Now that’s green energy: UNLV scientist works on way to harvest the power of algae

Las Vegas Sun
By Brendan Buler
Tue, Feb 24, 2009 (2 a.m.)

Oliver Hemmers has modest goals for his new job. Among them, he would like to break America’s dependence on foreign oil, remake the chemical industry and cut carbon emissions.

How is he going to do this?

“My personal preference is algae,” says Hemmers, a chemist by training.

Hemmers is the new director of the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies at UNLV, so he knows what he’s talking about. The research projects on his resume received more than $6 million in funding. He’s spent time working on high-energy X-ray spectroscopy projects at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he had occasion to meet Nobel Laureate Steven Chu, the new energy secretary.

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