LOCATION

CLIMATE

IDEAL

LEGISLATION AND
INCENTIVES

Warm, sunny, dry. Optimum temperature

range 18-24 0C annually. Mild temperature
changes annually.
Little cloud cover/ high light incidence. Lux =
2500 10000.
Optimum photoperiod, light: dark, 16:8hrs
minimum.
Little or no history of natural disasters.
Legislation must allow for domestic .and
foreign business development
The ideal location operates under global
standards.
Preferably, the gvt has incentives such as
grants and promotion schemes to aid the
development of modern technologies.
Access to any required certification

AUSTRALIA, KARRATHA
Western Australia e.g. Karratha is ideal
Consistent warm temperature range of 19360C annually.
Low cloud cover and little rainfall.

First world country; operates under global

standard concept.
Part of the Common Wealth Group, has good
relations with the UK.
Legislation promotes development of modern
technologies e.g. OriginOil company supports
and funds MBD bio-fuel production.
Gen2 Grant program to reduce C02 emissions.

ECONOMY

ACCESS TO RAW
MATERIALS

ENERGY
REQUIREMENTS &
COSTS

A good economy indicates little chance of

unrest or public rebellions, and possibly good
relations with other countries. The prospect of
long-term operation is more likely.

Transporting raw materials from their

sources could result in huge capital costs. The
ideal location should have waste water, sea
water, phosphorus reserves, and access to
fertilizers or animal faeces.
Heavily industrialized locations give easy
access to C02.

Effort must be put into lowering energy costs.

Local government incentives such as the ECA
in England would be highly advantageous.
Conversion of biomass into biogas for energy
generation also lowers costs, and contributes
to a sustainable environment.

Steady economy.

MOROCCO, AGADIR
Southern Morocco is ideal; very hot and
dry, with little cloud cover.
Temperature range = 5 - 350C.
Temperatures can drop substantially at
night, necessitating use of fluorescent
tubes
Marrakech
or
Agadir
average
temperature=210C.
$400billion Desertec Initiative for
renewable energy.
Legislation supports already existing
algae cultivation operations e.g. Green
Extract.
Global standards can be met with, if
required, some adjustments; the
country has strong relations with
France they probably already work
global standards concept.
The gvt has invested $13billion to aid
the
development
of
modern
technologies and renewable energies.
Exemption from customs duties and
Import VAT very useful if process
equipment has to be imported.
3rd world, steady mainly due to
phosphorus reserves.
Heavily relies on tourism and fisheries.

Cheap labour is optimal.

Local Education Institutes provide a pool of
labour.
Ideally, expert engineer also exist locally.
Automation of the plant would also reduce
labour costs.

Works under global standards.

Accreditation required for process,
process material and equipment.
Government incentives include
1. Feed In Tariffs,
2. EON Energy Fund,
3. Enhanced
Capital
Allowance,
4. Wrap AD Loan fund.

Local and steady.

Located next to Indian Ocean source of sea

water.
High-tech algae farms provide biomass and
bio-fuel reserves.
Karratha is heavily industrialized so easy
access to C02 and waste water.
Fertilizers can be bought ad hoc.
Use of photosynthetic algae can achieve
production costs that rival the lowest cost
producers focused solely on the fuel market.
The plant is partially powered by biogas, a biproduct of anaerobic biomass digestion.
Possible use of hydro power as location is
close to Indian Ocean.

Biomass reserves available from algaeextract manufacturers e.g. Naturmar,

Kiod Argan Sarl.
Close proximity to the North Atlantic
Ocean for sea water.
Close proximity Western Saharas huge
phosphorus reserves.
Heavy industry provides source of C02.
The plant is partially powered by biogas
to reduce costs.
Minimal use of fluorescent tubes as the
daily photoperiod generally favours
light.

LABOUR COSTS

WALES, SWANSEA
Heavy rainfall, few dry months in
summer.
Requires use of greenhouse facilities
and artificial lighting adding to costs.
Previous year, 2013, temperature
range: 4-190C.

Presumably similar to the UK.

Easy access to pool of educated local
engineers.
First world country provides access to up-tostandard technology, removing the necessity
to import thus also reduces transport (capital)
costs.

3rd World country; may offer cheaper

labour, although expert engineer may
be scarce.
Expert engineers maybe available due
to strong relations with France and
Spain.

Coastal location (next to Bristol

Channel) provides sea water reserve.
CO2 easily acquired from nearby Port
Talbot Steelworks.
Faecal material can be obtained from
surrounding farms.

Use of tidal energy possible due to

close proximity to sea.
Use of photosynthetic algae can
achieve production costs that rival
the lowest cost producers focused
solely on the fuel market.
The plant is partially powered by
biogas, a bi-product of anaerobic
biomass digestion.
Fluorescent tubes can be bought in
bulk or off-the-shell ad hoc, but
substantial costs may arise.

Easy access to pool of educated local

engineers.
First world country provides access
to
up-to-standard
technology,
removing the necessity to import thus
also reduces transport (capital) costs.

CHINA, QINGDAO
Average temperature during
the summer is 25C -30C.
Average temperature during
the winter is 5C -23C.

There are algae-cultivation

for biofuel projects already
up and running in the Gobi
desert of northern China: next
to and North of Qingdao
which span thousands of
metres in area.
The Chinese government has a
growing interest in alternative
sources of fuel due to
pollution problems.
Policy-makers in China and
Florida have been working
together to find the most
effective ways of algal
cultivation.
Worlds
second
largest
economy by nominal GDP;
largest
economy
by
purchasing power parity.
Fastest
growing
major
economy.
Coastal location; easy access
to seawater.
Easily purchased fertilizers.
Easy access to CO2.
Shipping of raw materials by
land or sea.
Most of mainland China's
electricity is produced from
fossil fuels (79% from coal,
2% from gas in 2011) and
hydropower (15%).
While coal is the main energy
source, most reserves are in
the north or northwest and
present
an
enormous
logistical problem nearly
half the country's rail capacity
is used in transporting coal.
Mainland China has 21
nuclear power reactors in
operation,
27
under
construction, and more about
to start construction.
Pool of expert engineers
available locally.
Very cheap labour costs.
Labour Costs in China
decreased to 106 Index Points
in the second quarter of 2014
from 106.90 Index Points in
the first quarter of 2014.