AgOil International and Georgia Alternative Fuels Partners to Produce Biodiesel from Algae

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Press Release:

A St. Petersburg, FL company, AgOil International, LLC, has teamed up with a Pendergrass, GA company, Georgia Alternative Fuels, LLC (GAF), to generate a start-to-finish renewable fuel production system. 

By undertaking this joint effort, they can link together their processes in sequence and deliver home-grown biodiesel that meets the ASTM fuel standard. This means their biodiesel output can serve as a replacement for petroleum diesel, in whole or in part, for cars, busses, trucks, boats, tractors, and generators.

Frank Preg, AgOil CEO regards the reliability of their system as key to commercial success, noting that “Predictable harvests with consistently high yields are essential prerequisites in achieving cost effectiveness in a mass culturing system.” Proprietary components and custom devices, a result of years of research and development, have been integrated into AgOil’s system to maintain a fully controlled microbiological growth environment in large scale culture. This approach results in faster, denser cultures, higher oil yields, smaller footprint, and overcomes the shortcomings that have caused previous endeavors to fail.

The research and development phase of AgOil’s new system has been successfully completed. This includes overall system design, testing of proprietary inventions, submission of two patent applications, culture of many strains of microalgae, production of algal oil, and methods for maximization of lipid (oil) production. Their next step is to build a pilot plant to grow and process the algae, demonstrating the full process from the test tube to the fuel-tank.

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Aquacarotene Reinvents Itself as Algae Bio-processing company

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Aquacarotene is looking to reinvent itself as a bio-processing company based on algae
and other complementary bio-processing projects that produce energy and/or nutraceuticals.
Aquacarotene has a potentially excellent site for the production of biodiesel through the growing of algae in open raceway ponds. The company claims to have

· 380 hectares of leased land 
· Gravel to expand the ponds 
· Abundant CO2 nearby 
· Native title issues cleared 
· Abundant pristine sea water within close pumping range 
· Excellent practical knowledge on the growing of Algae especially Dunaliella Salina 
· Land to house production facilities.

The company is actively looking for a partner for the successful production of biodiesel.

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Kirsten Heimann at James Cook Univ to Develop Algae Technology

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Australia is preparing to introduce technology that allows algae to capture half or more of the greenhouse gases emitted by a power station. The micro-algae thrive on carbon dioxide, producing food for livestock as well as biofuels and material for plastics.

The idea is to pump emissions from power stations into photo-bioreactors, which are large tubes filled with algae. When carbon dioxide from the power stations is mixed with water, the algae soak up much of it, using it as a nutrient. Once the algae are removed from the tubes, scientists say they can be buried in the seabed, where they could store indefinitely the carbon they have ingested. The algae can also be processed and used to create biodiesel fuel and fertilizer, as well as food for farm animals.

Kirsten Heimann at Queensland's James Cook University developed the technology.
 
"They take up carbon dioxide from the air or if you feed them carbon dioxide they take that and with the aid of sunlight they are converting that into sugars, proteins and oils," explains Heimann. 

Three of Australia's biggest coal-fired power stations are building algae farms to help them reduce pollution in a country where 80 percent of electricity is generated by burning coal. Burning fuels such as coal and oil pump vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

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Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies (CRAFT) Tries Algae

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Eastern officially announced its partnership with General Atomics, an energy-related company based in San Diego, in December 2008. The partnership was formed in order to undertake a new project known as the Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies, or CRAFT. CRAFT is developing processes of converting biomass into a biodiesel fuel that could be used to run most engines. 

Bruce Pratt, the chair of Eastern's Department of Agriculture, said that biomass, or plant-derived material, will be broken down to release sugars (namely glucose). These sugars will be fed to a special type of heterotrophic algae that does not require sunlight to grow. The algae will then be harvested and the oil used to create diesel fuel will be extracted.

Pratt said that CRAFT is different from other alternative fuel projects because it will not cause as much controversy.CRAFT has been researching biofuel possibilities in nearby Winchester in Clark County, according to Selby and Pratt.

The research the CRAFT team has gathered so far is to determine whether a useful biodiesel can be extracted from the algae, but if a plant is built, then the experiment will be whether the plant could mass-produce the biodiesel fuel.

General Atomics would provide the funds for the creation of the plant, Selby said. He also said that if the pilot plant is successful, then other pilot plants across the U.S. might be built in the future.

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Sapphire Energy Plans a Journey in Algaeus plug-in hybrid

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In an effort to drum up attention and support for their algae-based biofuel, Sapphire Energy has announced that they will conduct a coast-to-coast journey in their “Algaeus” plug-in hybrid. Part electric hybrid, part biofuel vehicle, Sapphire claimes the Algaeus will get 150 miles per gallon from its hybrid/biofuel drivetrain.

The Algaeus will visit 10 cities, starting in San Francisco on September 8th and ending in New York City on the 18th.

This will be the first street-ready and legal algae-fueled vehicle to compete a trans-continental journey. The engine itself has not been modified in anyway, but an additional battery pack and advanced energy-management system have been added to increase the mileage.

The high-octane algae fuel is a drop-in replacement for gasoline. No engine modifications required. Using a mixture of hydrocarbons refined from “green crude”, this is a low-emission, renewable fuel. The algae is “engineered” to meet certain driving dynamics, and grown in open ponds where it is then removed from the water in a 4-15 day process. The resulting oil can be used in any petrol-powered vehicle.

The Algaeus will visit 10 cities, starting in San Francisco on September 8th and ending in New York City on the 18th.

The list of cities the Algaeus will visit:
San Fancisco, CA (September 8th)
Sacramento, CA (September 9th)
Salt Lake City, UT (September 10th)
Cheyenne, WY (September 11th)
Lincoln, NE (September 12th)
Chicago, IL (September 13th)
Detroit, MI (September 14th)
Cleveland, OH (September 15th)
Erie, PA (September 16th)
Washington DC (September 17th)
New York, NY (September 18th)

For more on Sapphire Energy check out their website.

Source: Biofuels Digest

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National Algae Association Conference

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Press Release:

BUILDING THE NEW EXCITING ALGAE BIOFUEL AND BIOMASS INDUSTRY ONE COMPANY AT A TIME

September 17-18, 2009 
Sheraton North Houston 
 
Register Now - Filling up fast!!! 
 
Algae has been researched in the U.S. for over 35 years. Algae is renewable fuel, does not affect the food channel and consumes CO2. The US needs to get off foreign oil, become energy independent and create new green jobs.
 
Due to the high cost of oil and lack of energy security, commercializing the algae oil industry is now on a fast track! Collaboration, innovation and commercialization are the motivating factors of the National Algae Association. 

The algae production industry is moving forward at an astronomical rate. Over the course of two days we will learn from algae researchers, algae producers, algae equipment companies and project finance lenders. In addition to universities throughout the country, presenters include: 
 
LiveFuels, XL Renewables, Alfa Laval, EPA, Cyclone Power Technologies, Schaefer Bio-Engineering, AlgaeVenture Systems, Origin Oil, Phycal, Jacobs Engineering, Bayer Materials, Sheffield Forgemasters, Bruker Optics, BARD, LLC, Stoel Rives, White Rock Advisors, Westar Trade Resources and the Korean Phycology Society.
 
Schedule: 
Thursday, September 17, 2009
8:00am - 5:30 p.m. Conference and Breakout Sessions
 
Friday, September 18, 2009
8:00- 1:30 p.m. Conference and Breakout Sessions
 
Cost: 
General Attendee registration rate: $500 ($400 prior to September 15; NAA members receive additional discount)
Academic/Government registration: $250 
College Students: $25 
 
 
Contact information:  
National Algae Association
4747 Research Forest Drive #180-175
The Woodlands, TX 77381
936-321-1125
info@nationalalgaeassociation.com


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Algae Fuel Company BioCentric Announces Shareholder Information Updates

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Press Release

BioCentric Energy Holdings, Inc. today announced the following shareholder information updates:

The company released this week the harvesting video which showed the final dried ALGAE product which is now ready for conversion to Bio-Diesel fuel and animal nutritional products. The harvest is now a daily event at the San Juan Capistrano facility. Additional equipment has been purchased to accelerate the conversion of raw materials to dried ALGAE.

Dennis Fisher, President of BioCentric, today commented, "I would like to clarify that the San Juan facility is primarily our corporate headquarters and testing facility; the closed loop photobioreactor systems we are manufacturing on site are in fact test units for the 10 acre full scale systems the company is planning to build and operate later this year.

"The ALGAE products produced at the San Juan facility are being developed for Lab analysis and not for resale; this process will ensure the full scale systems produce the highest quality ALGAE for conversion to many all natural products."

OTHER UPDATES:

The company is expected to finalize the agreement this week with the publicly traded development company.

Contract and licensing talks with Korean municipalities are still moving forward; announcements are expected shortly.

Contract and Licensing talks with China and surrounding areas are at LOI stage and are expected to be finalized next month.

The company has made an offer to purchase the San Juan Capistrano facility from Zion Bank; an announcement is expected later this month.

Discussions with one of the largest poultry companies in the US are moving forward as BioCentric has developed an enhanced cost effective ALGAE strain for poultry foods.

The company has finalized the agreement for the production of a company owned and operated 10 acre closed loop ALGAE Farm in Death Valley, Nevada. Production is expected to start later this year.

The company is currently in the process of negotiating for a 10 acre land parcel within the San Juan Capistrano area for the production of a company owned and operated ALGAE farm.

An announcement is imminent with the Las Vegas based development company for a multiple acre licensing agreement for BioCentric's closed loop ALGAE photobioreactor system.

The company announced the Annual shareholder meeting will be held on February 24th, 2010 at the Monte Carlo Hotel, in Las Vegas. The meeting will run concurrently with the annual meeting of the National Algae Association at the same facility on February 25th and 26th, 2010.

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