Gen3Bio is developing a unique process that could more effectively and affordably transform microalgae into bio-based chemicals to maximize the value of biofeedstock and reduce landfill waste.
Low Carbon Footprint
Kelvin Okamoto, founder of Gen3Bio, said:
“There’s been a huge movement toward greener, renewable products for the sake of the environment and that includes biofuels and biochemicals. Conventional biofuels are derived from sugars of crops, which can take a considerable amount of land and water to produce. Algae has a low carbon footprint, is renewable and can be accessed in large quantities, so overall it is very environmentally friendly. It’s a great alternative to meet the expected demand for bio-based products in the future.”
Low-cost Algae Extraction Method
Okamoto earned his Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University and Cornell University, respectively. Through his company, Okamoto is scaling up and commercializing an effective, efficient and low-cost algae extraction method to lyse open the algae cells by using a mix of commercially available enzymes.
Lysing open the cells releases and separates the fats, sugars and proteins within the cells.
The different chemical components can be sold or further converted into bio-based chemicals, biofuels and bioplastics.
The technology was developed at the University of Toledo.
Okamoto said algae has a wide variety of applications.
He said:
“Companies use algae for things such as wastewater treatment or flue gas remediation. Additionally, there are algae producers and harvesters who clean up fish farms or natural waters. Usually after the algae has been used for its initial purpose, it’s disposed of in landfills or converted into animal feed supplements or field nutrition supplements. While the last two are great uses, companies do not receive much money from these options. It’s more profitable to convert the byproduct algae to high value bio-based chemicals.”
Okamoto said the most common current processes to extract biochemicals from algae often degrade a large portion of the cell contents and are energy intensive.
“The most common processes used today target the fats in the microalgae, which can then be used in biodiesel. However, these processes break down the sugars and proteins which can be valuable and utilized to produce bio-based chemicals,” he said.
“Petroleum-based diesel sells wholesale for about 15 cents a pound right now, so the companies producing only biodiesel have difficulty competing profitably because of this low cost. They lose money doing that.”