Algenol CEO Paul Woods told Nature World News a combination of algae, sunlight, carbon dioxide (CO2), saltwater and non-arable land yields a whopping 8,000 total gallons of liquid fuel per acre per year – that’s way more than the 420 gallons of fuel per acre per year that corn biofuel produces.
The technology has the ability to produce ethanol, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
It depends on Algenol’s patented photobioreactors and downstream separation techniques for low-cost fuel production.
The technology follows two-step process under which it first produces ethanol directly from the algae and then converts the spent algae biomass to biodiesel, gasoline and jet fuel.
The technology features plastic film photobioreactor (PBR) that facilitates product creation and collection.
Algenol said each individual PBR features ports for ethanol and biomass collection and the introduction of CO2 and nutrients.
Algenol claims that it is the only renewable fuel production process that can convert over 85% of its CO2 feedstock into the four most important fuels.
Image: Algenol’s technology allows the production of four important fuels. Photo: Courtesy of Algenol.
