New Process Uses Algae to Produce Alternative Fuel

VOANews.com
By Greg Flakus Houston, Texas
02 September 2009

Researchers around the world are trying to find alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels, which are finite and might not be available in sufficient quantities in coming decades to meet the growing world demand for energy. In addition, burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, which is linked to climate change. One U.S. company may have found a partial solution to both problems by using carbon dioxide to grow algae, which can be used to produce fuel.

On a 9.6-hectare tract of land on the Texas coast south of Houston, a start-up company from Florida called Algenol, in partnership with the Dow Chemical company, plans to build more than 3,000 bioreactors, starting next year. The bioreactors will grow algae that can produce ethanol fuel through a special process that involves using carbon dioxide from nearby coal-burning power plants to promote faster growth of the algae.

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