Aquatic Biofuels

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Aquatic Biofuels New Options for Bioenergy
Tony Piccolo Fish Utilization and Marketing
Service (FIIU) Thesis Topic (MBA - University
of Malta Rome Campus)
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• What are aquatic biofuels
• Why produce aquatic biofuels
• Conversion systems
• Growth and harvesting
• Potential for developing countries
• Challenges and Opportunities

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WHAT ARE AQUATICBIOFUELS?
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• Why ALGAE?
• Does not compete with agriculture
• High yield per acre
• Contains no sulphur therefore no SO2 emissions
• Non toxic and highly biodegradable
• Does not require soil for growth
• Uses as little as 30cm of water per year per
  hectare (open pond system)
• Adaptable anywhere even at great distances from
  water
• Abatement of CO2 carbon neutral

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Oil yield per hectare of microalgae significantly
exceeds other common oil sources such as soya
and rapeseed
33 times more than rapeseed
88 timesmore than soya
39 500
39 500 PBR
1190
1 190
446
448
PBR Photo Bio-Reactor
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• Photo Bio-Reactors?
• Using Photo Bio-Reactors is expensive
• but it is a State of the Art Technology, it
• produces higher yields than other systems.
• However, Development and Processing costs are
  still quite high and perhaps not suited yet for
  developing countries.

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Microalgae Biofixation Process with wastewater
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Open pond wastewater has demonstrated
productivities of 100 tonne/ha/yr tonne per
hecatre per year.
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• Costs and key performance parameters for Open
  Pond biofixation systems for GHG abatement are
• Land capital, cost of ponds, harvesting,
  processing, water supply, infrastructure
  operating costs (around US120/tonne)
• Raceway mixed ponds capital costs of about
  US100,000 per hectare
• Availability or transport of flue gas and/or
  waste water to the ponds
• Algal productivity / harvestability / processing
• Product values biofuels, GHG abatement,
  reclaimed water, fertilisers, other
• co products.
• Caution With present technology fuel only
  algal systems are not plausible on their own -
  they require additional revenues.

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Adaptability to developing countries other key
factor requirements Algae production with
Photo Bio-Reactors (PBR) More suitable for
Higher Income Countries (due to higher start-up
costs) Algae production with MBP (Microalgae
Biofixation Process) More suitable for Lower
Income Countries (due to lower start-up
costs)
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AVIATION INDUSTRY
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• FISH WASTE From Aquaculture Farms
• Press the fish waste
• Oil is extracted through a water separation
  process at 90o C
•  
• Manganese (Mn), methanol (9) and caustic soda is
  added.
• The by-product glycerine is sold to the cosmetic
  industry and the residues are made into
  fishmeal.
• 1kg of fish waste can produce just over 1lt of
  bio-diesel.

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Aquafinca - Honduras
Agifish Viet Nam
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(No Transcript)
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• Fish Waste - Key points and feasibility for
  developing countries
• Technology is adaptable and transferable in many
  developing regions.
• It can provide livelihoods through the
  production of fish, and produce local energy
  free from GHG emissions.   
• Relatively little investment required.
• Fish waste could also promote more efficient
  utilization of aquatic living resources and
  generate additional income for fishers' and fish
  farmers' communities.
• Adaptable on large fishing trawlers.   
• Fishing Ports

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• Aquatic Biofuels Challenges, Opportunities and
  Gains
• Algae
• Cost intensive especially for Photo Bio-Reactors
  may be suitable for Higher Income Countries.
• Open pond systems are much more viable although
  real costs are still not available,
  by-products can however make the process
  completely viable.
• Abatement of CO2 Mitigation from the conversion
  of the algal biomass to renewable fuels
  directly substituting fossil fuels coal and gas
• Each tonne of microalgae biomass produced
  about a tonne of CO2 abated
• Both algal to bio-fuel technologies are therefore
  completely Carbon Neutral

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• Fish waste
• The oil produced for bio-diesel is already
  marketable as fish oil, more fish oil
• would have to be produced to cater for the
  demand in bio-diesel this may disrupt fish oil
  markets.
• The technology is in place and is transferable
  to other developing countries as pilot project
  studies.

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PROJECT PROPOSAL WORKING GROUP tony.piccolo_at_fao
.orgalessandro.flammini_at_fao.org

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Thank you. Questions?