Solix and Colorado State University team to commercialize algae to biodiesel process
Boulder, Colorado based Solix Biofuels is teaming up with Colorado State University to commercialize the production of biodiesel fuels from algae. Algae are capable of producing 100 times more oil per acre than current oil crops like canola and soy, while growing faster than any other organism. If you've ever operated a swimming pool and let the chemical balance get a little off, you know how fast algae can grow. Solix is using photosynthesis to transform solar energy and atmospheric carbon dioxide into a useful fuel. According to Solix representatives, enough of its photo-bioreactor systems could be built to supply the current diesel demand (4 million barrels per day) in the United States with algae grown on less than 0.5 percent of the US land area. This could be currently unused land adjacent to current power plants and ethanol plants. The excess carbon dioxide from these plants could be captured and used for conversion of the algae into oil. In this way, the algae oil production both provides a fuel and acts as a means of temporary carbon sequestration. Most of the research is being done by the faculty of the university and Solix is working with them to commercialize the processes. Follow the Read link for the full Solix press release and check the article at GreenCarCongress for more details on the actual process they're using for producing the algae and the oil.
[Source: Solix BioFuels via GreenCarCongress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TX CHL Instructor 12:18PM (12/28/2006)
The folks at http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html have been saying something similar to this for several months.
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Tim 11:21AM (12/28/2006)
Bio-fuel from algae makes the most logical sense for fossil-free liquid fuel component of the bio-diesel PHEV-60s. Algae is fast growing because it doesn't waste time or energy while building an unusable cellulose support structure. Algae doesn't deplete the soil, isn’t a primary food source, scrubs exhaust CO2 from the atmosphere, electric power plants, ethanol plants, industrial mfg. etc. We can grow it anywhere there is sunlight and the bio-diesel produced from it is an efficient solar energy carrier, it doesn’t need compression and won’t explode with a single spark. Corn ethanol is just another one of big gov't bad ideas http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July05/ethanol.toocostly.ssl.html so is the “Hydrogen Economy Scam.” http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/h_scam.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy A terrorist’s dream is to have a giant tanker of Hydrogen parked next to a big fat target. Spilled bio-diesel is less toxic to the environment than salt or sugar. Leaked hydrogen depletes the upper ozone layer (look it up).
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Obvious Alias 5:07AM (12/29/2006)
Algae blooms and the related "red-tides" are often cited as examples of the dangerous consequences of nitrogen-rich runoff. It seems to me that these areas prone to polluted runoff would make ideal locations for algae farms. The algae farms would act as a biological filter, removing nitrates and trace elements before they reached open waters. Little to no extra fertilization of the algae would be necessary.
I know that duckweed has been used for similar filtration purposes. The shortcomings of adapting it to algae are not immediately obvious.
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