Algae - Future Fuel

Algae-based Biofuel: Pros And Cons

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:03:00 +0000

There is no perfect energy source. Each and every one has its own advantages and compromises. This series will explore the pros and cons of various energy sources. Learn about other forms of energy generation here. Algae–based biofuel is a new energy source that has been getting a lot of attention lately. Certain types of algae contain natural oils that can be readily distilled into a vegetable oil or a number of petroleum-like products that could serve as drop-in replacements for...

NASA one step closer to turning algae into fuel

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:54:00 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- NASA has been working to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and it's now getting some help from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Tuesday the space agency showed off its efforts to turn algae into fuel. Imagine an oil well of the future as a kind of oil farm where the humble micro algae is grown in such vast amounts that it reduces our dependence on fossil fuels. "It moved it from basically a 20-gallon system to a 450-gallon...

Algaedyne plants a future for renewable fuels

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:49:00 +0000

Driving around Kauai, Hawaii, several years ago, Toby Kinkaid spotted a series of smokestacks from a coal-fired electric plant and began wondering what could be done “with all that carbon.” The Wisconsin-based entrepreneur had already established a national reputation as a solar developer by operating Solardyne.com and Solarquote.com as well as inventing two solar-related products that have been tested at Sandia National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. The idea that started in Kauai led...

Sapphire Energy Gets $144 Million To Turn Algae Into Gasoline

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:43:00 +0000

Sapphire Energy, a company that creates algae-based fuel, just announced a whopping $144 million in funding. In recent years several startups have emerged to create fuel out of plant material, all hoping to lure people away from gasoline made from crude oil. Solazyme, Algae.tec, and Sapphire Energy all dominate the space, trying to edge out not only each other but oil companies as well. All three companies covert algae into a petroleum replacement, one that can work with the traditional...

New method grows algae sustainably

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:29:00 +0000

NASA has devised an innovative method called Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA). It is used to grow algae, clean wastewater, capture carbon dioxide and ultimately generate biofuel without competing with agriculture for water, fertilizer or land. The system is made up of large flexible plastic tubes called photobioreactors. They float in seawater and contain freshwater algae growing in wastewater. Among the fastest growing plants on Earth, the algae use energy from the...

W2 Energy Initiates Plans to Develop Two Acres of Recently Purchased Property for its Algae Bio Reactor

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Development Of Its Patent Pending SunFilter To Expand Plans To Market Food, Nutraceutical and Bio- Fuel Markets GUELPH, Ontario, March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- W2 Energy, Inc. WTWO +4.14% is pleased to announce that it has begun procedures for the development of its recently purchased property for the purpose of utilizing its patent pending algae bio...

World Biofuels Markets Opens with Debates on Aviation, Food Versus Fuel, Algae, Waste-to-Fuel, Emerging Markets and more

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:36:00 +0000

More than 1,500 delegates converge on Rotterdam to address global energy issues across the three day A round up of three intense days of networking and insightful conference sessions at Europe's largest congress & Exhibition "Biofuels continue to grow in importance as the rising price of oil impacts every aspect of the global economy, so today's sessions covering the latest in aviation, sustainability, and investments were critical to finding...

Future in Review Names Heliae a FiRe X FiReStarter

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:34:00 +0000

FRIDAY HARBOR, WA, Mar 19, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Strategic News Service is proud to announce that Heliae has been selected as a 2012 FiReStarter company to be featured at its tenth annual Future in Review (FiRe) technology conference. FiReStarter companies are selected based on their potential to bring positive change to the world, and are showcased during the conference both at an exclusive investor reception and in panels throughout the event. ...

Obama touts algal biofuels; $14M in new R&D funding; $2.28 per gallon algal biofuels in sight?

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:33:00 +0000

As President Obama highlights the role of algal biofuels in the long-term energy strategy, critics and supporters duke it out over the nearer-term prospects, as R&D spending increases. In Washington, the Obama Administration outlined a new $14 million round of R&D grants for algal biofuels, as the US President highlighted algal biofuels in a speech at the University of Miami which focused on energy policy. In Miami, the President said: “We’re making new investments in the ...

U.S. funds alternative fuel research

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:32:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- More than $40 million will go into new research to encourage the development of alternative fuels for automobiles in the U.S. market, the government said. The White House announced it was making $30 million available for developing technology for the use of natural gas in automobiles and another $14 million to support research and development of biofuels derived from algae. The natural gas program in part targets technology needed to build fuel tanks for...

Why Did Obama's Favorite Algae Biofuels Company Break Up With Dow?

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:26:00 +0000

An innovative algae biofuels company favored by Obama’s Energy Department was also once a darling of Dow Chemical. But Florida’s Algenol Biofuels ended its partnership with Dow in 2010, shifting its pilot project from Dow facilities in Freeport, Texas, to Algenol’s laboratories in Lee County, Florida. “Algenol felt that Dow had contributed as much as it could,” Algenol CEO Paul Woods said in an e-mail. Algenol's plastic bioreactors prevent water from evaporating and collect ethanol...

The Secrets Of Algae, Continued

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:15:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia Nuclear energy holds great promise if, among other things, its radioactive waste can be better disposed. Compared to solar panels, wind farms and biofuels, it produces a large amount of energy with low carbon dioxide emissions at a relatively small cost; the technology is mature. In addition, river and ocean habitats need not be disturbed as in the case with hydro power. But nuclear plants also produce a lot of spent fuel and suffer from the latent risk of a...

OriginOil Study Concludes Algae Producers Can Make Gasoline And Diesel For As Little As $2.28/Gallon

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:57:00 +0000

OriginOil, Inc. (OTC/BB: OOIL), developer of a breakthrough technology to convert algae into renewable crude oil, today announced a new company study indicating for the first time that algae producers worldwide can now make transportation fuels cost-effectively themselves. The Company’s analysis points to a potential production cost as low as $2.28/gallon ($0.60/Liter) for gasoline or diesel using a blend of algae and waste feedstocks, using the...

BIG BUSINESS IN ALGAE: HOW POND SCUM COULD SOLVE THE PETROLEUM CRISIS

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:10:00 +0000

While biofuels made with ethanol and soybean oil dominate the renewable energy debate, not everyone is aware that single-celled algae can also provide a valuable fuel source. Microalgae, the bright green “scum” most often observed on lakes and ponds, contain the same kinds of organic oils as corn or soybeans that make them viable for biofuel production. In fact, most of the petroleum we currently rely on is made from fossilized algae. But innovations in recent years have enabled ...

Why Algal Biofuels May Never Hold the Key to the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:54:00 +0000

The depletion of world rock phosphate reserves will restrict the amount of food that can be grown, a situation that can only be compounded by the production of biofuels, including the potential large-scale generation of diesel from algae. The world population has risen to its present number of 7 billion in consequence of cheap fertilizers, pesticides and energy sources, particularly oil. Almost all modern farming has been engineered to depend on phosphate fertilizers, and those made from...

NUI Galway joins €14m algae project

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Researchers at NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute are involved in a major €14 million European initiative to develop the potential of algae as a source of sustainable energy. As a partner in the project, NUI Galway is responsible for the initial step of producing some of the biomass required for conversion to biofuel. This will be accomplished by cultivating macroalgae (seaweed) biomass at sea in a one-hectare pilot facility. NUI Galway’s part of the ‘EnAlgae’ project is valued at almost...

Lone Star College-Montgomery students seek cutting-edge energy solutions for master-planned community

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:42:00 +0000

In just months, Michelle Coleman, an LSC-Montgomery graduate who now volunteers in the Biotechnology Institute, has seen results in the quest to remediate the brackish aquifer water (on left) using various strains of algae (on right). THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The students at Lone Star College-Montgomery are putting a lot of energy into finding low-energy solutions for what hopes to be the first-ever environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable...

Algae.Tec Congratulates Strategic Partner The Manildra Group on International Biofuels Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:33:00 +0000

Algae.Tec congratulates its strategic partner the Manildra Group on being awarded the world's first commercial certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) Perth, Western Australia/Atlanta, Georgia (PRWEB) February 15, 2012 Algae.Tec Limited (ASX:AEB, FWB:GZA:GR, ALGXY:US) an advanced algae to biofuels company with a high-yield enclosed algae growth and harvesting system today congratulates its strategic partner the Manildra Group on being awarded the world's first...

OriginOil and Aquaviridis team up in Mexicali for algae project

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:08:00 +0000

n California, OriginOil has announced a joint venture with algae producer Aquaviridis, based in Mexico. Commerical scale production capacity is expected by the second quarter of 2013. Says OriginOil’s VP of marketing, Ken Reynolds, “The Mexicali Valley is a great place to develop an algae industry, given its climate and access to industry research and resources throughout North America.” Original post available here.

Study: Algal biofuels show huge potential

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:02:00 +0000

It appears that algal biofuels could be a legitimate solution in the efforts to combat lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. That’s the verdict of a study by ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, MIT and Synthetic Genomics in the paper Environmental Science and Technology. Its study looked into how various technology options could affect greenhouse gas emissions and on-site freshwater consumption and it found that when produced in large volumes algae has the potential to produce huge amounts...

Research under way to harness algae qualities

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:58:00 +0000

A research cell under the marine biotechnology department of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here is conducting research into harnessing the qualities of various algae for diverse uses such as making biofuels, carbon dioxide sequestration, waste water treatment, livestock feed, high protein nutrients and others. “Bio-chemical profiling of more than 150 algae has been done. These have been cultured and steps are being initiated to look at developing food products,...

OriginOil demos low-energy Algae Appliance and mobile algae harvester at NAA meet-up

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:53:00 +0000

In California, OriginOil demonstrated a low-energy Algae Appliance to industry executives from a National Algae Associate hosted workshop. OriginOil also showed new technologies in laboratory development, and the Max One mobile algae harvester. Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO commented that this was the first time the Algae Appliance was shown to an industry group in the U.S. The Algae Appliance is a continuous-flow ‘wet harvest’ system that can remove up to 90 percent of the water in...

New Technique Discovered to Help Harvest Algae

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:01:00 +0000

At the UKs Sheffield University (SU) a team led by Professor Will Zimmerman in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering believes they have developed an inexpensive way of producing microbubbles that can float algae particles to the surface of the water, making harvesting easier, and saving biofuel-producing companies time and money. One of the cost of production problems that holds algae back as a major biomatter resource is an efficient cost-effective method of harvesting and...

Algae.Tec Announces S&P research upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:59:00 +0000

Perth, Western Australia/Atlanta, Georgia - 31 January 2012 - Algae.Tec Ltd (ASX:AEB, FWB:GZA:GR, ALGXY:US) ('Algae.Tec') is pleased to announce that Standard and Poors (S&P), the New York based financial services company known for their financial research and analysis have, in conjunction with Algae.Tec, upgraded the status of Algae.Tec's American Depository Receipt program (ADR), the USA share trading platform. ...

Algae Show Potential for Green Future

noreply@blogger.com (Algae News) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:58:00 +0000

Cornell scientists believe marine algae may bring the next green revolution, in more ways than one. Prof. Xingen Lei, animal sciences, and his lab are currently investigating the potential environmental and economic benefits of using algae in biofuels and animal feed. Algae could be used as an energy source in the form of biofuels to produce a protein-rich by-product for commercial animal feed, according to Lei. “These algae are very rich in high-quality protein. They are also a good...