32 AMERICANWAY
DECEMBER 15 2008
S C I E N C E
make it easier togrowacresof algae inmass
quantities. Plus, algae also can be grown in
wastewater, uses carbondioxide as it grows,
and produces fewer hydrocarbons when
burned, providing a hedge against climate
change, which is a huge benefit. The cost of
getting the oils out of the algae is dropping
aswell, now that scientistshaveamuchbet-
ter understanding of algae’s fat-producing
cycle: Starving it actuallymakes it produce
more fat.Thismeanscompaniescanholdoff
on the food at the end and thenharvest the
organismsat their fattiest.
“It cost $10,000 three years ago to pro-
duce one gallon of algae gas, $3,000 in
2006, and $20 this year,” says Will Thur-
mond, chairman of research and devel-
opment for the NAA. “The cost curve is
dropping rapidly.”
Ofcourse themajormoney—andhype—
haspoured intoalgaebiofuel.BillGates just
invested in the SanDiego start-upSapphire
Energy, which intends to make auto fuel
fromalgaeand thenexpand intodeveloping
gasolineequivalents likediesel and jet fuel.
Airbus and Honeywell recently an-
nounced that they’redevelopinga jet fuelby
using vegetation- and algae-based oils. By
2030, they hope to power a third of com-
mercial aircraft this way. And a variety of
other companies, including Boeing, Chev-
ron, andRoyalDutchShell, arealso looking
intoalgae’spotential.
“The yield ismuchhigher than anything
else we know of, and it’s not competing
with food sources,” says Bill Glover, direc-
tor of environmental strategy for Boeing
Commercial Aircraft. “We want people to
enjoy commercial aviation with a clean-
energy solution. This is away todo that.”
Estimates onwhen airlinersmightwide-
lyuse algal jet fuel vary, ranging from three
years tomore thanadecade.Fuelmixes that
incorporate algal biofuel will likelymake it
tomarket first. Boeinghas predicted that a
fifty-fiftymixof algalbiofuel andpetroleum
jet fuel could be available early in the next
decade, but, Glover says, such mixes may
not power the world’s entire air fleet until
2025, simply because of the difficulty of
creating the infrastructure togrowandpro-
cess thatmuchbiofuel.
Companies are already taking the first
real steps in that direction, though. In
February 2008, the start-up Solazyme,
based in San Francisco, produced an algal
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