Ethanol Producers Warily Eye Algae's Bloom

The New York Times
By KATIE HOWELL of Greenwire
Published: August 21, 2009

It's been the summer of algae-based fuels, with new technical advances, investments and legislative proposals appearing at regular intervals.

After years of quietly building steam, the algae industry has recently received major, attention-grabbing investments from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. And the industry is starting to find support in Congress with proposals that would provide it tax credits and other incentives gaining bipartisan support.

So you can't blame ethanol producers for being a little defensive.

"The thing to bear in mind is that ethanol is here today, it's a proven fuel," said Mark Stowers, vice president of research and development at Poet LLC, the nation's largest corn ethanol producer, which recently opened a cellulosic division. "It's been used in cars for going on 29-plus, 30-plus years. And it's proven to improve the fuel quality in terms of tailpipe emissions."

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