By Derek Markham •
June 9, 2009
15 year old Javier Fernández-Han invented a truly innovative solution to meeting the basic needs of many of the world’s poor, and won Ashoka’s Invent Your World Challenge with his algae energy system, called VERSATILE. His holistic approach uses an efficient, modular system to meet multiple needs.
“An invention that is narrowly focused on solving a single problem often inadvertently creates more problems because nature is highly complex and interconnected.” - Javier Fernandez-Han
By Ariel Schwartz •
February 4, 2009
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always fantasized about having an algae bioreactor in my backyard. Instructables recently posted a video to help me do just that. The DIY algae photo-bioreactor is built from plastic water bottles, and churns out some beautiful green biofuel.
By David Anderson •
February 7, 2008
So, I have a confession. Jeff had to publish my mostly-finished post for our anniversary this week, because I was asleep on a plane. I was invited to Chicago for nine hours (no thanks to the weather) on behalf of GM, to tour the laboratory of Coskata, the auto manufacturer’s newest–and perhaps smartest– investment. The few bloggers and journalists who braved the cold met with the company’s executives for Q&A and a lengthy PowerPoint. (Obviously, GM paid my way for the trip. I’d never pay to go on a trip where air time > ground time.)
I won’t go into the details of the tour, the PowerPoint, the partnership, the process that Coskata uses, the partnership that Coskata announced on the 6th with one of the largest ethanol refinery builders, (under embargo–we can expect details of partnerships like this to literally leak out consistently over the next year, similar to the strategy that GM is using to re-release all of its SUV lines as hybrids) or anything else, because they’ve all been covered so well here:
GroovyGreen’s coverage of the tour and PowerPoint
GM Announces Biofuel Partnership: Cheap, Green Ethanol?
Economic Conditions Shifting in Favor of Ethanol
Coskata partnerhship with ICM Announcement
Update: EcoGeek has a post up too, but they don’t link to any of ours. 
This is what an algae biodiesel farm might look like. If you aren't sick of the topic yet, here's one more story to throw in the mix: Several new startups, including a company called Solix Biofuels outside Ft. Colins, CO, and Greenfuel Technologies Corp. of MA, have plans for large-scale algae production that should be online within the year.
As I've
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