Project:Algal biodiesel
Granny's Homebrew Algal Biodiesel
Biodiesel production aims to use vegetal or animal oils as a renewable substitute for ordinary diesel. Supposedly the UK is presently committed to deriving at least 5% of all transport diesel from biodiesel by 2010. It has powered jetflight and (when mixed with ordinary diesel) UK trains. It would be interesting to start probing the possibility of homebrew production.
The Hackspace doesn't have a field, so we have to explore algal biofuels. Microalgae are also attractive because they provide much higher yields of biomass and fuels, 10-100 times higher than comparable energy crops, and algae biofuel is non-toxic, contains no sulfur, and is highly biodegradable.
Whilst it would be wonderful for the project to eventually be able to harness enough solar or heat energy to not require a net input of chemical or electrical energy, it's not likely that we can either source enough light or drive the reactions efficiently enough for this to be feasible.
Process
Algal cultivation
Presumably aquatic algae (Hydrophilus) are the way forwards. Two alternatives: open pond or closed. There doesn't, for now, seem to be a problem with starting off in flasks (on a shaker table, for example) and then looking to move to slow-circulating streams through tubes wrapped around a light source (for example). Sources online suggest that culture density will increase to a point where light cannot penetrate more than 10cm.
Conditions
We need to think about nutrients. Being able to rely on wastewater and other nutrient sources (used coffee grinds?) would be fantastic; perhaps initially we should use standard aquatic fertiliser to ensure nutrient stability and sterility.
A strain capable of living at high or low pH would help us keep the system sterile (without having to regularly drain it and clean it then re-innoculate) in much the same way as sourdough cultures create their own inhospitable conditions to keep parasites out.
Monitoring
Perhaps someone with Arduino smarts could design a system capable of monitoring temperature, pH and light absorption, allowing us to remotely monitor and log growth, make adjustments and comparisons between growth rates.
