Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Renewable energy sources continue to be of great interest around the World due to the rising demand for energy and difficulties obtaining non-renewable supplies; as well as the desire to lessen the impact of energy consumption on the environment. Biofuels, primarily bioethanol produced by fermentation of sugars and starches, have become a large supplier of liquid fuel in both South and North America, with the United States currently producing the largest quantities, 20 billion litres/yr. Canada has a target of 1.4 billion litres/yr by the Year 2010 with major facilities recently inplace or currently under construction in several provinces. The supporting organization for this biofuel investigation, North West Bio-Energy Limited, represents one such facility under development in Saskatchewan. In this study, the fermentation process to produce bioethanol will be coupled to a photosynthetic culture to produce biodiesel or starch. The coupling of these two processes will represent a Microbial Fuel Cell with a cationic membrane separating the two culture media. The growth activities of the two microbial cultures will generate a flow of electricity as a secondary energy source; while the production of photosynthetic algae will produce biodiesel or starch as the third renewable energy source. The carbon dioxide released by the bioethanol culture will be consumed by the biodiesel culture, resulting in a carbon dioxide neutral system. Studies will be aimed at optimizing total energy production (bioethanol, biodiesel, starch and electricity) by varying algae cell type, algae growth conditions (pH, light), electrode surface area, electrode construction material and design of a novel photosynthesis bioreactor. This study will train eight students in the growing area of renewable energy systems ... biofuel production and microbial fuel cell design. This study will result in a new biofuel technology that will make Canada a world leader in this innovative area of energy production.