Production of biodiesel from microalgae still have constraints owing to high cost and energy consumption of biomass cultivation and lipid extraction. Now scientists have performed an experiment to produce cost effective biodiesel from microalgae using protic ionic liquids. The use of protic ionic liquids was assessed for lipid extraction using Scenedesmus obliquus and compared to […]

Scientists from Swansea University have installed a new seaweed farm in Pembroke Dock to examine the biofuel potential of the seaweed. The project funded by Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council also aims to discover more about the use of seaweed as food. The farm is an original design and its new structure is part […]

Scientists from Australia have found that a freshwater macroalgae Oedogonium native to Australia could be used to create a high quality, renewable biofuel that could be mixed with jet fuel, gasoline and diesel. Thus, jet aeroplanes may one day be powered with biofuel made from algae. Source

Aviation community has signed a memorandum of agreement with Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC), Airbus Group, University of Malaya, University Malaysia Terengganu, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, and University of Kebangsaan Malaysia for offshore cultivation of tropical macroalgae for the production of aviation jet fuel. While the universities focus on different technologies of algae […]

Scientists from Western Australia have performed an experiment to reduce the energy consumption for producing fuels from algae. The new technique also prevents following harvesting technique which is critical in algae cultivation. The new method follows cultivation of microalgae on a biofilm photobioreactor. Preliminary energetic feasibility analysis have been carried out. Results show that for […]

National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a new biorefinery process to increase the yield of fuel from algae biomass. In traditional process, the algae produce lipids that get converted into fuels. But NREL, in a previous research work used solid-liquid separation process to convert carbohydrates into fermentable sugars which could be converted to ethanol. In […]

Michigan State University has partnered with ExxonMobil to expand its research on algae based fuels. The project will mainly focus on analyzing the different species of algae which are the most efficient under a range of natural conditions. It will also analyse other characteristic features of such efficient algae, like the genes responsible for their survival in […]

Biofat project, a microalgae-to-biofuel FP7 demonstration project, has confirmed algae as a potential source of biofuel with low greenhouse gas emissions.  The project has focussed mainly on improving and demonstrating sustainability in the process considering both environmental and economic issues. Two 1.5 hectare pilot-scale facilities have been built for this purpose in Italy and Portugal […]

Scientists from Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) have identified two new ocean based algal strains that can be used as a source of biofuels for vehicles and aircraft. The two new strains Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorella vulgaris have dry-weight oil content of more than 50 percent that makes them as ideal sources of biofuel for vehicles and […]

US Department of Energy has announced that it will fund $18 million to six algae based biofuels projects in order to reduce the price of algae based biofuels to less than $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent by 2019. This funding will also support the development of bio economy that can help create green jobs and […]

Scientists from Japan have developed a new method of converting algal oil to transportation fuels. Squalene, which is produced by microalgae, could be converted to jet fuel or gasoline by this method.   The method uses ruthenium as a catalyst supported on cerium oxide. In the presence of this catalyst, squalane, obtained from squalene, reacts […]

Scientists from Korea have conducted an experiment to unveil different pathways from algae associated bacteria and restructuring them to use algal polysaccharide as a feedstock for biofuel production. In this study, the alginate degrading machinery of Vibrio splendidus was used to engineer Bacillus subtilis capable of utilizing alginate to produce ethanol. The process was optimized by […]

Scientists at Western Michigan University are conducting an experiment to use harmful algal blooms as a feedstock for biofuels and also the leftover feedstocks as farm soil nutrients. Currently, the team is exploring different growth substrates suitable for algal growth in water bodies. By using 3-D printing technologies, scientists are engineering different substrates suitable for […]

Scientists have found a way to produce bio-ethanol from macro algal biomass of Gracilaria dura and Gelidiella acerosa and Gellidium pusillum. A ton of fresh biomass could supply several valuable extracts. Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of cellulose obtained could yield 1.8 – 17.4 kg of ethanol. The major highlight of this process is that along […]

University of Toledo is getting a grant of $ 199,997 for an algae biomass research project. The grant has been awarded by the National Science Foundation to advance research and develop possible commercial applications of hydrogel, a low-cost product that would ease the process of growth and harvesting of algae and also make it more […]

Scientists from China conducted an experiment to regulate H2 production from microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by using artificial miRNA technology. A heat inducible expression vector containing amiRNA targeting OEE2 gene was constructed and transformed into Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The results showed that the transgenic alga showed higher H2 production due to the knock down of OEE2 gene. […]

Scientists from Adhiparasakthi Engineering College, Tamil Nadu, have produced biodiesel from algae oil using nano calcium oxide as a catalyst. Nano calcium oxide was produced by calcinating egg shell powder with sonochemical reactor. Transesterification experiments were carried out using algae oil and hexane as a solvent. The results showed that CaO catalyst derived from egg […]

Scientists at Amyris are making an experiment to produce jet fuel from sugar cane. This renewable fuel has the same energy density as the standard jet fuel. It is also advantageous as it has a lower freezing point, fewer greenhouse gas emissions and a renewable source when compared to petroleum-based jet fuel. Using synthetic biology, […]

Researchers from Western Washington University have exploited an unusual class of chemical compounds from algae to produce two different algae products simultaneously from single algae. They have found that alkenones which are fat compounds produced by the algal species Isochrysis has the potential to be used as a fuel source. Apart from producing biodiesel from the species, […]

Researchers from Malaysia have produced a high grade biodiesel by using lipids derived from the microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata. The production was done via transesterification process with methanol and using calcium methoxide as a catalyst. The biodiesel produced by this method had a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids as thus was suitable as a winter […]

Researchers integrated the use of glycerol to produce ethanol in simultaneous production of biodiesel and bioethanol (Read More about Ethanol from Algae) production from algae. The process consists of growing of algae, determining the optimal fraction of oil vs. starch, followed by oil extraction, starch liquefaction and saccharification, to sugars, oil transesterification and the fermentation […]

An article in the journal Phycologia takes an in-depth look at the genetic structure of a unicellular green alga, Botryococcus braunii, and explores its unique ability to be utilised in the genetic engineering of biofuel development.The research focused on the codon usage, or DNA compatibility, of B. braunii with other species of green algae, five species […]

A new algae fuel company by name – Muradel Pty has joined the algae fuel race. This company is a joint venture between Murdoch University, Adelaide Research  and SQC Pty. This company has been started to make algae fuels a reality in Australia taking into the advantage the climatic conditions of Australia. The company plans […]

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking input from industry, academia, and other biofuels stakeholders regarding supply systems and services for the production, handling, storage, transport and delivery of algae via a new Request for Information (RFI) DOE may use the information in support of program planning and may determine to issue a formal […]