As you might be aware that extraction of algal biomass directly i.e. avoiding the steps such as dewatering and drying which are energy intensive will help a great deal in reducing the cost of biodiesel obtained from algae.The researchers at the University of Michigan have published the feasibility of a two-step process to produce [...]

The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA), the UK’s independent regulator for biofuels  report that they are disappointed that the vast majority of biofuels sold on UK forecourts do not conform to environmental standards.
The fuel suppliers were meeting legally binding volume targets but some were falling “well short” on achieving voluntary [...]

When I was researching on the metabolic engineering  aspects of algae to produce renewable fuels, my eyes caught upon this article- it squite Interesting   and it provides a lot of useful insights on the strategies employed for genetic engineering microbes for fuel production.
Using synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, or other advanced techniques to create novel [...]

The Department of Energy(DOE)  comprises of many national laboratories and technology centers and many such national labs are working on algae projects. Three national labs of the DOE have now been awarded the R&D 100 awards, for their innovative technologies. A brief description of their technology and the advantages of each of those techniques have [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Biomass Program is hosting a Webinar on Wednesday, September 8, 2010, from 2:00–4:30 p.m. EDT entitled “The Promise and Challenge of Algae as a Renewable Source of Biofuels.” This Web conference marks the first in the Biomass Program’s Webinar series, which will cover many [...]

Dark fermentation is in the news after Solazyme , an US based algae company delivered 1500 gallons of jet fuel to the US navy early July. Interestingly, this company ’s approach ( Earlier post) is different from the rest, they grow genetically engineered algae  in the dark and follow what is called the heterotrophic fermentation [...]

Algae-cultivation on a whole faces several challenges. There are two methods of growing algae -  one is the photoautotrophic cultivation  and the other is the  heterotrophic cultivation. Photoautotrophic cultivation as the name suggests is cultivating algae in the presence of light – the light can be either freely available sunlight or artificially provided light.  Heterotrophic [...]

An algae bioenergy event  is being organised by the National Algae Association(NAA). All the registeration information can be obtained from the following link – http://www.nationalalgaeassociation.com. All algaepreneurs from all over the world are expected to attend this mega event.
Its not just a conference, there is more – Scholarships will be awarded for  the most innovative, [...]

It’s not easy to select the right algae strain  say many scientists and its absolutely true.. It is not just isolating a algae from a natural environment and culturing it and transferring  them into a open-ponds, PBR’s, fermenter or whatever. It is a lot more…
According to the DOE, there are three parameters required to be [...]

Some airlines have been testing different types of biofuel to determine the viability of using sustainable alternatives  such as algae aviation fuel to the Jet-A1 (kerosene) fuel currently used by commercial aviation. Recently, a company called Solazyme has delivered about 1500 gallons of aviation fuel to the US military. Slowly, many [...]