QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

“What you put in, you get out” UQ and German colleagues growing solar bio-fuels

The 21st century will see humanity face many great challenges, including managing climate change, promoting sustainable economic growth and accommodating our growing global population. However, one of the most immediate concerns is our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy, which not only have an uncertain future in terms of supply, but also exacerbate the effects of climate change. Associate Professor Ben Hankamer and the Solar Biofuels Consortium are currently undertaking research at The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) that aims to one day see the economically viable production of a renewable bio-fuel made from single-celled green algae (microalgae). It is believed that using microalgae over traditional bio-fuel sources has several advantages, as the production systems can be located on non-arable land, eliminating competition with food production. Microalgae also have the potential to store carbon, helping to reduce CO2 emissions. According to Associate Professor Hankamer, the development of clean fuels for the future is one of the most urgent challenges facing society due to the need to address climate change and secure fuel supplies. means having a sustainable source of energy to drive them. “Of course, numerous choices are already being explored worldwide – solar, wind, wave power, geothermal, amongst others – with the largest potential source, by far, being the Sun” he said. “Each day the Earth receives enough solar energy to meet global energy needs more than 1,000 times over, with less than a fraction of one per cent of the Earth’s land mass required to catch sufficient energy to power the world. But photovoltaics are not the only way to utilise the power of the Sun; plants have been turning solar radiation into chemical energy for millions of years. The first generation of bio-fuels, like ethanol made from plant biomass such as corn, wheat and sugar cane, have already been explored. However, such bio-fuels require a significant portion of the world’s usable land and have sparked the recent and heated ‘fuel versus food’ debate. In fact, there is very limited arable land, simply not enough to grow those crops needed for bio fuel and food production; for this reason, we need to use non-arable land. Although alternative, non-food crops, like some native grasses that grow on non-arable land, are now being looked at for fuel production, the land usage remains an intractable matter. Associate Professor Hankamer believes that having truly ‘clean and green’ fuels

Associate Professor Hankamer, who was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2009, is a founding Director of the Solar Biofuels Consortium since it was established in 2007. The Solar Biofuels Consortium has brought together eight international groups and approximately 100 researchers to develop the high-efficiency microalgal bio-fuels and bio-product production systems. The eight Solar Biofuels Consortium groups include members: A/Prof. Ben Hankamer (The University of Queensland) , Prof. Dr Olaf Kruse (Universität Bielefeld, Germany), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Clemens Posten (Universität Karlsruhe, Germany ), Prof. Tony Larkum (The University of Sydney) , Dr. Ute Marx (The University of Queensland ), Prof. Dr. Michael Hippler (Universität Münster) , Prof. Peter Nixon (Imperial College London) and Prof. Christian Wilhelm (University of Leipzig) . Siemens, Biogas Nord and Stadtwerke Bielefeld are three German companies that the Solar Biofuels Consortium has worked with, and industry collaborations are being expanded through the development of collaborative value chains including a range of Australian or International partners. solarbiofuels.org

Main background: an extreme close-up graphic of a single-cell microalgae, and (below) UQ biofuels researcher and Eisenhower Fellow Associate Professor Ben Hankamer

phaitoon satchawai / shutterstock.com

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