RED HERRING

Microscopic Scum                                                                                               

Using CO2 emissions to boost algae yields to make food additives and fuel.
April 9, 2007 Print Issue

By Neal Sandler

When Nikken Sohonsha approached an Israeli marine biotechnology startup two years ago, Japan's global name in algae products was looking for ways to boost yields in two strains of microscopic algae for the production of Omega-3, a key food additive.

But Tel Aviv-based Seambiotic came up with something even better. Its researchers discovered that one of the sea algae, skeletonema, had huge potential for production of biofuel. The startup tried a novel approach to stimulate algae growth: using carbon dioxide emissions from coal power plants, an approach Dutch investigators successfully tried with flowers.

"By raising the level of carbon dioxide emissions in the water we increased the yield 1 million-fold compared to the natural state in the sea," asserts Seambiotic CEO Amnon Bechar. And with yields like that, Mr. Bechar believes microscopic algae are ideal for making bio-ethanol as a byproduct from Omega-3 production. 

Seambiotic also found that by using CO2 emissions, it could reduce the level of greenhouse emissions from power plants.

Started in 2004, Seambiotic has since raised $2 million from private local investors for testing the microscopic skeletonema algae at small pools at a coal power plant on Israel's southern Mediterranean coast. Tightlipped about the actual process, the company in February filed for a U.S. patent on technology that enables it to use gas emissions to accelerate algae growth in seawater ponds.   

"Microscopic algae are an attractive alternative as they could potentially yield more oil per acre than corn and other crops as they do not compete as a direct food source," Mr. Bechar says. Soaring demand by ethanol producers has doubled prices for the grain in the last year, forcing farmers to put more land under corn-which has driven the search for alternatives.

It could take years before Seambiotic's process becomes economic, a challenge that keeps the company focused on bringing down the cost of production. Its pilot operation consists of eight small pools covering a quarter-acre. The pools are filled with seawater used to cool the Israel Electric Corp (IEC) coal power plant at Ashkelon.

The CO2 from the plant goes through a filtration process before entering the pools to feed the algae. The gas, a major contributor to global warming, is supplied to the startup free. Seambiotic's process reduces coal plant emissions by up to 3 percent-not insignificant considering the Kyoto Protocol calls for reducing worldwide emissions by 6 percent over the next decade. And the algae story is impressive, too. By harnessing plant emissions, Seambiotic claims that it has cut algae production costs of around $5 per kilo to a 10th of that.

Plans now call for expanding the pilot to a full-scale industrial plant. Mr. Bechar estimates Seambiotic's process starts being viable at 200 acres, a quantum leap from the quarter-acre of seawater pools the company has now. At that scale, an algae plant would cost around $30 million, and produce 2 million liters of bio diesel annually, along with food additives.

Mr. Bechar reckons there are hundreds, if not thousands, of potential coastal sites available around the world, but that's a hard argument to make in tiny Israel. Seambiotic is now holding preliminary talks about setting up its first full-scale production facility in the United States, although it wouldn't disclose a precise location. 

Still, despite the shortage of suitable sites in Israel, Mr. Bechar says he is still pressing ahead with efforts to try to convince authorities to allocate the necessary land near coastal power plants. In the algae game, optimism is critical.