Harvesting hydrogen from algae

Biodiesel Magazine
July 2010
By Luke Geiver
Posted July 9, 2010

OriginOil, an algae-to-oil developer, has discovered a process to extract hydrogen from algae. The new technology, called the Hydrogen Harvester, works by capturing hydrogen that is readily available in the algae growth matrix, as opposed to breaking the carbon-hydrogen bonds in the algae itself, according to Brian Goodall, OriginOil’s chief technology officer. The new technology presents a critical development for a fully integrated algal biorefinery, said Goodall. “All routes from algae to ‘drop-in’ fuels such as renewable diesel and jet fuel require hydrogen and hydrogen treating. The Hydrogen Harvester technology would eliminate the need for hydrogen pipelines and dependence on existing refineries, which are typically far removed from ideal sites for algae growth,” Goodall added.

The process also involves targeting the more weakly bound hydrogen, which Goodall said helps to avoid “the use of energy or stressing, genetic modification or other invasive activities.” By minimizing energy inputs and stress levels, “we are tapping the algae system for hydrogen and allowing all other growth and harvesting processes to go on undisturbed,” Goodall said. “External energy inputs are truly minimal, but it takes energy to move water/algae, for example. In terms of stress—other approaches have focused on depriving the algae of sulfur, and/or investigating genetically modified species. Our technology requires neither of these approaches, generating biomass, oil and hydrogen.”

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