of fish to feed on algae, of course, the plant is allowed to flourish unfettered and smother coral polyps.

“The question is, does this mean the Barrier Reef is in real trouble? That the reef is rotting from the inside out? Or does it mean to say that that amount of weed is natural? And the answer is: it’s hard to say,” he said.

Yet, alarmingly, he assured that

“The Great Barrier Reef is in the best condition of any reef in the world.”

Yowza. Sounds like dire news to me. It’s like saying that guy who suffers from asthma still breathes better than everyone else. He’s still got asthma, so how well can he really be doing?

As well, algae growth is caused by elevated nutrient levels in the water due to fertilizer runoff (from golf courses, farms, and so on) and untreated sewage.

It has also been suggested that sedimentation—possibly caused by heavy rainfall—can spark algal overgrowth. Other ways sedimentation promotes coral death is by smothering or burial (reef-building corals depend on high light, high oxygen, low turbidity, low nutrients, and open ocean salinity to remain healthy); decreasing growth through coral abrasion and shading; increasing the production of respiration and mucus; and by reducing coral reproduction, coral larval settlement, and early survival.

Unknown causes of coral malformations

White warts and tumors that show up on coral reefs are irregular shaped skeletal abnormalities. Because these malformations display fewer protective mucous cells than regular corals, and a porous skeleton, they are especially vulnerable to predation and erosion from algae and other organisms. In turn, damaged coral abnormalities cause local coral mortality and can thwart colony fitness and fecundity.

The causes of coral malformations are speculated to “range from biological pathogens transmitted by corralivore fishes, genetic mutations and external environmental conditions such as excessive UV radiation exposure,” according to APEX Environmental.

Yellow-band disease on a stony coral

Unknown causes of coral diseases and syndromes

These conditions are usually prompted by stresses such bacteria, fungi, and viruses, as well as rising sea temperatures, UV radiation, sedimentation, and pollution. These stresses can exacerbate each other.

The causes of most coral diseases remain unknown, however, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S.

Coral diseases include black-band disease, coral bleaching, dark-spots disease, red-band disease, white-band disease, white-plague disease, white pox, and yellow-blotch disease.

Of course, the topic is nearly inexhaustible.

You can follow this link and the ones above to learn about additional causes of coral reef mortality.

A saltwater pond with algae - photo by Charles G. Summers, Jr.

LiveFuels Inc, a developer of renewable algal-biofuels, is working on turning algae into biofuels in a way that is 1) scalable, 2) sustainable, and 3) faster than previously employed methods.

The Texas-based developer has just launched a new pilot program to research ways to boost algae productivity and the rates of biomass conversion into renewable oils – that is, turning the algae into biofuels. The project is taking place at LiveFuels’ new facility in Brownsville, Texas.

“By harnessing the power of natural systems, we hope to achieve what has eluded the biofuels community for decades – cost effectiveness, scalability and sustainability,” said LiveFuels CEO Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones.

The plan is to then implement the findings all along the coast of Louisiana. This will be a full-scale, commercial operation. Sounds great to me.

Red tide off the Floridian coast - photo by SeaWiFS

Red Tide

And you know how agricultural runoff teeming with phosphates and other nutrients gets into rivers and streams and causes the dreaded red tide (a.k.a. algal bloom)? LiveFuels will remove a lot of these harmful nutrients from the Mississippi River and use them as fertilizer to grow their algae.

This method will lower the amount of phosphates in the river that eventually flow out into the Gulf of Mexico and hopefully mitigate the red tide notorious for plaguing the southern coast of the U.S. every summer.

The logistics

LifeFuels cheaply grows native algae in its open saltwater ponds. Conversely, other companies have grown monocultures of algae – sometimes genetically modified – within expensive quarters. This has precluded algae-based biofuels from entering the market as a salable alternative.

Researchers then get “filter-feeding” fish to eat the algae. Once digested, the algae turns into valuable oil that is hosted within some of the fish’s organs. The fish are then killed and squeezed for the oil (yikes!). The oil will then be fed to a refinery.

The oil’s by-products, like protein, will be sold to pet food manufacturers.

“Current approaches to generating algal-biofuels are resource intensive and face fundamental science and engineering hurdles,” noted David Kingsbury, former chief program officer for the Science Program of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and chairman of the LiveFuels scientific advisory board.

“LiveFuels’ approach is ingenious in its simplicity. By turning natural food chains into productive systems, LiveFuels eliminates many of the costs and risks plaguing other approaches to using algae for biofuels,” he added.

Sargassum muticum attached to rocks on sandy bottom in San Francisco Bay (photo - Andrew N. Cohen)

Taking a nuisance or plague and turning it into something useful—that’s using your noggin’. The seaweed clogging up the seaport in Venice is about to be converted into a source of clean energy. Genius.

Two kinds of slime algae, Sargassum muticum and Undaria pinnatifida, have been annoying Venetians for a while now. Brought over from the Sargassi Sea and Japan on ships, the algae made the navigation of gondolas and ferry boats in Venice troublesome.

Now, Italy has announced an eco project to harvest the seaweed in the canals and turning it into green (emissions-free) energy. It will cost 200 million Euros—but it’s worth it, don’t you think?

The algae will fuel a power plant. Whoa. And it will be ready in two years’ time. I’m not done: it will produce enough energy to power half of Venice’s city center (40 megawatts). The only thing missing is the final authorization (not everyone’s so keen on the 200 million Euros factor of the project…).

Here are the details: “The algae will be cultivated in laboratories and put in plastic cylinders where water, carbon dioxide, and sunshine can trigger photosynthesis. The resulting biomass will be treated further to produce a fuel to turn turbines. The carbon dioxide produced in the process will be fed back to the algae, resulting in zero emissions from the plant.”

I’d like to see some more numbers: how long will it take for the algae energy production to save Italy the 200 million Euros to be invested in the project? Is it financially sound, or only environmentally (the algae-run plant would help offset the carbon emissions of ships docked in the Venetian seaport)? I would guess both, since Enalg, a renewable energy services company, is teaming up to collaborate on the project. Money’s always a crucial factor in these issues; well, usually. We humans sure are greedy.