National Algae Association

The National Algae Association is a non-profit organization comprised of algae researchers, algae production companies and the investment community who share the goal of commercializing algae oil as an alternative feedstock for the biofuels markets. The NAA gives its members a forum to efficiently evaluate various algae technologies for potential early stage company opportunities.

Also, check out this online presentation. Good overview of biofuels place in the energy marketplace as well as detailed information on algae as a biofuel source.

IEEE Article

Wow. The credibility meter is starting to tick up since we now have an article fro none other than the IEEE (website concerning Vertigro and Valcent. 

This is the article you will want to read to really begin understanding what Valcent is up to with Veritigro.  Excerpt:

Once the algae density reaches a predetermined level—say, 1.5 grams per liter of fluid—the harvesting begins. Over a 24-hour period, half the fluid is skimmed off, the algae is removed, and the water is returned to the tank. Because the skimming rate is set to match the rate at which the algae will grow back to their original density, the system becomes a continuous process, perpetually generating oil as long as CO2 and sunlight are available, says Kertz.

South Bend Local News Story

Here's a story from a local news station in South Bend on Vertigro.  Quote from Glen Kertz:  

“If you take a tenth of the state of New Mexico and converted in solar algae alone this would be all the transportation in the United States,” said Kertz.

Wow! Tiny Washingtonpost Article

Came across this article in the Washington Post today about a Mexican company called Biofields that owns a license to make ethanol from algae. It plans to invest a whopping $850Million to build a plant in the Mexican desert. It will be able to produce 250 million gallons of fuel by 2012!

Here's the Biofields website. Hable espanol?

I can't figure out who they got the license from though. Is it Valcent?

Food crops not good for Biofuels

Lawrence Journal World & News has a quick rant on the use of soybeans & corn to produce biofuels. They quote Glen Kertz, President and COO of Valcent Products:

"...algae can produce 100,000 gallons of oil per acre compared to 30 gallons of oil from corn and 50 gallons per acre from soybeans. "

I guess that's about 2000 times the yield. As to the overall point of the article: yes, it leaves alot left for Valcent to validate. Specifically, for me, I want to see what their plan is to create a true production plant. The one in El Paso is positioned as a test. Valcent should tell us about their plans to achieve real production ramp ups.