Hydrogen Produced from Algae-Based Biomass
Funded through the Biological and Adaptation Program in 2014, researchers at the University of Alberta assessed the cost of algae as a feedstock to produce diluent and hydrogen and compared it to other production methods with consideration to several factors including lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The study found that by using algae as a feedstock, the oil and gas industry in Canada can reduce the GHGs associated with hydrogen production; but challenges around cost, volume, and scale up of such a solution remain.
Hydrogen is required to upgrade bitumen, and demand for hydrogen is expected to increase significantly in the future. Currently, most of this hydrogen is produced from natural gas, which emits GHGs. One solution is to replace fossil fuel-based hydrogen with hydrogen produced from renewable biomass sources. This research project, completed in 2018, found that algae-based biomass has emerged at the forefront of biofuel research due to algae’s high productivity and ability to grow on land that has little or no agricultural or industrial value. Research shows that algae have the ability to synthesize a host of highly valued compounds, including bio-oils for energy and hydrogen, while simultaneously being carbon neutral and potentially resulting in carbon credits.
Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities with Algae-Biomass
The project advanced understandings about the challenges and opportunities associated with using algae biomass as a feedstock to produce diluent and hydrogen. While promising from a technical and GHG standpoint, the analysis determined that algae-based diluent and hydrogen are not currently comparable in cost or volume to similar petroleum-based products.
As part of the project, the researchers also developed a new data-intensive analytical model that predicts algae biomass production (growth and cultivation) known as Satellite Open Pond Raceway (SATOPR). Open pond raceway (OPR) systems are the most extensively used open algal cultivation system worldwide. The key parameters in developing the SATOPR model are media temperature and solar light intensity. Given the global reach of satellites, using the model results to predict OPR system performance both in Canada and the rest of the world makes the model unique and beneficial for comparative analyses of OPR system performance. This can be used to facilitate conduction of similar studies of algae growth performance in the future.
What’s next?
The study identified the ideal environmental and operating parameters for algae growth and showed a potential pathway for improving the cost of producing algae-biomass. There are still no plans for commercialization at this time, as algae biomass-based products remain expensive compared to petroleum-based products.