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ALGAE OIL

WHAT IS ALGAE OIL?

Algal biomass consists of natural oils, proteins, and carbohydrates. Many species of algae can produce oils comprising up to 35% or more of their dry weight.  Oil produced from algae is very similar in structure to oil derived from plants and vegetables such as soy, palm, and rapeseed. Oils, along with fats, are composed of triglycerides--three fatty acids attached to a glycerol. Normally oils are liquid at room temperature and fats are solid.

Because algae oil is a triglyceride, it can be converted to a variety of high value commodity products, primarily biofuels such as biodiesel, though the same processes used to convert vegetable oils. For example, transesterification of vegetable oil to biodiesel is identical to that of transforming algae oil to biodiesel.  Alternatively, the feedstock oil derived from algae can be hydro-treated to produce bio-alkanes such as gasoline or JP-8 and other jet fuels.

Oil accumulation in algae typically occurs during periods of environmental stress, including growth under nutrient-deficient conditions. In the open-pond growth phase of HRBP’s algae production system, we purposely create a nutrient-deficient environment in order to maximize oil production.

ALGAE OIL ADVANTAGES

Microalgae allow a cost-effective supply of sustainable oil feedstock and offer many advantages over traditional oilseed crops such as corn, soybeans or rapeseed:

• BETTER YIELD: Algae yield far more oil than traditional oil seeds. Up to 50 percent of an algae’s body weight is comprised of oil, whereas oil-palm trees—currently the largest producer of oil to make biofuels—yields approximately 20 percent of their weight in oil. Although many different parts of plants may yield oil, in actual commercial practice oil is extracted primarily from the seeds of oilseed plants.
  
• RAPID GROWTH: Algae grows up to 15 times faster than oilseed crops grown on land.
• BETTER USE OF LAND: Algae can be grown in marginal lands in places away from the farmlands and forests, thus minimizing potential stresses to our food chain and ecosystems.
• REDUCES POLLUTION: Algae can reduce pollution by utilizing via photosynthesis large amounts of potentially harmful CO₂ from industrial emissions to grow rapidly.
• FREQUENT HARVESTS: Daily harvesting diminishes the risk of crop failures in comparison to terrestrial plants.
  

The table below provides a breakdown of the composition and energy potential of terrestrial, first-generation energy crops compared to the next-generation energy crop, microalgae.