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While some see algae as the ideal source for biofuels, industry watchers at ThinkEquity’s Greentech Summit in San Francisco on Thursday said the technology is likely to be years away. “Algae, as a biodiesel feedstock, is further out than cellulosic ethanol,” said Martin Tobias, CEO of biodiesel company Imperium Renewables, referring to ethanol from materials like wood chips, switchgrass, and corn stover. Algae simply aren’t available in large-enough quantities right now, he said. “We’re opening a 100-million-gallon facility in June, and there won’t be 100 million gallons of algae available next year,” he said. “It’s not about whether algae can...

New Zealand’s Aquaflow Bionomic Corp. has become the World’s first producer of biofuel from sewage-pond-grown algae (well, the first to announce it anyway). This certainly caught my attention since it sounds like an interesting variation of the algal-biofuel idea we’ve been discussing in several posts on the blog. Aside from the fact that expensive reactor systems are not required (presumably some sort of effective harvesting system would however be needed), unlike other algal-biofuel technologies this approach relies on ‘wild algae’ - ie. algae that naturally colonize sewage ponds already. According to a brief blurb on Radio New Zealand, Aquaflow thinks...

A prototype of the Solix photo-bioreactor for algae production. Solix Biofuels Inc., a startup company based in Boulder, Colorado, is working with Colorado State University engineers to commercialize technology to produce biodiesel from oil derived from algae. Solix officials plan to have the technology on the market over the next two years. The Solix photo-bioreactors for algae production are based upon 20 years of research (the Aquatic Species Program) originating at the National Renewal Energy Laboratory (NREL), and are massively scaleable, according to the company. The algae grow within closed plastic bags, which reduces the possibility of infestation drastically....

World’s first wild algae bio-diesel successfully test driven in Wellington The world’s first wild algae bio-diesel, produced in New Zealand by Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, was successfully test driven in Wellington today by the Minister for Energy and Climate Change Issues, David Parker. In front of a crowd of invited guests, media and members of the public, the Minister filled up a diesel-powered Land Rover with Aquaflow B5 blend bio-diesel and then drove the car around the forecourt of Parliament Buildings in Central Wellington. Green Party co-leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons was also on board. Marlborough-based Aquaflow announced in May that it had...

Inexpensive and abundant diesel fuel from an unlikely source - algae - is getting a Colorado boost toward commercial production. Colorado State University and Solix Biofuels Inc., a Boulder start up company, unveiled a plan Thursday to develop a prototype bioreactor at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, possibly leading to wider commercial production within two years. Researchers at CSU and Solix are billing the renewable technology as a way to help wean the United States from imported oil. An additional benefit could be using carbon dioxide from power-plant emissions as a feedstock for the algae. Carbon dioxide is...

Solix Biofuels Inc., a startup company based in Boulder, is working with Colorado State University engineers to commercialize technology that can cheaply mass produce oil derived from algae and turn it into biodiesel - an environmentally friendly solution to high gas prices, greenhouse gas emissions and volatile global energy markets.

BOSTON – Isaac Berzin is a big fan of algae. The tiny, single-celled plant, he says, could transform the world's energy needs and cut global warming. Overshadowed by a multibillion-dollar push into other "clean-coal" technologies, a handful of tiny companies are racing to create an even cleaner, greener process using the same slimy stuff that thrives in the world's oceans. Enter Dr. Berzin, a rocket scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. About three years ago, while working on an experiment for growing algae on the International Space Station, he came up with the idea for using it to clean up...

A merica’s gluttonous demand for energy shows no signs of abating anytime soon. We burn through 20 million barrels of oil per day and are projected to use 28.3 million barrels per day by 2025. In order to meet that demand, Department of Energy analysts estimate that we’ll need to double the amount of oil we import. And that is just the appetizer. Spencer Abraham, who served as Secretary of Energy during President George W. Bush’s first term, has blithely predicted that America’s growing electric power needs can be met only if we build between 1,300 and 1,900 new power...

SANTA MONICA — Three dead sea lions washed ashore on several beaches Monday after getting sick from a natural toxin released by algae. That brings the total number of sea lions washing ashore in recent days to eight, though the previous five were still alive. Those animals, some of whom were pregnant, were being nursed back to health by the nonprofit group Whale Rescue Team after they were found ashore in Playa Del Rey, Venice, Santa Monica and Will Rogers State beaches in recent weeks. The dead sea lions washed up at Cabrillo and White Point beaches in San Pedro....

Ancient, single-celled organisms that are lowly anchors in the marine food chain may soon be integral players in the lofty realm of nanotechnology, the science of the very small. Nanotech materials and devices measure less than a hundred nanometers, a unit of measurement that is one billionth of a meter. By contrast, a human hair is about 20,000 nanometers thick. According to scientists and market analysts, the world is on the cusp of a nanotechnology revolution: The teeny, tiny materials and devices are beginning to show up everywhere from clothing and sporting goods to computer electronics and medical equipment. But...

Could dandruff be altering the world’s climate? Along with fur, algae, pollen, fungi, bacteria, viruses and various other “bio-aerosols” wafting around in the atmosphere, it may well be. A global study has found that tiny fragments of biological detritus are a major component of the atmosphere, controlling the weather and forming a previously hidden microbial metropolis in the skies. Besides their climatic influence, they may even be spreading diseases across the globe. Scientists have known for some time that aerosols of soot, dust and ash can influence climate by reflecting or absorbing the Sun’s rays and by providing the condensation...

Direct Link Discovered Between Agricultural Runoff And Algal Blooms In SeaScientists have found the first direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive blooms of marine algae that are potentially harmful to ocean life and fisheries. Researchers from Stanford University's School of Earth Sciences made the discovery by analyzing satellite images of Mexico's Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California - a narrow, 700-mile-long stretch of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Mexican mainland from the Baja California Peninsula. Immortalized in the 1941 book Sea of Cortez, by writer John Steinbeck and marine biologist Edward Ricketts, the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. HONOLULU, May 29 - Most mornings, as a swirl of aloha shirts, muumuus, business suits and dangling security passes crisscrosses the broad steps and open-air courtyard of the Capitol, workers in knee-high rubber boots slosh in the building's two vast reflecting pools, vacuuming up great green gobs of goo. Hawaii's 35-year-old Capitol is a modernist landmark, awash in island symbolism. White pillars, reminiscent of royal palm trees, form the perimeter, with the center open to the sun, wind and rain. The House and Senate chambers are swooping cones of volcanic stone...

| About Us | Goals | Research | Links / Downloads | Home Widescale Biodiesel Production from AlgaeMichael Briggs, University of New Hampshire, Physics DepartmentAs more evidence comes out daily of the ties between the leaders of petroleum producing countries and terrorists (not to mention the human rights abuses in their own countries), the incentive for finding an alternative to petroleum rises higher and higher. The environmental problems of petroleum have finally been surpassed by the strategic weakness of being dependent on a fuel that can only be purchased from tyrants.In the United States, oil is primarily used for transportation - roughly two-thirds of all oil...

Sarpy Lakes Closed Toxic algae threat suspected "My son said he come up to the dock and the dog was foaming at the mouth," Connie told us. "He thinks he got a hold of a toad. Then 15 minutes later the dog went down in the yard and collapsed with seizures." Sarpy County authorities have shut down several lakes after the deaths of three dogs. The 300 people who live in the area are being told to stay out of the water. For the second time in as many weeks, Nebraska lake water is killing pets. Last week, Buccaneer...

<p>The pathogen that's killed oak trees by the tens of thousands on the Northern California coast also is infecting redwoods and Douglas firs -- two of the state's most valued trees -- researchers confirmed Wednesday.</p> <p>Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and UC Berkeley said there's no evidence, however, that the fungus-like algae that causes Sudden Oak Death is killing the evergreen trees. The best-case scenario is that it will prove to cause only cosmetic damage.</p>

Toxic Algae Blamed for Marine Species Deaths (Anchor link was wrong: scroll down if you want to read the article on the site. The text is just the same as below.) SACRAMENTO, California, May 7, 2002 (ENS) - Toxic algae may be contaminating shellfish and killing marine mammals and seabirds along the Southern and Central California coast. Domoic acid, a naturally occurring toxic algae [that should be algal toxin], is the suspected culprit, say the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) and Department of Fish and Game (DFG). The agencies say dozens of marine mammals, including dolphins and sea...

Algae Blooms Fuel Ocean Food Web SANTA BARBARA, California, April 26, 2002 (ENS) - The color of the ocean may yield clues about the relation between marine ecosystems and the climate system, say scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). A green ocean is a productive ocean. The light from the sun fuels the bloom of phytoplankton, tiny ocean plants that turn the sea's surface a light green each spring. "When viewed from space, the north Atlantic spring bloom is among the largest mass greenings observed on the Earth's surface, extending over scales of more than...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 April 2 Mysterious Black Water in Florida Bay Credit & Copyright: ORBIMAGE, SeaWiFS, NASA Explanation: What is causing the water in Florida Bay to turn black? The mysterious black color could be seen as early as last December in images taken by the SeaWIFS instrument on board the Earth-orbiting SeaStar satellite. During the darkest period in February, when the above image was taken, visibility in the usually...