BIO Sensing of Australia Δ 13th of January 2014 Ω 5:11 AM

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~ The Univesity of Queensland ~ CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ
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~ The Univesity of Queensland

»The Univesity of Queensland
ξ researchers from the University of Bielefeld in Germany and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia,
ξ have genetically changed the single-cell green alga 'Chlamydomonas reinhardtii'
ξ it produces an especially large amount of hydrogen
ξ this gas can then be burned to produce energy; no carbon dioxide is produced, but instead only water
ξ certain algae can produce hydrogen during the photosynthetic process
ξ the catch was efficiency, as one litre of alga produces only about 100 ml of hydrogen; then it's over, because the cells die off
ξ the genetically altered variant boosts this up to half a litre of hydrogen
ξ it could, in the long run, produce five times the volume made by the wild form of alga
ξ economic feasibility with regard to algae sets in only when the energy efficiency -
ξ the conversion of sunlight into hydrogen - reaches 7-10 percent
ξ alga in its natural form achieves at most a meagre 0.1 percent
ξ the new 'turbo-alga' has now come up to 1.6-2.0 percent

IMB scientists developing clean energy systems from micro-algae
ξ an international consortium established by an Australian scientist
ξ developing a clean source of energy that could see some of our future fuel and
ξ possibly water needs being generated by solar-powered bio-reactors and micro-algae while absorbing CO2
ξ associate Professor Ben Hankamer, from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at The University of Queensland,
ξ has established the Solar Bio-fuels Consortium which is engineering green algal cells and advanced bio-reactor systems to produce bio-fuels
ξ such as hydrogen in a CO2-neutral process
ξ the development of clean fuels to combat climate change and protect against oil price shocks is an urgent challenge facing our society
ξ Associate Professor Hankamer co-directs the Consortium with Professor Olaf Kruse from the University of Bielefeld in Germany
ξ many countries are already aiming to replace 10-20% of their existing energy production capacity with CO2-neutral energy systems by 2020
ξ some reports indicate that 50-66% of current energy production capacity may have to be CO2-free by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of climate change
ξ fuels make up about two-thirds of the energy market
ξ most low-CO2 emission technologies, such as nuclear power and clean coal technology, target the electricity market
ξ the solar bio-hydrogen process uses solar-powered bioreactors filled with single-celled algae to produce hydrogen from water
ξ algae naturally capture sunlight
ξ use its energy to split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen
ξ this process is not efficient enough to make it commercially viable
ξ the Consortium uses this natural reaction, but is developing ways of enhancing its efficiency to a level where the process will be economically viable
ξ with the help of a $286 000 Australian Research Council grant received
ξ once key technical milestones are overcome, this technology could achieve economic viability,
ξ which will increase further with the introduction of carbon trading schemes and the predicted rise in the oil price

Micro-algae
ξ focused on micro-algae as a source of hydrogen because they have several advantages over traditional bio-fuel crops
ξ in drought-stricken countries like Australia hydrogen can be produced from salt water
ξ marine and salt-tolerant algae can extract hydrogen and oxygen from seawater
ξ on combustion these gases produce fresh water and electricity, which can be fed into the national grid
ξ consequently, clean energy production can theoretically be coupled with desalination
ξ one of the current concerns about traditional bio-fuel crops is that they will compete with food production for arable land and water
ξ in contrast, algal bioreactors can be placed on non-arable land and use much less water than conventional bio-fuel crops
ξ this opens up new economic opportunities for arid regions
ξ eliminates competition with agricultural crops or rainforest regions which are increasingly being used to plant oil palms for bio-diesel production
ξ algae also have a very short life cycle and can be harvested every one to ten days
ξ rather than once or twice a year, increasing yield
ξ one other major benefit of the hydrogen production process is that it absorbs CO2
ξ starting to investigate whether hydrogen producing systems can be linked to conventional power stations to sequester CO2
ξ which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere
ξ Media contacts: Associate Professor Hankamer b.hankamer@imb.uq.edu.au

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~ CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

»CSIRO

General
ξ microalgae are a largely untapped reservoir of novel and valuable bioactive compounds
ξ current research includes investigating the production of fatty acids, pigments, vitamins and other bioactive compounds by microalgae
ξ industry applications include nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, aquaculture and agricultural applications

Growth and biomass
ξ microalgae are grown using different culture systems to optimise growth and production of biomass and bioactive molecules
ξ this is essential for applications in aquaculture and biotechnology
ξ as part of a collaboration with University of Florence,
ξ photobioreactor technology is used to grow microalgae including novel strains

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