Biofuels

There's been a lot of buzz about algae as an alternative biofuel. Several business and university researchers are looking at algae's potential as a viable alternative to fossil fuel. And earlier this year, the House of Representatives introduced the Green Jobs Act of 2010, which offers investment tax credits for algae-based biorefineries.

Now researchers at Ford are looking into algae as a fuel source, the company announced.

"Algae have some very desirable characteristics as a potential biofuel feedstock and Ford wants to show its support any efforts that could lead to a viable, commercial-scale application of this … Read more

I have a dog. I'm a responsible dog owner; on a walk, after he does his business, I take care of it. The bag of waste is thrown into an always-open dumpster on the walk back to my apartment building.

But what if the contents of that bag could be used to power a park lamp? Indeed, the park where I and many of my neighbors walk our dogs has a single lamppost. And if an experiment by conceptual artist Matthew Mazzotta continues to be successful, my dog's doo might power it one day.

Mazzotta has a pilot project going in Cambridge, Mass., … Read more

Two organizations have squared off this week regarding whether increasing ethanol in fuels from 10 to 15 percent will damage engines in vehicles older than 2001, smaller gas-powered motors, and increase the cost of corn production.

One out-spoken organization, Renewable Fuels Association, hopes the Environmental Protection Agency will reconsider the limits they place on ethanol fuels based on a new study.

In a press conference today, Renewable Fuels revealed the findings of a new study conducted by Ricardo Inc. (the company that set octane standards). The study finds that moving from 10 percent ethanol (E10) in gasoline to 15 percent (… Read more

Algae biofuel producer Solazyme announced Wednesday it's delivered 20,000 gallons of algae-based shipboard fuel to the U.S. Navy.

Solazyme's Soladiesel Renewable Naval Distillate fuel will go toward the Navy's ambitious goal of getting 50 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.

But algae fuel is not just useful for the Navy's ships.

This past summer Solazyme also delivered 1,500 gallons of algae-based jet fuel to the U.S. Navy for testing. If testing goes well, Solazyme's algae-based advance biofuel could be powering some of our nation's military aircraft.

The … Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Among a hotel ballroom full of enterprise, cloud, and mobile apps, one product stood out at Demo Fall 2010: The gas pump at the E-Fuel stand.

An upgrade from the EFuel100 Microfueler we covered in 2008, which converted sugars and discarded alcohols into ethanol fuel, the new MicroFusion Reactor can process nearly any "cellulosic waste" into ethanol. Said waste is pretty much anything that'd otherwise go into a compost bin.

CEO Thomas Quinn explained the fuel pump part of the Reactor in the video in this post, as well as a companion product, an … Read more

The mystery bug--a type of bacteria--behind intriguing biofuel start-up Joule Unlimited was revealed with the publication of a patent on Tuesday.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based start-up said that it has received Patent No. 7,794,969 for an engineered form of cynobacteria, or blue-green algae, which grows in water and is capable of secreting biodiesel fuel.

The company asserts that it can make diesel fuel directly using only sunlight and waste carbon dioxide in glass bioreactors for as little as $30 a barrel.

Most biofuels processes take multiple steps to convert plant matter into sugars. Joule claims to be the … Read more

Liquid fuels is one of the biggest markets in energy, but a quicker path to profitability for algae companies may well pass through the supermarket.

Aurora Algae on Monday announced it has changed its name from Aurora Biofuels and is now targeting a broader set of products than biodiesel.

The Alameda, Calif.-based company has worked for four years isolating and enhancing strains of algae it plans to grow in open ponds. A year ago, Aurora's focus was biofuels, but now it intends to farm algae for pharmaceuticals, food, and animal feed.

Among the planned products are Omega-3 fatty … Read more

Canadian company Enerkem broke ground on a facility Tuesday that plans to convert 100,000 tons of household trash a year into ethanol.

The $75 million plant in Edmonton, Alberta, is expected to be completed in late 2011. By 2013, the city will be able to divert 90 percent of its residential waste, Mayor Stephen Mandel said in a statement.

Enerkem hosted a groundbreaking for the waste-to-ethanol plant, which it said will be the first industrial-scale project of this kind. The facility will sort recycled and compostable material and convert the remaining into about 10 million gallons of ethanol a … Read more

Biofuel company Kior said on Monday it has secured a $75 million loan to build five plants in Mississippi that will convert wood chips into a petroleum replacement.

The Pasadena, Texas-based company expects to build three of five planned facilities over the next five years. The package from the state also includes state assistance on infrastructure and worker training.

In a debate last Friday, Mississippi state legislators were concerned about the company's ability to make its "biocrude" at competitive costs if oil prices go down further but were convinced by the process, according to an article in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. … Read more