Algae-To-Energy Tests Planned @ (NAPSA)—For decades, scien- tists and energy executives have sought to unlock the energy potential of algae. Best known as the green pond scum that befouls rivers, lakes and streams, the single-celled plants are also a potentially prolific source of renewable fuels that could be used to power engines in cars, trucks, generators and many other machines. Because algae use carbon dioxide to grow and reproduce, releasing oxygen in the process, systems that use them to produce renewable biofuel supplies are also being eyed for their promise in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other sources generally believed to promote global warming. Despite the promise of this approach in a world searching for renewable alternatives to limited fossil fuel supplies, attempts to develop algae-derived biofuels in commercially viable volumes have not been successful. Now, that could be changing. A new public company, GeoBio Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:GBOB), is putting the finishing touches on two algae-to-energy pilot projects. Each is designed to yield volumes of algae-derived biofuel that can be sold at a profit. Thefirst GeoBio Energy project would locate an algae-to-energy facility at a coal-fired utility power plant. Carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust gases would be sent to the algae facility to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The second project would place algae-to-energyfacilities at a gas and oil drilling site. The goal of that project would be water reclamation, showing how brackish water used in drilling can nourish algae for biofuel and how algae can improve the water quality for use in agriculture by removing salts and minerals it uses to grow. Ken Bennett, CEO of GeoBio Energy, Inc., said, “Each application has the potential to solve important environmental problems as well as provide a potentially important new source of biofuel.” The test programs are expected to produceoil at the rate of 4,000 gallons per acre per year. That amount far exceeds biofuel yields from soybeansor corn. Producing alternative fuels from these food crops has come under recent criticism from scientists who worry that cutting down rain forests or plowing under grasslands to grow corn or soybeansfor biofuel is driving up food prices and could be adding to global warming. You can learn more online at www.GeoBioEnergy.com.
