Nanotechnology to aid the commercial viability of Algal Bio-fuel Production

Dr Vandana Prakash — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:49:00 +0000

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The algae! Yes – the same slimy brown-green ‘plant’ that makes a pond or a lake look yucky – is the creating a great buzz as the most promising source of alternative energy. And now nanotechnology is being leveraged to add some more zing to the promise!

Algae are some of the simplest of the living organisms and can’t even be classified as plants as they lack any differentiation into various structures such as leaves, roots or other organs that characterize a plant. Yet this simple structure is the very reason for the alarming growth rate of the algae: Under optimal conditions, it can double its mass overnight.

Gasification: Ultra-Cheap Biofuel From Any Carbon Source

Nick Chambers — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:15:44 +0000

Under a new research directive at Ames National Laboratory, scientists are honing in on a way to perfect a process called gasification to create cheap ethanol from almost any carbon source without fermentation.

If they’re successful, crops, agricultural waste, lawn clippings, raked leaves, sewage sludge and garbage could all be turned into ethanol using the same efficient process, in the same facility, under one roof.

We’ve covered the process of gasification for ethanol production before, but this new research appears to be a huge step forward in making ethanol using gasification.

Green Options » Ames Laboratory

Nanotechnology to aid the commercial viability of Algal Bio-fuel Production

Gasification: Ultra-Cheap Biofuel From Any Carbon Source