Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States Committee on the Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources Division on Earth and Life Studies Board on Energy and Environmental Systems Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences PREPUBLICATION COPY THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. DE-DT0001899 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data or International Standard Book Number 0-309-0XXXX-X Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 97-XXXXX [Availability from program office as desired.] Additional copies of this report are available for sale from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu/ . Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America COVER: Design by Anne Rogers. Photo courtesy of Sammy Boussiba, J. Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Sde-Boker. 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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org . PREPUBLICATION COPY COMMITTEE ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF ALGAL BIOFUELS JENNIE C. HUNTER CEVERA, Chair, Hunter and Associates, Ellicott City, Maryland SAMMY BOUSSIBA, J. Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Sde-Boker JOEL L. CUELLO, The University of Arizona, Tuscon CLIFFORD S. DUKE, Ecological Society of America, Washington, DC REBECCA A. EFROYMSON, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee SUSAN S. GOLDEN, University of California, San Diego JENNIFER HOLMGREN, Lanzatech, Roselle, Illinois DONALD L. JOHNSON, Grain-Processing Corporation (Retired), Muscatine, Iowa MARK E. JONES, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan VAL H. SMITH, The University of Kansas, Lawrence CAI STEGER, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, New York GREGORY N. STEPHANAPOULOS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts LARRY P. WALKER, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York ERIC WILLIAMS, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York PAUL V. ZIMBA, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi Editor LESLIE G. COPLIN Staff EVONNE P.Y. TANG, Study Codirector K. JOHN HOLMES, Study Codirector RUTH S. ARIETI, Research Associate KATHLEEN REIMER, Senior Program Assistant ROBIN A. SCHOEN, Director JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Director v PREPUBLICATION COPY BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES NORMAN R. SCOTT, Chair, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (Emeritus) PEGGY F. BARLETT, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia HAROLD L. BERGMAN, University of Wyoming, Laramie RICHARD A. DIXON, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma DANIEL M. DOOLEY, University of California, Oakland JOAN H. EISEMANN, North Carolina State University, Raleigh GARY F. HARTNELL, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri GENE HUGOSON, Global Initiatives for Food Systems Leadership, St. Paul, Minnesota MOLLY M. JAHN, University of Wisconsin-Madison ROBBIN S. JOHNSON, Cargill Foundation, Wayzata, Minnesota A.G. KAWAMURA, Solutions from the Land, Washington, DC JULIA L. KORNEGAY, North Carolina State University, Raleigh KIRK C. KLASING, University of California, Davis VICTOR L. LECHTENBERG, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana PHILIP E. NELSON, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana KEITH PITTS, Marrone Bio Innovations, Davis, California CHARLES W. RICE, Kansas State University, Manhattan HAL SALWASSER, Oregon State University, Corvallis ROGER A. SEDJO, Resources for the Future, Washington, District of Columbia KATHLEEN SEGERSON, University of Connecticut, Storrs MERCEDES VAZQUEZ-AÑON, Novus International, Inc., St. Charles, Missouri Staff ROBIN A. SCHOEN, Director CAMILLA YANDOC ABLES, Program Officer RUTH S. ARIETI, Research Associate KAREN L. IMHOF, Administrative Coordinator KARA N. LANEY, Program Officer JANET M. MULLIGAN, Senior Program Associate for Research KATHLEEN REIMER, Senior Program Assistant EVONNE P.Y. TANG, Senior Program Officer PEGGY TSAI, Program Officer vi i PREPUBLICATION COPY BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS ANDREW BROWN, JR., Chair, Delphi Corporation, Troy, Michigan WILLIAM F. BANHOLZER, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan MARILYN BROWN, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta WILLIAM CAVANAUGH III, Progress Energy (retired), Raleigh, North Carolina PAUL DeCOTIS, Long Island Power Authority, Albany, New York CHRISTINE EHLIG-ECONOMIDES, Texas A&M University, College Station SHERRI GOODMAN, CNA, Alexandria, Virginia NARAIN HINGORANI, Independent Consultant, Los Altos Hills, California ROBERT HUGGETT, Independent Consultant, Seaford, Virginia DEBBIE NIEMEIER, University of California, Davis DANIEL NOCERA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MICHAEL OPPENHEIMER, Princeton University, New Jersey DAN REICHER, Stanford University, California BERNARD ROBERTSON, Daimler-Chrysler (retired), Bloomfield Hills, Michigan GARY ROGERS, FEV, Inc, Auburn Hills, Michigan ALISON SILVERSTEIN, Consultant, Pflugerville, Texas MARK THIEMENS, University of California, San Diego RICHARD WHITE, Oppenheimer & Company, New York City Staff JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Director DANA CAINES, Financial Associate ALAN CRANE, Senior Program Officer K. JOHN HOLMES, Senior Program Officer LANITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator ALICE WILLIAMS, Senior Program Assistant JONATHAN YANGER, Senior Project Assistant ix PREPUBLICATION COPY Preface The desire to develop energy sources that can provide greater environmental and security benefits has spurred research and investments in the development of alternatives to petroleum, the dominant source of liquid transportation fuels. Because of its high biomass (and oil productivity in some cases), algae and cyanobacteria (commonly referred to as blue-green algae) frequently have been considered a promising renewable feedstock for fuel production. We all were taught that petroleum and other fossil fuels formed on this planet from plant remains that were compressed for millions of years at high temperatures. It seems fitting that scientists would choose to study some of the most primitive life forms to develop large-scale biofuel replacements for such fossil fuels. Algae have been grown under a variety of conditions for the production of lipids and high-value products for several decades. Two factors that influenced the consideration of algal biofuel production in the past were the costs of a barrel of oil and the ability to cultivate algae and process them into transportation fuel at a reasonable cost. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) had a robust program to develop biofuels from algae from 1978 to 1996, when it was concluded that algal biofuel would not be cost competitive with petroleum soon. Fast forward to 2012, and with advances in genetics and engineering, we are back to the future in considering whether algae can be an economic and sustainable alternative source of liquid transportation fuels. Could it be that use of algae to produce biofuels is the answer to becoming less dependent on foreign oil? At the request of DOE, the National Research Council (NRC) appointed a committee of 15 experts with diverse backgrounds and experience to examine the sustainability of algal biofuels. The committee reviewed many scientific papers and government and industry reports, and listened first hand to company representatives, academic experts, and government agency program managers who deal with production of algal biofuels. The committee also met three times and held regularly scheduled conference calls to deliberate and reach agreement as to how to best address the charge from DOE to identify potential sustainability concerns, mitigate environmental concerns, and identify indicators of sustainability and metrics that could be used to monitor progress as the technology advances on several fronts. ix PREPUBLICATION COPY x PREFACE In its consideration of the task, the committee examined the algal biofuel supply chain from the characteristics of the species to the methods for cultivation and processing into fuels. It separated the potential pathways for deployment into four basic scenarios and used those scenarios to help assess the resource needs and environmental concerns resulting from the location and design of large-scale production. The outcome of the current knowledge available through literature and discussion by the committee is this report on sustainable development of algal biofuels. This report does not address economic analyses or comparative life-cycle analyses. However, it provides a framework for assessing sustainability as the DOE continues to invest in algal biofuel research and development. I thank the committee members and NRC staff for the very stimulating and thought- provoking dialogue and for their many contributions to the writing of this report. Jennie C. Hunter-Cevera Chair, Committee on Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels PREPUBLICATION COPY