Harmful algal blooms—what to do? Byron Donalds suggests biofueling them.
Naples Congressman Byron Donalds thinks his recently introduced measure to convert cyanobacteria into biofuel might be a win-win situation: clean water with a new energy source as a byproduct, though he concedes, “It’s not sexy.”
Co-sponsored by U.S. Representative Brian Mast of Fort Pierce, 8779 would: “require projects in the Caloosahatchee River watershed, the St. Lucie River and estuary basin, and the Lake Okeechobee watershed that mitigate harmful algal blooms and nutrient pollution by removing algae and converting the algae biomass into biofuel, and for other purposes.”
Essentially, it would direct the United States Army Corps of Engineers to develop a method for harvesting cyanobacteria, sometimes known as blue-green algae, and converting it into biocrude, according to a recent article by Amy Bennett Williams of Naples Daily News.
The product is obviously not in low supply. Blooms are a common summer occurrence in the Lake Okeechobee basin, and they can sometimes reach disastrous proportions – the Corps also has some experience with the process. at 2019, it conducted a pilot at Moore Haven, followed by others with improvements.
Did it work? “In the 2019 proof-of-concept study, the fuel yields were limited,” noted Martin Page of the Corps’ Engineering Research and Development Center. “In 2020, changes were made that increased fuel yields while maintaining water treatment performance.”
Byron Donalds: ‘Ideas might take a little bit to bake’
HABITATS, which stands for Harmful Algal Bloom Interception, Treatment, and Transformation System, is a three-step process that physically removes algae from water, concentrates it, returns clean water to the environment, and then converts the removed algae into fuel while treating for toxins, according to Page. “The generation of biocrude fuel as a byproduct occurs in the ‘transformation’ step.”
This method has the added benefit of removing nutrients from cyanobacteria cells as the algae grows. “HABITATS treats the symptom and one of the key causes of harmful algal blooms: nutrients,” he said.
Will the procedure pay for itself? No, Page writes, at least in the hypothetical situation they investigated, “though it could help offset a small fraction of the costs pending maturation of the biocrude utilization pathways.”
U.S. Representative Byron Donalds addresses algae.Naples congressman reintroduces bipartisan measure on hazardous blooms
It is also important to consider where the algae is in the water.
“Implementation … is more economical for surface blooms in which the algae is predominantly concentrated near the water surface,” according to Page.
Even if there isn’t much money to be made, “there could be other environmental and economic benefits.”
Donalds believes that skimming toxic algae and repurposing it is beneficial.
follows: “We’ve got to try to get buy-in from other members, and on down the line,” Donalds continued. “A lot of times, ideas can take a little while to bake, but you never know – you could find somebody high enough up on the chain who really enjoys the idea.”
Whether sexy or not, Donalds says, “You’ve just got to work it and figure out how you can get it across the finish line.”
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News
