How To Fuel The Future

Poultry Litter, Algae Can Play Key Bio-Energy Role, JMU Students Conclude

As seen in the Daily News Record
Posted: October 11, 2011
By NATE DELESLINE III

HARRISONBURG — The Valley’s abundant supply of nutrient-rich poultry litter can support the large-scale production of algae for use as biofuel, according to a study by two James Madison University science students.

Jackson Adolph and Mike DePaola are both seniors majoring in integrated science and technology with a concentration in biotechnology. Adolph and DePaola, under the guidance of JMU professor Chris Bachmann, spent the last year studying how to turn algae into an environmentally friendly and sustainable replacement for traditional carbon-based fuels.

“Algae really presented itself as the heir apparent to petroleum products as a transportation fuel,” Adolph said.

He and DePaola shared their work Monday at James Madison’s Fall Research Review. The event was sponsored by Valley 25x’25, a JMU-led organization that’s working to increase the use of renewable energy.

Although the concept of algae for fuel isn’t new, the students said it’s gaining attention from some high-profile institutions and companies, including the U.S. Navy and Exxon Mobil, which recently invested $600 million in algae fuel research.

“I think relative to other options, there’s a larger potential to get more energy out of using chicken litter to grow algae and in turn create fuel and other bio-products,” Adolph said.

Algae, which lack the complex structures found in other types of plants, grow quickly and readily in conditions that other aquatic life can’t tolerate. An overgrowth of algae, however, also can smother natural and manmade waterways.

Another Litter Alternative

Poultry litter — essentially animal waste and sawdust — can be used as fertilizer, but environmentalists and government regulators cite the nutrients it contains as a major factor in Chesapeake Bay pollution.

While proposals to burn the litter in specially designed plants to create electricity have been made in recent years, that option hasn’t gained much traction. Critics have cited concerns over the logistics and economics of sustaining such a model, while the idea also has drawn fire over pollution worries.

“[One of] the platforms for this project was, ‘Here we are getting blamed for excess nutrients that’s running into the bay, going into the saltwater making all these problems,”’ Bachmann said.

Using poultry litter to supplement algae growth would in theory take another bite out of the Valley’s farm pollution problem.

Adolph and DePaola propose raising the algae in offshore areas, containing it by using semipermeable tubing.

To extract the oil, one method is to spray a fine mist of algae-laden water on a hot metal plate. The water essentially evaporates, leaving the algae behind.

The remaining material is then pressed to extract the oil, allowing the leftover oil-free algae material available for use as an ingredient in vitamins or animal feed.

According to the students, using algae as fuel shows more promise than corn for ethanol because algae produce more fuel and require less production area.

“[With corn], there’s a huge amount of land resource needed,” DePaola said. “There’s a much higher input and a lower [energy] output.”

Right now, economic feasibility remains a challenge for putting the idea into practice, but Adolph and DePaola say they plan to study that aspect in the future.

Contact Nate Delesline III at 574-6275 or ndelesline@dnronline.com