BioLargo,
Inc. was recently featured in MicroCap
Review’s Summer/Fall 2014 print and online issues. BioLargo is featured on
page 30 in an article titled, “Is BioLargo’s ‘AOS Filter’ the World’s Most
Valuable Technology?” where the author discusses the company’s Advanced
Oxidation System (AOS) Filter solution and its multiple applications in the
$360 billion water industry. The full article and publication can be found at www.MicroCapReview.com.
Is
BioLargo’s “AOS Filter” The World’s Most Valuable Technology?
Water is
now being called ‘the new gold’ because usable water is growing scarce and is arguably
our planet’s most valuable resource. We
use it to produce oil and gas. We power our cities and run our factories with
it. We grow crops and feed livestock with it. Like the air we breathe, water is
essential for life. Relative to the seemingly endless supply of water, ‘usable
water’ is becoming more difficult to find while demand continues to increase.
Two
thirds of the surface of our planet is covered with water, but 97% is saltwater
and not usable for consumption, agriculture or most other industrial purposes. There
are countless desalinization plants around the globe, but there is no
technology that converts salt water to fresh water cost-effectively and in the
vast amounts needed. Of all the water on the planet, less than 1% is fresh water.
That freshwater is found in rivers, lakes and groundwater, but flooding,
natural disasters, and industrialization are rapidly polluting much of that and
reducing it even further.
One of
many sources of water pollution comes from the recovery and refining processes
to produce the oil and gas we need for our homes, our cars and our factories. It
is estimated that oil production will have to double in the next 20 years just
to keep up with the increased demand. That may seem like a challenging but achievable
objective, but with the advent of non-conventional, but essential supply
sources like oil sands and shale gas, meeting that goal could require 4 gallons
of water to produce one gallon of oil from oil sands or fracking, and another 4
gallons of water to refine one gallon of gas. In light of the heavy water
requirements, the heavy water pollution, and the growing opposition to water
pollution, the goal to expand energy production suddenly becomes daunting.
There
are two formidable obstacles related to the water that is absolutely essential
to the oil industry. First, there is a shortage in many regions that is already
acting as a restraint on production. Second, the enormous amounts of wastewater
produced from the recovery process is increasing the threat of toxic contamination
of rivers, lakes and groundwater, and is becoming an economic and political
barrier to further oil and gas production until more usable water can be found
and until the toxic wastewater can be decontaminated quickly, cost-effectively,
and safely returned to the earth.
The
massive amounts of wastewater from oil recovery, fracking and refining are
problematic, but are only the tip of the iceberg. According to EPA estimates,
oil & gas and mining use about 1% of the useable water supply while
agriculture uses about 37%. The wastewater from oil & gas and mining is
highly toxic, but the wastewater from agriculture also contains large amounts
of toxic chemicals and nutrients that are polluting much of the remaining
usable water. Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that up to 90% of toxic
wastewater in developing countries is sent untreated into rivers and open water
bodies.
Agriculture
and oil and gas are not the only source of contaminants threatening our water
supply. Mining, industrial manufacturing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals
greatly add to the problem. Evidence of the enormous scope of contaminated
water is supported by the fact that there are close to a hundred different
wastewater treatment technologies.
If any
of the traditional solutions were truly cost-effective at a scale capable of
tackling these high volume needs, then there would be no problem. We would have
ample clean and safe water for all our needs, but the simple truth is that not
one of these traditional technologies works well enough to solve the entire problem.
They are often too costly and they typically do not process adequate
volumes in a short time frame. With the
high cost and lengthy time of current water treatment technologies, supply
shortages and price increases for clean water seem inevitable.
The Global Water Intelligence reports that water is estimated
to be a $360 billion-dollar industry and that fact helps explains why there are
so many competing technologies. Just one tiny little sliver of $360 billion is
a lot of money. Clearly, a technology that could cost-effectively
decontaminate water from agriculture, oil and gas, industrial, and mining
operations would be extremely valuable.
Biolargo’s Patented AOS Filter was recently
validated in proof of concept testing at the University of Alberta. It was
shown effective at dismantling recalcitrant contaminants (the most difficult
and hard to manage) in seconds versus hours, and, further, it accomplished the
task at 1/20th the power consumption of the nearest competitor, pointing
to its future as a disruptive contender in just about every water industry
segment.
Iodine is the broadest and most potent disinfectant known.
BioLargo’s AOS Filter combines iodine with well-understood technologies like
carbon filter media, ceramics or membrane technologies to extract contaminates
from a water-flow. The BioLargo AOS Filter converts a traditional filter
mechanism into a reactor by adding electricity and oxidizing chemistry across
the surface area of the filter media.
The device delivers powerful oxidization to dismantle contaminants as
they flow through the filter, all the while consuming an incredibly low level
of energy. The device features high rates of oxidation, low power, high speed
and a continuous flow. The dismantled contaminants are small enough in size
that most of them pass through the filter without clogging. AOS therefore greatly
extends the filter life.
The net result is expected to yield unparalleled cost
effectiveness.
BioLargo’s
AOS Filter is Well Positioned
University of Alberta has begun a pilot study to design
and build a commercial version of BioLargo’s AOS Filter to prove scalability as
well as optimize its functionality for use in the oil sands and across a host
of other water treatment segments.
BioLargo recently announced it achieved another
important milestone in the pilot testing of the device successfully replicating
earlier proof of claim results and it confirmed the role of advanced oxidation
within the AOS Filter reactor. This recent pilot work included
bench-scale testing of contaminated water taken from actual field operations and it has proven the AOS Filter’s
effectiveness at dismantling and removing targeted naphthenic acids, which are
considered high-value and hard to contain contaminants of keen interest to the
oil sands industry for more than 15 years.
Professor Lynn McMullen at the Department of
Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta, recently
agreed to expand the AOS Filter pilot testing into areas of interest in food
processing and agricultural production, including livestock related areas. The
initial targets include clean in place (CIP), carcass and food washing and
animal drinking water applications.
BioLargo is a founding member of a research chair
sponsored by NSERC, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada, which organized in 2011 to solve the wastewater tailings ponds problem.
Other founding members joining BioLargo include Suncor Energy, Syncrude Canada,
Shell Canada, and Canadian Natural Resources, EPCOR, Environment Canada and Alberta
Innovates.
BioLargo’s CEO, Dennis Calvert commented, “Our
business is very exciting and certainly dynamic. Our patented technology is right
on the leading edge and our AOS Filter has recently opened up a huge commercial
opportunity for BioLargo. Our company’s culture is entrepreneurial at heart and
we thrive on the challenge and adventure to create, validate and commercialize
our break-through technologies. Our
Chief Science Officer, Kenneth Reay Code continues to set the technical performance
bar to the highest standards and his discipline has proven invaluable as we
introduce new technology to industry and gain acceptance. Our team is comprised
of an impressive list of associates that are both leaders and patent holders
from the top ranks of industry. Our
future is quite bright.”
BioLargo’s mission is to make
life better. It has the technology, the team, and the driving purpose to
succeed. BioLargo is a platform technology company that expects to generate the
bulk of is revenues through licensing its AOS Filter and other platform technologies
it developed that have important application in water, healthcare, energy, and
consumer products segments.
The AOS Filter is expected to
have a powerful impact on all uses of water around the world.