Algae genetic engineering simply means engineering the DNA of these algae to improve their abilities to yield oil. Genetic engineering finds its application on many aspects of algae, especially on biofuel algae. There is a need for algae engineering because the problem we are facing right now is that one algal strain is very unlikely […]

Last week I had posted a few lines on low cost dewatering and drying techniques, when I was surfing through Algae Venture’s website, came across some more  interesting points about their new harvesting, dewatering and drying system, in short called HDD. Algae Venture system, a company based out of Ohio have developed a new technology […]

After Solazyme’s delivery of 1500 gallons of oil to the US navy,many companies in the US have started pursuing the fermentation route- “the dark fermentation route” to produce biofuels. In fact, one thing what I noticed with Solazyme is the fact that they are not only trying to produce biofuels,  but are also trying other […]

Beckon Industries Ltd.. (BIL) , company based out of Chandigrah, claims to have achieved a new milestone in the production of microalgae in PBR. They   are currently  undertaking measurement, monitor and validation (MMV) process in Goa and have produced 125 times more algae with its newly developed photo bio reactor (PBR) than the existing PBR’s […]

Genetic engineering of algae is the talk of the town these days and GE of algae can be done by studying the metabolic pathway of algae species, modifying their genes responsible for the lipid content. The engineered microbes can then be cultivated for oil production. The genetically engineered organism can also be cultivated for producing […]

It is a well-known fact that  harvesting and drying adds considerably to the overall cost of oil from algae. Algae  Venture System, a company in US ewhich has been  by ARPA has devised a low cost dewatering and drying system and they have been  considered to be having the most scientific method. Here are the […]

When algae are grown they should be provided the best possible conditions to achieve their growth potential. I was earlier a bit skeptical about growing algae in open-ponds. However, when I visualize a country such as India – a few states in India have ample of land, sunshine throughout the year and easy access to […]

Sequestering carbon-dioxide by growing algae next to power plants has been happening for quite some time now. Research efforts are underway to make possible a economically viable model to capture CO2 from power plant emissions. Some of the challenges faced are: 1.There are no comprehensive and authoritative estimates of cost of sequestering CO2 from power […]

The cement industry contributes about 5% of total global carbon dioxide emissions. Due to the dominant use of carbon intensive fuels, e.g. coal, in clinker making, the cement industry is also a major emitter of CO2 emissions. Hence growing algae next to these cement plants can be a fantastic opportunity to convert these stack gases […]

PetroAlgae Inc  a renewable energy company that licenses and deploys the leading biomass production platform to address existing and growing unmet needs in the global energy and agriculture markets has announced for Filing of S-1 Registration Statement for Public Offering and expects to raise up to $200 million in an IPO. PetroAlgae explains its technology […]

Solazyme, the San Francisco- based company claimed that they provided about 1500 gallons of algae-based jet fuel , infact 100 percent algae-based fuel to the U.S. Navy. So, I was actually wondering what is so special about it that the” U.S. Navy” is after it. Solazyme as you might be aware grows algae in the […]

Press Release Save time and money! Join the Algae Producers, Equipment Manufacturers and Algae Researchers who say “we don’t need to wait another 5 years – we need commercial-scale algae production NOW.” Learn about innovative algae processes and technologies from the algaepreneurs actually growing, harvesting and extracting algae oil and biomass using available technologies. Collaborate […]

Solazyme, a company based out of California have been working on a unique method of making algae fuels by using cheap sugars to grow algae in the dark. As you might be aware of the fact that Solazyme uses a very different approach to make biofuels, they use heterotrophic algae in the dark while the […]

The cement industry contributes about 5% of total global carbon dioxide emissions. Due to the dominant use of carbon intensive fuels, e.g. coal, in clinker making, the cement industry is also a major emitter of CO2 emissions. Hence growing algae next to these cement plants can be a fantastic opportunity to convert these stack gases […]

Phycal LLC, which has an algae biotechnology laboratory at the BioResearch and Development Growth Park (BRDG) at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, has won a $24.2 million federal research grant. Phycal, led by President and CEO Kevin Berner, researches how to develop a production system for growing algae and extracting an energy product, primarily […]

A joint research project to extract food ingredients from algae is being started by Dutch organization TNO and industrial algae producer Ingrepro Renewables BV. The extracted ingredients are healthy vegetable oils and mostly proteins and could be used as a sustainable substitute for meat. If and how carbohydrates from algae can be used will also […]

According to Anna Stephenson from the University of Cambridge, when algae is grown in clear-tubed bioreactors the energy required to move the algae around so that it gets enough sunlight means that per megajoule equivalent of fuel, the algae fuel has a carbon footprint of 320 grams while petro-diesel takes 86 grams. See more

Research suggests some strains of algae can produce more than 10 times more fuel per acre than the soybeans used to make biodiesel or the corn used to make ethanol. And because algae can be grown in ponds in the desert, the acreage devoted to it would not interfere with food production. But there is […]

Algal biofuels were proposed last year as an answer to the stalled Filene’s construction site at Downtown Crossing in Boston. The Eco-Pod, as designed, is a vertical algae bioreactor built with custom prefabricated modules. According to Höweler + Yoon, the proposed pods will would serve as biofuel sources and as micro-incubators for other research and […]

Is harvesting oil from the same algae multiple times by causing minimal damage to the cell th best option? Yes, say a few researchers in the Ames Laboratory. From the Ames laboratory – The key to their process lies with millions of sponge-like nanospheres that were specially engineered by Ames Lab Program Director for Chemical […]

Foreign genes are being spliced into algae and native genes are being tweaked. Different strains of algae are pitted against one another in survival-of-the-fittest contests in an effort to accelerate the evolution of fast-growing, hardy strains. The goal is nothing less than to create superalgae, highly efficient at converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into lipids […]

Ohio-based Phycal LLC has landed a $24 million federal grant for a project that aims to produce biofuel from algae near Wahiawa. The project will use industrial carbon dioxide emissions to cultivate microalgae for biofuel that can be blended with other fuels. The $65 million pilot project will use shallow ponds and processing facilities on […]

Algenol Inc.’s new research center under construction off Alico Road is expected to open in just over a month. Employees began packing materials from the company’s existing research facility in Baltimore this past week in anticipation of opening the new center on Sept. 1, chief executive officer Paul Woods said. “There are parts of the […]

Swedish energy group Vattenfall said it had launched a major pilot project Thursday using algae to absorb greenhouse gas emissions from a coal-fired power plant in eastern Germany. The two-million-euro (2.6-million-dollar) trial run, which will continue until October 2011, in the depressed Lausitz mining region is one of several experimental attempts in the sector using […]

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), acting in partnership with the Energy Technology Research Group of the Southampton University, United Kingdom (UK), has commenced research into the use of modern technologies to develop bio-fuel in Ghana. Topics they treated included “second generation bio-fuels based on biomass pyrolysis technology”, “computational modelling of biomass fast […]