Oilgae Blog - The Latest from the World of Algae Fuels

Algae Research Fetches Award to UTex Professor

Venkat Raman, Associate Professor at University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics has won the Moncrief Grand Challenge Faculty Award for his research on developing computer models for algae-based fuel production. Raman, along with another professor, who is working on improving coastal security, will receive up to Raman will work on computational [...]

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[ More ] May 16th, 2012 | No Comments | Posted in Algae, algae biodiesel USA, Algae-Fuel-Research |

Japanese Researcher Converts Algae to Fuel & Food

Kengo Suzuki, who is the Head of R & D of the algae fuel start-up by the name Euglena, located in the premises of Tokyo University, is working on the microalgae Euglena, to check the possibility of using it as a  key source of fuel for powering jet planes in future. He has also made [...]

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Algae.Tec Announces Commencement of Commissioning of Shoalhaven One Facility

Algae.Tec, one of the important players in the algae energy industry has announced the commencement of the commissioning of the showcase facility in Shoalhaven One, Australia. According to Roger Stroud, the company’s Executive Chairman, production of biomass will start in early June, as the commissioning process is on track and the facility will take carbon [...]

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[ More ] May 11th, 2012 | No Comments | Posted in Algae, Algae-CO2-Capture, Algae-Energy-Companies |

OriginOil and Algasol Collaborate for Developing Integrated Algae Growth and Harvesting System

OriginOil and Algasol Renewables, two major companies in the algae energy industry have entered into an agreement for developing an integrated algae growth and harvesting system. Algasol, which is already working with NASA and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories plans to bundle its offerings with OriginOil’s Algae Appliance, developed by the company wit the aim of reducing the [...]

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Oilprice.com Lists the Most Influential People in US Clean Energy

Oilprice.com, the online energy news site,whose analysis focuses on Oil and Gas, Alternative Energy and Geopolitics, as a part of its TOP 5 Series, has listed the 5 Most Influential Figures in U.S. Clean Energy. According to Oilprice.com, these 5 people are important in shaping and influencing U.S. renewable energy efforts. The main parameters on the basis [...]

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Solazyme and Dow Enter into Contingent Global Commercial Offtake Agreement and Concurrently Sign Phase 2 Joint Development Agreement to Accelerate Commercialization of Bio-based Dielectric Insulating Fluids

In a recent press release, algae giant Solazyme has announced that the company has entered into  into a contingent offtake agreement with Dow Chemicals in which Dow has agreed to purchase from Solazyme all of its requirements of non-vegetable microbe-based oils for use in dielectric fluid applications through 2015. Press Release: South San Francisco, Calif. – May 2, [...]

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Thailand Power Producer to Utilize CO2 Emissions for Spirulina Production

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc (RATCH), the largest independent power producer of Thailand is hoping to start commercial production of Spirulina using the carbon dioxide emitted from its power plant. The company has been doing research on this for the past two years ans has spent about 70 million baht for the testing phase. According [...]

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Algae-Powered Street Lights to Absorb CO2 from Atmosphere

Carbon capture using algae may not be a new idea, but the idea of using algae to power street lights for cutting carbon emissions is certainly innovative. French biochemist Pierre Calleja has developed a street lighting network that operates on a battery that is charged during the day by microalgal photosynthesis aided by sunlight, while [...]

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GreenStars to Utilize Waste and Industrial CO2 for Producing Biofuels from Algae

French agricultural research organization the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) has launched a 160 million Euro collaborative platform, named “GreenStars”, for producing biofuels and high added value products using  microalgae feeding on nutrients contained in waste and CO2 emitted from industries. INRA has collaborated with 45 partners for this project and it hopes to be [...]

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Nigeria, Israel and Belgium Join Hands for Algae Biofuel Project

The Federal Government of Nigeria has had discussions with top companies from Belgium and Israel for the possibility of undertaking algae biofuel project. Representatives from two companies, Actiview Solutions from Belgium and Univerve Ltd from Israel and top officials from the Nigerian government were a part of the discussion. The discussion was focused on making [...]

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Algal Scrubbers to Abate Harbor Pollution

Algal scrubbers may save Baltimore’s polluted harbor! US-based ecological restoration firm Biohabitats has set up an algal scrubber at the Fells Point in Baltimore harbor. The gutter, 350 feet long by one foot wide, uses native algae to strip nutrients, suspended sediment and carbon from water and inject oxygen into it before returning it to the harbor. The algae feed [...]

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[ More ] April 27th, 2012 | No Comments | Posted in Algae, Algae-Wastewater-Treatment |

India and US Unite for Biofuel Research

The US-DOE has announced that, for an initiative entitled Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC), which aims at the development of alternative energy throughout  South Asia, the University of Florida and the Indian government will enter into a research collaboration to work on a biofuel project. The project will focus on the benefits of biofuels [...]

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Nova Scotia Start-up Wins Clean Tech Competition

Halifax-based start-up SABRTech , has won the Nova Scotia Clean Tech Open, for developing technology to mass produce microalgae for fuel and other products. SABRTech was awarded awarded $100,000 in cash, a $200,000 negotiable seed investment, and in-kind business building services. The company is setting up a lab and working on a micro-algal bioreactor that effectively produces micro-algal biomass [...]

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Algae Biofuels – Racking the Brains!

Research interest of college and university students is leaning towards algae fuels! The U.S. EPA co-sponsored the 8th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo, which took place in Washington on April 21-23, over the Earth Day Weekend. The event witnessed a large number of university and college researchers working on biofuels and algae. Most of the researchers [...]

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New Project on Algae for Fish Feed and Biofuels

A new project which is to be launched in America’s South Sioux City will utilize waste water for algae cultivation and the algae will in turn be used for fish feed and energy generation. In the collaborative pilot project, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and US-based company Clean Energy Chesapeake will focus on algae cultivation for [...]

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Aquaflow Plans to Build Large Scale Biorefinery

Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, with the goal of building a 1000 tonnes per day biorefinery, will seek millions of dollars of funding from global investors. Earlier the company had planned to build a 100 tonnes per day biofuel plant to test the economics of producing a “drop-in” fuel from algae that could be used in existing combustion [...]

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Sapphire Changes CEO

Sapphire Energy’s Jason Pyle has stepped down as CEO.  In yesterday’s press release Sapphire Energy has announced transition of management.  Cynthia “C.J.” Warner, who was the president and chairman has taken charge as the new CEO. Dr Pyle will continue to be a member in Sapphire’s board of directors. Prior to Sapphire Energy, Ms. Warner spent more than [...]

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European Algae Biomass Conference, A Week to Go!

European Algae Biomass Conference, 2012 is taking place on 25th and 26th of April, 2012 in London. The event will present exciting opportunities to interact with industry experts, investors, researchers and government representatives in the algae energy domain.  The key topics to be discussed in the conference include European Market Insight Potential and Future Outlook [...]

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2nd International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts

Elsevier is organizing the 2nd International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts between the 1oth and 13th of June 2012 in SanDiego, USA. The event will have a special focus on the latest unpublished technical and scientific results, discussion and direct interactions with strategic partners and leaders in the field. The conference themes are as follows: [...]

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NASA’s New Algae Production System may Cut Down Biofuel Production Costs

After a $ 10 million project that took two years, NASA has now come up with a new system of growing algae in floating plastic bags. The system is designed with the aim of reducing the costs of biofuel production from algae, since the system can be coupled with wastewater treatment facilities. In a prototype [...]

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European Water Management Company to Venture into Algae Fuels

Aqualia, a spanish water management is planning to invest 12 million euros to venture into algae fuels. The company will be cultivating oil containing microalgae  for producing biodiesel and biomethane. More than half the 12 million euro ($15.9 million) project has been funded by the European Commission, which is aiming for 10 percent of energy [...]

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[ More ] March 30th, 2012 | No Comments | Posted in Algae, algae oil production, Algae-Energy-Companies |

American Company to Produce Algae Biofuel

Extreme Biodiesel, a wholly owned subsidiary of BookMerge Technology, a US-based alternative fuel and recycling company is going to produce algae biodiesel (A100) for SunEco systems. SunEco is now finalizing the ‘million mile test’ with J.B. Hunt Trucking with fuel produced by Extreme Biodiesel. BookMerge and SunEco are planning for the next step to bring [...]

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Algae Harvesting to Become Cheaper and Easier Soon

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed a technology based on microbubbles, to improve the way of algae cultivation, which eventually will make the algae harvesting cheaper and easier. Professor Will Zimmerman and his team have devised an inexpensive way of producing microbubbles that can float algae particles to the surface of the water. [...]

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Maersk Tests 100% Algae Fuels from Solazyme

Solazyme, Inc. along wiht  Maersk Line (one of the biggest shipping companies in the world) has completed the testing of Solazyme’s 100% algal derived renewable diesel as part of an integrated testing and certification program with the U.S. Navy. This test, performed in collaboration with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), represents the first [...]

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[ More ] January 25th, 2012 | No Comments | Posted in Algae, algae biodiesel USA, Algae-Energy-Companies |

USU Professors Awarded for Algae Fuel Research

Two professors from Utah State University, Bruce Bugbee and Byard Wood are awarded the Governor’s Science and Technology Medals for their research on algae biofuels. In addition to their work with biofuels, Bugbee and Wood were selected for their commitment to bettering their communities and students. The research team has been working on the algae biofuels [...]

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[ More ] January 19th, 2012 | No Comments | Posted in Algae, Algae-Fuel-Research |