DARPA Contracts To Boost Biofuel-From-Algae Efforts

Defense Daily, Jan 28, 2009

By George Lobsenz

In what could provide a huge kick-start for a promising new biofuel, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is providing nearly $35 million to two contractors who will compete to develop scalable production methods capable of producing jet fuel from algae at cost of $3 a gallon.

While many small companies have been working to develop commercial production facilities for biofuel from algae, the DARPA contracts engage two leading defense contractors--General Atomics and SAIC [SAI]--with substantially greater scientific and engineering resources at their command.

Production methods for algae-based biofuel are not nearly as far advanced as some cellulosic ethanol technologies, but algae is particularly intriguing because it can produce far more biofuel per cultivated acre than other feedstocks, such as corn or switchgrass.

In addition, algae can be grown with wastewater or seawater, thus conserving fresh water resources, and its biofuel output can be increased if it is grown in a system with additional carbon dioxide captured from power plants and other industrial emitters of the greenhouse gas.

The contracts issued to General Atomics and SAIC are part of a biofuels initiative by DARPA that is aimed at reducing the military's reliance on increasingly expensive petroleum-based fuel.

General Atomics, the maker of the Pentagon's celebrated Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, and SAIC will effectively compete to develop viable and affordable production systems for algae-derived fuel that can be used in place of petroleum-based jet fuel, known as JP-8, now used in military aircraft.

San Diego-based General Atomics received an initial award of $19.9 million for the first phase of its contract, with the potential to get a total of $43 million if DARPA approves later phases of the project.

"The goal of this 36-month program is to reduce the cost of [producing biofuel from algae] to a level that will offer DOD an affordable, reliable long term supply of JP-8," the San Diego-based company said in a Jan. 19 press release. "This will involve identifying key cost drivers and investigating multiple approaches to increasing productivity and reducing operating and/or capital costs.

"The program will address algae selection and growth; water, carbon dioxide and nutrient supply; algae harvesting; oil extraction; and conversion to JP-8--all in the context of an overall JP-8 life-cycle cost model. The contract will conclude with a pre-pilot scale demonstration.

SAIC received an initial award of $14.9 million, with a total of $25 million available if its planned research effort runs its course.

"Phase 1 will concentrate on technology selection and development, pilot plant site analyses, system integration, and economic modeling and analysis, culminating in a lab-scale production capability, preliminary production facility design, and the delivery of samples for testing," the company said in a Jan. 26 press release. "SAIC will also develop detailed commercialization and qualification plans showing a path to commercial and military systems viability. Phase 2 will focus on the final design, integration and operation of a pre-pilot scale production facility.

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