Green Options » LS9

LS9 Ultraclean Diesel (Green Diesel) Exceeds Fuel Specs

Joanna Schroeder — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:39:03 +0000

There is an urgent need for renewable fuels and alternative technologies to reach the marketplace as many experts predict that in the blink of an eye, a barrel of oil could exceed $200. That means $6.00 per gallon gas or more. Today, LS9, a company whose mission is to replace petroleum with advanced biofuels, has become one step closer to doing just that. The company’s UltraClean(TM) Diesel (many people use the term green diesel) product has been vehicle tested and exceeds the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6751 and Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum ANP-7 specifications.

The key to these tests are that they were conducted by a third party which makes me excited for the future applications of the fuel. Personally, I think many technology claims are bogus. Too many “breakthrough” technologies are never validated by a third party and they whither and die in a matter of months.

Biofuels Researcher Moves Closer to Creating Artificial Life

Nick Chambers — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:08:24 +0000

A well-known biofuels researcher at Harvard has developed a synthetic ribosome — one of the fundamental building blocks for creating artificial life — which, initially, could have major implications for the creation of designer enzymes to make cheaper and more energy efficient cellulosic ethanol.

Dr. George Church, co-founder of the next generation biofuels company LS9, made the stunning announcement in a telephone call with reporters.

“If you are going to make synthetic life that is anything like current life … you have got to have this … biological machine,” Dr. Church said in comments to Reuters.

Algal Fuel One Step Closer To Becoming A Conventional Oil Alternative

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:46:50 +0000

A new milestone was reached recently in the race to make fuel from algae a conventional oil alternative: high-octane gasoline that is compatible with any gas-guzzling vehicle. The feat was performed by Sapphire Energy, a company that manufactures “green crude”. Sapphire uses single-cell algae to produce a chemical mixture that contains extractable fuel for cars and other transport vehicles. While the green crude is chemically identical to crude oil, it is completely carbon neutral.

The algal energy doesn’t require the use of agricultural land and water, and it deliver 10 to 100 times more energy per acre than crop-based biofuels. The company hopes that their green crude will ultimately be injected into normal crude pipelines.

LS9’s Designer Biofuel, Renewable Petroleum

Courtney Carlisle — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:59:45 +0000

The privately held, venture backed industrial biotechnology company, LS9, maintains that the answer to our gas crisis is renewable petroleum technology that they have custom engineered, a Designer Biofuel. Researchers at the San Francisco-based company have been able to alter existing bacteria to yield new, diesel-producing strains. They are also working on developing a bacteria strain that makes crude oil that canbe trucked and go through the refining process.

The hydrocarbon based biofuel mimics fuel properties of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, which allows it to run through existing pipeline infrastructure and run in any vehicle, setting it apart from other biofuel products. While LS9’s Designer Biofuel emits the same amount of greenhouse gas as regular crude oil and petroleum products in a combustible engine, the company purports that ultimately that they will have a much smaller impact since they don’t have to drill for the feedstock. Their product also produces twice the energy of regular petroleum products; so, it requires half of the amount of feedstock to yield the same amount of energy.

Aside from the environmental questions of emissions, the company is also competing with the challenge of moving this laboratory production to full scale industrial production.