Algae separation technology 3

GFE Global 

offers a customized Oil Extraction Press. 

This unique easy to use Screw Press is designed for extracting oil from any oil seed.
Jatropha
Algae
Rape Seed
Lin Seed
Sesame Seed
Peanut
Ground Nuts
Mustard Seed
Cotton Seed
Jojoba
These presses extract up to 94% oil from feedstock and the extruded meal is perfect for fuel or feed.

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)

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Carbon capture and consumption

 

Could it Eliminate the Need for Wastewater Aeration?

Algal blooms have always proved a challenge for the water industry. Yet could this organic matter,with the help of wastewater nutrients, be turned into a biofuel and help alleviate fossil fuel shortages? Tom Freyberg investigates the European funded All-Gas project.

First generation biofuels from crops never really bloomed into a fruitful harvest. Opponents criticized using up valuable land to grow crops and fuel the cars of the rich, instead of filling the stomachs of the poor. Second generation biofuels – made from biomass - have proved a lot harder to extract the required fuel and fully crack.

And then along came algae. Unlike first generation biofuels, algae can be grown using land and water not suitable for plant and food production.

Consuming solar energy and reproducing itself, algae generates a type of oil that has a similar molecular structure to petroleum products produced today. As if this wasnt enough – algae growth also consumes carbon dioxide, a known major greenhouse gas (GHG).

As a result of the apparent benefits the race is on to commercialize second and now third generation biofuels, in the case of algae. Continents and companies are putting money where their mouths are to find out how what we thought was simply a green weed growing in the sea could be the answer to inevitable fossil fuel shortages.

Algal culture ponds are used to grow and harvest micro-algae using nutrients contained in wastewater

Earlier this year US President Barack Obama announced that the Department of Energy would make $14 million available to support research and development into biofuels from algae. The Department has suggested that up to 17% of the US imported oil for transportation could be replaced with biofuels derived from the substance.

Meanwhile Europe is going even further and mandating the gradual replacement of fossil fuels to biofuels. An EU Directive stipulates that by 2020 a total of 20% of energy needs should be produced by renewable fuels. A further requirement is that 10% of biofuels need to be met through transport related activities.

Even UK government backed agency the Carbon Trust has forecast that by 2030, algae-based biofuels could replace more than 70 billion litres of fossil fuels used every year around the world in road transportation and aviation.

Nutrients: burden or blessing?

So far, so good. Yet while algae derived biofuels sound like an answer to inevitable fossil fuel shortages, two challenges remain: space and nutrients. The first challenge will be addressed later but on the topic of nutrients, phosphorous and ammonia are required alongside sun light and carbon dioxide to "feed" the algae. And with up to 30% of operating costs at algae farms attributed to buying and adding in such nutrients, its a notable expense.

It is in response to this particular challenge where the wastewater sector could play its part, with untreated effluent being a known source of phosphorous and other nutrients. An EU funded project aims to bring together the challenge and solution and link the water and biofuel industries together.

The €12 million, five-year project is starting at water management company aqualias wastewater treatment plant in Chiclana, Southern Spain and is backed by the European Union as part of its FP7 program – supporting energy-related projects - with six partners.

Called All-Gas, which translates into algae in Spanish, the project will see "algal culture ponds" being used to grow micro-algae using nutrients contained in wastewater, such as phosphorous. A 10-hectare site will eventually be needed for the project. Frank Rogalla, head of R&D at aqualia, says nutrients are abundant in wastewater, so it makes sense to incorporate the two industries.

Traditionally aeration processes at wastewater treatment plants are heavy energy users, accounting for up to 30% of a facilitys operating costs. In the US, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, drinking water and wastewater systems account for between 3% and 4% of national energy consumption alone.

However, Rogalla later told Water & Wastewater International magazine (WWi) that growing algae with wastewater can eliminate the need for aeration, thus reducing energy use.

He said: "We have converted our treatment to anaeraobic pre-treatment, meaning we will generate biogas from the start instead of destroying organic matter, so no aeration will be needed. From the 0.5 kWh [kilowatt-hour] per m³ which you generally spend for aeration, that will be completely gone. We will have a net output of energy from algae conversion either to oils or to gas. So thats why you get this positive output of 0.4 kWh per m³ of wastewater treated."

Rogalla added: "It will not cost more than traditional wastewater treatment, which costs about 0.2 Euros per cubic metre. We think we will use the same operational costs but instead of consuming energy we will produce additional benefit, meaning we generate about 0.2 Euros per cubic metre in additional profit from the fuel. Our aim is to be cost neutral."

So the question has to be asked of how, technically, can the proposed treatment eliminate the need for wastewater aeration? The answer, as Rogalla later tells WWi, is through the initial conversion to biogas.

Compared to nitrification and dentrification to eliminate nutrients in conventional wastewater treatment, a process Rogalla says consumes about 5 kWh/kg Nitrogen during aeration, All-Gas will use an alternative conversion. Firstly anaerobic pre-treatment will convert most organic matter into biogas (CH4 and CO₂). Algae will then take up the nitrogen and phosphorous.

Productive: instead of using traditional nitrification and dentrification processes, organic matter will instead be converted into biogas

As the algae will transform most nutrients into biomass, they will also produce O2 in the process, as CO₂ is taken up and oxygen released in their metabolic process. As a result, according to Rogalla, aeration is not necessary. Most organic carbon is transformed into energy (via biogas), nutrients are incorporated into algae, which produce oxygen for any polishing action necessary.

An overview of aqualias wastewater treatment plant in Chiclana, Southern Spain

"It only seems logical to use the wastewater nutrients to grow algae biomass; on the one hand saving the aeration energy, on the other hand the algae fertilizer and cleaning wastewater without the occurrence of useless sludge, but producing biofuels and added value instead," Rogalla adds.

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)

  special thanks to U.S. Department of Energy | USA.gov

  and WaterWorld, Industrial WaterWorld

Space challenges

Addressing the second challenge of space requirements to harness algae ponds, for a commercial scale operation its estimated that a 10 hectare site is required (roughly 10 football pitches). Yet when compared to the oil yields of other crops, algae still proves favourable.

Data from US-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) show that oil yields from soybeans work out at 400 litres/hectare/year, which compares to 6,000 for palm oil and theoretically, a potential 60,000 for microalgae. For barrels/hectare/year, the same comparison yields 2.5 for soybeans, 36 for palm oil and a minimum of 360 for microalgae.

As predictions go, the production of 60,000 litres of biofuel from only one hectare of algae is optimistic compared aqualias aims for the Europe project. If a target set by the EU is reached, then each hectare should produce 20,000 litres of biodiesel. This, the firm says, compares to 5000 litres of biofuel per hectare per year for biofuels such as alcohol from sugar cane or biodiesel from palm oil.

The Spanish project also hopes to use produced biogas from the anaerobic pre-treatment and raw wastewater organic matter as car fuel, with each hectare touted to treat about 400 m³ per day.

Statistics to one side, the challenge of space remains. Booming urban populations are expanding closer to rural wastewater treatment plants but at the same communities insist on an out of sight, out of mind rule when it comes to infrastructure that treats their waste. Rogalla does not think the land issue could impede the development of algae ponds to the majority of wastewater treatment plants. "Algae ponds of course can be put on marginal lands, or even on rooftops," he adds. "In rural areas extensive oxidation ponds for wastewater treatment are not uncommon, not to mention the often unused land areas as buffer zones around wastewater treatment plants.

Biogas generated from wastewater could mean the 0.5 kWh per m3 usually spent on aeration wont be required

"As we do not claim that all fuel can be made from biofuel on land, but only where possible wastewater should be turned into biofuel (excluding mostly big cities), the land issue seems secondary."

Carbon capture and consumption

One further benefit that has made algae growth attractive compared to other fuels is its consumption of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), namely CO₂, in order to grow. While captured carbon consumed by algae will inevitably be released later when used as a fuel in cars, it could still be a step in the right direction in reducing the impact of a world still firmly grasping CO₂ emitting fuel sources.

An article entitled Algal Biofuels: The Process from NREL in a Society for Biological Engineering journal suggests that over two billion tons of CO₂ could be captured by growing algae on the space equivalent to the entire U.S. soybean crop of 63.3 million acres.

Power plants and cement kilns appear to be an ideal match for algae growth, then. Yet, in order for All-Gas to attract seven million Euros worth of funding for its project, the CO₂ had to come from renewable sources. Any fossil fuel burning plants were not permitted, as Denise Green, manager of biofuels across Europe and Africa from Hart Energy Consulting tells WWi.

"This particular call was restricted to projects in which the carbon dioxide supply for the algae cultivation was provided by renewable applications, excluding carbon dioxide from fossil fuel installations," she says.

"However I see no reason why future funding for algae projects could not be provided for research into algae as part of the solution for CO₂ capture for zero emission power generation. If there are objections to using algae from fossil fuel installations for transportation fuels, there are other industries for which algae can be used where this may not be an issue."

Project roll out and commercialisation

The project will be implemented in two stages, with a prototype facility being used to confirm the scale of the full-size plant during the first two years. Once the concept has been proven in full-scale ponds, a 10 hectare site will be developed and operated at commercial scale during the next three years.

Rogalla suggests the project could be rolled out among aqualias existing facilities along the Mediterranean belt, including Italy, Portugal, Egypt and even South America, all of which have "favourable conditions, meaning the climate is advantageous and the land is available".

Clearly, the conversion of algae to fuel is possible and has been demonstrated on a laboratory scale. It could hold the potential to turn a new leaf for biofuels haunted by their unsuccessful and much criticized first generation brothers. The real interest for the water sector should be the pipe dream of the project to eliminate aeration and turn existing wastewater treatment facilities into biofuel production centres.

The pivotal outcome of the project will be cost. This was proved in the well documented closure of the US Department of Energys algae research programme in 1996 after nearly 20 years of work. At the time it was estimated that the $40-60/bbl cost of producing algal oil just couldnt compete with petroleum for the foreseeable future.

However, it is the additional methane extracted from raw wastewater and algae residue that differentiates this project. Its not just reliant upon biodiesel produced from the algae. All-Gas has the chance to spearhead Europe into proving that algae biofuel, through the help of wastewater, could eventually be more competitive on a per barrel price with traditional oil.

CCRES ALGA PROJECT 

part of 

Croatian Center of Renewable Energy Sources (CCRES)

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Windowfarm Update 3

The Basil doesnt seem to be doing too well.

The Parsley is thriving!

Ive cut the rosemary a few times for tasty recipes.  Its still growing strong.

The strawberries are coming along, and we even have a few small berries.

Berries!

However, Im afraid that I may be overwatering the strawberry plant.  The leaves are turning yellow and brown, which may be a sign of overwatering.  Im planning on getting a timer to stagger the water flow.

I planted some spare garlic that I didnt use for dinner!  Its sprouted and is doing well.

Our Venus Fly traps are open.

Parsley is doing well, lavender is not.

Meow!

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The power of Omega 3 oils

Algae omega-3 fatty acids provide significant health and development benefits during life in the womb. Health and cognitive benefits for omega-3s continue throughout life.

Omega-3 oils

 Essential fatty acids are fatty acids critical to the good health and development of fetuses and newborns. Fetal life and early infancy are the periods of rapid brain, eyes, heart, respiratory, central nervous system, and immune system development and maturation. Omega-3s enhance these growth phases and help children avoid major organ disorders. Newborns may get omega-3 fatty acids from mother’s milk, (if the mother absorbs omega-3s in her diet), from the child’s diet, or from supplements.

Neither humans nor animals can synthesize omega-3 oils because bodies lack the desaturase enzymes required for their production. Therefore, if the mother’s diet is deficient in omega-3s, the infant will not benefit from the essential early growth and development support from long chain fatty acids.

Omega-3s improve Neuron Signaling

Omega-3 oils Omega-3s improve Neuron Signaling

Clinical signs of essential fatty acid deficiency include a dry scaly rash, decreased growth in infants and children, slow or abnormal brain, eye and heart development, increased susceptibility to infection and poor wound healing. Fatty acid deficiency causes pathologies similar to malnutrition.

Most foods contain some fat, even vegetables, because fats play a critical role in metabolism. Fat provides a reliable source of energy as well as an effective depot for stored energy. Fats play an important role in cell membranes, helping to govern nutrients that enter and exit cells during metabolism. When incorporated into phospholipids, fatty acids affect cell membrane properties such as fluidity, flexibility, permeability, and the activity of membrane bound enzymes.

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Omega-3s are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function. Studies have shown that infants who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids from their mothers during pregnancy are at risk for developing vision, brain and nerve problems. Symptoms of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.

In a recent study, prenatal algal DHA supplementation – 600 mg DHA taken from 14 weeks gestation until delivery – increased DHA blood levels in both the mother and the newborn, as well as increased infant birth weight, length, and head circumference. The DHA supplements improved fetus growth and organ development significantly. Other studies have found that prenatal DHA deficiency may limit infants’ development potential.

The DHA Intake and Measurement of Neural Development (DIAMOND) study found that supplementation with DHA and ARA omega fatty acids from 18 months to six years of age provided significant cognitive benefits. DIAMOND also found that DHA supplementation provided developmental benefits evident to six years of age.

Algae polyphenol extracts have anti-diabetic effects through the modulation of glucose-induced oxidative stress. The extracts slow starch-digestive enzymes such as alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase.  The plentiful soluble dietary fibers in algae help avoid obesity and diabetes. The total fiber content of several algae species, (~6 g/100g), is greater than that of fruits and vegetables promoted today for their fiber content: prunes (2.4 g), cabbage (2.9 g), apples (2.0 g), and brown rice (3.8 g).

The body uses cholesterol as the starting point to make estrogen, testosterone, vitamin D, and other vital compounds. Fats also serve as biologically active molecules that influence how muscles respond to insulin. Various forms of fats, especially Omega-3s, can accelerate or cool down inflammation.

EPA and DHA

Long chained polyunsaturated fatty acids, (PUFA) eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, DHA, manage and moderate inflammation and many other cellular functions. These fats influence signaling in cells and the brain and therefore affect mood and behavior.

The US National Institute of Health’s MedlinePlus lists many medical conditions for which EPA alone, or in concert with other omega-3 sources, is known or thought to be an effective treatment. Most medical interventions derive from omega-3 oils’ ability to lower inflammation or enhance cell signaling.

(Left) Anchovy harvested for Fish Oil, (Right) Algae with Omega-3

Omega-3s are often obtained in the human diet by eating oily fish or fish oil— e.g., cod liver, herring, mackerel, salmon, menhaden and sardine. It is also found in human breast milk. Fish do not synthesize Omega-3s, but concentrate it from the algae they consume. Omega-3 rich microalgae are cultivated as a commercial source by a few companies such as Martek and Algae Biosciences. Microalgae, and supplements derived from algae, are excellent sources of EPA and DHA, since fish often contain toxins such as mercury and pesticides due to pollution.

DHA comprises 40% of the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the brain and 60% of the PUFAs in the retina. Fifty percent of the weight of a neuron’s plasma membrane is composed of DHA. DHA is selectively incorporated into retinal cell membranes and postsynaptic neuronal cell membranes, where it plays important roles in vision and nervous system function. DHA is richly supplied during breastfeeding, and DHA levels are high in breast milk. In humans, DHA is either obtained from the diet or synthesized from eicosapentaenoic acid, (EPA).

Cognitive development

Children that are not exposed to omega-3s in the womb display a significant mental deficit that persists throughout their lives. The human brain requires Omega-3 oils for normal growth and development.

(Left) Human Brain, (Right) Isochrysis Algae with Oil

Review studies suggest that omega-3s positively affect pre-natal neurodevelopment. However, this cognitive-enhancing effect sometimes diminishes post-natally with maturation. Few studies have examined the cognitive effects of omega-3s through childhood, young adulthood, and middle age. At later ages, multiple studies found evidence suggesting that omega-3s can protect against neurodegeneration and possibly reduce the chance of developing cognitive impairment.

Several variables confound PUFA supplements including heredity, diet, mother’s health, and socioeconomics. Supplement treatments in medical studies typically use 1,000 mg of omega-3 per day.

Another important finding is that too much omega-6 oil (found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds), in the diet may interfere with the action of omega-3. Omega-6 seems to compete with Omega-3 PUFA for the desaturase enzymes. Therefore, medical researchers suggest that maximum value of omega-3 supplements will occur if the diet minimizes omega-6 intake.

Summary

Omega-3 fatty acids can enhance fetal life and give children a better start in life with stronger brains, eyes, hearts and respiratory systems. Pregnant women and nursing mothers have the opportunity to gift strong cognitive development to their newborns with either several servings of fish per week or the recommended 1,000 mg of omega-3 supplements per day.

CCRES special thanks to  AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)

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Astaxanthin carotenoid

photo by CCRES ALGAE Team

 Astaxanthin

 Astaxanthin is found in microalgae, yeast, salmon, trout, krill, shrimp, crayfish, crustaceans, and the feathers of some birds. It provides the red color of salmon meat and the red color of cooked shellfish.

photo by CCRES ALGAE Team  

 

Astaxanthin, unlike several carotenes and one other known carotenoid, is not converted to vitamin A (retinol) in the human body. Like other carotenoids, astaxanthin has self-limited absorption orally and such low toxicity by mouth that no toxic syndrome is known.

 

photo by CCRES ALGAE Team  

 

 It is an antioxidant with a slightly lower antioxidant activity in some model systems than other carotenoids. However, in living organisms the free-radical terminating effectiveness of each carotenoid is heavily modified by its lipid solubility, and thus varies with the type of system being protected.

 photo by CCRES ALGAE Team 

While astaxanthin is a natural nutritional component, it can also be used as a food supplement. The supplement is intended for human, animal, and aquaculture consumption. The commercial production of astaxanthin comes from both natural and synthetic sources.

CCRES ALGAE TEAM

part of 

CROATIAN CENTER of RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CCRES)

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105 Gallon System Update coming soon

Ive been slowly working on my friends 105 gallon system.  We have the canister filter installed and pumping water.  We have our media in the grow bed.  We have the bell siphon installed and working.

Unfortunately, we lost the color code chart for testing pH and other chemical levels, so were waiting on a replacement chart to balance our water chemistry before starting fishless cycling.  Hopefully in the next week, or less, well receive our replacement color chart, and well be cycling.

On a side note, I received an Arduino as a gift from a Reddit gift exchange.  Im learning to use it, and will ideally be able to set it up to monitor the system.  I know it can monitor water temperature.  Im hoping I can also set up sensors to trigger supplemental lighting when it is a gloomy day.  Im also wondering whether I can use pH sensors and other chemical sensors to monitor everything about my system.  Id love to also build an automatic fish feeder, but thats down the line a bit.

Anyway, keep a look out in the next week or two for an update with pictures and video.

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Take a break and enjoy

• The Green Loop
• Know Your Seaweeds
• Young Algae Researcher
• BFS Algae, in Spain
• Algae Research at MSU

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Career in horticulture Featuring The Young Horts and a 3 year old

Something has come to my attention. I should really not be at all surprised by this thing but what it has done is make me look at horticultural education and think about why we are losing the skills in this country to be excellent nursery folk, growers and plants people.

Recently as part of Incredible Edible Bristol, Ive been visiting primary schools who want to begin or get support with growing food on their sites. I support this wholeheartedly as theres little as powerful as growing something to eat when youre a child, as I found aged 3. However what I have found in the schools that already have gardens is that not every child has access to the garden, and often the garden is used for calming purposes for children with a range of issues, but mainly behavioural. This made me ask what this was putting across the the rest of the pupils and strangely it didnt take much to work out the message being portrayed. 

So gardening, as horticulture is seen by these children, is already side lined for those who are struggling in one way, shape or form. To me thats not just a sad state of affairs but also a dreadful missed opportunity for our future high fliers in horticulture, as well as for those who might not be highly academic but for whom horticulture in one way, shape or form, could make a good and steady career. But no one wants the job thats seen as being for the kids with issues do they? And the answer is a resounding no.

Ask teens about what they want to do in their future lives and few will even be aware of the huge variety of jobs that come under the banner of horticulture. Gardening is something they avoid doing, or that grandad does on his allotment, not a career surely? But when you mention sales, science, growing or writing they prick ears up immediately, and will then tell you that no one, in most cases, has ever put horticulture forward as a career choice. In fact often even farming hasnt been mentioned by career advisors.

So heres where I tell you a tale. Aged 3 a little girl grew peas and sweet peas with her next door neighbour, and was so proud to take them home to her mummy and new baby brother. As time went on she grew more and more with her neighbour, got involved with her Grandmass garden, and even began to look after a garden at school, to the gentle amusement of all. She went off to university, studied art and grew her degree show, which was full of plants grown from seed from every continent. She went on to have a reasonably successful career in catering whilst rushing home each day to tend garden and allotment. And for all this time no one had mentioned that the thing she lived for could be a career. 

That little girl was me. I was lucky, as I realised and was able to make the, really scary, leap and ended up working at a wonderful place that ensured I got the training needed and pushed me to be successful and believed in me. However, what if that hadnt happened and for how many is it an impossible dream due to financial constraints brought about by careers that are successful if unfulfilling.

The answer? Well Im not sure I have it but growing as part of the schools curriculum has to be a start I should imagine as well as encouraging outdoor learning that inevitably brings in the outdoor environment to the curriculum in a way that uses nature and plants as learning tools. But more importantly, opening a discussion with children and young people so that they are aware of the possibilities. Having watched with deep interest the rise of the YoungHorts on Twitter and the effect they are having on the industry, I hope to see this initiative fly, and for these young people to be the horticultural ambassadors for future generations. 

Apparently by the age of 7 we all have come across and settled on the thing that will hold our attention for the rest of our lives. I was three when then happened and yet all through school, as a child that was academic and capable, no mention of anything practical came about and no adult ever encouraged me other than my neighbour and my grandma. So please be aware of the children you might be influencing as you garden with them, and make sure they know there are career paths open to them in horticulture and an industry that really would love them to turn that interest into a successful and fulfilling career.

Tiny Trowels or our horticultural future?

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THIRD GENERATION BIOFUELS FROM ALGAE

THIRD GENERATION BIOFUELS FROM ALGAE

Croatian Center of Renewable Energy Sources (CCRES) have a new technology with major potential to contribute to the fight against climate change.As with all new technologies, careful consideration of potential impacts on the environment and human health is important.

The international community has acknowledges that global warming needs to be kept below 2?C (3,6?F) compared with the pre industrial temperature in order to prevent dangerous climate change.This will require significant reductions in the world´s emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) over the coming decades.CCRES have one of the technologies that can help to achieve this.

The EU, which is responsible for around 11% of global GHG emissions today, has put in place binding legislation to reduce its emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.Europe is also offering to scale up this reduction to 30% if other major economies in the developed and developing world´s agree to undertake their fair share of a global reduction effort.

This is why the EU must support alternative fuels, in particular biofuels, with the triple objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying fuel supply and developing longterm replacements for fossil fuels.

Third generation biofuels from algae will have an important role to play as soon as they are ready for the market. They should be more sustainable, boasting both a lower enviromental impact and lower costs.Biofuels must become a commercial and competitive product using the broadest range possible of raw materials from both Nord and South Europe.

Biofuels from algae have a big role to reduce CO2 emmisions.

The sustainability of algae biofuels and their potential impacts on other sectors, including land use, are will remain critical issues.Algae biofuels provide an important contribution towards climate change mitigation and security of supply.They are only part of the solution, and must be considered in a wider context, in which efforts are also being made to reduce transport demand, improve transport efficiency and encourage the use of environmentally friendly modes of transport.

CCRES INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

CCRES international cooperation in algae biofuels research has a number of benefits for all involved:

• working together enhances synergies between the different partners
• partners can pool financial resources, share risk and set common standards for large or relatively risky research and development project
• it speeds up the development of the clean technologies we need if we are to tackle our energy related problems
• by linking up their efforts, partners can support a wider range of energy technologies and reduce the costs of key technologies
• networking allows partners to better coordinate their energy research agendas

Over the years, CCRES has build up strong and lasting research cooperation partnerships on specific energy topics with partner organizations.

Zeljko Serdar

President & CEO

Croatian Center of Renewable Energy Sources (CCRES)

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the Importance of Being Soil

I hope this post isnt seen as a rant about allotments as, although this post is about allotment land in Bristol, its actually about far more than that. Its about soil and food security going into an uncertain future where the vagaries of climate change and its effects are still to be seen.

When I moved to Bristol I was regularly told that there were no allotments to be had in the city, they were all full, and until I did some digging around this seemed to be the case. It took a Twitter conversation to find out that allotments are available here as long as youre not fussy in terms of where you have one. So I took a journey out of the city centre to Stapleton, and looked around Stapleton allotments with the site rep and took on Plot79. 

Now I knew this site was under threat, and I also knew it was Grade 1 agricultural soil, and if Im honest I probably knew that I was going to get caught up in the fight for the allotments, but first and foremost I had my plot and for me, that was the most vital point. 

Did I take much note of the Grade 1 soil status? Not really, until I began to get the most incredible yields from crops that had been really late sown and that, in all honesty, I hadnt thought Id get much from. We had periods of real dryness and yet still the produce kept coming-lettuces and leaves, French beans, tomatoes, chillies and squash to name but a few, and buckets of flowers. 

At this point it began to dawn on me that I was pretty darn lucky to have this plot and began to get my head around not just the fact that it was under threat but also that there were groups of people, such as The Blue Finger Alliance, working really hard to save this land.

The stretch of land heading out of Central Bristol on either side of the M32 is called The Blue Finger, and its called that because on a map of soils land of this quality is coloured blue. The finger stretches right up into South Gloucestershire and is home not just to our allotment site, but also to Feed Bristol, an outstandingly beautiful community food growing project and to Sims Hill, a community supported agriculture business, as well as various small holdings. Look on a map of Bristol from years gone by and the land the allotments and Feed Bristol is on was called The Nursery and the history of the land is that it was always Bristols market garden, producing food for the city. This history is phenomenol, and tells tales of lives past and of families that still live in the area to this day.

And yet in our greed for time all this could be lost. The planning committee meet next Wednesday, the 27th, to determine whether a bus only junction should be allowed that will take out 60% of the allotments as well as an enormous chunk of a Feed Bristol and part of the Stoke Park Estate that is on the opposite side of the M32. Not only will Grade 1 agricultural land be lost, forever, but this land is all Green Belt, which national policy dictates should only be built on if there is no option to build elsewhere, which there most definitely is, and much of the land has specifically been managed for wildlife and nature. The stunning wildflower meadow at Feed Bristol will be turned into a road with an enormous bus stop in it, and effectively what allotments are left will be part of a roundabout for a bus.

But, I hear you cry, they have to offer alternative plots, and this they are doing. However, the Allotment Act states that any allotment that is bring moved must be put onto land that is as good or better than the land previously used by the allotment holder, this is, of course, impossible when the land being moved from is Grade 1.

At this point I have to say far be it for me to argue that Bristol doesnt need a better public transport system. As a bus user and non driver I agree it needs to be high on the agenda. But, and heres the crux, Grade 1 soils make up less than 3% of the countrys soil and has proven its resilience over and again against drought and flood, holding onto its structure and nutrient content when lesser soils would have failed. Since the a Industrial Revolution we have consistently used the same 38% of land in the UK to grow food and much of that land has reached and gone over its peak health and is now struggling. We have expected these soils to produce higher and higher yields through the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and now many of them are starting to struggle, particularly where they have had to manage flood or drought. Surely we need to create policy to secure this Grade 1 land across the UK, and safe guard it for the futures of generations to come?

Imagine returning to a reality of local producers using this land and land like it in pockets across the country, to feed local food to local people. Is this a pipe dream? I think not, and more and more I am speaking to people who believe this could be the vision for food security in the UK. Lets put food growing at the same level and importance as transport and create holistic policies that look at transport, food production, health, education and wealth on the same level. And lets make specific soil policy so that these soils are protected going into the future.

Below is the link to a petition asking the Mayor of Bristol to help stop this. At this juncture I feel compelled to say that the Mayor cannot just stop this as there are contracts in place that would mean Bristol would have to pay huge penalties if it pulled out, but none the less it is to the Mayors councillors we are looking to say no at planning committee. Please sign this petition and then please look at the following link, produced by The Blue Finger Alliance, which is the alternative vision of The Blue Finger, and what we would all like to see happen.

There are also some photos of the land below.

http://chn.ge/1rZRjFH

http://www.bluefingeralliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Blue-Finger-Vision.-A-world-class-hub-of-urban-agriculture-for-the-Bristol-city-region.pdf

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