Funding bonanza for oil-from-algae firm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/30/greenbusiness.oil?gusrc=rss&feed=business ^

[chessplayer]

A Californian start-up company promising "green crude" fuel from algae has been given $50m (£25.33m) in funding from investors, including Britain's biggest charity, the Wellcome Trust.

The year-old start-up, Sapphire Energy, came out of "stealth mode" this week with an announcement that its trials have been so successful that its backers have promised no-limit funding.

[RightOnline]

"It still takes more oil to produce this biofuel than it saves. Sadly, a pipe dream."

Umm........how do ya figure? Just asking......

[kcm.org]

?????

It's your money and you sink all you want in turning algae into crude.

Maybe President Osama and the dim Senate and Congress will make this a gold mine for ya?

[chrisser]

once you have the biomass with the lipids (vegetable oil), what do you have to do to turn it into fuel?

I found some info here www.biodieselnow.com. I'll try to post some specific links if I have more time.

Essentially, there are three major methods (generally you have to first filter the algae out of the water and then dry it). Most straightforward one is pressing like you would do with oilseeds, olives, etc. That gets a lot of the oil out. The other is using solvents - I believe cyclohexane is the one bantered about. IIRC, this gets nearly 100% of the oil out. The last is some sort of vacuum centrifuge, IIRC.

Once you have the oil, its pretty much the same process as any veggie oil - transesterification will turn it into biodiesel.

[Uncledave]

Renewable Energy Ping

Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off

[eraser2005]

I don’t care one lick if their gas costs $5 per gallon, and that means that’s what we’ll pay in the future for gas.

If it gets us off foreign oil without displacing massive amounts of food crops, I think it’s a good thing.

[marsh2]

The Klamath Lakes are steeped in natural algae. I know that OIT is working on diesel development. We have so much biomass in our over-stocked forests. Cogeneration and gassifier technology can provide electricity and heating. It would only improve matters if biodiesel could be made. Another value added product that helps to offset the costs of thinnings and fuel reduction that has to be done anyway. Better than just burning it as waste.