Australia’s dairy problem, and algae solutio

Australia’s dairy problem, and algae solution

June 7, 2015

Cow manure and other waste makes the wastewater generated from daily cleaning rich in compounds and micro-organisms that can damage river ecosystems.

There are around 4500 dairy farms in Victoria, Australia, according to Business Victoria. Together they produced about 86 per cent of Australia’s dairy product exports, worth almost $2 billion, in 2011-12.

The wastewater generated from daily cleaning is a dairy product that has been an issue of concern, however. Cow manure and other waste makes this water rich in compounds and micro-organisms that can damage river ecosystems.

The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI), responsible for government oversight of the state’s dairy industry, has been investigating ways to more responsibly manage dairy effluent. Barrie Bradshaw from DEPI says, “The main environmental issues are around water quality and nutrients getting into waterways as well as greenhouse gases off treatment ponds.”

Working with Victorian bio-solutions business Algae Enterprises, DEPI successfully ran a Market Validation Program project to demonstrate the potential of algae in treating dairy effluent on a farm-scale at DEPI’s Ellinbank dairy research facility.

“Algae Enterprises is a partnership between myself and Sustainability Ventures,” says Dr. Alex Falber, “to explore opportunities in algae and algae cultivation as a means of producing biofuels and useful products.”

Algae Enterprises’ Photoluminescent Algae System alters incoming sunlight to improve algae growth by fine-tuning the colors and wavelengths of light that reaches the algae.

“We developed what we called the Photoluminescent Algae System, which is a system of thin film plastics embedded with fluorescent dyes,” he says. “The system alters incoming sunlight to improve algae growth by fine-tuning the colors and wavelengths of light that reaches the algae.”

The algae remove all of the waste components from the wastewater, producing a very dense algae biomass (or clump) and a water stream that can be recycled for irrigation or other use on the farm. That algae biomass is then collected in a concentrated form and put into a digester system that breaks down the algae and converts it into methane gas to be used as a renewable energy source.

“The challenge has been implementing this technology in a way that is commercially viable for farmers,” says Algae Enterprises CEO Ayal Marek. “Cleaning the water was the main target, but you can add value for farmers, and that’s what we were able to do.”

The completed project now has scope for further development.

“Now that we’ve completed the project,” says Mr. Marek, “we are developing the system as modules, which will suit both larger and smaller farms. We’re about to roll out three of these modularized systems over the next year, with the aim of increasing beyond that.”

This project was funded under the Victorian Government’s Market Validation Program (MVP). The new Driving Business Innovation program builds on the MVP.