Sapphire Energy and Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), have formed a strategic partnership to further the development of algae biofuels. The two companies will focus on applying systems biology solutions to algae with the goal of significantly increasing oil yield and improving resistance to crop predators and environmental factors. Nitin Baliga, director of Integrative Biology at ISB, said of the …
NRC Releases Algae Sustainability Report
This week, the National Research Council (NRC) released a new report, “Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States.” The report was a result of a request from the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (DOE-EERE) Biomass Program. The purpose of this study was to identify and anticipate potential sustainability concerns associated with a selected number …
DFCast: The Biofuels Industry Gets Married
The biofuels industry got married when a first generation ethanol plant walked down the isle with a second generation algae plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. BioProcess Algae and Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) tied the knot and celebrated their anniversary last month with the announcement that their first babies, a set of Grower Harvester bioreactors, went online. This marked the last …
Ethanol Plant in Keyes, CA to Restart
AE Biofuels has announced that it has received $3.5 million in financing from Third Eye Capital Corporation. The money will be used to restart and operate the company’s ethanol plant in Keyes, California. In November 2010, AE Advanced Fuels Keyes, Inc. (AE Keyes) received $4.5 million from the same company to repair and retrofit the ethanol facility. AE Keyes officials …
Florida Biodiesel Firm Acquires Puerto Rico Company
A Florida-based biodiesel firm is investing in a Puerto Rico company’s algae biofuels research. Alternative Fuels Americas (AFA) announced today that it is acquiring Sustainable Agro Biotech of Puerto Rico, which has been developing proprietary technologies “to recycle carbon dioxide emission into microalgae varieties with robust growth and oil production capabilities and to achieve commercially feasible harvesting of microalgal products.” …
NAABB’s Algal-Based Biodiesel Meets ASTM Standards
According to the National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), a considerable breakthrough has been made with the production of biodiesel using oil extracted from algae. The consortium’s algal biodiesel is meeting fuel specifications set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The algal oil was provided by Eldorado Biofuels, and the oil was converted to biodiesel by …
Flux Capicitor Travels in Time to Return With Algal Fuels
Just in time for the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future, the flux capacitor is back in action. Only this time, it’s not taking us back in time – it’s bringing us fuel. Last week, a bubble-maker that mimics the flux capacitor in looks alone, was awarded the Royal Society’s Brian Mercer award for innovation, a £250,000 prize. The …
Expert: Algae Must Be Commercial Scale or Just Playing
A man who is considered to be the father of genomics says that if algae-based fuel makers can’t start making billions of gallons of fuel, they are just playing with investors’ money. This post on earth2tech.com says Craig Venter, the founder of synthetic biology startup Synthetic Genomics, made the remarks at the Wall Street Journal’s Economics conference this week: In …
U of Illinois Sponsors Biofuels Seminars
The University of Illinois is sponsoring a series of seminars focusing on biofuels and renewable energy. The school’s Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) is holding the presentations, which are open to the public, Mondays at 4 pm at the U of I Urbana-Champaign campus: “This bioenergy seminar series provides a broad range of topics from different perspectives – academia, …
New Report Offers Algae Ethanol, Biodiesel Markets Info
Algae might be the feedstock of the future for biodiesel and ethanol… if you know how to use it right. This press release posted on Reuters.com says a new report from Research and Markets entitled “Algae For Fuel, Algal Oil, Biofuels, Ethanol, Biodiesel And The Future Of Petroleum And Green Energy: Global Markets, Technologies, And Opportunities: 2009-2020 Analysis and Forecasts” …