Dr. Michael Huesemann, lead researcher for the algae biofuel program in Sequim’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, meets with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell briefly in July 2016 about algae and its potential. His current project looks to find the best growing conditions for algae to harvest biofuel quickly. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)                                Dr. Michael Huesemann, lead researcher for the algae biofuel program in Sequim’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, meets with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, briefly in July 2016 about algae and its potential. His current project looks to find the best growing conditions for algae to harvest biofuel quickly. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Dr. Michael Huesemann, lead researcher for the algae biofuel program in Sequim’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, meets with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell briefly in July 2016 about algae and its potential. His current project looks to find the best growing conditions for algae to harvest biofuel quickly. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group) Dr. Michael Huesemann, lead researcher for the algae biofuel program in Sequim’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, meets with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, briefly in July 2016 about algae and its potential. His current project looks to find the best growing conditions for algae to harvest biofuel quickly. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Sequim lab looks to find the best biofuel in algae

SEQUIM — Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine Sciences Laboratory are turning algae inside out to find the best biofuel possible.

Dr. Michael Huesemann, a lead researcher, said algae is a promising clean energy but expensive to harness effectively.

“The price of biofuel is largely tied to growth rates,” he said. “Our method could help developers find the most productive algae strains more quickly and efficiently.”

Huesemann, who has worked with algae for 16 years, started on the $6 million, three-year algae DISCOVR project (Development of Integrated Screening, Cultivar Optimization and Validation Research) in October 2016 with a small team of senior and junior scientists in Sequim.

“What we’re really interested in are carbon-neutral biofuels that can be grown in the United States,” he said.

“We haven’t found any algae that grows fast enough or provides enough biofuel, so we’re trying to find microalgae that grows fast to make biofuels.”

Huesemann said there are millions of strains in nature to sort through, so rather than a “shotgun approach and randomly screening” they are “doing an organized, rational screening.”

Finding the best algae is broken into a process of five tiers among labs in Sequim, three other Department of Energy labs — Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Arizona State University’s Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation.

Previously, researchers tried to evaluate algae in test tubes but find lab results don’t always mirror outdoor ponds, laboratory officials said.

In Tier I, scientists in Sequim and New Mexico test up to 30 different algae strains to see how weather-tolerant they are, and the top third will go to Tier II, Huesemann said.

In Tier II, Sequim houses a unique climate-simulating system called LEAPS (Laboratory Environmental Algae Pond Simulator) that simulates climates and seasons around the world inside glass cylinder photobioreactors.

Two other labs will evaluate the algae to see if there is any value in its compounds that could be used for products like food dye phycocyanin, which could make algae biofuel production more cost-effective, Huesemann said.

Scientists also will research how resilient certain algae strains are to predators, like protozoans, and other competing algae.

Huesemann anticipates Tier I and II being conducted this year, he said.

For Tier III, researchers in New Mexico will further test top-performing algae strains, Huesemann said, which includes “forcing cells to grow faster or generate more oils, using state-of-the-art laboratory techniques such as directed evolution and fluorescence-assisted cell sorting.”

Afterward, strains will travel to outdoor ponds in Arizona for study as part of Tier IV to compare biomass output with earlier steps. Lastly, scientists will study the algae strains that performed the best in different lighting and temperature conditions for Tier V.

Data will go into the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories’ Biomass Assessment Tool to help researchers generate maps that illustrate the expected biomass productivity of each algae species grown in outdoor ponds “all over the U.S. in different seasons on any day of the year,” Huesemann said.

Once the study is complete, research will be made public for companies and other researchers.

Laboratory officials said work that could stem from this project includes converting harvested algae into biofuels, examining operational changes such as crop rotation to further increase biomass growth and assessing the technical feasibility and economic costs of making biofuel from algae selected through this process.

For more on the experiment, visit www.pnnl.gov/news or marine.pnnl.gov.

________

Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers PeninsulaDaily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Scientists Michael Huesemann, in front, and Tom Hausmann continue work on finding the best strains of algae for biofuel production. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Scientists Michael Huesemann, in front, and Tom Hausmann continue work on finding the best strains of algae for biofuel production. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

More in News

A street sweeper on I Street in Port Angeles cleans up the street along the curbs of all the debris that blew down during Tuesday evening’s storm. Thousands were without power at the peak of the storm. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Storm causes power outages, road closures

Smaller weather system may hit Friday

Port Angeles funds lodging tax requests

Sixteen applications to undergo review

Port Townsend’s Water Street sewer project gets funds

City council authorizes contracts; construction to start in January

Port of Port Angeles commissioners approve 2025 budget

Board OKs project that would treat seawater to make it less acidic

Two injured after truck collides with tree

Two people were injured when the truck in which… Continue reading

Power out for thousands in Clallam County

More than 11,000 electric meters were without power in… Continue reading

Shay-Lyn Szczepanik and her daughter Raelynn, 5, of Port Angeles are wind blown as they try to watch the wild waves at the base of Ediz Hook on Tuesday as the storm approaches. Many other weather watchers went to the spit to see and feel the winds. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Storm surge

Shay-Lyn Szczepanik and her daughter Raelynn, 5, of Port Angeles are wind… Continue reading

Fire Marshal and floodplain administrator Phil Cecere answers questions with deputy floodplain administrator Greg Ballard on Monday night in Brinnon. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Jefferson commissioners update flood code

More than 70 people attend hearing in Brinnon

PASD board accepts Brewer’s resignation

School officials highlight performance of Native American students

Port Angeles lifts Stage III water restrictions

The city of Port Angeles has lifted all of… Continue reading

Chipotle Mexican Grill opens today at 2021, Suite B, U.S. Highway 101 in Port Angeles. The fast food restaurant features freshly prepared burritos, burrito bowls, salads and tacos. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Chipotle opens in Port Angeles

Chipotle Mexican Grill opens today at 2021, Suite B, U.S. Highway 101… Continue reading

Agnes Kioko and Regina Mbaluku of Kenya and Bonita Piper, board president of Path From Poverty, right, meet with Sequim volunteers who cut and sell wood as a fundraiser. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Connection helps Kenyan women with opportunities, relationships

This effort, gifts from thousands of miles away, aren’t just… Continue reading