Biofuels startup forms partnership with Audi

Technology Review : Earlier this week Joule Unlimited, which plans to begin production of ethanol at a demonstration plant in the next few weeks, announced a partnership with Audi to develop and test new fuels. The company uses genetically engineered microorganisms that do not use any biomass to create ethanol from just carbon dioxide, water, sunlight, and whatever nutrients the microorganisms need to survive. The organisms and nutrients are circulated in large plastic tubes that lay flat on the ground in the Sun. As the organisms produce ethanol, it vaporizes and rises to the top of the tubes where it is removed for purification at another facility. In small-scale testing, the technique produced ethanol at the rate of 8000 gallons per acre (75 000 liters per hectare) per year. William Sims, Joule’s CEO, says that the company’s calculations show that it can reach 25â000 gallons of ethanol per acre per year, which would result in a price of just $1.28 per gallon of ethanol. However, he says that the technique would still be cost-effective at half that rate.