I happened across this video on algae biofuel today: a company I’ve never heard of, Valcent Products, claims they can grow algae to produce oil yields of 100,000 gallons per acre. That’s the upper range of estimates I’ve seen for algae production—an absolutely phenomenal amount of oil—which Valcent attributes to their ‘high density vertical bioreactor’ […]

Continue reading " Could We Grow 100,000 Gallons of Oil per Acre? Yes, Says Vertigro Algae Biofuel "

There’s no doubt that growing corn-based ethanol has some serious problems: the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, controversy over increasing food prices, and questionable energy return.
But how does the impact of ethanol production compare to not doing anything?
Last week, the Delta Farm Press picked up on a statement made by Texas oilman T. […]

Continue reading " Which is Worse: Exporting $1 Billion Per Week or Growing Fuel? "

In case you didn’t know, the “dead zone” isn’t just a novel by Steven King or an old TV show, it’s an area about the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico that during the summer months is incapable of supporting sea life. The dead zone is created when fertilizer run off promote […]

Continue reading " Is Ethanol Production Fueling the Size of the Dead Zone? "

While the first algae-to-biofuels facility went online today, scientists at Argonne National Labs are manipulating the photosynthetic super-organism for another use: creating hydrogen.
Algae grows prolifically in adverse conditions, and can store large amounts of oils or starches useful for making biodiesel or ethanol. But some strains also use an enzyme called hydrogenase to produce small […]

Continue reading " Algae Could Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source "

As controversial as corn-grain ethanol is, it may be offsetting high oil prices and saving consumers between 6 and 9¢ per gallon on fuel.
Research by the American Coalition for Ethanol (or ACE - totally unbiased, I know) found that gasoline-ethanol blends are selling 10-35¢ lower than non-blended gasoline, which after factoring in the ethanol-blender’s tax […]

Continue reading " Ethanol Brings Gas Prices Down, Saves Consumers Money "

Range Fuels Inc. announced yesterday it has secured over $100 million in Series B funding, an investment that could make it the first company to seriously commercialize cellulosic ethanol. The first phase of construction will produce 20 million gallons of mixed alcohols per year by 2009, and has the potential to expand to up to […]

Continue reading " World’s First Commercially Viable Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Online 2009 "