Students take algae-to-biofuel project to MIT

By J.T. LEONARD, Staff Writer, Maine Today

Saturday, November 4, 2006

An example of how the energy crisis has made even the youngsters and teenagers alert to the problem is exhibited by two bright school girls who have started working on the algae-to-oil project.

Excerpts:

1. Tessa Churchill and Holly Jacobson, two high school seniors (Cumberland, Maine) started doing some research on oil derived from algae a couple of years ago. And recently, they were at MIT to show the panel of judges at a competition their results.

2. The project got its start two years ago when Jacobson and Churchill began examining natural oils stored in fatty acids (lipids). Recently, they identified a strain of algae that produces more oil for a given mass. (I wish I knew what that strain was)

3. “It started as a project in a science research course. Holly actually had the idea and about a month later we kind of turned into a team,” Churchill said. “It definitely had to do with the oil crisis and everybody talking about finding some other substitute for fossil fuels, so we started researching algae. It grows very rapidly, and it grows in environments that won’t support other food stocks so space wouldn’t be taken up that could be used for growing food.”

Sure, these girls have not doing something breakthrough (not yet), but it is extremely encouraging to see youngsters take up energy research at an age when most of their co-students are probably at a disco.

One wonders whether the big biodiesel breakthroughs are gonna come from the MITs or from the schools!

Read the full article from here.

See also: Oilgae Blog Article Directory for a complete listing of all Oilgae blog posts – covering news, research and updates on biodiesel from algae & other plant feedstock, ethanol, and other renewable energy such as wind energy, hydrogen, hydro-energy, tidal/wave energy, geothermal, solar energy & nuclear energy

Oilgae – Oil & Biodiesel from Algae
Oilgae Blog
algOS – Biodiesel from Algae Open Source

Oilgae – Oil & Biodiesel from Algae provides links, directory, web links resources for algae-based biofuels & biodiesel. Intended to be useful for research, information, inputs, news for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters / importers of algal oil and algal fuels. Will provide info on biofuel feedstock, algal feedstocks, algae oil and link details on fuel from algae, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, algal oils & bio-fuels production and uses, biofuels trade & market resources, price data, statistics, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer