As part of a National Science Foundation grant program to examine cutting edge ways to make nature work for us, a team of scientists at Iowa State University have been awarded $2 million to unravel how some plants and algae can make hydrocarbons and discover if the genes that govern that process might be isolated.
“These plants are capturing solar energy and creating something that’s chemically identical to petroleum,” said Jackie Shanks, Iowa State’s Manley R. Hoppe Professor of Chemical Engineering, in a statement.
The demise of retail giant Filene’s Basement may have a positive effect on proponents of vertical urban farming and algae biofuels alike. Since 2007, the developers of a Filene’s site in downtown Boston have been unable to find funding to move the project forward. But now Höweler + Yoon Architecture and their partner Squared have put forth a proposal to erect a temporary vertical, modular, algae bioreactor high-rise in its place.
Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electricity provider, has secured $70.5 million in stimulus funds to expand an innovative project that turns carbon dioxide emissions from a coal power plant into biofuel using algae. While part of the funds will be used to scale up the algae processing portion, some of the funds will also be used to investigate the potential benefits of turning the coal into a gas prior to burning it for power.
The concept of creating two products — electricity and fuel — from the same process is known as cogeneration. In this case, the cogeneration also helps to reduce environmental pollution. It’s an idea that has been gathering support as a way to make coal less polluting while finding an additional revenue source to pay for the pollution control itself. In fact, a while back I reported on a similar pilot project in Oregon.
Imagine driving from San Francisco to New York City in a plug-in hybrid Prius that uses algae for fuel.
At the beginning of this month the first ever algae-powered plug-in set off on a ten day coast to coast demo from California to show that a plug-in hybrid can be fueled with green crude.
The algae fuel for the plug-in Prius was supplied by Sapphire Energy. They are developing an algae fuel completely compatible with current gas pumps and pipeline infrastructure. Read the rest of this entry »
In an effort to drum up attention and support for their algae-based biofuel, Sapphire Energy has announced they will conduct a coast-to-coast journey in their “Algaeus” plug-in hybrid. Part electric hybrid, part biofuel vehicle, Sapphire claimes the Algaeus will get 150 miles per gallon from its hybrid/biofuel drivetrain.
The Algaeus will visit 10 cities, starting in San Francisco on September 8th and ending in New York City on the 18th.
Algae, algae, algae. The research that is occurring on this second generation fuel has overfloweth the petri dish as just this week there have been five major algae announcements.
W2 Energy, based in Canada, announced that it has completed its Sunfilter commercial scale algae bioreactor.
Algaeventure Systems said that it has begun receiving orders for its algae harvesting, dewatering, and drying technology. The company that has placed the order is General Atomics.
Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at University of North Dakota was awarded a subcontract by SAIC to use its proprietary technology to produce jet fuel from algal oils.
Kent BioEnergy, based on California, announced that it is going to establish a division of the company in Charleston South Carolina, partnering with a Grant Know, a local entrepreneur.
Algenol Biofuels, a Florida based company, has threatened to leave the state and now they are working with CEO Paul Woods to entice his company to stay. Read the rest of this entry »
Q: Due to this breakthrough technology (Live Extraction) and some of the others you’ve recently announced, how soon do you think you’ll be able to use this technology to produce algal fuels at a commercial scale?
A: Due to the lag in actually building large scale projects, the ability will come long before the fact. Also, we won’t build or produce ourselves, but instead we will provide technology and devices, and help design, build and maintain these sites. The next step is a pilot plant which could occur as early as next year.
Los Angeles based OriginOil has made several major announcements during the past few weeks including a patent filing for its Dynamic Control System, and its application for a Patent Cooperation Treaty for low-energy, high-efficiency algae production. Now, they have announced a breakthrough process for Live Algae Extraction, coined ‘milking’ which is a complicated way to say that they can continually extract the oil from algae without killing the cells.
This new ‘milking’ process is an addition to the company’s Cascading Production technique which is a combined cycle that turns algae to fuel more efficiently, economically and cost competitively when compared to petroleum. Read the rest of this entry »
Recovery Act Announcement: DOE Announces Recovery Act Funding of up to $85 million for Algal and Advanced Biofuels
For big fans of renewable energy like me, these are just halyon days, indeed. Hardly have I finished reading that wind is to get a huge jolt from the new DOE, but today, even more huge funding is announced for biofuels development.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $85 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to develop algae-based biofuels and advanced (yet infrastructure-compatible) biofuels.
ExxonMobil has been slow to invest in biofuels. Actually, until now, they have not invested in them at all while their competitors have spent the last year making what they hope are strategic investments. Well, slap me silly, but today ExxonMobil announced a $600 million investment with J. Craig Venter (best known for mapping the human genome) whose company, Synthetic Genomics is developing a photosynthetic algae biofuels program. This venture includes more than $300 million invested in Synthetic Genomics specifically and $300 for other projects Venter is developing. This investment should cover five-to-six years of research.
Now, I should clarify, that the partnership is with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) just like ExxonMobil Chemical Company is working with Electrovaya to produce the Maya 300. It’s not unusual for the oil companies to use or create offshoot companies for their renewable energy investments. For example, Valero, which has been extremely active in biofuels investments now has a division branded as Valero Renewables.
As reported by Earth2Tech, Emil Jacobs, vice president of R&D for Exxon’s Research and Engineering Co., said in a call with reporters that it will likely take billions of dollars in additional investment to commercialize the technology for distribution in Exxon’s existing infrastructure. Within 5-10 years, Jacobs expects the project to be producing “large quantities” of transportation fuel. Read the rest of this entry »
Today, Los Angeles based OriginOil announced what they’re calling a breakthrough in algae processing, leading to a simpler and more efficient mechanism for producing algae-based biofuels.
The Algae Biofuels World Summit concluded yesterday in San Francisco. The event was geared to active participants in the industry, and I had the opportunity to attend Monday’s all day pre-conference briefing highlighting key players in government, research, and business all pursuing the goal of scaling algal biofuels to a commercial enterprise level.
It is clear that algae is “hot” - but as is often the case with hot, there is no shortage of hype. A recurring theme throughout the day was the common mis-percepton of algae biofuel as “cheap and easy” and a one-size-fits-all solution to the world’s fuel energy needs.
Biodiesel produced from saltwater-based Algae could be cost competitive with petroleum diesel, according to some reports.
Aurora Biofuels, located in Alameda, CA has reported their 18 month pilot project produced 1,000 gallons of ATSM quality biodiesel in Florida open ponds of just 1/8th of an acre. The company estimates they could grow 6,000 gallons per acre in full production mode.
If you’ve been a reader of Gas 2.0 for any length of time, you’ll know that we’ve been reporting on algae biofuelfor, well, that entire length of time. Yet, seeing as the blogosphere is apparently full of nothing but pathetic liars (thank you Ms. Palin), I’m sure you’ve been on the seat of your pants wondering when the shining beacon of television news would truly validate algae’s potential.
Fear not intrepid reader, seems that the MSM has finally discovered algae too. During a recent installment of their “Energy Fix” segment, CNN has latched on to algae biofuel as the next big thing in renewable energy. Regardless of the laughability of the anchors, the segment is actually worth watching if for no other reason than to get a close up look at OriginOil’s Helix Bioreactors.
Besides, you know it’s gonna be good when the segment is hosted by an anchor named Poppy Harlow. Video after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
In reality, however, corn ethanol was set up for a crash before the faltering world economy gave it the impetus to go over the edge. I’m not suggesting that corn ethanol is going extinct, just that, as some industry experts have put it, corn ethanol is going through a “major adjustment” where the outcome will be large swaths of consolidation and efficiency improvements within the industry.
In a way, corn ethanol is finally coming of age. To put it crudely, little Timmy has stopped having wet dreams and gone out and met some actual women. Read the rest of this entry »
Gas 2.0 digs into the viscous world of biofuels and the fast-paced transit arena, exploring the technologies and substances that are the future of transportation.
If you’ve been a reader of Gas 2.0 for any length of time, you’ll know that we’ve been reporting on 
It’s a fact. Corn ethanol has lost its luster. Its intrigue has gone from, say, 
