Solix Claims it Can Cut the Cost of Algae Production by 90 Percent
Algae fuel has become a hot topic as of late, and now Solix Biofuels has spiced up the conversation with a claim that it can cut the cost of growing algae by 90 to 95 percent.
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Algae needs carbon dioxide for food and growth. Normally, CO2 is drawn from nearby power plants and injected into the algae tank in a costly and energy-intensive process. But Solix claims it has created a way for CO2 to swirl inside the tank in a passive manner, thus reducing costs drastically.
Instead of using bioreactors made up of plastic bags hung from racks like many other algae fuel companies, Solix makes its bioreactors out of flat plates. The flat shape increases the amount of light that can be absorbed by algae.
During optimal conditions, Solix estimates that it can produce 1,500 gallons per acre. In comparison, biofuel company Amyris says it can make 600 to 800 gallons per acre.
The truthfulness of Solix’s claims will come to light soon enough — the company is building a five-acre growth and testing facility in the coming year.
Photo Credit: Solix
Duh. Hard to believe nobody thought of that untill Solix did…great news though!
1500 gallons per acre in how much time?
If what they say is true its going to become a lot cheaper than fossil fuels, even with prices on oil dropping.
This is great news… we can stop giving other countries out money and make the energy here…
Hopefully this will be a technology that can be exported to be used anywhere requiring less fuel to be shipped around the world, weather it is fossil fuel or renewables. It is not only important that we Americans quit importing fossil fuels, but we need the rest of the world, especially China and India to do the same.
Great post!
Some American backyard tinkerers have found injecting H2 into bio-diesel engines vastly improves their performance so that bio-diesel from algae, combined with solar electric H2, both clean energies, can do better than existing gasoline technologies! America is on the verge of a transportation revolution! Combine ultra light carbon fiber and polymer composite technologies, currently used in the aerospace industries with H2 injected bio-diesel engines, get rid of Detroit’s 1930’s “sheetmetal and hydraulics” nonsense, and we have light weight fast and economical replacements for the current “planned obsolescence” road warriors, and a market for bio-diesel!