Aurora Biofuels Engineers ‘Super’ Strain of Algae

A California renewables research team has just developed a base algae strain designed to optimize CO2 consumption and generate double the amount of biofuel. The company, Aurora Biofuels, demonstrated the improved upon method several months ago in an outdoor open air system.

Aurora Biofuels has relied on their research background in molecular biology and biochemistry to readapt the already existing process to develop tools that would allow for only optimal strains of algae to be bred. The process isolates non-transgenic algae doubling the production capacity of the lab grown plant matter. The ‘ideal’ algae strains are capable of harnessing maximum amounts of light from photosynthesis and absorbing more airborne carbon dioxide than other strains. 

Basically, the ’super’ strains are capable of producing double the amount of oil from basic algae strains. By doubling the algae’s oil production Aurora Biofuel scientists can produce algae oil in outdoor water systems, which they have been doing for several months now. The algae’s ability to survive the last several months of outdoor oil production proves that it is capable of remaining uncompromised on an industrial scale production. The algae demonstration showed also that the algae could remove more CO2 from the air than previously considered possible. 

“This is a major breakthrough showing that one can take algae with improved productivity from the research lab to the field. What Aurora scientists have achieved is an impressive milestone on the path to large-scale commercial algae production,” said Kris Niyogi, a member of the company’s scientific advisory board and professor of algal biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Thanks to renewableenergyworld.com for the above quote, for more information on this story please visit their website.