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Algae can be converted into various types of fuels, depending on the production technologies and the part of the cells used. The lipid, or oily part of the algae biomass can be extracted and converted into biodiesel through a process similar to that used for any other vegetable oil, or converted in a refinery into "drop-in" replacements for petroleum-based fuels.
Since growing algae requires large amounts of sterile CO 2, smokestacks can be utilized for algaculture. Several commercial pilot plants are under construction. [39] [40] [41] There is substantial research and development work in this area but as of 2007 there is no commercial vegetable oil produced from algae and used as biofuel.
Iran started investigating the production of algae from 2000. Scientific evidence shows that south Iran is the richest area in the world for cultivating algae, because of high humidity, sunny weather, large unused area and salty water. [2] The first version of algae based biofuel will become available for industrial purposes in 2015. [3]
BETO organized an Algae Program dedicated to researching and improving the viability of algae as an energy source. EERE's official page for the Algae Program lists goals including improving yields of algae strains while decreasing expenses of growing algae, filtering the algae from the water, extracting the oils, and processing the biofuel. [3]
The algae, especially some species which contain over 50 percent oil and a lot of carbohydrates, can be used for producing biodiesel and bioethanol by extracting and refining the fractions. The algae biomass is generated 30 times faster than some agricultural biomass, [15] which is commonly used for producing biodiesel.
“The algae is eating CO2, or turning the CO2 into biomass,” explains Mr Haflidason. “It's carbon negative.” Vaxa's plant uses electricity from an adjacent geothermal power plant [Vaxa]