SBAE Industries

Biofuel- and Biotech Companies , , , , 0 Comment

About SBAE

SBAE is an advanced biotech company specialized in the enabling of industrial production of microalgae.

SBAE has a unique expertise in selecting, cultivating and treating microalgae.

The company employs approximately 20 people, of which several have PhD levels in Biology / Biotechnology, forming a world class algae specialist team.

The R&D-team was able to convert its in-depth knowledge into large scale algae production techniques. SBAE developed and patented its own production platforms.

The Company’s strategy is based on two main axes:

  • Production of high quality algae at the lowest production cost. Presently SBAE has its focus on the aquaculture market and the microalgae business can be expanded to other markets.
  • Technology transfer for the construction of large scale algae farms(e.g. biofuel production plants).

The algae technology developed by SBAE can be used in several sectors such as:

  • Aquaculture Nutraceuticals
  • Waste water treatment
  • Cosmetics
  • Renewable energy
  • Biofuels
  • Animal Feed
  • Fine Chemicals

SBAE developed and patented two main technologies for the industrial production of microalgae, AlgaForce and DiaForce.

No matter what production system is used, the cultivation of algae relies heavily on the knowledge of algae populations and the creation of the right environment.

Source: http://www.sbae-industries.com/About/Company.html

Algae Converted to Butanol

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hollow_fiber_membranes

Algae growth is enhanced by delivering high concentrations of carbon dioxide through hollow fiber membranes that look like long strands of spaghetti. The algae are grown on “raceway” troughs. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Arkansas, Fayetteville)

A team of chemical engineers at the University of Arkansas has developed a method for converting common algae into butanol, a renewable fuel that can be used in existing combustible engines.

The green technology benefits from and adds greater value to a process being used now to clean and oxygenate U.S. waterways by removing excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer in runoff.

“We can make cars go,” says Jamie Hestekin, assistant professor and leader of the project. “Our conversion process is efficient and inexpensive. Butanol has many advantages compared to ethanol, but the coolest thing about this process is that we’re actually making rivers and lakes healthier by growing and harvesting the raw material.”

Hestekin and his research team — undergraduates from the Honors College and several graduate students, including a doctoral student who has discovered a more efficient and technologically superior fermentation method — grow algae on “raceways,” which are long troughs — usually two feet wide and ranging from five feet to 80-feet long, depending on the scale of the operation. The troughs are made of screens or carpet, although Hestekin said algae will grow on almost any surface.

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Algae survive on nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon dioxide and natural sunlight, so the researchers grow algae by running nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich creek water over the surface of the troughs. They enhance this growth by delivering high concentrations of carbon dioxide through hollow fiber membranes that look like long strands of spaghetti.

Municipal and state governments, primarily on the East Coast, have implemented large-scale processes similar to this to address so-called “dead zones,” where excess nitrogen and phosphorus have killed fish and plants.

The researchers harvest the algae every five to eight days by vacuuming or scraping it off the screens. After waiting for it to dry, they crush and grind the algae into a fine powder as the means to extract carbohydrates from the plant cells. Carbohydrates are made of sugars and starches.

For this project, Hestekin’s team works with starches. They treat the carbohydrates with acid and then heat them to break apart the starches and convert them into simple, natural sugars. They then begin a unique, two-step fermentation process in which organisms turn the sugars into organic acids — butyric, lactic and acetic.

The second stage of the fermentation process focuses on butyric acid and its conversion into butanol. The researchers use a unique process called electrodeionization, a technique developed by one of Hestekin’s doctoral students.

This technique involves the use of a special membrane that rapidly and efficiently separates the acids during the application of electrical charges. By quickly isolating butyric acid, the process increases productivity, which makes the conversion process easier and less expensive.

As Hestekin mentioned, Butanol has several significant advantages over ethanol, the current primary additive in gasoline. Butanol releases more energy per unit mass and can be mixed in higher concentrations than ethanol. It is less corrosive than ethanol and can be shipped through existing pipelines.

These attributes are in addition to the advantages gleaned from butanol’s source. Unlike corn, algae are not in demand by the food industry. Furthermore, it can be grown virtually anywhere and thus does not require large tracts of valuable farmland.

Hestekin’s team is currently working with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to create biofuel from algae grown at the Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Queens.

Research articles detailing findings from algae-to-fuel project have been submitted to Biotechnology and Bioengineering and Separation Science and Technology.

For more information visit www.uark.edu.

 

Source: http://www.pddnet.com/news-university-of-arkansas-algae-converted-to-butanol-030211/

UK ‘dream team’ begins search for cost-effective algae biofuel

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Greenwise Staff
22nd March 2010
A team of UK scientists is to begin work to find a winning formula for cultivating 70 billion litres of algae biofuel by 2030.

The scientists from 11 UK academic institutions have been picked to take part in the Algae Biofuels Challenge, an £8 million fund to develop a commercial market for algae biofuels first launched in October 2008 by the Carbon Trust, the Government agency set up to develop low carbon technologies for the UK.

The 11 institutions will screen thousands of strains of algae to find the right ones that can produce large quantities of carbon neutral fuels. Additional research will develop methods for enabling large-scale production in algae ponds.

“Dream team” of 70 algae scientists

“We have pulled together a dream team of over 70 UK algae scientists who have the expert knowledge to turn algae into a British biofuel success story,” said Tom Delay chief executive of the Carbon Trust. 

“Applying principles this country has developed from its proud agricultural heritage and leading bioscience expertise we will be developing a truly sustainable biofuel that could provide up to 80 per cent carbon savings compared to diesel savings in car and jet fuel. With a market value of over £15 billion the potential rewards are high.”

The move highlights the urgency for the UK to develop carbon neutral fuels if it is to meet its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Transport accounts for one-quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions and is growing at a faster rate than any other sector.

“Global race” to commercialise the use of algae biofuel

The Carbon Trust described the UK research project as being in “a global race” to commercialise the use of algae biofuel as an alternative to fossil-based oil. 

Globally, initial forecasts suggest that algae-based biofuels could replace over 70 billion litres of fossil-derived fuels used annually in road transport and aviation by 2030 – equivalent to 12 per cent of annual global jet fuel consumption or six per cent of road transport diesel. This would equate to an annual carbon saving of over 160 million tonnes of CO2 globally.

Algae can be grown on non-arable land using seawater or wastewater. This is considered to be environmentally, ecologically and socially more desirable than biofuels made from food crops, which have been blamed for rising food prices.

Moreover, if successful, the Carbon Trust says algae could deliver six to 10 times more energy per hectare than conventional cropland biofuels.

But with costs of algae biodiesel currently estimated to be approximately $5-$10 a litre, the focus is now is on finding more cost-effective production methods to ultimately bring the cost down to less than $1 a litre.

Algae ‘ponds’ larger than Wales

The Carbon Trust says production of 70 billion litres of biofuel will require man-made algae ponds equivalent to a landmass larger than Wales to be built in optimum locations across the world. Next year, the Carbon Trust plans to start construction of a pilot demonstration plant in an equatorial region where algae are most productive, and is also looking to investigate possible locations for large-scale plants, which could be, for example, next to industrial facilities located near the sea.

The eleven institutions that will lead the algae biofuel research are the University of Coventry; London Queen Mary; University of Manchester; University of Newcastle; Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML); Scottish Association for Marine Science; University of Sheffield; University of Southampton; University of Swansea (Supported by Bangor University and PML).

They will research five key areas:
• Isolation and screening of algae strains suitable for open pond mass culture
• Maximising solar conversion efficiency in mass culture
• Achieving both high oil content and high productivity in mass culture
• Sustained algae cultivation in open ponds (resistance to competing organisms, predators and diseases)
• Design and engineering of cost effective mass culture systems

Commenting on the project, Transport Minister, Sadiq Khan, said: “This project demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that second generation biofuels are truly sustainable – and to show the potential from microalgae to be refined for use in renewable transport fuel development, to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.”

Source: http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/uk-dream-team-begins-search-for-costeffective-algae-biofuel-1234.aspx

Discover the radiation protective benefits of Spirulina and Chlorella

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radiation

Protecting yourself in the event of a serious radiation event involves much more than simply loading up on potassium iodide and various other iodine supplements. While high levels of iodine do protect the thyroid and glandular systems from radiation poisoning, they do not necessarily protect the rest of your body from the devastating and deadly effects of nuclear radiation. However, two amazing superfoods — Spirulina and Chlorella — offer substantiated protection against harmful radiation. They also help to detoxify the body of harmful radiation after exposure, effectively protecting organs and other areas not protected by iodine.

Spirulina, the incredible medical food used to treat child victims of Chernobyl

The numerous curative and health-promoting properties of Spirulina are truly amazing. This blue-green algae superfood is rich in vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, and antioxidants, all of which make it highly beneficial as an anti-aging, anti-cancer, and super-detoxifying miracle food (http://www.naturalnews.com/spirulin…).

But little known is the incredible radioprotective power of Spirulina. Numerous studies have found that Spirulina protects the body against — and even heals it from — the damaging effects of harmful radiation.

A 1989 study put forth by researchers from Zhongkai Agriculture and Technology College in China found in tests that Spirulina significantly reduces the gamma radiation-induced micronucleus frequencies in the bone marrow of affected mice. Bone marrow, of course, is responsible for producing new blood cells and maintaining the lymphatic system (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

A 1993 report published by the Research Institute of Radiation Medicine in Belarus confirmed previous research conducted in 1990-91 which found that Spirulina effectively decreases the radioactive load received by the body when consuming radiation-contaminated food. After just 20 days, children fed five-gram doses of Spirulina every day experienced an average 50 percent reduction in urine radioactivity levels (http://www.iimsam.org/publications_…).

In a study released by Mechnikov Odessa State University in Ukraine in 2000, Spirulina proved effective at increasing phosphate, pyruvate, and antioxidant levels in rats with lesions caused by 5 gray units (Gy) of high-energy radiation. Full-body exposure to 5 Gy or more typically leads to death within 14 days, but Spirulina helped to prevent this (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

A 2001 study conducted by researchers from the Medical and Pharmaceutical Academe of Yangzhou University in China found that Spirulina extracts effectively protect against both the damage caused by chemotherapy drugs and the damaging effects of gamma radiation exposure (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

Those negatively affected by high levels of radiation after working on cleanup efforts following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster experienced improvements in the autoregulatory functionality of their bodily organs and other systems, as well as long-term remission from overall radiation damage, after being treated with a regimen that included Spirulina (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

Spirulina works so well at mitigating the damage caused by radiation that it was actually awarded a Russian patent in 1995 for improving the immunity of children affected by radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. Many exposed children became stricken with chronic radiation sickness and elevated Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, and they also tested positive for high allergy sensitivity. But upon consuming roughly five milligrams (mg) of Spirulina a day for 45 days, the children’s IgE levels and allergic sensitivities were restored back to normal.

Conclusively, Spirulina offers remarkable radioprotective benefits in addition to its many other health-promoting benefits. Regular consumption of Spirulina not only helps to boost immune function and normalize the systems in the body that regulate and maintain overall health, but the superfood also offers a surefire way to mitigate the damaging effects of harmful radiation (http://jpronline.info/article/viewF…).

Chlorella, the detoxifying superfood with amazing radioprotective benefits

Much like Spirulina, Chlorella is loaded with an astounding array vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that help detoxify the body of heavy metals and other contaminants. The single-cell algae also helps to prevent and repair DNA damage, balance the body’s pH levels, fight inflammation, improve digestive health, and boost immune function (http://www.naturalnews.com/027894_c…).

And as far as harmful radiation is concerned, Chlorella is a powerful weapon to both prevent radioactive damage and heal it once it has occurred.

A 1989 study put forth by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences demonstrated that Chlorella effectively increases production of bone marrow and spleen stem cells. And in tests, Chlorella greatly helped improve survival rates among mice irradiated with a lethal dose of radioactive gamma rays (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

In 1993, researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University in India also found that Chlorella is effective at protecting against and mitigating the damage caused by both acute and chronic radioactive damage (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

A 1995 study published in the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology found that when administered before or upon exposure to sub-lethal radioactive gamma rays, Chlorella helps to boost levels of colony-forming spleen cells. Such cells exist within the bone marrow and are essential for the production of vital blood elements and immune factors (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…).

Ultimately, the incredible detoxifying power of Chlorella is not limited to toxins like mercury, aluminum, and fluoride. Just like it does to toxic heavy metals, Chlorella binds to radioactive particles and literally flushes them out of the body. In complete synergy with its many other health-promoting functions, Chlorella is a vital superfood nutrient that numerous scientific studies have proven helps to guard the body against radioactive damage (http://www.naturalnews.com/027361_c…).

Both Spirulina and Chlorella are absolutely essential weapons in any natural radioprotective arsenal. Together, these powerful sea-based nutrients help to rid the body of radiation and the many other toxins that cause both acute and chronic damage to the body.