Biofuels producer Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc., has announced plans to scale up a pilot algae biofuels project so it is 20 times larger.
The company and its technology partner, BioProcess Algae LLC, is moving on to Phase II of its Grower Harvest project with a $4.5 million expansion.
The project located at Green Plains’ ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa, will see construction beginning in the next two weeks on Phase II.
The new facility will make use of the existing ethanol plant’s carbon dioxide emissions and waste heat for the algae process.
Green Plains said it expects Phase II to be operational by the end of 2010.
Results
Todd Becker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Plains Renewable Energy, said Phase I of the Grower Harvest project had already demonstrated a 40-fold scale-up of the technology since moving from the laboratory to the Shenandoah site in October 2009.
He said: “With the positive results we have achieved in Phase I, we will commit additional resources and expertise to rapidly build the next phase of this exciting project.”
Subject to final negotiations, the Iowa Power Fund is looking to provide a $2 million grant to support the project, to help cut US dependence on foreign oil.
Tim Burns, Chief Executive of BioProcess Algae, a joint venture between Green Plains and filtration company Clarcor, said Phase I of the project had optimized the algae process, improving the use of light and absorption of carbon dioxide by the oil-producing algae in the plant’s reactors.
He explained: “Phase II will also allow for robust verification of growth rates, energy balances, and operating expenses, which we consider to be some of the key steps to commercialization.”
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