Sul Ross professor researches growing diesel fuel

ALPINE With diesel fuel prices approaching $5 per gallon, Keith Klein's solution to the on-going cost escalation is to harness the sun to grow his own supply.

The Sul Ross State University assistant professor of Industrial Technology is in the midst of a three-phase food and fuel project that capitalizes on solar energy. In a dual purpose plan, Klein proposes to grow algae to produce diesel fuel and food stock for livestock through a solar collection system.

His research is funded by two Sul Ross enhancement grants and is based on performance specifications from the Department of Energy. Klein said, "The objective is to develop a sunlight collection system that processes and transports sunlight for the more efficient production of fuel and food with minimal water use and less cooling/ heating of the growing space."

Klein will present a poster on his research at a University of Colorado renewable energy workshop.

The "Workshop on Efficient Conversion of Solar Energy to Electricity and Fuels: Critical Research Directions and Tutorial" will be held Aug. 13-15 in Boulder.

Energy researchers from universities and agencies nationwide have been invited to participate.

Klein's model is a tracking collection system that captures and concentrates sunlight into a beam or shaft of light suitable for processing and/or transporting into remote growing environments.

He explained that 50 percent of sunlight's energy is in the visible spectrum, and the other 50 percent is mostly infrared (heat).

In the visible spectrum the blue and red light is used by plants for photosynthesis.

"For the growing environment, we desire to maximize the photosynthesis spectrum, but minimize the infrared and green, which only add heat to the environment," he said.

The processing unit must use "lens" to separate each spectrum and direct each spectrum into either the growing environment or the production of electricity or heat, or the unit could use technology to shift the "less desirable" spectrum back into the photosynthesis range to be then directed back into the growing environment.

Growing algae in sealed enclosures has been documented, Klein said. Valcent Labs, El Paso, has reported growing bio-diesel in a "closed-loop" algae-production system and are showing a yield of 34,000 gallons of bio-diesel and a like amount of food stock per year per one acre of area.

"The production rate makes the selection of algae very attractive, and the growth process requires little water, while the ‘planting' and harvesting is done with a pumping system," Klein said. He added that the growth of algae requires a controlled solution of nutrients, or "growth media," along with carbon dioxide and light. Major nutrients include carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicon.

"Nutrients can be recaptured from liquid sewage, and the process dove-tails with efforts to minimize the release of treated effluent into rivers," he said. "Carbon dioxide can be recovered from the exhaust of boilers or generators burning conventional fuels or bio-gas, which is a product of the anaerobic fermentation or digestion of sewage, livestock waste, or food waste."

Klein calls the light capture and growth system attractive because "both fuel and food can be produced on land not suitable for normal agriculture.

In addition, the training of a workforce to grow, process, and transport the products could provide local employment opportunities.."

Klein began his research at Texas A&M-Commerce with a 2003 grant and has continued since coming to Sul Ross. His collaborators are Dr. Martin Terry, Sul Ross assistant professor of Biology, and Kenneth R. Baierlipp, a solar energy consultant.

"To me, this has real capabilities," Klein said. "I think it's a wonderful idea and I hope I can finish it in my lifetime."

For more information, contact Klein, (432) 837-8139 or kklein@sulross.edu