5 Companies Making Fuel From Algae NowUbiquitous and easy to grow, algae has long been a promising biomass-to-fuel candidate in the eyes of researchers. Now algae is a burgeoning sector in biofuels with several high-profile start-ups, including Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics, and the interest of big-time investors like Bill Gates and ExxonMobil. Of course, hurdles still exist to make a competitive fuel. Algal biofuels still cost too much to produce—over $8 a gallon pdf, according to the DOE. Furthermore, most existing strains do not yield oil in the quantities needed to quickly scale up to commercial production of biofuels. Companies also need to worry about contaminating local ecosystems and the amount of water needed to grow cultures in large batches. Despite these challenges inroads—and actual fuel—are being made in the nascent field. Here are 5 projects leading the pack today.

via Algae Biofuel Projects – Top Algae Fuel Producers – Popular Mechanics.

PetroAlgae is making fuel and proteins out of lemna (duckweed) in Fellsmere, and is nearing completion of a vertically integrated, scaleable, licensable 5-6,000 gallon per acre microcrop production system. A first master licensee has been announced for China, Taiwan and part of Japan. More on petroalgae at biofuelsdigest.com.

Sapphire Energy said the pace of algae commercialization is increasing and that it will reach commercial scale by 2011, and producing 1 Mgy of diesel and jet fuel from algae that year, double its previous estimate.

Solazyme is selling fuel to the US Navy and the US Air Force – nearly 50,000 gallons in total at a reported cost of $32 per gallon. Life Cycle Associates found that Soladiesel’s full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are 85 to 93 percent lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). More on Solazyme at biofuelsdigest.com.

Synthetic Genomics signed a $600 million R&D deal with ExxonMobil. Half the proceeds will go to SG based on a staged-gate release of funds for meeting undisclosed milestones. More on Synthetic Genomics at biofuelsdigest.com.

BP has signed an R&D partnership with Martek, the leading developer of algae for nutraceutical markets. More on BP at biofuelsdigest.com.

Algenol has signed a $70 million partnership with Dow Chemical for its algae-to-ethanol process, and will establish a project site in Texas at a Dow location. More on Algenol at biofuelsdigest.com.

Solix has opened a pilot-scale plant in Durango, Colorado, partly financed by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. More on Solix at biofuelsdigest.com.

via 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy: Special Voter’s Report on Algae – company updates – Biofuels DIgest : Biofuels Digest – biofuels, biodiesel, ethanol, algae, jatropha, green gasoline, green diesel, and biocrude daily news.

Algaewheel has developed the algaewheel® technology for use in a variety of applications including renewable energy, wastewater treatment, carbon sequestration, aquaculture, and more. Our technology answers the demand for a dependable supply of algae biomass for many different purposes, many of which have yet to be defined. Bio-plastics, bio-fabrics, pharmaceuticals, nutritional applications, and many more industries await a cost effective means of producing algae biomass and Algaewheel is prepared to provide real solutions for such markets. The low energy cost and minimal maintenance requirements of our system enhance any commercial scale algae production model. We provide manufacturing of the algaewheel system and provide engineering support in order to ensure that our system is efficiently integrated to fit your needs.

via Algaewheel.

Hundreds of companies and laboratories are racing to find an economical way to make “green crude” from algae. The biofuel industry is grappling with a series of hurdles, which players readily recognized at a summit this week in San Diego and we cover in this story.

One question asked by one of the sector’s early leaders is will biofuel from algae look like Big Oil or Big Agriculture.

via Environment » Blog Archive » Will biofuel from algae look like Big Oil or Big Agriculture? | Blogs |.

NREL’s Aquatic Species Program concluded that open ponds are the optimal economic design and used open ponds for its experiments and economic models.Algae can be grown in natural or man-made ponds. The advantage is cost: open pond growth requires less capital equipment than other techniques. The disadvantage comes in quality control. Raceway ponds, shaped like horse tracks, for growing algae for human consumption are not yet economical for fuel production while nutraceutical algae can sell for several thousand dollars a ton.Raceway ponds, usually lined with plastic or cement, are about 20 to 35 cm deep to ensure adequate exposure to sunlight. Paddlewheels provide motive force and keep the algae suspended in the water. The ponds are supplied with water and nutrients, and mature algae are continuously removed at one end.NREL’s Aquatic Species Program concluded that open ponds are the optimal economic design and used open ponds for its experiments and economic models. The productivity of raceways is much higher than unmixed algae ponds.

via Greentech Media: Growing Algae: Open Pond vs. Closed Bioreactors | Green Light.

Armstrong and Tompkins applied their experience in automation and process control to develop what they believe will be a cost-effective photo-bioreactor. Armstrong said their projections show a 12.8 percent return on investment for a 1.6 megawatt (MW) unit, while a larger 5 MW system should provide a return on investment closer to 15 percent. An individual photo-bioreactor panel measures 4 feet wide by 6 feet high by 3 inches thick, with 550 panels contained in one cell and five to six cells covering an acre of land. The process utilizes automated harvesting, reducing the moisture content in a prescreening process to about 20 percent, before being pumped to a final screen and dried further if necessary prior to processing. The estimated yield per acre is between 95 and 125 tons of dried biomass per year, according to Armstrong.

via RWE plans to generate electricity from algal diesel – Biodiesel Magazine.

GEORGETOWN, SC (October 22, 2009) – The future of algae energy has come, today. Renewed World Energies, a pioneer in algae-for-biofuel technology, unveiled an operational prototype of its photo-bioreactor at the Algae Biomass Summit in San Diego, CA. The energy company has achieved the technology breakthrough that will forever transform the dream of algae energy into a reality; making algae green the new black gold.

Renewed World Energies has cracked the algae energy code; a feat that competitors have projected is five to ten years away. The Large Scale Photo-Bioreactor System is the first commercially viable, fully automated, closed system microalgae production technology in the world today. The groundbreaking process developed by co-founders Richard Armstrong and Tim Tompkins, grows algae under operator selected conditions and uses existing technology to harvest and extract algae oil from microalgae. It is amazingly affordable, proven reliable and totally scalable; breaking all the barriers that have held back the growth of algae energy.

Company Information:
Name: Renewed World Energies
Address: 225 Industrial Dr.
City: Georgetown
State: SC
ZIP: 29440
Country: USA
Phone: 843-527-0810
FAX: 910-222-3160
http://www.rwenergies.com/

via A New Age in Algae Energy Renewed World Energies Unveiled New Technology, Renewed W.

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ALGAE SECTOR

Well-capitalized investors seeking to place capital and make acquisitions

Connecting projects with investment capital

via Algae Industry.