Algae: A Viable Alternative to Corn-based Ethanol

Check out this alternative to corn-produced ethanol. It is not as widely publicized in the news, but may be a more economical and productive way to reduce energy costs in the future!

Founded by MIT chemist Isaac Berzin in 2001, GreenFuel Technologies of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has developed a process that:

“uses a portfolio of technologies to profitably recycle CO₂ from smokestack, fermentation, and geothermal gases via naturally occurring species of algae.”

In plain terms, they use contained algae to siphon CO₂ from the smoke-stack emissions of power plants. So what is this algae good for? Well, algae can create a starch that manufacturers can process into ethanol. They can even create biodiesel or jet fuel from the stuff. Greenfuel believes that algae is more economical than corn because it can potentially double its own mass in a few hours whereas corn can only be grown once a year. An acre of corn will produce around 300 gallons of ethanol a year, an acre of algae could possibly create more than 5,000 gallons of biofuel each year. For more information, check out Greenfuel Technologies.

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Caryn Talty

The editor of this website has a master's degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in special education. She has taught students from early elementary school through college freshman level. Today she enjoys reading and writing about both hot topics and those not so commonly discussed on other websites. Most of her days are spent playing all kinds of make-believe with her three very young and active sons. | All articles by Caryn Talty.

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