Dr. John W. Bebout, Principal Consultant for Bebout and Associates, have patented a process for growing algae for biofuels that promises faster growth rates, higher oil production and  freedom to locate commercial algae farms in rural areas.

Dr John W. Bebout  explained  that providing carbon dioxide  to algae is well-known to as much as double both their production of lipids and  growth rate. Till date  the amount of CO2 required to grow the thousands of acres of algae necessary for commercial production required co-location with large industrial sources of CO2 such as power plants or large factories. This severely restricted potential locations for large algae farms.

Now the new process uses marlstone as a media buffer as well as a source of carbon and trace elements for enhanced algae growth.

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