The technicians of the Biomass department of the have dinner (National Renewable Energy Center), during the first semester of 2017 they have been able to carry out the project ("Cyclalg") Of the microalgae culture in the facilities of the second generation Biofuel Center or better known as CB2G, all from the cultivation protocols developed in Neiker-Tecnalia, Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development.
In this project the first 12kg of fresh microalgae biomass have been obtained with higher than expected results in terms of solids concentration and lipid content, with a value higher than 50% of the latter.
During all this time of investigation, the evaluation of the extracted oil of cultivated microalgae, carried out by the project partner, Qatar-CRITT, for the production of biodiesel.
In addition, a company dedicated to the biofuels sector is currently in charge of test or test the quality of this biodiesel obtained, as well as assess likely attractiveness that this product may have for the industrial sector.
The project Cyclalg is funded by the Spain-France-Andorra Territorial Cooperation Operational Program, POCTEFA, during 2014-2020.
Project objectives
El main objective Cyclalg is that of develop and validate various technological processes completely aimed at implementing the production of biodiesel by cultivating microalgae as you have already seen.
Likewise, in addition to Cener and Neiker-Tencalia (who has been the project coordinator), the Tecnalia Foundation, AIN (Navarra Industry Association), Catar-CRITT (Center d'Application et de Transfromation des AgroRessources) and Apesa (Association pour l'Environnement et la Sécurite en Aquitaine) are part of the Cyclalg consortium.
On July 18 and 19, the last meeting of all the partners was held at Cener's headquarters in Sarrigurren (Navarra), this being the third follow-up meeting of the project.
In this image you can see the project partners staying at Cener during those meeting days.
During these two days, the attendees, on the one hand, shared and jointly analyzed the results achieved and, on the other hand, they reached the agreement of necessary actions to advance in the execution of the next planned activities.
Innovative solutions
Cyclalg contributes with innovative solutions to advance in the development of alternative sources of renewable energy, thus favoring the economic sustainability of the global process of obtaining biodiesel from microalgae as well as the environmental sustainability.
The innovative character of Cyclalg is therefore based on the approach to a microalgae biorefinery. Likewise, it is not limited solely to its use as a productive energy system, but rather seeks progress your sustainability.
Achieving the latter thanks to use of biomass through the algae in an integral way, thus obtaining a wide spectrum of bioproducts that may have a commercial value for the different economic sectors of the POCTEFA territory, such as: the cosmetics, fertilizers, feed, among others, and the chemical industry, especially for adhesives and polyols.
However, Cyclalg's innovative approach is sustained by being based on a circular economy model for the process, thus pursuing the maximum resource efficiency already used, always with the purpose of reaching the zero waste paradigm, thus respecting the environment and in an efficient way.
This project will be developed for 3 years with a budget of 1,4 millones de euros, of which 65% of said budget is co-financed by the ERDF, that is, the European Regional Development Fund, through the Interreg VA Spain-France-Andorra Program (POCTEFA 2014-2020).
The fact that biodiesel can be obtained from cultivated microalgae means a great step for the production of alternative energy, in this case biomass, leaving aside or at least reducing in a certain way the territories left to cultivate certain types of crops such as common sugar cane and leaving them for agriculture.