Algae fuel / biofuels could be years from reality

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Biofuels Smackdown: Algae vs. Soybeans - Industry waters say the ‘Holy Grail’ of feedstocks for biofuels could be years from reality
December 7, 2006

By Jennifer Kho, Red Herring

Excerpts:

1. While some see algae as the ideal source for biofuels, industry watchers at ThinkEquity’s Greentech Summit in San Francisco held in Dec 2006 said the technology is likely to be years away.
2. “Algae, as a biodiesel feedstock, is further out than cellulosic ethanol”, according to one; "Algae simply aren’t available in large-enough quantities right now"
3. Many consider algae an attractive alternative because of its high lipid density. Algae could theoretically produce 10,000 gallons of oil per acre
4. Because algae could be grown in a factory, instead of on farmland, it could also help counter the “food vs. fuel” argument about biofuels.
5. Algae could be better for the environment because algae-growing takes about a third of the water as it takes to grow soybeans
6. There are shorter-term prospects than algae.
7. The company Greenfuels is targeting costs of $100 to $200 per ton of algae “over the longer term.”
8. Reliability of algae biofuel is also an issue
9. While farm crops already have additional value in byproducts other than oil, algae doesn’t have a ready-made market.
10. Despite the problems, a number of startups—and their investors—think the potential for algae is worth the risk.

Companies & personalities mentioned: Martin Tobias, CEO of biodiesel company Imperium Renewables, Luca Zullo, director of bioenergy at Cargill; Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones, CEO of LiveFuels, a company developing “biocrude” from algae; Ira Ehrenpreis, a general partner at the cleantech venture capital firm Technology Partners; Doug Cameros, the chief scientific officer for Khosla Ventures; Cary Bullock, CEO of Greenfuel Technologies, a startup developing a technology to turn smokestack emissions into ethanol and biodiesel.

Full article here

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