Introduction
The Oil Prize is designed to realize the great potential of oil from
algae with the lowest risk over the shortest time.
The potential of algae oil is to, in stages:
1) Enhance neurological development via nutritional supplementation
with omega-3 fatty acids and,
2) Provide an abundant renewable source of green or environmentally
friendly fuel oil.
A fixed dollar amount is withdrawn from the prize fund each month to
purchase algae oil from the lowest price source(s) certified for the
target market. That quantity of algae oil is then resold to the target
market and the funds are added to the prize fund. When the lowest
price certified sources can compete with the target market, that stage
of the Oil Prize has finished.
The Oil Prize is designed to let algae cultivation techniques mature in
two stages, building both technology and popular support for both
environmentally friendly and humanitarian purposes.
Stage 1: Omega-3 and Neurological Development
Increased production of algae oil has the potential to dramatically
impact the quality of life of humanity by correcting problems with
neurological development.
An academic consensus is building that our natural diet is far richer
in omega-3 than our agricultural practices provide, and that this has
contributed to problems with neurological development, particularly
during childhood.
Algae oil isn't just any vegetable oil. Algae oil is rich in omega-3
fatty acids, the primary source of which is now fish oil.
A good overview of the current thinking by George Monbiot, published in
UK Guardian, is the article "Not
Enough Fish In the Sea" containing this excerpt:
So at first sight the government's investigation into the idea of giving fish oil capsules to schoolchildren seems sensible. The food standards agency is conducting a review of the effects of omega-3s on childrens' behaviour and performance in school. Alan Johnson, the secretary of state for education, is taking an interest(13). Given the accumulating weight of evidence, it would surprising if he does not decide to go ahead. Already, companies such as St Ivel and Marks and Spencer are selling foods laced with omega-3s.
There is only one problem: there are not enough fish. In March an article in the British Medical Journal observed that we are faced with a paradox. Health recommendations advise increased consumption of oily fish and fish oils within limits, on the grounds that intake is generally low. However, we probably do not have a sustainable supply of long chain omega 3 fats.(14) Our brain food is disappearing...
Some plants - such as flax and hemp - contain omega-3 oils, but not of the long-chain varieties our cell membranes need. Only some people can convert them, and even then slowly and inefficiently(21,22,23,24). But a few weeks ago, a Swiss company called eau+ published a press release claiming that it has been farming "a secret strain of algae called V-Pure" which produces the right kind of fatty acids. It says it's on the verge of commercialising a supplement(25). As the claims and the terrible names put me in mind of the slushiest kind of New Age therapy, I was, at first, suspicious. So I went to see Professor Stein to ask him whether it was likely to be true. He could be said to have a countervailing interest: his brother is the celebrity fish chef Rick Stein. But he happened to have met the company's founder the day before, and he was impressed. The oils produced by some species of algae, he told me, are chemically identical to those found in fish: in fact this is where the fish get from them from. "I think they're fairly optimistic about the timescale. But there is no theoretical impediment. I haven't yet seen his evidence, but I formed a very strong impression that he is an honest man."
He had better be, and his project had better work. Otherwise the human race is destined to take a great cognitive leap backwards.
Single day productivities reported over the course of one year were as high as 50 grams of algae per square meter per day, a long-term target for the program. Attempts to achieve consistently high productivities were hampered by low temperature conditions encountered at the site. The desert conditions of New Mexico provided ample sunlight, but temperatures regularly reached low levels (especially at night). If such locations are to be used in the future, some form of temperature control with enclosure of the ponds may well be required.There are many parties making equally many claims about how they have dealt with this fundamental problem -- ranging from new strains of algae to various "photobioreactor" designs that radically increase growth rates.
The high cost of algae production remains an obstacle.
The cost analyses for large-scale microalgae production evolved from rather superficial analyses in the 1970s to the much more detailed and sophisticated studies conducted during the 1980s. A major conclusion from these analyses is that there is little prospect for any alternatives to the open pond designs, given the low cost requirements associated with fuel production. The factors that most influence cost are biological, and not engineering-related. These analyses point to the need for highly productive organisms capable of near-theoretical levels of conversion of sunlight to biomass. Even with aggressive assumptions about biological productivity, we project costs for biodiesel which are two times higher than current petroleum diesel fuel costs.