Case Studies: Algaepower
Gail Busch
Algaepower
Montpelier, Vermont
While attending a Vermont Biofuels Association meeting in early 2005, Gail Busch had her "Eureka!" moment when she realized that oil from algae production had incredible potential for Vermont and the region. Since then, Gail has been moving forward on what could become one of the most innovative developments in biodiesel feedstock production in the nation.
A diverse working background has provided her with valuable business skills and a willingness to follow her instincts into new ventures. She describes her trajectory towards this business with algae production as "following a thread in a maze." While working on a wind project in 2004, a colleague in Denmark told her to "look beyond wind; biodiesel is the next big thing" and she took that advice seriously.
When Gail began researching conventional biodiesel feedstock production methods, she recognized a drawback to producing energy crops on land that could (or should) be devoted to food cultivation, so she started researching algae as an alternative, focusing on the fact that algae can grow anywhere given the right conditions. Drawing upon a past working experience with enclosed air structures (like the type sometimes used over year-round tennis courts), she realized that by attending to the need for the right amount of nutrients, carbon dioxide, heat and light she could design a prototype for growing algae in individual air domes.
She's calling her company Algaepower, and it's function will be to grow and harvest the algae, separate the oil, and then ship the oil to a processing facility to be converted into biodiesel. For Gail, motivation comes from her desire to do something that would be good for the environment in general, and good for the state specifically. Ultimately she would like to see anaerobic (methane) digesters attached to more farms, creating a closed loop system where all "waste" is recycled into useable products. By capturing nutrients from the manure to feed the algae production, the farm would be creating a product (algae oil) from waste, which in turn becomes biodiesel used to power farm operations. It is this kind of potential, and the impact on farm viability, that has Gail involved in research and development of the business model as a full time occupation.
Looking to the future, Gail is hopeful that the reality of algae-produced biofuel could expand into applications such as providing heating oil for large facilities. By her own admission she has no desire to run a company or manufacture anything. Her plan is to research and report on the feasibility of her design and to seek venture capital and collaborative partners to move her concept into the prototype stage and then to commercial scale. As part of this process, she will be pulling together a development team to focus on technical, marketing and management issues. She personally abides by a principal of alchemy that is not so much technical, as it is the simple act of gathering the ingredients, putting them together, and eventually turning the initiative over to its next phase.
Well aware her plan is an ambitious one and that there are those who doubt its viability, she maintains her steadfast determination that it can be done, and plans to have a working prototype by summer 2006. "Biodiesel is a great concept, but in order to make a real impact it has to be done on a scale that will make a dent in an entire region. I believe that algae, more so than field crops, will make the largest contribution in the years ahead."