Dr. Bert Vick, Chief Scientific Officer of Aurora Algae

Many algae companies are growing and getting to the point where they have pilot and demonstration facilities. Aurora Algae is one company that has implemented the demonstration phase and is now looking to expand its operations even more. As several other algae companies have also done, Aurora has based their plant in Australia. Dr. Bert Vick from Aurora was kind enough to discuss what the company is currently doing and what it is looking to do in the future.

1. I see that you are using a special kind of algae. How did you get it to express the unique traits like its lighter color?

That’s correct. We use nannochloropsis, which is a photosynthetic marine (saltwater) organism, but we have spent a great deal of time and effort optimizing it through natural methods to develop a strain that is lighter in color. Our lighter ‘pale green cultivar’ allows for greater penetration of sunlight into an algae pond, which gains us twice the production yield of the wild type strain.

2. Why did you decide to build your facility in Australia even though your headquarters are located in the United States?

The decision to set up production in Western Australia was the culmination of a global search for the optimal conditions and resources to grow our unique algae strains. Since the business is based on growing algae all year round, it would not be viable to have our yearly productivities limited by inappropriate weather such as extensive cloudiness or cold temperatures. In order to keep the financials robust, we needed to find a location that would allow us to expand on reasonably-priced land. The company identified several locations around the world with fair potential, but Western Australia stood out. It has excellent solar irradiance, with minimal rainfall and warm temperatures all year round. There are thousands upon thousands of acres of arid land ideally situated along the ocean, which provides access to sea water and the CO2 emissions from large mining and refining operations. Combined, these provided the company with an ideal set of conditions for growing algae as well as the business.

3. How large is the demonstration plant in Australia? How much algae is it producing? How successful have the trials been?

Our demonstration facility is located in a small mining town called Karratha on Australia’s northwestern coast. Our facility contains 38 micro-ponds, four 50 square meter ponds, four 400 square meter ponds, six 1-acre ponds, and a backend processing center that is harvesting 15 tonnes of biomass per month. We are currently producing samples of our A2 family of products – A2 Feed, Fuel, Protein and EPA Pure – for potential customers, regulatory studies, and feed trials

4. What is the time frame for developing your 1,500 acre commercial facility?

We plan to break ground on the commercial facility, located in nearby Maitland, in early 2012. We expect that facility to be completed by Q4, with ponds producing algae by early 2013.

5. While focusing on a broad array of algal bioproducts, how important will algal fuels be in the overall mix?

Algal fuels will always be a big part of the mix. It’s the reason many companies in the algae space started in the first place. But fuel is just one area of algae’s potential. In order to thrive in the marketplace, you must acknowledge the full potential of algae and address the demands in higher value markets, especially since algae fuel isn’t quite ready to reach price parity with traditional petroleum options. Using algae, we’re addressing some serious global issues like food shortages and human health.

Algae can meet the growing need for sustainable sources of protein and omega-3 fatty acids for human consumption, while providing sustainable fish and animal feed for the aquaculture and agriculture communities. Cultivating algae for these purposes increases agricultural production from arid land (avoiding deforestation in the process), conserves freshwater, and reduces carbon emissions.

6. Growing marine microalgae has a lot of benefits, especially with regards to water usage. What special considerations, if any, did your team have to make to successfully grow marine algae in your production system?

We use many of the same techniques used in wastewater treatment, slightly modified for the facts that we are cultivating algae in salt water. The amount of freshwater used in our production process at the Karratha facility is minimal, and we generate it on-site using reverse osmosis. In comparison, our process uses approximately one percent of the fresh water needed to grow an equivalent amount of soy beans. We use a tiny fraction of the freshwater needed for other protein sources like fowl, pork and beef.

7. Let’s talk cost and scalability real quick. What is your current cost to produce crude algal oil with your system and are there any problems you foresee with scaling the process up to the 1,500 acre facility?

Scalability is the key. Big problems need big solutions. Our commercial-scale facility in Maitland will have 250 acres of algae production ponds (50 five-acre ponds). However, we currently have 1,500 acres of land secured and can easily scale up to that size and beyond. We are continuously optimizing our processes to wring out costs and increase efficiencies, but our operating costs will make us extremely competitive in our target markets.

8. What are the short term and long term goals for Aurora Algae?

Right now we’re focused on getting our commercial facility built and getting our products to market. Long-term, we will keep scaling, as well as continuing R&D to increase the yields and reduce the costs. You can think of our commercial facilities as the largest cell culture systems in the world, which is a very powerful platform.

9. Anything else you would like to add?

I think it’s important to note that our algae-based products are nearly carbon-neutral. The food vs. fuel argument doesn’t apply, and we are not clear-cutting forests or using copious amounts of freshwater – a precious resource in itself – for this agricultural process. We are also continuing our biotechnology research. We were the first group in the world to assemble the full Nannochloropsis genome, as well as develop the necessary molecular tools for advanced strain development research. We are currently focusing most of our attention on omega-3 biosynthesis.

Dr. Bert Vick
Chief Scientific Officer
Aurora Algae
http://www.AuroraInc.com

Tags: Aurora Algae, Australia