Novel Intel: Solar Fuel
CO2 + sun + brackish water = biofuels 3.0?
Joule Biotechnologies is sidestepping the ILUC, food v. fuel, carbon intensity, and water issues hampering many current biofuel efforts with a process that turns CO2 directly into oil. Unlike algal biofuels, the company has developed bio-engineered organisms that turn sunlight and CO2 directly into oil using organisms bathed in nutrient-rich brackish water as a catalyst.
The company signed a lease agreement last month in Texas where it will develop and test its system for the production of what it calls ‘renewable solar fuels.’ The plant is expected to be fully operational within the first half of 2010 and will produce both ethanol and biodiesel.
More on the process here.
