Kentucky-based Alltech Inc. has bought a $14 million state-of-the-art algae fermentation facility in Winchester, Kentucky from Martek Bioscience Corporation. This press release from the natural animal nutrition company says the facility will be used, in part, to make biofuels, including ethanol: “For Alltech, algae fermentation presents our latest technological platform from which we expect incredible opportunities in the areas of …
Sea Green Project Accelerates Algae for Aviation
Renewable aviation fuel was a hot topic during the recent Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva. During the event, the Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium was announced with the intention of accelerating algae for aviation fuel. SURF was developed to support Cranfield University’s Sea Green project that will harvest algae to produce jet fuel at commercial scale. SURF …
Algae Biofuels Focus of Session at Delaware Conference
Just got a quick note from my friend Tamra Fakhoorian with the National Algae Association letting me know that she will be one of the speakers at the 2010 Energy & Sustainability Conference Sept. 23-25 at the Trabant Center in Newark, Delaware. Tamra will be presenting on Thursday afternoon during the Carbon Abatement session of the conference with a talk …
Algae Assoc. Conference to Focus on Commercial Scale
The National Algae Association (NAA) will be holding its national conference next week, and the focus of the gathering will be on commercial scale production of the green microbes. NAA officials say at the Sept. 23-24 conference at the Sheraton North Houston near George Bush Intercontinental Airport, they will be working on the premise that algae will be delivering on …
Solazyme Inks Deal to Provide Algal Biofuel to Navy
Our friends at Solazyme, Inc. have inked a new deal with the U.S. Navy to provide 150,000 gallons of advanced biofuels made from algae. This post on BrighterEnergy.org says the San Francisco supplier of the green fuel has already delivered more than 20,000 gallons of its biodiesel to the Navy from its 2009 contract: The company hailed the achievement as …
Seaweed-to-Ethanol Startup Partners With Statoil
Berkley-California based start-up venture Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) has announced a partnership with the one of the world’s largest offshore oil and gas producers, Statoil. The partnership will help fund the research & development of seaweed-to-ethanol using macro algae grown off the coast of Norway. Today, Statoil offers Norwegian drivers a 5 percent bioethanol blend at the pump. Should the …
Fed Grant to Help Turn Montana Biomass into Energy
A Montana company has picked up a $350,000 federal grant to build a plant that will turn wood chips and algae into energy. Algae Aqua-Culture Technology will use a proprietary process uses a greenhouse-based algae growth system and an anaerobic biodigester to transform a blend of the wood waste and algae into high-value methane for power generation: “Algae’s amazing productivity …
Michigan Researchers Turn Wet Algae into Biodiesel
Researchers have found a feasible way to turn wet algal biomass directly into biodiesel. Biodiesel Magazine reports that University of Michigan scientists have published a paper on a two-step hydrolysis-solvolysis process that eliminates costly biomass drying, organic solvent extraction and catalysts: In the first step, wet algal biomass contained 80 percent moisture and was reacted with subcritical water to hydrolyze …
Aussie Customer to Get Algae-Oil Single Step System
A California-based producer of renewable oil from algae production products is getting ready to ship a system that uses a single step to get the oil out of the green pond scum to one of its customers down under. OriginOil, Inc. has notified Australian MBD Energy Limited that it is ready to ship a Single-Step Extraction™ System (seen in the …
Sapphire VP: Feds Inadequate in Algae-Biofuels Funding
While there’s been lots of talk lately about some of the private investment in algae-biofuels operations, one company official says the feds aren’t doing their part to support the green fuels. Just recently, Sapphire Energy benefited from $105 million in Department of Energy and Agriculture grants … the largest federal government award for algae ever given. But the Voice of …