The race for biofuels and energy diversification (page 2 of 2)

Another big advantage is that production of Biofuel from algae is climate (or CO2) neutral. A big disadvantage is the cost: food grade algae costs approximately $5,000 per tonne.

Another interesting 3G Biofuel is that derived from bacteria. The deadly E. coli bacteria might seem like an unlikely ally, but scientists California claim they have successfully genetically manipulated a deadly bug and a host of other bacteria to produce pure hydrocarbon chains that can be processed into Biofuels. In fact, they're performing so well that they can coax the bacteria into producing a substance that's exceptionally close to crude oil - minus the sulfur impurities that taint the oil we pump out of the ground.

An interesting question could be: are "bug farmers" the next great oil barons? Companies active in Biofuel derived from bacteria are for instance LS9, Aurora Agae, Algenol Biofuels, Amyris Biotechnologies, Bio Architecture Lab, Sapphire Energy, Synthetic Genomics, Targeted Growth and Joule Unlimited. This list of companies is not extensive!

In September, the American company Joule Unlimited was granted a US patent for an engineered bacterium (cyanobacteria) which produces liquid hydrocarbon fuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Joule Unlimited claims boldly that it can produce diesel fuel directly by only using sunlight and waste carbon dioxide in glass bioreactors for as little as $30 a barrel. To put in perspective: WTI Light Sweet Crude costs about $82.50 per barrel.

Although this might be a breakthrough the process of producing Biofuel from bacteria takes a lot of time and effort. Oil has to be extracted from algae and subsequently the output has to be refined into useful Biofuel. In other words, before Biofuel from algae could be commercialized, it might take ten years.

Whether or not it might take a lot of time before conventional oil could be replaced, it might be worthwhile, or even necessary, to keep track of this interesting 3G Biofuel development.