Meet a next-generation scientist making the next generation of biofuel. 17-year-old Sara Volz invented a process that increases the amount of biofuel produced by algae to win this year’s Intel Science Talent Search. The Colorado Springs student claimed the $100,000 grand prize with her project, which uses artificial selection to pinpoint which organisms are churning out the most fuel. This new method not only helps to bring down the overall cost of algae biofuel, but it was developed primarily in her bedroom under a lofted bed!

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Post tags: acetyl-coa carboxylase, algae biofuel, colorado springs, enzyme, high school, intel, intel science talent search, pesticide, sara volz, sethoxydim, society for science & the public

Diatoms are tiny marine life forms that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Now a team from Oregon State University believes that they could be used to make biofuel production from algae truly cost-effective, as they can simultaneously produce other valuable products such as semiconductors, biomedical products and even health foods.

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Post tags: algae biofuel, biofuel production, diatoms, Dinosaur, electronics, health foods, marine lifeforms, oregon state university

Brazil is set to build the world’s first algae-based biofuel plant, which could convert seaweed into as much as 1.2 million liters of fuel each year. Located in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, the facility will be built on an ethanol-producing sugar cane plantation, and will utilize carbon emissions from the plantation. If everything goes to plan, the biofuel plant will go into production by late 2013.

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Post tags: algae biofuel, algae-based biofuel plant, biofuel production, brazil biofuel, ethanol production, Pernambuco, SAT, seaweed biofuel

Algae fuel and other biofuels have gained popularity in recent years to the point that even the US Military has adopted it as jet fuel. Given its recent rise to prominence, it’s not particularly surprising to learn that Arizona-based algae biofuels company Heliae has decided to harness the growth of algae on a commercial scale so that it can be used as transportation fuel.

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Post tags: algae biofuel, algae fuel, arizona heliae, biofuel, biofuel industry, heliae algae, heliae algae production, heliae commercial algae, oil production

Algae biofuel is one of the most promising alternative fuels on the market – so far we’ve seen cars and even planes adapted to run on it. The main drawback thus far has been high production costs and energy usage – until now. Using a new “cost-effective harvesting method” featuring microbubbles, a team from the University of Sheffield believe they have found a way to make algae a more commercially viable fuel source.

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Post tags: algae biofuel, algae fuel, algae microbubbles airlines, microbubbles algae biofuel, microbubbles algae biofuel production, microbubbles algae harvesting, university of sheffield microbubbles, university of sheffield zimmerman, zimmerman microbubbles algae

The U.S. Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship has successfully arrived at its port, powered by an alternative fuel blend. Docking at Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme, it completed a 17 hour test voyage which ended at 10:37 a.m. this morning. The decommissioned Spruance-class Paul F. Foster destroyer was converted to run on 50% algae-derived fuel.

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Post tags: algae biofuel, biofuel, biofuel blend, hydro-processed Algae Oil, LM 2500, Paul Foster, Self Defence Test Ship, Spruance Class, U.S. Navy

Read the rest of EcoLogicStudio Unveils an Awesome Algae-Powered Eco-City to Reinvigorate the Baltic Coast

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Post tags: algae, algae biofuel, algae cultivation, algae farm, eco design, EcoLogicStudio, green design, simrishamn, sustainable design

The people who brought us memory foam, satellite radio, invisible braces and the charcoal water filter are at it again. The brilliant minds at NASA’s Ames Research Center are working to create a carbon-neutral fuel and food source using floating plastic bags filled with wastewater and algae. Supported by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and the California Energy Commission, OMEGA (Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae) hopes to take advantage of the amazing amount of oils produced by some algea (up to 40 times more than soy per acre).

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Post tags: algae biofuel, biofuel production, biofuel research, carbon neutral fuels, NASA OMEGA, renewable energy

Read the rest of Algae Powered Building Retrofit Wins Metropolis Mag’s Next Generation Design Competition

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Post tags: algae biofuel, biomimicry architecture, extreme office building retrofit, green retrofit, GSA retrofit, HOK federal building retrofit, LA Federal Building Retrofit, Living Building Challenge retrofit, Metropolis Magazine Next Generation design competition, office daylighting, Process Zero, zero energy building, Zero energy public service building

Algae is much more than that pesky goo in your fish tank – researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology are now using algae grown at wastewater treatment plants to synthesize biodiesel. Wastewater treatment plants regularly utilize algae to remove ammonia, nitrates and phosphates from wastewater before dumping into receiving water – using the tiny plants as a source of fuel is a brilliant way to get extra mileage out of the system.

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Post tags: algae, algae biofuel, biodiesel, Environmental Energy Technologies, green design, renewable energy, Rochester Institute of Technology, sustainable design, wastewater treatment

When one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world invests their capital into algae biofuel research, you know that renewable energy will soon play a major role in the global economy. Ford Motor Company has recently hired scientists to look into algae as the major ingredient in their efforts towards bio-fuel production. The company has quickly realized that if their cars are to be relevant in the future, then they will need to find alternatives to gasoline and oil. The company has also been looking at ethanol and butanol biofuels, but at the moment, believe that algae may hold the greatest potential.

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Post tags: algae biofuel, ford algae biofuel, vehicle algae biofuel, wayne university algae biofuel

It’s hard to imagine a cement plant going green. Creating cement is a scarily dirty process, and the industry is responsible for about five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. One Canadian company aims to change that situation. Pond Biofuels, a three-year-old start-up, hopes to capture a cement plant’s carbon emissions in algae. The algae would then be turned into a biofuel and used to fuel cement kilns and company trucks.

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Post tags: algae, algae absorbs emissions, algae biofuel, algae from cement emissions, cement industry, emissions from cement, greenhouse gas emissions, Pond Biofuels, St. Mary's cement

Corn and soybean derived biofuels have long been the most promising options on the table for escaping the clutches of fast depleting petroleum. However, acquiring the space necessary to produce ethanol and biodiesel at the same consumption rate as fossil fuels would be impossible, so sustainable fingers are pointing to oilgae, or algae fuel. Algae produces 30 times more energy per acre than corn or soybeans and can grow in salt water, our worlds most abundant source. There are several startups bringing pond scum to fuel tanks, among them Solazyme who were caught driving around Sundance Film Festival this year with an oilgae-powered car.


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Post tags: algae biofuel, algae fuel, biodiesel, biofuel, oilgae, plant fuel, Solazyme, Sundance Film Festival