New Project

I’ve just been selected for a freelance job to write articles about cosmetic surgery! I’m really pleased on several levels; firstly because I won the project through Freelancer.com – a site that is usually full of scammers and time-wasters – but this buyer seems very genuine and professional. He wasn’t put off by my insistence on a contract so that’s a very good sign! I’m also intrigued by the subject matter in terms of both the surgical processes and the psychology of the people who choose to have it done. I’ve actually had reconstructive surgery myself – not for cosmetic reasons as such, but to repair my cheek after an unfortunate injury 10 years ago (see Happy New Year!), so it’s a topic quite close to me. I’m looking forward to getting started!

Algae As A Feedstock For Biodiesel Production

Here’s my newest offering for the Our Green Earth website. I actually wrote this article before Christmas but it’s only just been posted. The topic this time is something that I was berated for missing out of my first ever OGE article about alternative fuel sources; the potential of algae for the production of biofuels. Enjoy!

Algae as a feedstock for biodiesel production

[Edit 3rd December 2010: Sadly, Our Green Earth no longer exists but the owner has very kindly handed back copyright of my articles to me. Here, for your reading pleasure, is Algae as a Feedstock for Biodiesel Production…]

Algae as a feedstock for biodiesel production

When I wrote the article “New Biofuels Research: Watermelon Bioethanol Production”, the company I work for (BioMed Central, to get in a quick plug!) posted a link to it on their Facebook page. The link generated quite a few comments – mostly positive, I hasten to add! – but one berated me for not considering the use of algae as an important source of biofuels in my article. Of course, I couldn’t hope to cover every piece of new research in this area in one article, but she had a point – the growth of algae in the development of biofuel is an important and emerging area of research, so here’s an article to make up for it!

Animal, vegetable or mineral?

Algae are an oft misunderstood organism. They are frequently mistaken for plants since they are often green, are capable of photosynthesis and can look very much like plants (for example, seaweed). Actually, algae are classified these days as belonging to the phylum protista – complex-celled organisms that have characteristics not found in either plants or animals. Algae can be single-celled or multicellular, and to make matters even more confusing, a subset called the blue-green algae are no longer classified as being algae at all; rather they are called cyanobacteria.

It’s not easy being green

As well as being misunderstood, algae also have a bad reputation. They are blamed for the process of eutrophication – a phenomenon whereby rapid algal growth in bodies of water such as lakes can deplete the oxygen supply, thus killing fish and other aquatic life as well as creating an unsightly looking scum on the water’s surface. However, these algal blooms are the result of eutrophication rather than the cause, since their growth is a response to the presence of high levels of agricultural fertilisers that leach into the water from nearly farmland.

Old ideas, new research

The speed and ease of algal growth however, may one day be used for the greater good. Algae are very good at storing fatty oils, which in turn could be used instead of rapeseed, canola, palm or soy plants as a feedstock to produce biodiesel. This is not, in fact, a new idea. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States initiated research in this field as long ago as the 1970s, yet the project was shelved in the mid-1990s when the price of oil fell so low that it was not thought to be worth the investment. In more recent times, however, as research into renewable energy steps up again, scientists around the world, as well as energy companies, are investing time and money into the development of algae technology on a commercial scale.

Advantages of algal biofuel production

Therein lies the problem of this technology – the scale of production. For all intents and purposes, the production of biodiesel using algae seems like a miracle solution to the world’s rapidly decreasing fossil fuel resources. Algae have a significant advantage over plant crops because they takes up very little space that could be better put to use to grow food crops or to graze livestock. They can be cultured very quickly in ponds of water – even brackish, saline or waste water, and have been reported to yield up to 6000 gallons of fuel per acre per year – significantly more than other feedstocks (palm yields 650 gal/ac/yr; canola, 150 gal; and soy, 50 gal) ⁽¹⁾.

Reducing CO₂ emissions with algae

Because algae are effective photosynthesisers, it has also been suggested that “oilgae” producers could join forces with fossil fuel burning factories and power stations to “mop up” excess CO₂ and thus reduce carbon emissions. Producing algal biodiesel on a large enough scale to be commercially viable, however, is expensive – at the moment, prohibitively so.

Current technology: the cheap method

There are two main ways to grow up enough algae to use for biodiesel. The first is to grow them in open ponds that are cheap and use much less land than plant feedstocks. In addition, the ponds can be placed on non-arable, unproductive land where they do not directly compete with space required for food crops ⁽²⁾. However, the algal ponds can be easily contaminated with invasive species, which significantly limit the yield.

Current technology: the expensive option

For this reason, the current preferred method of algae cultivation is to use specially engineered photobioreactors; devices which supply the algae with all the nutrients they need to grow well in sterile conditions, while also being programmed to heat and cool the algae as required for growth, fermentation and other energy-dependent processes. Closed systems are much more controllable than leaving the algae exposed to the elements, and are capable of yielding much greater quantities of biofuel, but, not surprisingly, they are expensive and some researchers question whether the energy expended during the production process can really allow us to call it a “green technology”.

Hope for the future

Many researchers remain optimistic. Paul Woods, chief executive of the biofuel start-up Algenol Biofuels, says, “I’m a believer that we’re one, two, and three years away from having this on a commercial scale” ⁽¹⁾. New engineering research by Johnson and Wen ⁽²⁾ has succeeded in the development of a prototype that uses an attached microalgal growth system, rather than a free-living culture. This has shown promise in reducing some of the costs involved in algae culture. Other have approached the problem from a different angle by experimenting with different wastewater supplies, for example from dairy farms ⁽³⁾ and household sewerage ⁽⁴⁾, or by trying to genetically engineer a “perfect” strain of algae that will produce optimum yields of oil ⁽⁵⁾.

Final thoughts

It remains to be seen what will come of this research in real, every day terms, but it is certainly exciting and scientists are hopeful that we will see results in just a few years. In fact, China has already reportedly signed a deal with the biofuels firm PetroAlgae Inc. to build 10 commercial algal biodiesel plants ⁽¹⁾. If the technology can indeed be developed to make algal biofuels a genuinely green, commercially viable fuel, that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to preserve our planet and its precious natural resources, then I’m all for it.

References

1. Mascarelli, AL, Algae: fuel of the future? Environmental Science and Technology 43:19 pp 7160-7161, 2009
2. Johnson, MB and Wen, Z, Development of an attached microalgal growth system for biofuel production, Applied Microbiological Biotechnology, 2009
3. Woertz, I, Feffer, A, Lundquist, T and Nelson, Y, Algae grown on dairy and municipal wastewater for simultaneous nutrient removal and lipid production for biofuel feedstock, Journal of Environmental Engineering 135 (11), pp. 1115 – 1122, 2009
4. Wang, L, Min, M, Li, Y, Chen, P, Chen, Y, Liu, Y, Wang Y and Ruan R, Cultivation of Green Algae Chlorella sp. in Different Wastewaters from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, pp. 1-13, 2009
5. Yoon, JY and Riley, MR, Grand challenges for biological engineering, Journal of Biological Engineering 3:16, 2009

Lopsided fish show that symmetry is only skin deep

Copyright Stewart & Albertson; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

This was a fun press release that I wrote for BioMed Central. Ontogenists from Syracuse University have studied the facial evolution of a type of fish that lives in Lake Tangyanika, eastern Africa. These fish feed on the scales of larger fish and reptiles and have evolved wonky jaws to enable them to feed sideways on, thus allowing them to keep an eye out for predators. Isn’t nature clever?

Lopsided Fish Show That Symmetry is Only Skin Deep

Genetics helps to crack down on chimpanzee smuggling

A BioMed Central press release wot I wrote.

The smuggling of live chimpanzees is a big problem in Cameroon since the smugglers can earn vast sums of money from the sale of these animals. Researchers from the University of Albany and the State University of New York have been working in collaboration with Limbe Wildlife Centre to use genetics to help identify the geographic origins of rescued chimpanzees. Using this method, it is hoped that smuggling routes and patterns in the illegal trade can be identified and better protection for wildlife can be achieved.

Genetics Helps to Crack Down on Chimpanzee Smuggling

Shorebirds Shape Up and Ship Out

Another BioMed Central press release. The banning of the chemical fertilizer DDT is great news for the peregrine falcon, whose numbers have increased markedly in the last thirty years. However, more peregrine falcons means more trouble for a Canadian shorebird called the Pacific dunlin, who have now had to modify their roosting behaviour in the fight for survival.

Shorebirds Shape Up and Ship Out

Friendly bacteria love the humble apple

Hurrah, my trial press release has led to more work! Here’s another one published on EurekAlert! In a study using rats, researchers at the National Food Institute at the University of Denmark have found the answer to the question, “Why does an apple a day keep the doctor away?”

Friendly Bacteria Love the Humble Apple

Chromosomes make a rapid retreat from nuclear territories

I wrote some stuff for Our Green Earth. The PR manager at BioMed Central saw it and liked it. She asked me to write a trial press release. This is it.

Chromosomes Make a Rapid Retreat from Nuclear Territories

I didn’t get paid for this one, but PR were pretty impressed, so hopefully it will lead to more work in the future!

Geek Pop 2010

Fellow science geekwriter and friend from my uni days, Hayley Birch is one of the organisers of Geek Pop – an online festival dedicated to music and science – yay! Here’s an advert. Be there *and* be square!

Follow them on Twitter: @geekpop

Comments

I’m really pleased with how my Our Green Earth articles are being received. Not only has BioMed Central‘s PR department noticed my talents and offered me some freelance work writing press releases for their newsworthy articles, but I’ve had quite a few comments on them too. Particularly popular seems to be my article on reducing your carbon footprint – even the owner of the smallest carbon footprint in Britain, John Cossham, has left a note to say he enjoyed my article! Thanks John! Here’s a link back to John’s blog: Low Carbon Lifestyle.

Happy New Year!

The start of a new decade, my goodness! It really doesn’t seem like it was 10 years ago that I spent New Year’s Day 2000 at the Emergency Department of Medway Hospital after some kind soul threw a glass bottle in my face and shattered my cheekbone (all OK now!), but what a lot has happened in the last 10 years! For my own amusement more than anything, here are some of my highlights from the Noughties…

2000: Year of said medical trauma and two ensuing operations to reconstruct my face! Don’t worry, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds but I do have a nice little piece of titanium in my face now (no it doesn’t set off the alarms at airports!). The year 2000 was also when I passed my driving test (first time!) and turned 18. Crikey.

Good old Wetherspoons in Rochester for a pre-uni drink

2001: Passed my A-levels (A in French, Bs for Chemistry and General Studies, Cs in Psychology and Biology, FYI) and went off to University (Warwick). The picture was taken in the summer holiday before I went away. Pictured are my two school friends Charlie and Charlotte, with me and my very odd hair in the middle! (Isn’t it weird that we didn’t have digital cameras back then!?)

2002: End of my first year at university (passed the year with a mid 2:2) and the beginning of my second year. I also got a job at the Honiley Court Hotel to pay my way. Not much to report in 2002, really!

2003: End of the second year and beginning of the third year. Went to my first ever festival – the very muddy but very excellent Eurockeenes de Belfort in France. I turned 21 and had a big family and friends together BBQ party at my house.

Friends from uni visit the Garden of England for my 21st birthday party

Me on my 21st birthday. Another bizarre haircut.

2004: This year will always be marred by the fact that my beloved Dad passed away from a recurring brain tumour. But on a happier note, is also the year that I completed my degree in Biological Sciences with a high 2:1 (in fact I got 68.9% which is 1.1% off a 1st – a fact I’m pretty proud of!)

PGCE friends

2005: In September 2004 I started my PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) and in 2005 I finished it to become a fully qualified secondary school teacher of Science, specialising in Biology. Pictured are two of my friends from that time, Laura (one of my housemates) and Debbie (Digital cameras had finally been invented). Yet another weird haircut from me!

2006: After my PGCE I took up my first (and as it happens my only) full time teaching post at Cranbrook School. I also started to develop the travel bug with holidays to Vermont (school skiing trip), Barcelona (with friends, pictured, at the Primavera festival) and a summer in Cornwall and a half term in Portugal, both solo trips.

L-R: Dean, Me, Caspar, Dave, Ben, Laura, Dan, Chris, Katy and Peggy

School trip to Honduras - lucky or what!

2007: Probably the best year of my life so far, and difficult to pick out representative photos from the hundreds I took! I continued to teach at Cranbrook up until July, then as my last official duty I took a group of lower sixth students to Honduras for two weeks of conservation study (which involved me climbing a *very* tall tree (pictured). Upon my return, I reluctantly left my flat and moved back in with my mum for the summer before embarking on the biggest trip of my life. First stop was New York for two weeks to acclimatise myself to travelling, then I quickly dropped myself in the deep end by travelling to Ecuador in South America. After two weeks flying solo, I joined a group tour which took me from Ecuador to Argentina over the course of the next two months. I met some amazing people in my group, including my very good friend Kathleen who I then lived with upon our return to London in 2008.

Machu Picchu, October/November 2007

Together with the rest of the group, we explored the silver mines of Bolivia, traversed Lake Titicaca, hanglided over the cliffs of Lima, hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, tasted the wine in Chile and cried for Argentina in Buenos Aires. After the group trip, I continued to travel through the north of Argentina and spent Christmas in BA with a guy from Warwickshire whom, little did I know, would later turn out to be the best thing to happen to me! 🙂

Tom thinks that he looks like a tool in this pic, but I disagree!

OK!

2008: The second best year of my life so far! The travelling continued with 6 weeks in beautiful New Zealand, 2 months in an unusually wet and stormy Australia (where I also furthered my passion for Scuba diving by volunteering on a dive boat on the great Barrier Reef in exchange for free dives!), a few weeks in gorgeous Indonesia where my friend from home, Luisa, came out to see me and caught the diving bug too. Then it was onto Singapore, through Malaysia and into Thailand, which I loved so much, having found myself an awesome couple of travelling partners in the shape of Suzanne and Claire, that I accidentally overstayed my visa and had to pay a fine at the Laos border! Laos was both beautiful and crazy, Cambodia broke my heart and Vietnam was a busy, friendly and fun, despite being stuck up a mountain for a week because rain had washed the roads away!

Full Moon Party on Ko Pha-Ngan

Inside the Bird's Nest

My last stop in August 2008 was a two-week stay in Beijing where I caught some of the Olympic Games. Although reluctant to come home, I at least had Tom waiting for me!

Finally a graduate! Now he just needs a job!

2009: And so onto the final year of the decade. This year has seen me adjust to some major changes, such as moving to London and starting a new career in the world of science publishing and communications. I started freelancing in addition to my day job and this has started to take me in some exciting and unexpected directions! Tom and I have continued our long distance relationship, which hopefully, in 2010 will be more of a short-distance relationship as we plan to move in together (not bad for some bloke I met on holiday)! My brother graduated, finally, after 5 difficult years at university and I’m really proud of him.

So, the Noughties have certainly been a year of ups and downs. It’s quite weird that you can summarise a whole decade in just a few words, but hopefully this blog will help me to remember the Teenies in more detail. Hope I don’t bore you too much!