A new survey of the algae industry conducted by the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) broadly shows an industry that is growing, from increased production of biomass and oils, to increased hiring, to a wider variety of end products. The survey was conducted in March 2014 and includes more than 280 responses from companies and individuals involved in […]

In India 60% of our edible oil requirements are met by imports. There is a lot of talk about researching algae for fuel, but it is much more valuable to convert algae into a value added product. Professor MM Sharma, senior researcher of the  Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), India highlighted the fact that […]

A group of biofuel trade organizations including the Algae Biomass Organisation (ABO) have sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) encouraging extension of critical advanced biofuel tax incentives — the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, the Special Depreciation Allowance for Second Generation Biofuel Plant […]

Technological advances such as using nanoparticles to boost solar energy capture by plants will take our technology to a new level of applications, such as increasing crop yields or algae biofuel production. Nanoparticles could increase the amount of solar energy captured by plants by as much as 30%. That is the conclusion of researchers at […]

Scientists at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have demonstrated that just two of six iron-sulfur-containing ferredoxins in a representative species of algae promote electron transfers to and from hydrogenases. The finding suggests ways to increase the production of hydrogen by algae, which could help turn hydrogen into a viable alternative fuel for transportation. […]

A new report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) ranked programs at UC San Diego as the two best in the country for algal biofuels research, including Scripps Institution of Oceanography as top in the nation. An external group of experts from industry, academia, government, and the non-profit sector evaluated […]

In the natural world, algae’s presence is often unwanted. Its overgrowth sucks the oxygen out of bodies of water, depleting biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. And when it appears in increasing supply along popular shorelines, property values drop, hurting local economies. Benefits of algae, cultivation in cooler climes, like Finland, has proved challenging. Given the lack […]

Here are some excerpts on the advancements made by Boeing with respect to algae biofuels. This article has been adapted from Clean Technica. n recent years, Boeing has “happened across” a new type of biofuel, a biofuel with some amazing natural benefits. First of all, the biofuel comes from a type of plant — halophytes — that […]

Pierre Durand, an evolutionary biologist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, has been trying to figure out why. In an earlier study with a single-celled algae called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Durand grew cells in the liquid where other cells had previous killed themselves (in response to heat stress). The algae grew faster than usual in […]

Adapted from Huffington Post Highlighted in this post are some of the cutting edge stories pertaining to algae fuels that were discussed in the  Climate Leadership Conference was held in San Diego.  Sapphire Energy, a biofuels company that has figured out how to produce the world’s first “Green Crude” oil from algae. Green Crude is on […]

California’s landmark law requiring lower-carbon fuels is poised for a rewrite. Advisers to the state’s Air Resources Board yesterday detailed proposed revisions to the low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), a first-in-the-nation regulation. Potential changes include allowing oil companies to earn program credits for making refinery upgrades that shrink greenhouse gas pollution. That amendment would give businesses […]

Spanish research institute Aimplas, and 14 European partners, have launched a project that aims to cultivate microalgae in photobioreactors, which need only sunlight and industrial CO2 emissions, to produce different products for the chemical industry. The European Commission financed project, Bisigodos, is a 7th Framework Programme initiative that aims to select and cultivate new varieties […]

Many companies have tried their hand at cultivating photosynthetic algae in massive outdoor facilities — a list that includes well-established multinationals such asExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and hopeful start-ups such as Sapphire Energy. Unfortunately, despite the influx of investment, few have had success. Although many venture capitalists are focusing on more modular processes than those conducted in open […]

It’s green, it’s slimy – it’s algae. And it’s actually none of those things – at least not the heterotrophic high-DHA omega-3 algae variety produced at Alltech Algae in Winchester, Ky. These algae are off-white, dry and powdery, and unleashing their vast potential for positive change will be one of the topics of discussion at […]

Solazyme recently displayed one use of its algal flours in the form of Algae Milk. Algal flour can be used in a wide range of applications. Limited innovation when it comes to food ingredients could provide Solazyme with a significant market opportunity. In the coming years, there may be a new “milk” arriving at your […]

The Algae Biomass Organization, the trade association for the algae industry, lauded a new publication from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in partnership with Sapphire Energy, “Siting Algae Cultivation Facilities for Biofuel Production in the United States: Trade-Offs between Growth Rate, Site Constructability, Water Availability, and Infrastructure,” in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The publication […]

ACI’s 4th annual European Algae Biomass Conference will once again bring together senior executives from industry and academia to discuss the latest commercial and technical developments, challenges and research breakthroughs throughout the entire algae value chain. The conference will have a heavy focus on case study examples of latest technologies in operation in the global algae […]

Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA)’s Algae Carbon Conversion Project uses algae to convert C02 into biofuel and biomass products, which will help to reduce oil sands operations’ GHG emission. Major Canadian oil sands companies have come together in an unprecedented move to collaborate and advance technologies to accelerate the pace of environmental performance improvement. Thirteen […]

A team of researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) have devised a new technological device intended to further develop algae-based biofuels. This device — the environmental photobioreactor – has become the world’s first standard algae growing platform, which simulates dynamic natural environments. The researchers, led by David Kramer, Hannah Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at […]

Algae.Tec (ASX:AEB) should trade higher today after receiving its first purchase order, and a significant one at $2.4 million, from an affiliate of Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings. The order is in connection with arrangements reported in January for the supply of algae production technology and associated technical expertise, and will be supplied and completed […]

Federal mandates require the US boosts its production of renewable fuel to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022 — more than doubling the roughly 15 billion gallons produced currently. “Biofuels are renewable fuels made from living or recently living organisms,” said Aaron Drenth, a mechanical engineer for the U.S. Air Force. Drenth is a […]

In the early days, the quality of crude glycerin produced at biodiesel plants was of little concern to biodiesel producers. “U.S. biodiesel producers were mainly interested only in the fuel aspect of the business and paid little attention to the byproducts they produced, even though crude glycerin production is 10 percent of the final product,” […]

US – A team of Michigan State University scientists have invented a new technology that increases the odds of helping algae-based biofuels cross that gap and come closer to reality. The current issue of Algal Research showcases the team’s invention — the environmental photobioreactor. The ePBR system is the world’s first standard algae growing platform, one that […]

Scientists in Hong Kong are testing the use of micro algae to clean water waste and produce fuel. The technology is still too expensive to be broadly developed, but researchers are asking for the government’s support in protecting homegrown biofuel against cheaper, foreign competition. Environmental scientist Ho Kin-Chung from the Open University of Hong Kong […]

AlgaEnergy SA, part-owned by Spain’s Iberdrola SA (IBE) and Repsol SA (REP), is in talks with potential partners to set up a plant in Mexico to supply the American markets with biomass made from algae. The International Energy Agency, a policy adviser for industrialized nations, estimates biofuels must supply about 27 percent of road fuels […]