Planetoverhaul.com

There’s been a lot of news about algae lately.  Algae, those simple organisms which grow like plants but are much simpler than them, has an oil content. These are lipids which can be increased by as much as 60% when algae are starved of nutrients.
Like in everything in the promise of renewables, there are a few difficulties along the way to using algae as a stable substitute for diesel.
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the US’s most important renewables lab, they’re resuming work on identifying the most promising strains of algae for fuel production. They are trying to find out how to increase the lipid content of algae by as much as 60%.
But they have to make sure that that algae can still grow fast, and be able to tolerate the conditions algae will be exposed to. Or—how to make algae grow faster, fatter and tougher.
But while the NREL is just restarting their program (research was halted in 1996 because it was considered too costly to compete with petroleum), some companies claim to be making strides.
Recently, OriginOil, a company based in Los Angeles, California, said it has filed an international patent to protect its system for mass production of microalgae.
In April, the same company announced that it has successfully tested a one-step process to extract oil from algae for biofuel.
ATI Petroleum this month also said it has been awarded with the first patent for bioreactor technology by the US patent office.
Keep in mind that these patent filings, while signifying a kind of technological advance, is a double edged development.
That is because lack of knowledge in production methods is seen as the main challenge facing the algae industry.
Companies have made it difficult for their peers to learn from their mistakes.
Still, the industry looks promising—both for businessmen and for the planet.
Yesterday, another California company, Solazyme, said it has received $76 million so far for its algae development technology. It has just undergone Series C financing. One of its venture capital investors was start-up investor VantagePoint.