(Press-News.org) DENVER, March 25, 2015 -- Water-borne algal blooms from farm fertilizer runoff can destroy aquatic life and clog rivers and lakes, but scientists will report today that they are working on a way to clean up these environmental scourges and turn them into useful products. The algae could serve as a feedstock for biofuels, and the feedstock leftovers could be recycled back into farm soil nutrients.
A multi-pronged nutrient bio-remediation system is the goal of a team of scientists who will present their research at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. The meeting, which takes place here through Thursday, features nearly 11,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.
"I grew up on a farm, and I know firsthand the needs of small-scale farmers, as well as the problems posed by algal blooms," says John B. Miller, Ph.D. "But I am also a chemist, so I see an upside with algae."
Algae can range in size from a single cell to large seaweeds. They only need water, sunlight and a source of nutrients to grow. But with a boost from high levels of man-made nutrients -- particularly nitrogen and phosphorus from farm runoff -- the growth springs out of control. They form clumps called algal blooms that can be directly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. The blooms also can draw oxygen from the water, creating dead zones, where most life cannot exist.
But Miller and his team at Western Michigan University envision a solution to problematic algal blooms, which can benefit small-scale farmers. Already, algae are gradually but increasingly being used as a feedstock for different classes of biofuels, including ethanol. It grows very quickly -- some two to eight times faster than similar land-based ethanol feedstocks, such as corn, soybeans or cellulosic biomass -- which is an advantage. Large-scale, centralized "algal turf scrubber" operations in Florida and elsewhere are getting underway and are growing natural communities of periphytic or attached algae for biofuel production. Miller is building on this approach but will downsize it to water bodies near small farms throughout the U.S.
"For small farm applications, the system must be easy to operate, nearly automatic and be suitable for diffuse installations," he says. "So, my focus has been to apply this technology without requiring the large infrastructure of the electric grid, large pumping installations and all the rest that is needed for centralized operations. A farmer won't have time to check an algae collection and processing system, so it has to also be able to operate remotely."
Currently, the team is exploring different substrates to optimize algae growth in water bodies. By using 3-D printing technologies, the researchers engineer substrates to provide different geometric features that foster growth of algal blooms. They are testing these first in the laboratory before analyzing them out in the field. Also, they are investigating different options for collection techniques that will be more appropriate for small, remote locations.
Miller points out that the algae can be used for biofuel feedstock, making a profit for the farmers. And the waste left over after the biofuel's fermentation and distillation steps is high in nutrients and carbohydrates, which is a material that can be recycled back to farm fields for use as an organic fertilizer.
It may take a while to get the system up and running at farms, but Miller says that there is a powerful economic incentive for farmers to sign on. That's because it has the potential to shift problematic algae into biofuels, taking a farm-based ecological problem and turning it into a revenue stream for small-scale farmers, he says.
INFORMATION:
A press conference on this topic will be held Wednesday, March 25, at 9 a.m. Mountain time in the Colorado Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at Room 104 in person, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLiveDenver. To ask questions, sign in with a Google account.
Miller acknowledges funding from the Department of Energy, the Smithsonian Institution, Western Michigan University and StatoilHydro.
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research is being presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Follow us: Twitter | Facebook
Title
Coupling surface water remediation to sustainable energy: Toward off-grid production of algae for biofuels
Abstract
Excess nutrients from agricultural inputs have been implicated in large algal blooms in the Great Lakes and elsewhere, resulting in degraded water quality with subsequent consequences. Reduction of the nutrient load into large water bodies depends on reduction of nutrient outflows from surrounding drainage basins. Modern farming techniques reduce fertilizer application rates and limit the effects of major erosive events, but even small, adventitious excesses accumulate over an entire watershed. To reduce nutrient loads in surface waters beyond what conservation measures can achieve may require treatment. On a watershed scale, this can be accomplished by treating very large volumes with a few localized facilities, or treating small volumes with many distributed facilities. Nutrient scrubbers based on periphyton communities, so-called algal turfs, have proven to be an effective technique for absorbing nutrients from surface waters in several locations. The turf can be easily harvested, and the lignin-free carbohydrates in the turf used to produce fermented biofuels. The residual material left after fuel production contains the bulk of the nutrients absorbed by the algal turf, and is an effective fertilizer. This work examines the links between nutrient capture and bio-energy production using algal turfs, focusing on methods that are appropriate for distributed, small-scale installations. Particular attention is paid to concerns for remote or unattended operation in locations without access to a power grid.
New research presented today at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) identifies nicotine dependence, obesity, alcohol abuse and depressive disorders as risk factors for low back pain, a common condition causing disability, missed work, high medical costs and diminished life quality.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) 2012 National Health Survey, nearly one-third of U.S. adults reported that they had suffered from low back pain during the previous three months. For many adults, low back pain ...
A new study presented today at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that 53 percent of the parents/caregivers of youth baseball pitchers are unaware of safe pitching practices designed to prevent overuse injuries--common tears or damage, most often to the elbow (ulnar collateral ligament) or shoulder--which can cause pain, lost play time and, if not treated appropriately, arthritis, deformity and disability.
Between 2 and 8 percent of youth pitchers will suffer an overuse injury from throwing too hard, too often, too young, ...
Asked to name one way people have changed the environment, many people would probably say "global warming." But that's really just the start of it.
People burn fossil fuels, but they also mine and manufacture. It's who we are: Homo fabricus: man the maker. And as a side effect of our ingenuity and craft we have taken many metals originally buried safely in Earth's depths and strewn them about the surface.
Does it matter? Yehuda Ben-Shahar and Eirik Søvik, biologists at Washington University in St. Louis, together with colleagues from Andrew Barron's lab at Macquarie ...
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (25 MARCH 2015)--Amidst fears that global warming could zap a vital source of protein that has sustained humans for centuries, bean breeders with the CGIAR global agriculture research partnership announced today the discovery of 30 new types, or lines as plant breeders refer to them, of "heat-beater" beans that could keep production from crashing in large swaths of bean-dependent Latin America and Africa.
"This discovery could be a big boon for bean production because we are facing a dire situation where, by 2050, global warming could reduce areas ...
A survey of almost 400,000 British residents has highlighted significant differences in personalities between regions. Amongst its finding, it shows Scots to be amongst the friendliest and most co-operative residents, Londoners the most open and Welsh people the least emotionally stable.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge used the data to analyse a sample of just under 400,000 people from England, Wales or Scotland (Northern Ireland was excluded as sample sizes were too small), around two-thirds of whom were female. The results of their study are published today ...
Air pollution is linked to a higher risk of stroke, particularly in developing countries, finds a study published in The BMJ today. In a second article, new research also shows that air pollution is associated with anxiety.
Stroke is a leading cause of death and kills around 5 million people each year worldwide. Common risk factors include obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. But the effect of the environment, such as, air pollution is uncertain because evidence is lacking.
In a systematic review and meta analysis, a team of researchers from Edinburgh University ...
The sale of human breast milk on the internet poses serious risks to infant health and needs urgent regulation, argue experts in The BMJ today.
The nutritional benefits of breast milk for babies are widely documented, but many new mothers find it difficult or are unable to breastfeed. In addition to social pressure, this pushes some mothers to purchase human breast milk on the internet - a market that has been growing rapidly.
Despite appearing as healthy and beneficial products, many new mothers and even some healthcare workers are not aware that this market is "dangerous" ...
More research is needed to identify how athletes sustain brain injury from American football, and also to develop strategies to protect them, write experts in The BMJ today.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome that can affect athletes. It is thought to result from concussion and brain injury following repeated blows to the head.
But the topic of brain damage in football is controversial. The National Football League, for example, does not acknowledge any association between football and brain injury.
CTE symptoms include ...
The Department of Health's interim evaluation of an alcohol industry pledge to remove one billion alcohol units from the market is flawed, argue researchers in The BMJ this week.
Dr John Holmes and colleagues at the University of Sheffield's Alcohol Research Group say key assumptions within the analysis are "simplistic" and call for the report to be withdrawn and revised targets set.
In 2012, the UK government announced an industry pledge to remove a billion units of alcohol from the market by December 2015, as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, the government's ...
Scientists from the University of Michigan have grown the first 3D mini lungs from stem cells. The study, published in eLife, compliments other developments in the field such as growing mainly 2D structures and building lung tissue from the scaffold of donated organs.
The advantage of growing 3D structures is that their organisation bears greater similarity to the human lung. The scientists succeeded in growing structures resembling both the large proximal airways and the small distal airways
Lead author Dr Jason Spence says:
"We expected different cells types to ...
