Algae Biofuel Companies

[biofuel]

Dow and Algenol team up on algae biorefinery pilot project

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2009/06/29/dow-and-algenol-team-up-on-algae-biorefinery-pilot-project/

Dow Chemical Company and Algenol Biofuels are working together to create a biorefinery that uses algae to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) to ethanol. Dow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Membrane Technology & Research, Inc. will be providing science and technology to Algenol’s algae system. The plan is to locate the facility at Dow’s Freeport, Texas site.

The Dow/Algenol refinery will be “using algae, sunlight, CO2, and seawater” to create ethanol. Converting CO2 to biofuel is not a unique concept. At least four other companies Amyris, Petrosun, Solazyme, and Sapphire Energy are using different technologies to do the same thing.

The Algenol process differs in that it does not require arable land and uses sea water not fresh water for the algae. The process not only creates ethanol from CO2 but also produces fresh water from salt water as part of the process. For many countries worldwide, having a process that not only creates biofuel but processes salt water into fresh water would be fantastic because fresh water is so hard to find.

In that respect the Texas refinery will be a multipurpose facility similar to the Renewed World Energy system. While the Texas refinery will provide both biofuel and freshwater it will also be used as a method to clean up emissions from Dow Chemical’s nearby manufacturing plant. The Renewed World Energy system has been designed to convert power plant and industrial plant emissions into biofuel. Both systems will reduce greenhouse gases, improving the environment.

The collaboration between Dow, Algenol, NREL, Georgia Tech and Membrane Technology & Research, Inc should insure the refinery’s success unlike the now defunct GreenFuel’s attempt to develop a commercial refinery. GreenFuel was one of the best funded algae start ups that went bust when its technology developed a glitch and it was unable to meet delivery deadlines.

Algenol has requested a government grant to provide financial support during the pilot project. Once the grant is approved, the other collaborators will begin working with Algenol to get the refinery built and working.