ODU studying how to convert algae to biofuel

Old Dominion University, Virginia Beach and several partners are proposing to develop a $50 million algae farm on city-owned land where the slimy, aquatic growth would be converted into biodiesel fuel and other forms of alternative energy.

Much of the proposal, however, hinges on federal stimulus money from the U.S. Department of Energy. ODU and its partners are asking for $46 million from a $100 million pool set aside by the Obama administration for advancing algae-to-biodiesel technology.

A decision about the funding is expected as soon as next month, and by the end of the year at the latest, project sponsors said.

The money would finance three years’ worth of development and construction of the algae-growing farm, harvesting areas and conversion equipment at an undetermined site that city officials  described only as between Oceana Naval Air Station and Fentress Airfield in Chesapeake.

Property leasing agreements have not been worked out yet and would have to be approved by the City Council, said Clay Bernick, Virginia Beach’s director of environmental management.

The city signed a letter of commitment to the project last month and views the farm as a progressive way to spur economic opportunity and help generate new, alternative energy supplies, Bernick said.

Virginia Beach  would receive a percentage of the estimated 140,000 gallons of biodiesel generated at the farm each year – for free.

The cleaner-burning fuel could be used to power city vehicles and equipment, said Bruce Dannenberg, president and CEO of Planktonix Corp., a North Carolina company and the primary private-sector partner in the deal.

Planktonix, based in Asheville, N.C., started as a company in July and is part of a green wave of alternative-energy entrepreneurship now sweeping the country.

“This is our first, main, huge project,” Dannenberg said in a phone interview Wednesday.

For ODU, the farm would represent  a bigger, closer-to-home laboratory to advance its algae-to-biodiesel research, in hopes of someday commercializing the concept into a full-blown product, said Pat Hatcher, a professor leading the initiative.

ODU christened a smaller algae-growing facility in Spring Grove, a town in Prince George County east of Richmond, in September 2008. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine attended the ribbon-cutting event and often mentions algae in meetings and speeches as a promising energy supply of the future.

Hatcher said he and colleagues have learned much from the Spring Grove farm but are ready to  take the next step. “We need to go larger-scale,” he said.

However, a former partner in the Spring Grove farm, Jes  Sprouse, said the project has been plagued by inefficiencies and problems and “was pretty much for show all along.”

Sprouse, president of Sprouse Industries, said he and ODU never could reach a business agreement, nor could he finance the purchase of the land for full development of the farm.

A month after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Sprouse said, he and ODU had parted ways, and  they have rarely spoken since then. He said he lost about $100,000 in the deal.

Hatcher confirmed that ODU and Sprouse broke up soon after the christening, adding that the Spring Grove property is for sale today and likely will be closed, and its equipment probably moved to Virginia Beach.

Despite the bad blood, Sprouse remains bullish about algae. He started his own company and makes biofuel today at his home in Prince George County from algae fertilized by hog wastes.

The Virginia Beach proposal includes three private companies that are committing money  and support for the bigger farm, and involves researchers from ODU, George Washington University, Jacksonville State University, the University of Michigan and South Dakota State University, according to a prospectus.

Hatcher and others said that even if the stimulus money is not awarded, they are prepared to seek private funds elsewhere and push ahead with the project.

“In this field, you have to be optimistic,” Hatcher said. “There’s a lot of interest in this technology, and we have lots of avenues open to us.”

He mentioned that  Exxon-Mobil recently announced a $300 million commitment to algae-biodiesel research, and said ODU is working with interests ranging from the Virginia Port Authority to a businessman in California who wants to start an algae farm in the Mojave Desert.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com