It sounds too good to be true: Technology that converts CO2 and sunlight directly into liquid biofuel, all using a method that requires minimal non-agricultural land and no fresh water. Yet that's exactly what Joule Biotechnologies, a company that emerged from stealth mode today, claims it can do
In a break from other biofuel companies, Joule's process doesn't use a biomass feedstock like algae or plants. Instead, Joule grows engineered microbes using sunlight and CO2 in a "SolarConverter" system full of brackish water to produce what it calls "SolarFuel"--biofuel or commercial chemicals. The process is apparently so effective that it can produce ethanol and other hydrocarbon fuels for under $50 a barrel at a rate of 20,000 gallons of fuel per acre per year.
According to Bill Sims, the President and CEO of Joule, the SolarConverter process isn't just an idea hatched in a lab last month. "We have been at this for nearly 2 years.
In a break from other biofuel companies, Joule's process doesn't use a biomass feedstock like algae or plants. Instead, Joule grows engineered microbes using sunlight and CO2 in a "SolarConverter" system full of brackish water to produce what it calls "SolarFuel"--biofuel or commercial chemicals. The process is apparently so effective that it can produce ethanol and other hydrocarbon fuels for under $50 a barrel at a rate of 20,000 gallons of fuel per acre per year.
According to Bill Sims, the President and CEO of Joule, the SolarConverter process isn't just an idea hatched in a lab last month. "We have been at this for nearly 2 years.
- 7/27/2009
- by Ariel Schwartz
- Fast Company
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