Biofuel from algae has been in the news recently. The Rocky Mountain News took the time to sit down with officials from Solix Biofuels and New Belgium Brewing to talk about their pilot. From the article, "The environmentally friendly microbrewery is working with a Fort Collins energy startup to make biodiesel fuel from algae, based partially on the beer maker's waste products. Should the project succeed, it will prove that algae can produce 100 times more oil than soybeans. And that - environmentalists hope - will partly solve the world's energy problems...
"The biodiesel technology belongs to two-year-old Solix Biofuels, located just 500 yards from New Belgium in an old coal-fired power plant. The firm, in alliance with Colorado State University scientists, is working on algae-based biodiesel. New Belgium, which features windmills on its six-packs, has a green-tinged history. In 1999, it was the first major U.S. company to buy 100 percent wind power. Three years later, it developed a system to generate methane from its wastewater. Now, its algae deal may allow it to sell carbon-dioxide emission credits on the open market - a payment for reducing its carbon footprint. Solix hasn't produced one gallon of vehicle-ready fuel - yet. But company scientists are confident their idea will work - if they can get the algae to produce enough oil to grow quickly and within a cheap system...
"How it works: Lipid-producing algae are grown in a bioreactor that resembles an enormous, transparent plastic tube. Inside, the algae float in fluid. The system is injected with carbon dioxide, a byproduct of industrial factories. Rollers slowly squeeze the fluid through the tubes, keeping the algae in constant motion and allowing sunlight to reach all the plants. Within several weeks, the algae are harvested. Their oil is extracted, then refined into biodiesel fuel.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
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