The automotive industry has grown weary of crushing fuel prices, and in a frantic race to look for alternatives to our risky petroleum habit, no stone is being left unturned. Some are, in fact, turning over stones in ponds and fish tanks for the answers.

That’s right — algae has recently surfaced as a source of much investment and research in the alternative fuel community, but it is by no means a new source for biodiesel fuel. This slimy aquatic plant, say proponents, is easy to grow and provides a high-percentage oil base, perfect for extracting and converting into fuel.

And in the wake of $4 and higher per-gallon gas prices, algae as an energy source is being given serious consideration by scientists, engineers, and even major players like the U.S. Department of Energy, Honeywell and General Electric, as well as oil companies such as Chevron.

Even better, its environmental impact is non-existent at best, and, with the proper science behind it, algae can pretty much be grown anywhere and harvested in just a few days’ time. 

Algae has an oil content of up to 50 percent, a number unheard of in cellulose-based fuel derivatives like corn, soybeans and sugar cane. When looking at gallons per acre per year, corn’s yield is 18 and soybeans have the potential to create 48; algae, however, can yield up to 10,000 gallons per acre annually, according to a presentation at the Environmental Finance’s Bioenergy North America, which took place in Chicago in March. 

At least a handful of high-profile “algae farms” are already online or launching within the year with plans to step up production around the globe to help alleviate what appears to be an insurmountable energy crisis. And while recent political discussions center on offshore drilling, bioalgae believers are looking offshore only to grow.

PetroSun began operation of an algae-to-biofuel facility April 1 in Rio Hondo, Texas, which is expected to produce more than 4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million pounds of biomass annually. The farm is a patchwork of 1,100 acres of saltwater ponds, one of two types of farms used to produce algae. Companies are also using a “closed reactor” system that’s more sci-fi than farm-grown. 

At the PetroSun plant, about 20 acres are being reserved for experimental production of JP8, an algae-based renewable jet fuel that’s garnered much discussion in the alternative energy community.

“Whether we have arrived at this point in time by a superior technological approach, sheer luck or a redneck can-do attitude, the fact remains that microalgae can outperform the current feedstocks utilized for the conversion to biodiesel and ethanol, yet do not impact the consumable food markets or fresh water sources,” boasts Gordon LeBlanc Jr., CEO of PetroSun.

PetroAlgae, which has a 20-acre farm in Melbourne, Fla., plans to begin the first stages of commercialization early next year.

One of PetroAlgae's farms

Fred Tennant, VP of business development for PetroAlgae, questions the current societal trend of burning our food for alternative fuel. “There’s a big social upheaval now, because the cost of food has gone up so much,” he says, adding the energy balance of algae-based fuel is much better than any other biofuel.

“We do plan to make a real impact in the market,” he adds. He sums up the algae-farming equation thusly: “We raise a whole bunch of algae in a small amount of space.” 

A company called A2BE Carbon Capture is working on a system to capture greenhouse gases that can be used to convert algae into biofuel.

Processing fuel from algae traces back at least 100 years, but now the technology has the backing of large companies and other industry heavyweights.

But algae as a diesel fuel source is not without its share of concerns, including the performance of algae-based biodiesel in cold weather and the current inability to produce enough of it to meet the world’s staggering energy demands.

Economics and technology have so far stood in the way of algae’s development for fuel on a mass scale, says John Benemann, from Benemann Associates and a member of the Algal Biomass Steering Committee.

“With oil quoted at over $140 a barrel, the economics is becoming more favorable,” he adds. “There are still significant technological barriers in all parts of the process, from the selection and development of high oil-yielding strains and their stable mass cultivation, to the harvesting and extraction and processing of algal biofuels.”

He continues: “At present, despite many claims, there is no demonstrated process that could produce algal oil at anywhere near a competitive cost with crude oil or even first-generation biofuels.”

But when held up against other alternative energy sources (like ethanol made from corn or sugarcane, or biodiesel made from food scraps or deep fryer grease) algae has no viable contender.

Land and food sources are diverted and energy is required to grow and process corn, and even those who use fryer grease for biodiesel are carrying an energy footprint that includes emissions from the vehicles patrons use to drive to the restaurant and the electricity consumed by the restaurant itself.

Admittedly, energy also is consumed when harvesting algae, especially in the closed reactor environment, but PetroAlgae’s Tennant says the only fossil fuels used are electricity to operate the pumps and motors, which, he adds, is minimal when compared to the pollutants and waste algae removes from the environment.

To look at algae’s effectiveness, one need not look beyond its relationship to carbon, thought by many to be the villain of our environment. Rather than acting as a  “carbon neutral” energy source, algae can be considered “carbon negative,” because it actually removes carbon from the environment when it’s grown.

And each large-scale algae farm equals more carbon removed from the atmosphere.

Algae needs a healthy quantity of carbon dioxide (CO2) to properly grow. Some scientists have even considered diverting the CO2 produced by factories and industrial areas to feed algae farms, a symbiotic relationship wherein atmospheric industrial waste is recycled. Algae also can be used to eat pollutants from sewage and power plants. 

PetroAlgae has combined its circulation system with a CO2 delivery system, says Tennant, who adds that 1 pound of algae consumes 2.2 pounds of CO2.

Another benefit to algae is the fact that its byproducts can be used as animal feed; in contrast, converting sources such as corn to animal food removes yet more sustenance from the global food supply. Additionally, leftover algal biomass can be fermented into ethanol, according to PetroSun. 

To paint algae as the salvation to the world’s energy woes, however, may still be premature. There are hundreds of thousands of different algae strains, and in a natural, open-pond system, invasive algae has the potential to grow, creating weeds and true pond scum that form a roadblock to successful production. Water in the natural pond system also must be shallow because algae relies on direct sunlight to flourish.

The more controlled closed-reactor system, where elements like cooling temperature and carbon dioxide are closely monitored, is said to yield much more effective algae-to-biofuel crops.

Producing biodiesel from algae is yet to be cost-effective, not to mention the lack of infrastructure for this type of fuel. One estimate is that it currently costs $20 to produce a gallon of bioalgae fuel. But with each farm that goes online, that number is likely to decrease.

Separating algae from the water it grows in also poses a technical challenge, but Jim Sears, president of A2BE Carbon Capture, has said he is looking to natural algae collectors, like brine shrimp and crustaceans, to perform this work.

When the pros and cons are stacked up against each other, algae is a feasible solution to many of our energy problems. And if all the aforementioned evidence doesn’t illustrate algae’s potential, this October, the Second Annual Algae Biomass Summit will converge in Seattle to look at all things algae.

Organizers from the Algal Biomass Organization say more than 400 industry experts gathered for last year’s summit.

It may not be the only answer to our environmental and energy concerns, but algae has the potential to power much of our future needs.