Is algae the answer to greener transport?

Energy – not even fossil-fuel energy – isn’t in short supply for the short-term future, globally speaking. Liquid fuel for transport, on the other hand, is a concern. And it’s hard to imagine a global economy functioning for long without transport. Could algae ultimately provide the solution other biofuels (corn ethanol, especially) have failed to deliver? Several…

ByThe Global ViewJanuary 16, 20130Comments

Energy

Algae shells could hold secret to better solar cells

Algae could help us build a cleaner, more sustainable energy future, but not necessarily in the way you might think. While research continues into ways of converting algae into biofuels, scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are studying algae for secrets to building better solar cells. Algae, like land-based plants, convert sunlight and…

ByThe Global ViewJuly 19, 20120Comments

Cities

Could algae step in when (affordable) oil runs out?

Back in the heyday of the muscle car, even the fuels had a macho air ("Put a tiger in your tank.") It's hard to imagine a similar campaign these days, considering how much corn now ends up in the average car. ("Five a Day: It's good for cars, too"?) While corn-based ethanol is big business, it's…

ByThe Global ViewDecember 8, 20110Comments

Smart Cities

OriginOil takes algae process to commercialisation

California-based OriginOil is shifting from the development phase to the commercialisation phase in its goal of transforming algae into a renewable oil that's price-competitive with petroleum. The company has also brought on board a new executive to fast-track the commercialisation process. Veteran technology executive Paul Reep has accepted the position of senior vice president of technology,…

ByThe Global ViewMarch 17, 20110Comments

Energy

Don’t write off algae-based biofuels yet, industry says

Algae-based biofuels aren't all they're cracked up to be? Not so fast, say those in the -- of course -- algae-based biofuel industry. A recent study from the University of Virginia that found algae's environmental footprint is higher than other energy crops has riled more than a few proponents of algae-based fuel. And one of the things industry…

ByThe Global ViewJanuary 26, 20100Comments

Energy

Corn ethanol curse strikes again? Algae fuels have large footprint

Could algae-based biofuels suffer the same fate as the now much-discredited corn-based ethanol? They might, if we don't find ways to reduce algal fuel's environmental impact, according to a new study. After the race to turn corn into fuel helped spark a global spike in food prices, clean-energy proponents turned their sights to so-called "second-generation" biofuel…

ByThe Global ViewJanuary 21, 201014Comments

Energy

A little algae, a little platinum and — voila! — hydrogen fuel

Cultivating algae to produce biofuels is, like, so yesterday. How about using algae to generate clean hydrogen fuel instead? That's what researchers in the US hope to achieve. They say they might have identified a way to combine the photosynthesising powers of algae with a platinum catalyst to produce a steady supply of hydrogen. Some tout hydrogen…

ByThe Global ViewNovember 16, 20091Comment

Energy

Fuel of future could come from ocean-based platforms of algae

Researchers are envisioning a day when we could replace fossil fuels with biofuels from algae grown on large platforms in the ocean. The strategy could enable us to produce algae-based fuels without using up land that supports food production, and could also reduce some of the costly inputs now required for algae production. In theory, algae can…

ByThe Global ViewNovember 4, 20090Comments

Smart Cities

Slimy algae could become tomorrow’s green plastic

One minute, you're a bit of green slime on a rock that's greeted with cries of "Ick." The next minute, you're saviour to a fossil-fuel-addicted, carbon-dioxide-overloaded planet. Such is the fate of algae, which is lately emerging as the possible next big thing in fuels and, now, plastics. A California-based firm, Cereplast, says it's working on a…

ByThe Global ViewOctober 29, 20091Comment

Smart Cities

Warming planet = more toxic algae = mass extinctions

Algal blooms -- the thing that many geoengineering advocates could take up vast amounts of carbon dioxide and save us from climate change -- could instead be the culprit behind some of the world's worse mass extinctions. Toxic algae can exist just about anywhere there's water, usually in small concentrations. When water warms suddenly, though, or…

ByThe Global ViewOctober 19, 20090Comments

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Is algae the answer to greener transport?

Algae shells could hold secret to better solar cells

Could algae step in when (affordable) oil runs out?

OriginOil takes algae process to commercialisation

Don’t write off algae-based biofuels yet, industry says

Corn ethanol curse strikes again? Algae fuels have large footprint

A little algae, a little platinum and — voila! — hydrogen fuel

Fuel of future could come from ocean-based platforms of algae

Slimy algae could become tomorrow’s green plastic

Warming planet = more toxic algae = mass extinctions

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