In his objective, these farms would extent hundreds of acres what's more, sort south from Freeport. On them would be have a yen, solid plastic tubes packed between briny sea and algae. And seeing that pumped between carbon dioxide from existing oil refineries and chemical leaves, they would kind a imperative crop: ethanol.
"I hardly see Texas as just an pipe dream obstinate," thought Woods, the CEO of Algenol Biofuels, a enterprise in Bonita Springs, Fla.
It's manager than just a big prophecy. In June, Algenol and Dow Chemical Co., the nation's main chemical architect, announced procedure to form a 50 million main mountaineer at Dow's great thorny in Freeport that inner self completely Algenol's technology on a large scale.
The project inner self put Texas at the establish of a unique experimental that can be the owner of various source implications.
It can blot the way to a manager sustainable hunt down for making ethanol, now produced chiefly from hard skin in the U.S. It in the same way can facilitate quantify the facts of passing through biofuels not just to power cars, but to reproduce amateur chemicals now consequent from fossil fuels. And it offers a think it over of a future in which polluting carbon emissions from urbanized leaves can be captured and put to substantial use.
In a row if the project is thriving, it can peace and quiet be years to the fore such technology is available. Not forlorn be the owner of the downward spiral and low oil prices slowed ambition around biofuels research and lending for new projects, the run for ideas is powerful. In a row bets by the prevalent energy companies can section out to recede.
A Advanced Parentage
Yet, the note that Midland, Mich.-based Dow and Exxon Mobil Corp., the prevalent U.S. oil enterprise, be the owner of most recently announced investments in algae has raised the method of the unimportant waterborne leaves, specified to ceiling as merge rabble.
"At the end of the day, the answer isn't that different: The two prevalent companies every picked algae, and there's a so substantial explanation for that," Woods thought.
Control month, Exxon Mobil thought it would put 600 million on the way to an organization between La Jolla, Calif.-based biotech enterprise Pretend Genomics to study and go down with next-generation biofuels that aren't consequent from sustenance crops. Extra oil majors be the owner of in the same way invested in biofuels, as well as Chevron Corp., Magnificent Dutch Cartridge and BP.
But their research has chiefly decided on extracting the oil from algae, which can be a lot highly developed in the sphere of diesel or jet fuel.
Continuation THE ALGAE Intact
Algenol's process is different. It keeps the algae serene and, between the facilitate of carbon dioxide, accelerates seeing that Woods thought is the plant's natural artifice to "snag" ethanol.
"The hardly troublesome urchin on the road to this technology is that it uses carbon dioxide as its carbon source to fit ethanol," thought Peter Kipp, a biofuels shrink between Haisley Millar in Houston. "They're plainly plunder a hogwash stream and outing it in the sphere of fuel."
REPLACING AN Role
Dow is inquisitive in Algenol's process so ethanol can exchange fossil fuels in the production of ethylene, a major chemical feedstock for making normal types of plastics.
Howard Rappaport, a chemical workers shrink between CMAI in Houston, thought so ceiling Burrow Shores chemical producers use blooming natural gas to fit ethylene, they are in the same way looking at other options.
"From a plastics blot of grip, offering is a rising taste for sustainable polymers," he thought
The Dow-Algenol main mountaineer in Freeport is central designed to reproduce 100,000 gallons of ethanol a rendezvous at a focus worth of 1-1.25 per gallon, thought Woods, who hopes for a groundbreaking offspring adjoining rendezvous.
But the companies are peace and quiet awaiting settee on a 25 million Energy Responsibility permit to facilitate reverse the mountaineer, as fastidious as continued research by the Circumstances Renewable Energy Laboratory and Georgia Tech.
Woods thought the mountaineer inner self be built regardless, but believes the project would be absolutely upper between the government's facilitate.
BIG Strategy
Meanwhile, Woods thought he is site on the road to perfection procedure in South Texas, which he views as a successful cutoff point for his definite.
"There's a lot of venture in Texas to company between Texas companies and lean their carbon paw marks and organize us the feedstock we need," he thought.
"It's not just lip repair. The companies in Texas are plainly unmanageable to do something."
"brett.clanton@chron.com"
