Algae Knew about Quantum Mechanics 2 bln yrs Before Humans

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

In a new study, a team of chemists from the University of Toronto in Canada have observed quantum mechanics at work in photosynthesis in marine algae, which suggests algae knew about quantum mechanics nearly two billion years before humans.

"Our latest experiments show that normally functioning biological systems have the capacity to use quantum mechanics in order to optimize a process as essential to their survival as photosynthesis," said chemistry professor Greg Scholes, lead author of the study.

Scholes and his colleagues isolated light-harvesting complexes from two different species of marine algae and studied their function under natural temperature conditions using a sophisticated laser experiment known as two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy.

See more  

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Collaboration Formed to Develop Fuels from Algae Oil

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Endicott Biofuels, LLC, a Houston-based, next-generation biodiesel producer, and TransAlgae, Ltd., an algal biotechnology company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of algae as a potential transportation fuel and renewable chemical feedstock source.

TransAlgae’s mission is to develop commercially viable algae strains for a variety of algae biomass growth platforms in order to deliver cost effective transportation fuels as well as other non-energy applications.

For the past year, Endicott has been involved in a fully flexible feedstock development program for the production of biodiesel, which includes algae oil-to-biodiesel commercialization. Among its future development plans are technologies that provide a higher degree of freedom for algae producers in algae strain selection and algae oil extraction for the production of biofuels.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Key Role for Ancient Protein in Algae Photosynthesis

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Krishna Niyogi, a biologist with Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, led the discovery that an ancient light harvesting protein, LHCSR, functions as a molecular “dimmer switch” that helps prevent green algae from absorbing too much sunlight during photosynthesis and suffering oxidation damage as a consequence.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

The Defence Research Laboratory, India Identifies Oil Producing Algae

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Minister of Defence Minister Shri AK Antony says The Defence Research Laboratory, (DRL), Tezpur is engaged in R&D work related to Bio-diesel from algae. They seem to have identify four strains which has maximum lipid content upto 40 %, for extraction of Bio-diesel. in a written reply to Shri Pradeep Majhi and Shri Kishnbhai V Patel in Lok Sabha. He also said that the algal samples have been collected from the following places in Assam :- 

Nagon, Sonitpur, Mangaldai, Karbi Anglog, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nalbari, Kamrup, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Dhemaji and Goalpara.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

An Interesting Article on Kelp

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

I came across an interesting article on a commonly found macroalgae - kelp on the Epoch Times.

Kelp—the Wonder Plant - This article highlights the various application of kelp. 

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Targeted Growth Engineers Algae for Oil Production

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Targeted Growth, one of the leaders in genetic research, is trying to boost the oil content. It has already created versions of cyanobacteria with 20 percent to 40 percent of their mass in lipid. Next year, it hopes to show that it can produce this type of algae in large enough quantities to support a pilot manufacturing facility. Ideally, Targeted will be able to show that its algae can produce 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of oil a year per acre and show a pathway to get to 4,000 to 6,000 gallons an acre a year.

Cyanobacteria, or blue green algae, are not incredibly oily. Only about 5 percent to 10 percent of their body mass in a natural state consists of lipids, which can be turned into biofuel, according to Margaret McCormick, general manager of the biobased materials unit at Targeted Growth. By contrast, some species of Botryococcus can achieve a lipid content of up to 70 percent to 80 percent after genetic engineering.

Source: Greentechmedia.com

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Algae Biofuels Measurement with Raman-Specific Spectrometer

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

The Raman-specific 1064 nanometres spectrometer resolves fluorescence issues seen at lower wavelengths: 

Traditionally, these microalgae were treated in bulk, lyophilised or in extracted forms, making it impossible to assess the information on fundamental biological processes in the single-cell or sub-cellular level. Utilising the new 1064 nanometres Raman spectrometer, in situ, in vivo and label-free Raman characterisations of modelled algal lipids are made, extracted algal oil, and most importantly, single living algae. Studies have demonstrated a label-free and direct method to obtain quantitative information of chain length and degree of unsaturation of the oil produced inside algae. It also connects with the important issues of the cloud point and the quality of algal biodiesel. Single-cell, real-time, and in vivo study of algae, with various lipid-triggering mechanisms, enables the possibility of researching and engineering of the best conditions and the best species for algal growth and oil production.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Indian and Canadian scientists are Manupulating Algae Geneticallyfor Oil

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Indian and Canadian scientists are jointly researching means to use algae to generate oil and cut down greenhouse gases.The project involves researchers from the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and those from Canada-based Manitoba University.

But the first step, which CES researchers are involved in, is to identify which algae secrete more oil and to develop a method to genetically manipulate the identified algae to ensure they secrete more oil, according to TV Ramachandra, senior CES faculty member who is heading the IISc team in this venture.

The genetic manipulation would be done by the Manitoba University team. At the IISc lab, researchers are culturing algae to identify those yielding maximum oil.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Method of Production of Biofuel from The Surface of the Open Ocean

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

This interesting patent is about using sargassum seaweed for biofuel production - Method of Production of Biofuel from the Surface of the Open Ocean by Michael Markels

What is claimed is:

A method of producing biofuel from the surface of the ocean waters comprising the following steps:

(1) testing a water surface of an ocean to determine a time period that said water will remain for a biofuel generation;

(2) testing said water surface to determine a first nutrient that is missing to a first extent that limits the growth of a first plant life;

(3) applying said first missing nutrient in a form that remains available to said first plant life;

(4) harvesting a first harvested portion of an increased biomass of said first plant life that results from said applying;

(5) removing a first returnable portion from said first harvested portion to leave a remainder of said first harvested portion, and spreading said first returnable portion on said water surface; and

(6) processing said remainder of said first harvested portion into a biofuel component.

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Algae Fuel Research by Donald Danforth Plant Science Center & The Washington University

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Researchers at two centers in St. Louis are gearing up to launch five-year research programs on algae, backed by U.S. DOE grants. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center received $15 million and Washington University $20 million from the DOE’s fund for Energy Frontier Research Centers. A total of 46 centers were funded from a pool of some 260 applications. 

Danforth’s Center for Advanced Biofuels Systems will be led by Richard Sayre. Sayre said the new team of researchers will be studying the conversion of energy captured from photosynthesis in the single cell algae and how it is channeled into oil.

The Washington University project will focus on the biophysics of light while the Danforth Center project focuses on biochemical conversion of that light into oil. Both programs are hiring personnel and organizing to officially launch the programs in August.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Texas Researchers are Working on Saltwater Algae for Biofuel Production

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Texas researchers are working to transform algae fuel into a commercially competitive process. Both Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin are deeply involved in algae research, and private corporations in Texas also are exploring its potential. Texas A&M is producing oil-rich algae at a test facility just west of Pecos.

At the test facility near Pecos, researchers are growing algae in raceway ponds. Bob Avant, bio-energy program director for Texas AgriLife Research said researchers are working with saltwater algae that have a higher oil content than that found in freshwater varieties. And there are other advantages. If the saltwater algae find their way into a freshwater lake or stream, they're unlikely to survive and create problems for native species.

Periodically, a portion of the algae in a raceway is removed to be processed. Deprived of nutrients, the algae is basically stressed out, which causes it to produce more oil. The cell walls of the algae are broken down to extract the oil.

Researchers in Pecos are using centrifuges for that presently, but Avant said that new techniques need to be developed to make that process more economical.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

University of Coimbra Researchers Identify Six Oil-producing Algae

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

A team of researchers from the faculty of science and technology of the University of Coimbra is attempting to produce biodiesel on a commercial scale from microscopic algae. They have identified six micro-algae which have massive potential for biodiesel production. One strain is already being tested in a high-capacity bioreactor which handles large quantities of oil for conversion to biodiesel. In the next few months, the researchers will test five other strains with high oil content. At the same time, they will optimise the large-scale production process, in order to bring this new technology to market. The minimum objective of the project is to produce an average of 90,000 litres per hectare per year.

Source: Environmental expert.com

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Algae Fuel Research by Appalachian State University students

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

A team of seven Appalachian State University students received honorable mention this past weekend during the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Competition for their research with algae as a source of alternative energy. The event was sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A team of Appalachian students use algae to produce oil that can be used to make biofuel. Photo by Holt Menzies

The contest, held April 18-20 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., highlighted some of the brightest minds and ideas concerning sustainability. The competition was also part of the National Sustainable Design Expo.
A team of Appalachian students use algae to produce oil that can be used to make biofuel. Photo by Holt Menzies

For the team, headed by industrial technology graduate student Erika R. Porras, the competition was the fruition of nearly two years of effort.

“The idea came to out of a class I took in August 2007,” Porras said. “I applied and sent the proposal in around December 2007, received notification of the award in April or May 2008 and then actually received the grant in September 2008.”

Porras’ team received a $10,000 grant for phase one of the competition, which allowed the team to design and build an alga-cultural facility in Vilas, where they cultivated chlorella. Chlorella is a heartier type of algae that is easy to grow and is able to withstand a broad range of temperature, senior biology major Zachery Spivey said.

One of the major benefits of the program is the use of bio waste, or simple landfill waste, to produce biodiesel, Porras said.

“The major goal of the project was to research and demonstrate how the use of food waste could be beneficial for alternative energy,” Porras said. “We used a fast-growing organism to produce an oil that can be used for biodiesel.”

To do this, the team constructed an algae photo-bioreactor. They grew the chlorella in a solar greenhouse with carbon dioxide diverted from bio waste methane emissions to the algae. This exhibited how problem waste can be converted into an alternative source of energy, the team said.

The team first grew the algae in a complicated gyrating system of tubes, vents and lights, before it was transferred to a smaller pond within the greenhouse where it could be harvested for the purpose of extracting oil for biodiesel.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

The Waltham Technologies - Bioengineered algae for waste water treatment

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Waltham Technologies, Inc. is focusing on developing and commercializing innovative methods to clean water.Waltham Technologies System safely bioengineers algae so the organism’s required production of Vitamin B12 is chained to the production of new genes. These introduced genes enable the organisms to rapidly digest contaminates in the water and produce valuable products.





Many industries will benefit from this technology but the most rapidly accessed market is helping breweries, wineries and beverage producers make a profit while cleaning their wastewater. These industries create between 1 and 9 gallons of wastewater for every gallon of saleable product

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Solazyme Differs from its Competitors for its Algae Strains

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Solazyme is most strikingly different from its competitors for the fact that its organisms produce not just transportation fuels, but also other consumer products-a way to diversify their business and leverage high-cost goods against the low price bar set for fuels.

Dillon started Solazyme with some colleagues in 2003 , and kept a culture collection of a couple hundred Chlamydomonas strains in his own low-tech facility. "We bought the growth media, sterilized it in my kitchen, and stored it in the garage," he remembers.

They tried to grow the algae in outdoor ponds, but quickly realized that the productivity of the algae was nowhere near high enough to yield appreciable amounts of fuel. So they switched to heterotrophic species of algae, which directly consume carbon-based compounds rather than passively absorbing carbon dioxide from surrounding media.

Dillon says that he expects Solazyme to be producing algal biofuel at "demonstration levels of tens to thousands of gallons" per day by 2009, and aims to be producing its fuel products at commercial levels by 2011. "The scalability is not something that frightens me too much," he says.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Presence of Lignin in Red Algae Discovered

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Lignin, a principal component of wood, is a glue-like substance that helps fortify cell walls and is instrumental in the transport of water in many plants.

Like many land plants, this red seaweed produces lignin, a primary component of wood.

In a study published in today's issue of the journal Current Biology, lead author Patrick Martone and colleagues describe using powerful chemical and microscopic anatomy techniques to identify and localize lignin within cell walls of a red alga that thrives along the wave-swept California coast. Martone conducted the work described in the paper while a graduate student and postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of co-author Mark Denny, Professor of Biology at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.

The new discovery may affect one of the ways land plants are distinguished from aquatic algae in textbooks – by the presence of lignin. It is also of interest to biofuel researchers since lignin binds cell walls and prevents the extraction of cellulose, a key component in biofuel production.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

AXI develop Algae Strains for Biofuel Production

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Unlike other companies interested in algae-based fuel, AXI will not actually make the fuel itself but will liaise closely with biofuel producers to develop strains of algae that produce the right types of oil for different fuel applications. Algae can produce large amounts of biostock for conversion into fuel that could be an alternative energy source to petrol, and other biofuels that are based on cereals.

Rose Ann Cattolico displays some of the varieties of algae she studies in her University of Washington laboratory. Different types of algae can produce different types of biofuels.

AXI was created as an alliance between the University of Washington and Allied Minds, a seed investment company that works with universities to commercialize early-stage technology. In particular, it was the work of Rose Ann Cattolico at the university, who has been studying the physiology of algae for more than 30 years, that interested Allied Minds.

Different types of algae, such as single-celled organisms or large kelps (seaweeds), will produce different lipids (or oils) depending on the conditions in which they are grown. This is because the plants produce varying numbers of carbon-carbon links under different growth conditions. Biodiesel, for example, requires lipids that have 14 carbon-carbon links and AXI says it will choose the best algae for each type of fuel application.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) Researcher Explores Algae

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

A Southern Illinois University Carbondale researcher is exploring the potential use of algae as an alternative energy source.

Yanna Liang, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is working on ways to improve and extract naturally occurring substances in certain algae strains that can be used to create biodiesel fuel.Of the huge number of algae types, Liang is focusing her research on two varieties that appear to have particular potential.

Dr. Yanna Liang, Ph.D.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale,.

One, Chlorella vulgaris, is a fresh-water alga that uses carbon dioxide to grow and create lipids, substances similar to those found in corn and used to produce vegetable oil. As an autotrophic organism, it is relatively slow growing but produces cells with high lipid content.

The second strain - Schizochytrium limacinum SR21 - is a seawater alga that is heterotrophic, meaning it must be "fed" a carbon source in place of carbon dioxide. This particular strain can use glycerin, which is a byproduct - often a waste product - of biodiesel production. Liang sees a particular advantage in this, as the strain might be integrated into the production stream at some point, creating greater efficiency and less waste.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

OriginOil Lab with Two Test Batches of Nannochloropsis Algae

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

Reuters.com has published a picture of Nicholas Eckelberry, co-founder and inventor of OriginOil, standing next to two test batches of nannochloropsis algae at the company's laboratory in Los Angeles

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/searchpopup?picId=7690856

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?

Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), Tezpur, India is working on fresh water algae as source for bio-diesel

You are at: Oilgae Blog.

India's premier defence research agency, DRDO, will develop a medium-range and long- endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in association with an Indian industry partner.

Defence Minister A K Antony said the Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), Tezpur is working on fresh water algae to use them as source for bio-diesel.

"DRL is trying to identify a fresh water algal strain in North-Eastern region as a source of higher lipid content, which can be converted in to bio-diesel," he said.

"The laboratory is collecting samples of micro algae from different districts in North east for identification of a strain, which has higher amount of lipid contents for bio-fuel production," he added.

See more

By the way, have you subscribed to the Oilgae Blog?; How about joining the Oilgae mailing list?; and our forum to discuss on with others?