Posted on 08/02/2011 10:35:56 PM PDT by Titus-Maximus
Cambridge, Mass. – July 26, 2011 – Joule Unlimited Technologies today announced the issuance of its first two U.S. patents covering its fundamental method for producing ethanol at volumes and efficiencies far surpassing biomass-dependent processes.
The patents relate to methods for increasing the ethanol production capability of a photosynthetic microorganism. Unlike competing technologies that utilize microorganisms to produce ethanol by fermenting sugars from cellulose or other biomass materials, Joule's platform microorganism is engineered to produce and secrete ethanol in a continuous process, converting more than 90% of the CO2 it consumes directly to end product, with no reliance on biomass feedstocks.
U.S. Patent #7,981,647 and U.S. Patent #7,968,321, granted on July 19th and June 28th respectively, cover enzymatic mechanisms engineered into the cell by Joule to maximize its ethanol productivity. These innovations, together with Joule's advances in bioprocessing and solar capture and conversion, will help Joule achieve an ultimate target of 25,000 gallons per acre annually – a rate that is 10X greater than that of cellulosic ethanol and 100X greater than corn ethanol – while requiring no depletion of food crops, agricultural land or fresh water. In addition, by eliminating the need for biomass, Joule avoids the burden of fluctuating feedstock cost and supply, as well as the energy-intensive, multi-step conversion of biomass to product. At full-scale commercial production Joule expects to produce ethanol for as little as $0.60/gallon.
"The market for ethanol is strong and growing internationally, and our patented technology affords Joule an incredible opportunity to meet growing demand at productivities well beyond biomass-based approaches," said Bill Sims, President and CEO of Joule. "Rather than focus on incremental improvements along the supply chain, we have proven that a direct, continuous process from photons to fuel is the answer to highly-efficient, cost-competitive production that can scale without today’s feedstock constraints."
Joule is now producing ethanol at pilot scale, and has achieved nearly 50% of its ultimate productivity target in the lab. The company today holds a total of six U.S. patents and more than 70 applications pending, derived from four years of development across biology, processes and systems.
About Joule Unlimited Technologies Joule is advancing a production platform for Liquid Fuel from the Sun™, expected to eclipse the scale, productivity and cost efficiency of any known alternative to fossil fuel today. Its transformative Helioculture™ platform directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO2 to infrastructure-ready diesel, ethanol or commodity chemicals with no dependence on biomass feedstocks, downstream processing or precious natural resources. This process can yield renewable fuels and chemicals in unprecedented volumes with a fraction of the land required by current methods, leapfrogging biomass-dependent approaches and eliminating the economic and environmental disadvantages of fossil fuels. Founded in 2007 by Flagship VentureLabs, Joule is privately held and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Additional information is available at www.jouleunlimited.com.
PR sounds good, encouraging there is still incentive for innovation out there. But patenting is not production as has been the experience in converting methane into gasoline. Hope this leads to an economic product, though ethanol fuel use has been propped up by government fantasy and fiat prob’ly more than market driven.
Exactly how the diesel or alcohol is to be separated is not explained but evidently evaporation is not the way.
Their description of process skips processing or refining algae and has microorganisms directly producing usable compounds.
But at 15,000/gal. diesel/acre/yr. a million acre facility would produce what percentage of U.S. consumption? Do the math.
Sure enough, the ocean was turned into stout, and the leprechaun disappeared in a flash.
"Finnegan, ye great lummox! Look what ye've dun!" Flannigan shouted in dismay, "Now we'll have to pee in the boat."
“100X greater than corn ethanol – while requiring no depletion of food crops, agricultural land or fresh water”.
Too good to be believed?
Where is the umbrage such as the E-Cat has generated?
No doubt if they actually begin production our “President”, the eco-nuts, and PETA types will try to sabotage them by legislation or violence.
Make it cheap and plentiful enough and even I might build an Alky engine to use in one of my cars!
This could be great news for people who drink alcohol. But I’m still not going to put that garbage in my car voluntarily.
Unstated is how frugal the fermentation process will be with water. The hydrogen has to come from somewhere. And some excess water will be needed so the organism isn’t killed by all the alcohol it has made. If its thirst for water isn’t economically prohibitive, we’ve got a beast that can feasibly turn globull warming into joy juice.
Yeah, right. NOTHING productive can be done with no taxes.
You can’t buy ethanol-free gas anywhere near here. I hate it, all E-10.
It would not be a surprise to anyone in the field if some other feedstock displaces corn for ethanol production. But I’m a little skeptical of a story that touts production from a “photosynthetic microorganism” as producing energy from sunlight and CO2 without the use of biomass feedstocks. Whoever wrote the article seems not to understand what a photosynthetic microorganism is, which is pretty basic to the process.
“with no taxes “
NOT FOR LONG!
Well, photosynthesis does combine H2O + CO2 -> CxHxO + generally O2 so not sure what feedstock you think is needed. Photosynthesis is pretty much at the bottom of the carbohydrate chain.
This is fascinating to see in my opinion. I hope it works. Iit makes sense chemically and the use of Cyanobacteria seems very plausible. If the ethanol is employed hydrous instead of anhydrous then it can be harvested by evaporation/distillation and the remaining water recycled b
I like it.
Alcohol is a waste product from some types of micro-organisms (yeasts), often ones that feed on starches. These are used in brewing.
This new process uses special algae that feed on CO2 bubbled up through clear cylinders, using the energy from sunlight to convert it and other nutrients to the things it needs to survive, grow and reproduce. Its waste product is fuel.
Most of what it needs to grow and produce fuel has been labeled by the EPA as “pollution”, i.e. CO2, Nitrogen, Phosphates...
You know, the normal process whereby “Mother Earth” becomes green...
If a 100% is .60 cents per gallon 50% is 1.20 per....roll out the barrels...
In most cases, there are already mass produced alternatives.
But you are correct, existing systems that are designed for no more than 10% ethanol would be trashed.
A phase in, similar to the lead based fuels to unleaded fuels change over that occurred in the ‘70s could be used; change the fuel nozzle shape: Make’em square...
Since the ponds would be sealed to prevent outside contamination, evaporation would be a benefit; the ethanol as a vapor could be collected from the top and partially liguified by a heat exchanger at the bottom of the tank it was generated in! Dissolved ethanol is a pain to separate.
Very positive article..ping for saving for reference.
We’ve GOT to get beyond the blame/negative/woe-is-me mode that is all over the place these days and get back to developing real solutions and ideas for moving forward.
American ingenuity is still our number one resource and will be the only thing that gets us out of our current troubles and back on track.
I hope this is successful and can eventually employ thousands. My fondest wish is to do nothing more than run a small manufacturing company (50-100) people making something(s) that people want/need.
Thanks for making my day.
The q1uestionis what is the source of the CO2. The answer you gave is cola combustion in existing power plants.
That being said, what is the need for acreage in New Mexico? What is produced on that acreage?
I recently visited the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg Tennessee and saw the vast fermentation vats bubbling co2. It would seem the co2 waste product of the fermentation process will also be a source on a pretty large scale.
The government including the EPA and democrats will never let anything that works go to market.
This is why they are trying to destroy oil, coal, Edison’s bulb, the SUV etc.
LMAO Good one,Thank You.
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