Hot Topics: The latest on algae-to-energy

Here are some of the most popular latest stories on algae-to-energy that have run in Biofuels Digest:

Profile of Aquatic Energy:  In Louisiana, Aquatic Energy unveiled significant progress in its pilot algae-to-energy project in the Lake Charles-Lafayette corridor of the state. The company is now preparing to expand from a “couple of acre” pilot in Lake Charles, to an 30-acre demonstration project that will feature the company’s 1-acre open-pond system that is yielding 2500 gallons per acre without using an external CO2 source.

Profile of Aurora Biofuels: “It’s the Florida panther of algae biofuels: little seen, but capable of making a big mark and certainly, of late, issuing a big roar with completion of its 18-month pilot and confidence now high that they will be at demo-stage next year and on target for $1.30 algal fuel.”

Profile of PetroAlgae: “You will not see giant corn ears, gas pumps or a string of billboards in Burma Shave style at Fellsmere. What you will see is the first near-to-workable platform for a national energy solution. They, or rather PetroAlgae, is making algal oil in Fellsmere, and nearing completion of a vertically integrated, scaleable, licensable 5-6,000 gallon per acre algae-to-energy production system.”

Sapphire Energy speeds up path to commercialization: In California, Sapphire Energy said the pace of algae commercialization is increasing and that it will reach commercial scale by 2011, and producing 1 Mgy of diesel and jet fuel from algae that year, double its previous estimate.

OriginOil announces breakthrough oil extraction technology: In California, OriginOil announced a breakthrough, one-step process for extracting oil from algae. The company said that its patent-pending process does not require chemicals or significant capital expenditure for heavy machinery, and no initial dewatering is required.

Solazyme says lifecycle analysis of Soladiesel shows 93 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions: In California, Life Cycle Associates, the same consultant that performed lifecycle greenhouse gas calculations for the California Air Resources Board, completed a field-to-wheels assessment of Soladiesel, the company’s algae-based biodiesel using the Argonne National Laboratories GREET model. LCA found that Soladiesel’s full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are 85 to 93 percent lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD).

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