Funding and venture funding activities for algal energy companies have accelerated significantly starting 2008. Oilgae gets a number of enquiries from the algae biofuel fuel startups regarding venture capital investment possibilities. I felt it would be useful if I could list the venture capital firms which had already funded some of the top companies in this domain. Here’s a list of venture capital and private equity firms that have made investments in algae fuel ventures (and the companies they have invested in): Venture Capital Firm Algae Firm Aardvark Investments SA (www.aardvarkinvestments.com)   Cequesta Algae Access Private Equity GreenFuel Technologies Arch Venture…

While biodiesel by far is the most obvious energy product, it is not the only one that can be obtained from algae. Algae can also be processed to derive a whole basket of energy products such as ethanol, Hydrogen and methane. Apart from these “usual suspects”, some other unique fuel products are also possible from algae: Syngas JP-8 fuel Gasoline Butanol This post will discuss about these unique products that can be derived from algae. It goes without saying that very few companies are actually producing these products from algae currently – the exception being JP-8 fuel which a handful…

PBRs / closed systems are costly Lack of economies of scale Complexity of the process - the current processes are quite complex, hence making them a lot more simple and down-to-earth should work Drying could be costly. Why not eliminate drying all together if the end result desired is oil? Lack of efficiency of production and harvesting. Strain selection - selecting the most efficient strain that is native to the cultivation environment could result in much lower costs Harvesting is a costly exercise CO2 could be quite costly, and so could be water. Costs to avoid contamination are high In…

The latest topic in the algae fuels industry is about a research study published by a University of Virginia faculty which found that the environmental footprint of algae fuels is much larger than what is being projected. See more about this research study here - http://bit.ly/6SeWYW . Essentially, the research concludes that according its finding, algae production can be energy intensive and can end up emitting more greenhouse gases than assumed yet far. See a review of the research here - http://bit.ly/by7HOQ . Not surprisingly, the algae fuel companies and the industry are up in arms. They point out that the data used for…

United States Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) have introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate that would help level the playing field for advanced biofuels including algae by reforming the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to make it more “technology neutral. The RFS includes a traditional ethanol standard of up to 15 billion gallons by 2015, originating mostly from corn feedstock, and a separate advanced biofuels standard, known as RFS2. Currently, the majority of the advanced biofuel standard is limited by law to only cellulosic biofuels. While cellulosic biofuels are an emerging technology, the current RFS2 creates an…

Algae is a one-celled plant that can grow in your pool if conditions are favorable There are over 20,000 known varieties of algae Algae are mainly found in marine or freshwater environments Algae produce oxygen which other aquatic life uses. Algae are important to humans in the form of food and medicine. Algae are vital in many food chains acting as the primary producer of organic matter. In some areas of the Indian ocean the sea surface lights up at night. It is so bright that one can read a newspaper. This light is caused by tiny sea algae, the…

Alternative energy was mentioned during Paul Otellini’s (Intel CEO) presentation (webcast link - http://intelstudios.edgesuite.net/idf/2011/sf/keynote/110913_pso/index.htm ). The CEO said the company has created a chip that can power a computer processor on a solar cell the size of a postage stamp.Otellini said the solar power CPU could draw sufficient power to run animation and other Windows applications from two small overhead reading lamps. Other parts of the computer were powered through a traditional power supply. Why do I have a feeling that we are soon going to see significant amount of interactions between IT and cleantech, and not just in smart…

India hiked petrol prices today by about Rs 3.1, the tenth increase in the prices since June 2010! Petrol costs close to Rs 75/liter...it used to be Rs 50 liter not too long ago... Tenth increase, imagine! Should I be glad or sad? Glad that petrol prices have started reflecting their scarcity and that these high prices will drive folks towards sustainability and renewables? Or sad that from now on, I will be shelling out a lot more for petrol :-(

Berlin-based White Owl Capital had acquired 5 PV power plants built by Gehrlicher Solar Italia, a subsidiary of Gehrlicher Solar for an undisclosed sum. Using First Solar CdTe thin film modules and SMA inverters, all the plants were grid connected before feed-in tariffs were reduced at the end of August, 2011. The projects, with a total power of 10.4MWp, are situated in the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy."We are very satisfied that we can expand our long-standing collaboration with the sale of our projects to White Owl Capital. We value WOC as an experienced partner for investment…