27 Articles
Green
Making the most of our roads, two ways

Paris reclaims pavement for pedestrians, The Cloud Collective farms algae near the freeway.

Creating green space for pedestrians or growing algae for energy are two practical solutions for when there's too much roadway.

U.S. Navy tests algae-based Solajet fuel in Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk helicopter

Armed and ready for action, the U.S. Navy's Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk helicopters are fear-inducing machines. However, we'd be willing to bet that most of the U.S.' opponents have no clue that this bird can take to the skies powered by algal-derived fuels.

Solazyme IPO nets $227.2 million

Solazyme, a renewable algae-based fuels company headquartered in San Francisco, CA, has announced the closing of its initial public offering (IPO). According to the renewable fuels firm, the company netted $227.18 million by letting 12,621,250 shares fly at a price of $18 per, above the previously estimated $15 to $17. Additionally, the underwriters exercised their 30-day option to purchase an additional 1,646,250 shares of common stock to cover o

Solazyme files for $100 million IPO

We've featured San Francisco-based Solazyme several times over the past few years, most notably for creating jet fuel from algae. Back then, the company estimated its algae-based fuel would be competitive with $40- to $80-per-barrel oil prices, to say nothing about the current $100-a-barrel prices.

Sea Power of a different sort: ocean energy could supply half of Europe's electricity by 2050

Look no further than the ocean to see what will power our future. That's what a recent study suggests, anyway. That report, presented by the Marine Board of the European Science Foundation (ESF) at the EurOCEAN 2010 conference, outlines several marine renewable energies that have not been exploited to their fullest. The findings suggests that when these

Biodiesel algae developer PetroAlgae hoping to go public without a product

Melbourne, FL-based PetroAlgae has filed an S-1 document with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the hopes of raising $200 million from an initial public offering. Unfortunately, despite the promise that algae shows as a feedstock for biofuels, PetroAlgae doesn't appear to have much to offer.

What are 3rd and 4th generation biofuels and when are they coming?

Back in the early days of mass-produced biofuels, corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel were all the rage. But criticism about food vs. fuel and scalability abounded and, by 2008, cellulosic ethanol became known as a so-called second-generation-biofuel and, maybe, the answer to our oil-addicted prayers. Blame Nik Bristow

Capturing bio-diesel from sweating plants - can this really be done?

We never really knew that plants sweat. Nor were we aware that when some of them sweat, it's good ole biodiesel pouring out. If that's the case, then let's turn up the heat and get rewarded with all the fuel we will ever need. A little-known American company called Joule Unlimited claims that perspiration from a new type of gene-altered single cell organism actually contains usable biodiesel

There's a fungus among us (other biodiesel feedstocks)

Researchers in Spain have demonstrated that they can transform fungus directly into commercial-grade biodiesel.Through a process we admittedly don't pretend to completely understand, the fungus mucor circinelloides is made into ASTM-D6751-spec biodiesel without first having its oils extracted, a process called dir

Study: algae biofuels not the easy, green biofuel answer - yet

Over the last several years, algae has been seen as the great green hope to make biofuels a truly viable option that wouldn't affect food supplies. In part, this is because algae has the potential to yield up to 100 times as much fuel per acre as soy or corn feedstocks. Unfortunately, progress been slow so far, and a new study by Andres Clarens of the University of Virginia indicates making algae requires much more energy to produce than crops.

DOE readies $85 billion for algal and advanced biofuels

The DOE is getting ready to spend $85 billion on research to create biofuels made from algae and other advanced techniques. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will be made available "for the development of algae-based biofuels and advanced, infrastructure-compatible biofuels" that can be brought "to market in an accelerated timeframe."

First stage of Nevada algae biodiesel completed successfully

One of the most promising biofuel feedstocks in recent years has been algae. Algae is high in oil content, potentially providing much higher yields of fuel than any other current crop - as much as 100 times more than soy, for example. Researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno have been testing a pair of outdoor algae ponds to evaluate the viability of growing fuel algae in the region. The first phase was a success with algae growing in a pair of 5,000 gallon ponds even with overnight temperat

Montana gives grant to make great green goo from CO2

What's green and blue, eats CO2, and could wind up in your gas tank? If you answered heat-loving green blue algae (or thermophilic cyanobacteria, if you want to sound all smart and stuff), then ding! ding! ding!, you are correct! A pilot algae bioreactor project was just awarded a $375,000 grant by the Montana Department of Commerce and may, if it works out as hoped, pave the way for commercialization of the process.

Carbon Trust launches algae biodiesel challenge, commercial by 2020

One of the more promising sources of biofuels in recent years has been algae. While there are a number of small scale tests along with some larger scale commercialization projects, the UK's Carbon Trust wants to accelerate the process. The Trust has launched an Algae Biodiesel Challenge with goal of making algae-sourced liquid fuels commercially viable by 2020. The first phase of the £30 million project will focus on research and development including finding the best strains of algae, yie

Holland, MI may get algae biofuel pilot plant

Bloomfield Hills, MI-based Sequest LLC is contemplating building a pilot algae biodiesel plant in Holland (on Michigan's west side). Holland has a number of attributes that make it a good location for this particular project. Sequest wants the plant to use waste water for growing the algae and carbon-dioxide to feed it. A coal-fired power plant is in close proximity to the local water treatment plant. Michigan State University also has a research lab nearby.

New study quantifies differences in biofuel crops, impact on environment

There are plenty of flex-fuel capable cars on the roads, but there is not nearly enough ethanol available to power all of them on the gasoline alternative. It's no secret that corn-based ethanol is not the answer to our oil woes, but if that's the case, what alternatives should we be looking closest at? Regular readers are surely aware that cellulosic ethanol is the way to go when it comes to alcohol-based fuels, but even with that process, a crop of some sort is required. Additionally, biodiese

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