米 Sapphire Energy サファイア・エネルギー社、緑の藻からバイオ燃料を造る本格実証工場を稼動: ソフトエネルギー

米 Sapphire Energy サファイア・エネルギー社、緑の藻からバイオ燃料を造る本格実証工場を稼動

　緑藻からバイオ燃料を生産する技術を有する、アメリカのSapphire Energy サファイア・エネルギー社は、ニューメキシコ州に世界初となる規模での本格実証工場を稼動させたと発表しました。

　Sapphire Energy サファイア・エネルギー社は、ビル・ゲイツ氏の関連企業や国からの資金の調達に早くから成功していて、数年前に話題になりました。

・緑の藻から生まれる新たなバイオ燃料にビル・ゲイツ氏らが投資-----しなやかな技術研究会、2008/09/19

　同社は、この数年前よりニューメキシコ州南部に位置するラスクルーセス（Las Cruces）という町にかなり本格的な実験設備を建設し、今回のGreen Crude Farm（緑の油田）プロジェクトの準備を進めてきました。

-----image : Googleマップ　Sapphire Energy, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United Statesより

　それは、上のような施設で、周囲の環境はすごく乾燥した地帯だとわかります。よく水が調達できていると関心するほどの場所です。おそらく、水の調達コストより太陽エネルギーのほうが大事ということなのでしょうね。
　地図で周囲の環境を見ると、再生可能エネルギーの施設の様子がより具体的にわかる気がします。

　さて、今回一部稼動したGreen Crude Farmは、コロンバスにあるとのことです。同じような条件の土地です。
　しかし、今回の計画の規模は、はるかに大きく、2014年末までに300エーカー（１エーカーは、約0.4ha。4000平方メートル相当。したがって３００エーカーで約120ha）の面積のプラントを建設し、年産150万ガロン（1.5 million gallons per year。１ガロンは約3.78リットル。したがって、150万ガロンは、約５６７万リットル相当。）、日産１００バレル（4200ガロン）のバイオ燃料が生産できる計算になります。

　このプラントは建設中ですが、６月の時点のテスト運用では、すでにまとまった量のバイオ燃料を生産することに成功しています。豊かな太陽と水があれば培地を造ることができるということですので、順調に行けば緑藻から”石油”という技術の確立につながりそうです。

プレスリリース / Sapphire Energy、August 27, 2012
・SAPPHIRE ENERGY’S COMMERCIAL DEMONSTRATION ALGAE-TO-ENERGY FACILITY NOW OPERATIONAL

-----image（”Green Crude Farm”） : Multimediaより-----

"Initial Phase of World’s First Green Crude Farm Completed On Time and On Budget
Sapphire Energy, Inc., one of the world leaders in algae-based green crude oil production, today announced the first phase of its Green Crude Farm, the world’s first commercial demonstration algae-to-energy facility, is now operational. Construction of this first phase, which began on June 1, 2011, was completed on time and on budget. When completed, the facility will produce 1.5 million gallons per year of crude oil and consist of approximately 300 acres of algae cultivation ponds and processing facilities. By reaching this key milestone, Sapphire Energy is on target to make algae-based Green Crude a viable alternative fuel solution capable of significantly reducing the nation’s need for foreign crude oil, which will serve as the blueprint for scalable algae biofuel facilities globally.

The Green Crude Farm, also known as an Integrated Algal Bio-Refinery, was funded with both private and public funds, including $85 million in private investment from Sapphire Energy backed by a USDA loan guarantee and a $50 million grant from the US DOE. Today, the cultivation area consists of some of the largest algae ponds ever built with groupings of 1.1 acre and 2.2 acre ponds which are 1/8 of a mile long. The initial phase also includes all the necessary mechanical and processing equipment needed to harvest and extract algae and recycle water for the 300 acre Green Crude Farm.

In March, the first seeding of ponds with algae, otherwise known as inoculation, took place and a series of “shakedown” tests began to ensure that all systems are working as planned. Today, the farming operations are exceeding Sapphire Energy’s internal productivity goals in terms of biomass yield, demonstrating that large scale cultivation is possible and much larger cultivation systems can be implemented with the proper agronomic processes in place. The company harvested its first crop in June without any system difficulties and has since harvested 21 million gallons of algae biomass totaling 81 tons. Next, the Green Crude Farm is preparing to transition its operations to a winter variety of algae while continuous cultivation, harvest and extraction activities continue.
..........
Construction: Completed on time and on budget
Unit Operations: Conducting all united operations, including cultivation, harvest and extraction in a continuous process
Cultivation: Biomass productivity exceeding the company’s goals
Harvest: Successfully harvested 81 tons of biomass
In building the Green Crude Farm:

634 full-time equivalent employees were hired throughout the entire construction phase
$16 million was directly invested with local New Mexico contractors
Sapphire Energy will continue to conduct “shakedown” testing, as well as operate and expand farming operations over the winter, as the facility is commissioned into 2013. By the end of 2014, the Green Crude Farm will produce 100 barrels of Green Crude per day. The commercial demonstration project is expected to prove “commercial” techno-economics, and Sapphire’s commercial scale Green Crude facility.
.......... "

関連
・Sapphire Energy : Green Crude Farm

・Sapphire Announces NM Algae Farm Phase 1 Completion-----AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com,August 27, 2012

The Life of Algae

(SapphireEnergyVideo, 2012/03/11 )