Exxon commercial: I’ve been growing algae for 35 years. Most people try to get rid of algae and I try to grow it.

That’s ExxonMobil’s recent ad extolling the promise of algae as an oil source.  The oil giant has sunk 600 million dollars into algal research, and many of its competitors are following suit.  But it’s not just the big oil companies; as many as 200 companies of varying sizes world wide are researching or developing algal biofuels. 

Bargiel: On a per acre basis they produce more oil than any other plant or any other thing on Earth so that means that they also have the potential to be the most economic source of biofuels.

That’s Jeff Bargiel, business development specialist at Phycal, located in Highland Heights.  Phycal’s small–scale facility employs about 30 people and much of its research is conducted here.  As Bargiel showed me their pools of the bluish-green plants, he explained that they think they’ve found an edge that will put them at the forefront of algal research.

Bargiel: So, Olexal machine, and then it comes out of dewatering and this is our heteroboost machine.

That Olexal machine is what they consider their big breakthrough. Most of the algae that are used in biofuels research are the single-cell type, similar to the kind you may find growing in your pool. Usually, to harvest algae the entire pond has to be drained. Bargiel says that’s not exactly cost-effective.

Bargiel: There’s very few algae for every gallon of water so you have to remove a lot of water in order to harvest all that algae and it’s been one of the biggest cost hurdles to producing algae economically.

Bargiel says the Olexal technology allows them to harvest the algae without draining the entire pond. Not only that – while most companies kill the algae to squeeze the oil out, Bargiel says Olexal’s process “milks” the algae. The machine removes the oil from the algae, and then puts them back into the pond to get fat again.

Bargiel: So you’re milking the cow instead of killing it. If you killed a cow every time you wanted a gallon of milk you would have very expensive milk and a lot of dead cows.

The second part of their technology is called “heteroboost.” This is where they fatten up the algae so they produce as much oil as possible.

Bargiel: If the Olexal is milking, Heteroboost is the feedlot.

This all sounds very promising … so why aren’t we seeing algal based bio-diesel in our cars and planes yet?

Darzens: The industry is still in its infancy.

Al Darzens is group manager at the National Renewable Energy Lab, a part of the US Department of Energy that focuses on renewable energy research.

Darzens: We’re gearing up worldwide, not only in the United States but worldwide but its’ really going to take at least about a dozen years before we start ramping up production.

Phycal’s next step is to build a large-scare pilot plant in Hawaii, with the help of 3 million dollars from the Federal Government for design and planning. Chris Cullis, Chair of the Biology Department at Case Western Reserve University, says that’s a big step, and sounds a cautionary note: 

Cullis: Often scale-ups are where lots of processes start to fall apart in terms of the economics.

Cullis says biological matter often acts one way in the lab, and then completely differently on a larger scale. He says another concern for these companies is timing; funding tends to fluctuate with the energy market, so companies like Phycal need to bring production costs down while oil prices are high.

Cullis: That’s always been a problem; that it goes up and down. So it’s biofuels research, it’s alternative energy research it’s solar cells, it’s wind power, it’s everything else - as oil prices drop and people say ‘oh yeah oil prices are back to $30 a barrel, we’re going to stop doing that.’ I mean it certainly is at the mercy of that.

Berner: In that case the market is saying it’s not ready for us.

Phycal CEO Kevin Berner says he’s okay with that.

Berner: You know no one has a God given right to expensive energy and we have to work as hard as we can to make it inexpensive.

Berner says he’s confident Phycal will be able to produce commercially inexpensive algal oils.

Berner: Will it happen in one year or two years? Hell no.

But maybe in another decade, algae based bio-diesels will be the norm, and big ponds filled with those little green plants will replace oil rigs. Or at least work along side them.

Dorband:  “Getting food from a distance that’s within in our minds let’s say 100 miles from where it’s produced is becoming very attractive in today’s marketplace.”

Dorband sees the former Lorain Ford plant, which has already been partially re-purposed - as well-suited and easily adaptable.  There’s plenty of space - out of five and a half million square feet, only about a million are currently in use - and all the necessary systems like heating and electrical are already in place. 

As for the fish farm itself, the plan calls for a fully self contained and self-sustaining facility.  Tanks housing the fish would have water circulating through them to carry away the waste - the fish feces - which would would be used to fertilize hydroponic plant material in a second tank.  That plant material would be composted to raise worms, which in turn would be used to feed the fish.  No pollution, no need to deplete wild fish stocks for feed, and - if the system is designed right - no need for extensive use of antibiotics. 

Dorband says this kind of state-of-the-art food production for local consumption already has a track record.  He describes one facility already up and running in Milwaukee. 

Dorband:  “For about five years now a two-and-a-half acre urban agriculture production facility - most of which is aquaculture based - is producing enough food to feed 50 thousand people in a two-and-a-half acre site.  And there are a number of those kinds of projects initiating around the country.  So we’re kind of excited to be at the front end of something that we think can have really dramatic growth in a really short time frame.”

Dorband says the only thing standing in the way of his company’s project is financing.