BioMara (Sustainable Fuels from Marine Biomass)

What is the BioMara project?

BioMara - the Sustainable Fuels from Marine Biomass project - is a joint UK and Irish activity to find out if making fuel from marine algae is both feasible and viable.

What will the project do?

This project will investigate fuel production from both macroalgae (seaweeds) and microalgae (single celled plants), as an alternative to fuels made from land plants. 

The project is working specifically in the cross-border area of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the maritime area of south-west Scotland. This area has depressed levels of social, infrastructural and economic development and are traditionally separated by land and marine borders, leading to a lack of cohesion in terms of infrastructure, distribution, experience-sharing and service delivery.

Background to fuel from algae

As global fossil fuel supplies dwindle and atmospheric carbon concentrations rise, pressure is on to find viable biofuel alternatives to petroleum products.

The European Parliament is calling for 10% of road transport fuel to come from renewable sources by 2020, making this an urgent challenge. Currently, 90% of the world’s biofuel is from bioethanol. Made largely from sugar cane and maize, it is used as a petrol additive. The remaining 10% of biofuel comes from plant oils such as rapeseed, soya and palm and is turned into biodiesel.

These 'first generation' biofuels or agri-fuels are a long way from meeting the world’s need for energy security and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. Also, terrestrial biofuel crops compete for land and freshwater with food production, forestry and conservation.

Algae are in theory an ideal alternative biofuel crop as they grow faster, require little maintenance and thrive in environments not used for agriculture or forestry.

Whilst there is evidence that large-scale biofuels production from algae is technically possible, further investigation is needed to find out which strains are likely to be the most productive and the optimal conditions for their growth before it can be produced on a commercial scale and brought to market.

Objective

• Investigate the practicalities of harnessing algal biomass as a biofuel source on a competitive and sustainable basis.

This will include consideration of the underlying science and technology, as well as process control, engineering needs, supply chain issues, social and economic impacts.

Expected outputs

1. Greater use of the sea as a source of energy, especially for transport use, thereby sparing terrestrial resource.
2. Development of sustainable, carbon-neutral, indigenous energy production, particularly liquid biofuels for transport and methane for heat and power.
3. Methods for local production of biofuels from marine algal biomass will be shared, to showcase the underlying methods, demonstrate the viability of the technologies and promote their use within the cross-border area.
4. Cross-border collaboration will be supported via networks.
5. Economic development and employment opportunities will be upgraded within the cross-border area.
6. Reduced geographical isolation and a more cohesive infrastructure among the three areas.
7. Improved social and environmental sustainability, with reduced reliance on fossil fuels and their expensive distribution to a diffuse population.
8. Improved equality between urban and rural residents by reduction of fuel distribution costs in rural areas.

Who will benefit?

• the UK and Ireland will have access to a more economically and environmentally sustainable local renewable fuel source.

Society

• traditional ways of life in remoter communities will be supported by providing locally produced, relatively cheap, low impact fuel
• there will be more opportunities for young people to remain in rural communities
• local public transport will be improved
• there will be enhanced learning and skill improvement in rural areas
• and there will be improved job opportunities in rural areas.

PROGRAMME FACTS AND FIGURES

Start and end date: 05/01/2009 to 31/12/2013

Organisations involved:

Dept of Enterprise, Trade & Investment, Northern Ireland
Dept of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Ireland
Centre for Renewable Energy Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland
Crown Estate
University of Strathclyde
University of Ulster
Questor, Queen’s University of Belfast
Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland 

BioMara is supported by the European Regional Development Fund's INTERREG IVA programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.

Website: http://www.biomara.org