United States of America’s President Obama recently announced an ambitious yet achievable target of reducing oil imports by one third by 2025. Meeting this goal would obviously require consistent increase of locally sourced biofuels. Over the years, the term biofuel always meant fuel ethanol for the American continent. It is only recently that they realised […]

As we all know, algae is emerging as a very attractive biofuel feedstock in recent years. However, it is yet to hold the promise of being the sustainable alternative the whole world is in search of. In one of the previous blog posts, I had mentioned that the issue of sustainability has to be handled […]

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, after ending an algae project in Hawaii, is now shifting research to waste from sugarcane. In January, Shell exited its Cellana algae biofuel research joint venture in Hawaii that was formed in 2007 with algae biofuels company HR Bio Petroleum. Shell, Iogen Corp. and Codexis have been researching enzymes to produce […]

Policy makers and government officials have been lending a descent enough support for promoting clean technology at global level, by feeding the industry with incentives, subsidies, and tax credits. Renewable energy policies and mandates are getting reworked on regular basis. However, the conventional fossil fuels are silently being tamed in the back yard with many […]

A new research has demonstrated that adding more species of beneficial algae to a freshwater stream, linearly increases the ecosystem’s ability to clean pollutants – Nitrates. Nitrate is known to be the culprit behind the hypoxic “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, outbreaks of toxic algae and red tides. Nitrate being one of the […]

Algal Biomass Organization, the trade association for the U.S. algae industry, presented its first annual Algae Industry Leadership Awards to four people in an effort to recognise and honour their critical support in accelerating the industry’s growth, facilitating private investment and reducing major barriers to the commercialization of algae-based biofuels. Brian Bilbray (Representative – CA) […]

Algae might have emerged as the saving grace for the world of alternative energy.  But sustainability – the word that has haunted everything and everyone in the world of alternative energy, hasn’t spared algae biofuels too. A recent research study claims that sustainability is far from reality for algae biofuel production. The study also revealed […]

The recent tsunami and the nuclear after effects have crumbled the whole of Japan.  The fear of nuclear radiation and nuclear spillage struck the whole country and even to the neighbouring Asiatic regions.  The Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration were spreading news during the last week of March that very low levels of […]

With increasing demands for biofuels, the focus towards sea weed cultivation has spiked up in recent years. The demand for seaweeds is increasing worldwide not only because of its potential as a biofuel feedstock but because it finds wide applicability in cosmetics, ice-cream, packaging, plywood, teeth filling, textile printing, tissue culture, tooth-paste and several other […]

Algae.Tec’s new Photobioreactor manufacturing is to function in Atlanta. Algae.Tec (http://algaetec.com.au/ ) is an advanced biofuels company commercializing high-yield algae growth technology to manufacture sustainable fuels such as bio diesel and green jet fuel. With an area of 18,000 square foot, the new plant will fabricate Algae.Tec’s algae production system. The plant’s location was chosen […]

The desert might not seem an ideal setting for algae to thrive. But biologists believe its abundant sunlight and unused land could make it the perfect place for the tiny plants that can be used to make a versatile oil for food and fuel alike. One biologist, David Francis, now plans to make the UAE […]

Bio Fuel Systems Inc., has established a 50-km square plant in Spain which produces bio-oil using a novel method. Almost 400 of the green tubes, filled with millions of microscopic algae, cover a plain near the city of Alicante, next to a cement works from which the CO2 is captured and transported via a pipeline. […]

Algae biofuels, though popularly considered one of the promising fuel alternatives, have been criticised from time to time for their energy and capital-intensive nature and difficulties in harvesting. If reports are to be believed, John Sheehan, researcher and advisor at VG Energy has found ways to greatly mitigate these problems. By modifying a molecular trigger, […]

” The federal tax policy actually discourages the production of low-carbon, renewable algae-based fuels, including drop-in gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, as well as ethanol, by failing to provide them the same incentives accorded to other advanced biofuel feedstocks. This lack of parity, where some feedstocks are favored and others like algae go unrecognized, acts […]

To support the goal announced by President Obama on March 30, 2011 to reduce America’s oil imports by one-third by 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it will be accepting applications for $12 million in funding for laboratory or small pilot-scale projects that support the development of advanced biofuels. Successful projects will develop […]

The following press release was given by Algaetech Sdn Bhd on 25th of March, 2011 on the completion of the Microalgae Training Program Session-2. “Algaetech Sdn Bhd (www.algaetech.com.my) is proud to announce the successful completion of Session 2 Microalgae Training Program from March 21 to March 23 2011 (www.algaeasia.net). The program is organized in Algaetech […]

Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Algal Biomass Organization, the trade association for the U.S. algae industry, released a press statement supporting President Obama’s recent speech on energy policy. The statement said: “On behalf of the U.S. algae industry, I want to thank President Obama for his forceful support of domestic biofuels. The President called […]

  The following article is an excerpt from a technology, investment, and market study titled Algae 2020, Vol 2 (2011 update) from market research firm Emerging Markets Online. The excerpt provides a summary of findings and highlights 11 key trends for the algae industry from 2011 to the year 2020. 1. Renewable Oils for Biofuels […]

Algae Screen, a new technology that can help oil algae growth much easier by killing microscopic predators, without the use of chemicals, has been announced today by Origin Oil. The company‘s press release says that their technology uses electromagnetic pulses to kill the microscopic invaders. Read more at http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20110328/algae-screennew-technology-kills-algaes-enemies-without-chemicals-unveiled-today.htm Some interesting links Building Energy Analytics […]

BARD Holdings, based in Morrisville, PA, says it ready to move from research and development to commercial production of algae oil. The oil will be sold to the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and biofuel markets. The facility, which uses artificial light rather than algae ponds, is expected to start by producing 40,000 gallons of algae oil a year. Refer for more http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22127

A new method of producing Eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA from algae has earned the Photonz Corporation a research and development grant – NZ$2.9 million from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology over the next two years.The company harvested their first batch of algal biomass in April last year, grown in their prototype industrial fermentation […]

A team of researchers from the Technological Institute of Canarias (ITC) have been able to produce new foods and enrich others, generate biodiesel and treat waste water with some microalgae and its derivatives.Microalgae are a source of “good” fatty acids, especially omega 3 and 6 of carotenoids and some may also serve for the food […]

OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), has announced a new policy of seamless integration policy with vendors, recognizing its strategic customers want to work with the fewest possible vendors. OriginOil would fill gaps between its processes so as to widen product offerings. OriginOil CEO Eckelberry  said the new policy would apply only to OriginOil’s direct customers, adding that […]

VG Energy, a subsidiary of Viral Genetics, Inc. , announced today that it has retained alternative energy producer BioProcess Algae, LLC to verify lab results on a large scale for the development of commercial production of its potential biofuel process. VG Energy has developed proprietary technology, with results reproduced multiple times from test-tube to small-pond studies, which holds promise […]

With backing from Google, CoolPlanetBiofuels will begin marketing a technology that produces fuel from inedible biomass, like grass, wood chips, crop residue and algae. The byproduct of these substances captures carbon and can also be added to crops to increase their output. It’s what the company calls “negative carbon fuel.” See more at http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-funding/google-biofuels-investment/