Tag Archives: algae
French biochemist Pierre Calleja has developed a lighting system that draws CO2 from the atmosphere and uses micro-algae to produce light with oxygen as a byproduct. The inventor claims that one of his street lights will absorb CO2 at the rate of one tonne a year – which is about as much as a typical tree absorbs in its lifetime.
A report from the Energy Biosciences Institute in Berkeley projects that, while algal oil production technology has the potential to produce several billion gallons of renewable fuel annually, development of cost-competitive algae biofuel production will require much more long- term research, development and demonstration. In the meantime, several non-fuel applications of algae could serve to advance the nascent industry. The replort says that the industry is still in its early gestation stage. Although well over 100 companies are now working to produce algal biomass and oil for transportation fuels, most are small and none has yet operated a pilot plant … Continue Reading
Montana State University researchers have discovered that common baking soda, when added at a particular time in the growing cycle, can dramatically increase algae’s production of the key oil precursors for biodiesel. According to the scientists, the search for a chemical trigger to boost oil production in algae was a long and sometimes torturous journey. Not only did they have to find a chemical that would work but they had to figure out the best time to add it to the algae. If the baking soda is added too early or too late, the algae don’t respond but when added … Continue Reading
Scientists at Arizona State University have reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that they have genetically engineered bacteria to produce biofuel. Researchers Xinyao Liu and Roy Curtiss have engineered cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that continuously secret the oil. The scientists started by producing cyanobacteria carrying the enzyme thioesterase, that clips the bonds that bind fatty acid to more complex carrier proteins. This allowed for oil to accumulate within the microbes, to the point where it can no longer be contained. They then modified two layers of the cyanobacteria’s cellular envelope so that the fatty acid could get … Continue Reading
Aurora Biofuels, a California company, says it has cultivated a strain of algae that doubles the production of biodiesel by absorbing more than twice as much carbon dioxide as conventional strains. Normally, algae absorb more carbon dioxide in low light and decrease the amount absorbed as the light gets brighter during the day. By a process of screening and selection, Aurora has bred a strain of algae that can ingest carbon dioxide regardless of the intensity of sunlight. Aurora’s process uses salt water in open ponds. The algae feed on carbon dioxide and Aurora says that its algae will sequester … Continue Reading
ExxonMobil and biotech firm Synthetic Genomics have announced a new alliance to produce fuel made from photosynthetic algae. ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million on the initial phase project. Exxon Mobil’s collaboration with Synthetic Genomics will last five to six years and will involve the creation of a new test facility in San Diego. After that, ExxonMobil could invest billions of dollars more to scale up the technology and bring it to commercial production. ExxonMobil has launched the partnership after years of being publicly opposed to investing in renewable energy. Now Emil Jacobs, Vice President of Research and … Continue Reading
Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment is putting money in Sapphire Energy, which plans to make second generation biofuels out of algae. The company announced that it has raised more than $100 million from investors. The San Diego-based company hopes to make commercial amounts of the fuel in three to five years for a cost of $50 to $80 per barrel. Sapphire selects and genetically modifies algae to maximize their internal production of lipids, or fats and then squeezes that from algae. It says the oil can be used in refineries like normal crude. Jason Pyle, Sapphire’s chief executive, said that The … Continue Reading
A Baltimore, Maryland company, Algenol, has signed an $850 million deal with Biofields, a Mexican company, to grow algae for fuel production. Algenol plans to make 100 million gallons of ethanol by the end of 2009 and to increase this to a billion gallons – more than 10% of the United States’ current ethanol capacity – by 2012. BioFields has signed an agreement to sell the fuel to the Mexican government, probably through the state oil monopoly Pemex. Algenol has plans to expand the technique to locations beyond Mexico and is already targeting to build algae-to-ethanol farms on coasts in … Continue Reading
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Renewables News- Dysol Aiming to Print Storage with Solar CellsAustralia's Dyesol Limited has acquired an equity stake in Printed Power Pte Ltd, a spinoff company of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Printed Power is focussing on integrating dye solar cell technology with printed storage and power management systems to … Continue Reading → […]
- CSIRO Printer Makes 10m of Solar Cells a MinuteCSIRO researchers have built a gigantic printer that spits out solar cells at a rate of about ten metres a minute. The printer system uses existing technology to embed polymer solar cells (also known as organic solar cells) in thin … Continue Reading → […]
- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted WaterScientists from Deakin University, together with French colleagues, say that they have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in a wide range of spilt oils, chemical solvents and dyes, while repelling … Continue Reading → […]
- Dysol Aiming to Print Storage with Solar Cells
