In Sweden, a PhD candidate demonstrated the potential of Nordic microalgae for simultaneous production of biomass and municipal sewage treatment in the Nordic climate. She has also studied how microalgae and bacteria work together and how this impacts the composition of microbial communities in open algae cultures. Several Swedish microalgae strains that were able to […]
The pace of bioeconomy invention and change continues at a frenetic pace. Here are the top innovations for the week of December 5th. #1 Do you smell coffee? That’s my sunglasses! In Ukraine, the world’s first coffee-based sunglasses are now available thanks to eyeglass designer brand Ochi. They use a biopolymer based on coffee, flax […]
In Brazil, Agencia Brasil reports that Petrobras has been working to develop a microalgae-based biodiesel technology despite its financial troubles and its exit from ethanol. Preliminary results from lab tests by the ANP agency done on the fuel have been positive. A demonstration scale facility in Extremoz, Rio Grande do Norte state has storage tanks […]
In India, a new low-cost method for producing biofuels using crude glycerol was developed thanks to researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. The team used the algal based crude glycerol, which is a low-cost organic carbon source and the main by-product of the biodiesel production process as a main feedstock for microalgae cultivation […]
MicroBio Engineering is a consulting and engineering firm specializing in the design and construction of algae ponds for wastewater reclamation, biofuel production, microalgae feeds and specialty products. Their clients? mainly Fortune 100 firms in industries such as water, petroleum, aviation, and agriculture. Expertise? It extends from fundamental laboratory research through large-scale system engineering. We provide full […]
This week we’ve been looking at major advances in crops and feedstocks and algae is very much in the mix in that respect – the sustainable production of microalgae with high productivity and flexible composition is of special interest and today’s slide deck in The Digest looks at that area. This illuminating presentation comes from […]
In France, an international team has discovered an enzyme which allows microalgae to convert some of their fatty acids into hydrocarbons using light. This enzyme, which has been named “FAP” (Fatty Acid Photodecarboxylase), is of an extremely rare type, as only four enzymes powered by light have been identified to date. Chlorella is a single-cell […]
In Russia, scientists have used high-resolution mass spectrometry to determine the composition of a biofuel obtained from the microalgae Spirulina platensis. The researchers studied two biofuel fractions obtained using a special algal mass treatment method. The researchers also proved that biofuel has little to do with oil in terms of its composition. However, it is […]
A recent DOE project with MicroBio Engineering had the primary objective of a detailed techno-economic and life cycle assessment for a coal-fired power plant with two microalgae CO2 utilization and mitigation options. First, biogas production to replace coal for maximum CO2 mitigation, and second, commodity animal feeds production for maximum economic benefit. A secondary objective […]
In Texas, the genome of the fuel-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii has been sequenced by a team of researchers led by a group at Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The report, in Genome Announcements, comes after almost seven years of research, according to Dr. Tim Devarenne, AgriLife Research biochemist and principal investigator in College Station. In […]
