Cleantech Update

There has been a resurgence of investment interest in the U.S. biofuel industry focused on technologies that use algae to make fuel. The appeal of algae is that it can potentially produce fuel without diverting food crops or large swathes of land. Ethanol derived from corn has been blamed by some for driving up food prices, while large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol would require cultivation of plants such as switchgrass that are grown only in small amounts now. When exposed to light and carbon-dioxide, pools of algae produce lipids that can be refined into oil. The algae consumes the carbon-dioxide during the process, scoring a double hit for protecting the environment. Drawn by that potential, Exxon Mobil Corp. in July announced it was investing $600 million in a partnership with Synthetic Genomics Inc. of La Jolla, Calif., to develop commercially viable biofuels from algae. That followed an announcement by Dow Chemical Co. in June that it was teaming up with Algenol Bi...

MERCED, Calif. -- A new study suggests converting biomass to electricity rather than ethanol for transportation produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and offers more “miles per acre.” Researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Merced, studied the lifecycle of plant-based electricity, or “ bioelectricity ,” and ethanol technologies to determine which delivered more miles of transportation with fewer environmental impacts. They concluded battery-powered vehicles that used electricity derived from biomass provided an average of 80 percent more miles of transportation per crop acre than internal combustion engine vehicles running on ethanol made from corn or switchgrass . " The internal combustion engine just isn't very efficient, especially when compared to electric vehicles," Co-author Eliott Campbell of U.C. Merced said in a statement last week. " Even the best ethanol-producing technologies with hybrid vehicles aren't enough to ove...