Nov 25 2010
Algenol Biofuels, Lee County, Florida-based algae biofuel technology developing company, has unveiled its plans to build an experimental bio-refinery plant in close proximity to its laboratory. Information released from the company states that its 36-acre facility located at Lee Road, Fort Myers, will showcase the ability of the company in deriving ethanol from blue-green algae through a ‘direct to ethanol’ process.
The process developed by the company, utilizes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and seawater to generate ethanol utilizing a hybrid algae inside a see-through type of plastic photo-bioreactors that utilizes solar energy. The proposed system is expected to generate around 6,000 gallons of ethanol per acre every year when compared to 400 gallons of ethanol yield per acre from corn. The ethanol product to be developed by utilizing Algenol process is expected to leave only 20% carbon foot print when compared to the fossil fuel for similar usage. The company has opened up its labs for the development in October this year. The project has received the support of the US Department of Energy, the local Lee County Commission and the Dow Chemical Company one of is strategic partners.
Paul Woods, CEO and Founder of Algenol, said that the proposal to hold all the facilities such as bio-refinery and research lab at a single location will allow improved coordination between its engineers, scientists and its investing partners such as Membrane Technology and Research (MTR), the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He added that the construction of its pilot plant close to it’s recently build lab will allow effective and efficient usage of the facility, will reduce the cost of development and speed up the production process.
Source: https://www.algenol.com/