Yesterday, Arizona Rep Gabrielle Giffords attended three solar events to promote solar development in her state. The first event took place at Global Solar, located in Tuscon, where Giffords toured the facility along with Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for the U.S. Department of Energy. From there, the two visited several projects underway on the …
Investments Spark Speculation on Algal-Biodiesel
Recent multi-million dollar investments in algae-biofuel companies ($200 million IPO for PetroAlgae and $52 million to help commercialize Solazyme) is fueling some speculation of its own on how soon algae-based biofuels, in particular, biodiesel, might be available for consumers and when it would be commercially competitive. This article from Biofuel Digest breaks down the “bears” and “bulls” views of these …
Investors Fuel Algae-Biofuel Maker Solazyme with $52M
Algae-biofuel maker Solazyme has garnered $52 million in venture capitol from the likes of Morgan Stanley and Chevron. This article from the New York Times says the San Francisco-based company is using the money to commercialize its green fuel: Solazyme is one of the most successful companies working on algae, along with generously-funded Sapphire Energy. While most of its competitors …
San Diego, A Hot Bed of Algal Activity
Good news for biofuels this week as the California Department of Labor awarded the San Diego Biofuels Initiative a $4 million grant to train workers to join the biofuels workforce. The award was given through the “Green Innovation Challenge,” a green jobs initiative that is overseen by the state’s Department of Labor. According to an article on SanDiego.com, the San …
Algae Biofuel Maker Gets First Customer
A California-based biofuel maker that extracts its feedstock oil from algae and uses that oil for several other products has its first customer. OriginOil, Inc. has announced that it is shipping a Quantum Fracturing™ System, the first unit in a multi-phase commercialization program, to Australian company MBD Energy Limited: “This is a major milestone for OriginOil and represents our first …
Boeing: Biofuel Use by Airlines Up to 1% by 2015
Boeing’s top environmental officer says that commercial airlines might use up to 1 percent biofuels made from plants and algae by the year 2015. Bloomberg quotes Billy Glover, managing director of environmental strategy at Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit, as pointing out that has worked with airlines from the U.S. to Japan to test jet fuels made from plants such as …
William & Mary Turns Fish Killer Into Biodiesel
Virginia’s College of William and Mary is turning algae, which is killing fish in a local lake, into biodiesel. This article from the Daily Press says the school, working with industry and other universities, is using a flume to remove the algae from Lake Matoaka: A rectangle-shaped floating dock with its midsection removed, the flume acts as a channel that …
OriginOil to Harvest Hydrogen from Algae
OriginOil, Inc., a company that has developed technology to extract oil from algae to be a competitor with petroleum, has invented a process that will be able to get hydrogen from the living algae. This company press release says the new Hydrogen Harvester will use little or no external energy inputs, requires no sulfur deprivation or other “stressing” of the …
Three Algae Biofuels Consortia to Share $24 Mil Funding
Three groups researching algae-based biofuels will get a big boost from $24 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. Biofuels Digest reports that Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Cathy Zoi made the announcemet at this week’s BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Washington, DC: According to Zoi, the selections will support the …
Algae Producers to Help Fight Gulf Oil Spill
Got an urgent message from my friend Tamra Fakhoorian with the Mid-South Chapter of the National Algae Association looking for volunteers to help with a cleanup effort some members of the algae-producing community are sponsoring. She says they need 10,000 volunteers to help algae oil and biofuel producers Ultra Green International and Algaeventure Systems use their algae know-how to clean …