The Minister for Science and Technology announced the funding during the launch of the project held at the Institute for Marine Biosciences of the National Research Council.

Other organizations and industrial partners are also pouring financial support amounting to about C$1.2M plus some help in kind.

The initial stage of the project involves making a cultivation plant with a capacity of 50,000 liters along the Ketch Harbour. The algae will rely on carbon dioxide from combustion of fossil fuel to aid its growth.

Carbon2Algae, an industrial partner of the project, plants to setup photobioreactors of algae to capture the CO2 expelled by powerplants in Alberta which will allow the local algae to thrive.

In the future, it will be possible to operate an algae facility next to a generating plant using fossil fuel. The short term goal of the researchers will be to find the best species of algae that will be optimal for biofuel production.

Researchers in Nova Scotia have been growing and studying algae for more than five decades now. At the moment, they are looking into 64 species of algae which have already been collected. Twenty four of the specimens are being cultivated while six of these are under intensive scrutiny because of their impressive oil yields.

AFEX pretreatment process utilizes ammonia to make the separation of cellulose and hemicellulose in plants 75% more efficient. The cellulose in plants, once extracted and broken down into sugars, can be transformed into biofuel.

When a cellulosic material is treated with AFEX, it doesn’t need any washing or detoxification. This allows ethanol to be produced from cellulose without added supplements or procedures to aid the fermentation.

The AFEX process is functioning under moderately mild condition. The biomass is heated at 100 degrees Centigrade with concentrated ammonia. Brisk pressure release aids the process. As a result, 99% of the ammonia is retrieved and recycled. This process decrystallizes cellulose, depolymerizes hemicellulose and remove lignin from it. AFEX decreases breaking down of the sugar in the biomass.

A pilot plant could be the next phase of the project, said Dale. MBI International is their prospective company to be partners with. MBI is subsidiary of the MSU Foundation, in partnership with companies and universities. They are planning to make AFEX technology match with the needs of companies for alternative fuels.

Prof. Dale’s research is supported by Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and MSU Research Foundation.