Seven Generational Ruminations

Solazyme (http://www.solazyme.com/) is getting ready to begin producing Soladiesel ™ .. this is an algal biodiesel where they've made it conform with existing standards for diesel fuel.

Algal biodiesel is different from food-derived biodiesel in that food is not being diverted to make fuel. In todays environment with food riots around the world, due to rising food prices, which may be due to food being diverted to fuel production, this is a very good thing.

This news.com article claims that Galp Energia is working on a project to produce biodiesel using algae. They are supposedly being funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, specifically through DARPA. The program is said to be producing 6,500 barrels a day and they are based in Portugal and they have a business partner based in Italy.

I wasn't able to find any news on the DARPA site, though it's interesting that DARPA does have a biofuels research program. That biofuels research is geared to producing jet fuel.

This is the latest of a series of announcements related to biofuels that have been taking place in the country in the last year, and specially after the launch of a biodiesel law by Argentine government and the US president George Bush’s visit to the region (in which he signed an agreement to promote a market for ethanol with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva).

Microalgae biofuels generally, and algae biodiesel production specifically, is still a long-term R&D goal (likely about 10 years), that will require at least as much funding as the ASP, if not more, and success is, as for any R&D effort, rather uncertain.

...Some near term applications can be considered, in wastewater treatment specifically (but, wait, do not rush to your nearest algae wastewater treatment ponds - there are thousands of these around, but they are mostly very small and their algae have little or no oil, at least the way that we operate those systems at present.