Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Bullseye Fuel: BAL and its macroalgae-based biofuels

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane December 29, 2011

In Chile earlier this month, Bio Architecture Lab broke ground on an experimental pilot facility producing ethanol from Macrocystis pyrifera (macro algae).

Macroalgae: that’s seaweed, and more about why macro algae is really, really important, in a moment.

The Pilot Facility
The facility, expected to be operational in 2012 will allow the company to demonstrate a complete value chain from feedstock cultivation (seaweed farming) to advanced biofuel production; the company expects to scale-up by the end of 2015. BAL currently operates three seaweed farms in Quenac and Ancud in the Los Lagos region, and Caldera in the Atacama region of Chile.

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