Alternative energy sources are a growing research focus, and some Arizona companies and scientists are successfully developing new technologies such as producing energy from bacteria.
The Arizona Technology Council coordinated a forum on Thursday in downtown Phoenix addressing three types of alternative energy that some of its member companies are developing.
Bruce Rittmann, an ASU engineering professor and the director for the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute, presented information on his research project that is using photosynthetic bacteria to produce biofuels.
“What we need to do as a society worldwide is replace most of our fossil fuel use,” Rittmann said, and society and researchers can do this by producing renewable energy.
“We manage microorganisms to provide services to society,” Rittmann said about his center’s contributions. “In the process, we’ll also reduce a lot of geopolitical economic stresses that come from the fact that we use fossil fuels, particularly from unstable regions in the world.”
Renewable resources can be used instead of fossil fuels, which would slow and eventually reverse the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
His research on photosynthetic bacteria, called cyanobacteria, which use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, helps to accomplish this.
The specific cyanobacteria is called synechocystis.
Inside the cyanobacteria, there are internal membranes made out of lipids, oils that can be used to later on replace current fossil fuel energy sources.
“This organism here is just chock full on the inside with the feedstock that’s basically the same as petroleum,” Rittmann said.
When cyanobacteria grow well, they can produce this “biopetrol,” meaning petroleum or oil produced from life.
If there was a land area the size of Texas devoted to growing, harvesting and converting cyanobacteria, Rittmann said the bacteria would be able to replace the planet’s entire fossil fuel use.
The cyanobacteria have a high production rate as well, about 100 times higher than plants, Rittmann said.
The bacteria can be improved by genetic manipulation to produce more lipids, he said.
The bacteria are also structurally simpler than algae, which only produces a lot of lipids when it is growing poorly.
Another form of alternative energy in progress is solar, which uses photovoltaic panels to create energy.
Raymond Wiley, the director of North America Sales for Aide Solar, a Tempe-based solar energy company, spoke at the forum about the photovoltaic technology and how it is useful as a renewable energy source.
“The sun produces a lot of energy, which is captured by the photovoltaic cells,” Wiley said.
The cells then convert sunlight into power, which can provide electricity to homes through a process, he said.
There are two types of solar panels: thin film and silicon, Wiley said.
Panels have several uses, including for buildings, covered parking, agriculture and aqueducts. They can be used to provide energy and cover, he said.
Despite the usable technology, cost is still a factor.
“Unless it’s an economically feasible proposition, a lot of people won’t even look at it,” he said.
However, rebates and incentive programs can help lower the cost.
Jamie Hogue, the vice president of government affairs for Enhanced Oil Resources, Inc., discussed the possibilities of creating carbon dioxide and helium storage areas in Arizona.
“We are a traditional oil and gas company,” said Hogue, who earned her a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from ASU.
The main use for carbon dioxide in the oil industry is that it can be used to recover more oil out of wells, she said.
“There’s still 40 to 60 percent of the oil underground at any oil field that you might see out there that’s just kind of left stranded,” Hogue said.
Carbon dioxide can extract about 20 to 30 percent of the remaining oil, she said.
Although this is an alternative technology, it is not fully environmentally friendly.
“There are some projects in Europe right now to look at some technologies to clean the [carbon dioxide] that does come out of the stacks,” Hogue said.
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu
