U.K. algae biofuel co. BioMara launches

BioMara, a Scottish-Irish research project, has secured €6 million ($8.1m) to produce biofuel from algae.

Research is to be led by Michele Stanley of the Scottish Association of Marine Science, supported by scientists from the University of Strathclyde, the University of Ulster, Queen’s University, the Dundalk Institute of Technology and the Institute of Technology in Sligo.

Although the team and the funding is complicated−the European Union’s Interreg IVa programme, the Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Crown Estate, the Northern Ireland Executive and the government of Ireland are all backers−the group’s mission is simple: learn which algae strains are best to convert to biofuel.

Algae is a darling of biofuel backers because it requires little to no maintenance while growing and doesn’t compete with land for agriculture. Growing in sewages and next to power-plant smokestacks, algae can also digest pollutants and harmful emissions before being harvested for conversion to biofuel. Many companies are rushing into the space (see Turning algae into ethanol and gold).

Companies like Solazyme, LiveFuels, GreenFuel Technologies, Aquaflow Bionomic, PetroAlgae and others are competing to achieve commercial scale production, which is also to be a main goal of BioMara.

"We do not know which strains are the most suitable to grow and convert, or the best cultivation conditions at large scales,” said BioMara project leader Stanley.

“We will therefore initially focus on creating new knowledge that should raise the efficiency of existing technologies as well as developing novel technologies. BioMara will further investigate process controls, engineering needs, supply chain issues and the social and economic impacts of algal biofuels.”

Reducing dependence on fossil fuels and achieving a more sustainable energy mix in the EU are high on the political agenda. The European Parliament has called for 10 percent of road transport fuel to come from renewable sources by the year 2020.

BioMara plans to investigate the feasibility of using both microscopic, single-celled organisms, which produce oil directly, and seaweeds, which grow quickly and can be harvested for their biomass.

BioMara is to focus on supporting biofuel production and use in remote, rural communities. The project also aims to foster cross-border collaboration between its Scottish, Irish and Northern Irish partners.

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