Found on DesMoinesRegister.com
The green slime or pond scum that comes from algae could be valuable after all. Renewable Energy Group of Ames says it has developed a process that takes the oil from algae and turns it into biodiesel fuel.
“Algae oil would give us a third option as a biodiesel feedstock after soybean oil and animal fats,” said Daniel Oh, chief operating officer of Renewable Energy Group.
That would be a breakthrough of seismic proportions for the biodiesel industry. The soybean oil that has been the basic oil feedstock for biodiesel has doubled in price in the last 18 months, robbing operating biodiesel plants of their profitability and forcing shutdowns or delays at other facilities.
Researchers around the nation are trying to skim energy from algae.
“People who have made fun of green slime and pond scum won’t do it in the future, when they find out not only how valuable the oil is but also the byproducts,” said Jimmy Simpson, an algae researcher at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield…….
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