Archive for the ‘Helioculture’ Category

FloridaAlgae’s Baby Bloomers revisited: after “the summer of algae,” a shock, some awe, and a surge

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

OriginOil’s new system

It was just a few months ago that expectations ran so high during the “Summer of Algae” that it seemed as if, any day, the national energy solution would be announced by an enterprising company, or two or three or 103, who had conquered the problems of industrializing growth rates and oil extraction like an assault team at Iwo Jima. Only the “we, band of brothers” would hold PhDs instead M-1 carbines. (more…)

Posted in Algae, Biofuel Policy & Regulation, Cellulosic Ethanol, Ethanol, Finance & Investment, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Industry news, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off

Cyanobacteria: the new biofuels platform?

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

BUENOS AIRES – It is early afternoon and the sun is moving west along the Rio de la Plata in the general direction of the Paraná, the river that continues northeast towards Santa Fe province and the great soy fields of the Argentine. It continues north into Brazil and anchors the great sugarcane ethanol fields west of Sao Paulo. (more…)

Posted in Algae, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off

The Who, What and When of Advanced Bioprocessing Technologies

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Policymakers are known to equate biofuels with first-generation ethanol, biodiesel, and cellulosic ethanol. More recently, they have embraced exotic technologies such as the algae platform for advanced biofuels. As one industry wag put it, “You tell them about first-generation, second-generation and third-generation biofuels, and then they tell you that the one that really want to get behind is fourth-generation.” (more…)

Posted in Algae, BioPlastics, Biorefineries, Biotechnology, Cellulosic Ethanol, Finance & Investment, Forestry and Pulp, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off

Fuel from Thin Air: no biomass, no extraction, no kidding

Friday, December 18th, 2009

In California, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce the liquid fuel isobutanol directly from carbon dioxide and sunlight.

The announcement mirrors a breakthrough by Joule Biotechnolgies, which announced last month it had produced, in its lab, diesel-equivalent fuels from sunlight and CO2. (more…)

Posted in Algae, Biotechnology, Diesel, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off

Synth Pop: Will “video kill the radio star” and synthetic fuels at popular prices replace first-gen biofuels, and when?

Friday, December 18th, 2009

“In my mind and in my car/We can’t rewind we’ve gone too far” – The Buggles, Video Killed the Radio Star

In this years’s Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy, there’s one unmistakable trend: synthetic biology companies developing drop-in, renewable fuels at popular prices. “Magic bugs” from Amyris, LS9, Gevo, Qteros, Joule Biotechnologies, Synthetic Genomics and Virent, among others, are the backbone of the Synth Pop movement in bioenergy. (more…)

Posted in BioPower Generation, Bioenergy, Biorefineries, Biotechnology, Cellulosic Ethanol, Ethanol, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off

Fuel from Thin Air: Joule Biotechnologies reports breakthrough

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

In Hawaii, at the BIO Pacific Rim Summit, Joule Biotechnologies announced that it has achieved direct microbial conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbons via engineered organisms, powered by solar energy. (more…)

Posted in Algae, Diesel, Ethanol, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off