Portrait of a Transformative Technology: Joule Unlimited - Ethanol from CO2 , waste water & sunlight

[JohnWxy]

I first posted about Joule Biotech (now Joule Unlimited ..see article at second link) here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x203339


Now it seems Joule has gotten more attention:

"in April, Joule was selected by MIT’s Technology Review as one of the world’s ten most important emerging technologies for 2010."

May I just say, "Well done, MIT review board!"


http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2010/06/03/portrait-of-a-transformative-technology-joule-unlimited/

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In April, Joule Biotechnologies announced the closing of a $30 million funding round, and a name change to Joule Unlimited intended to reflect its focus on the “widespread replacement of fossil fuels…while also reflecting the virtually unlimited potential of our transformative process,” according to CEO Bill Sims. Flagship Ventures Managing Director David Berry, on the sidelines at the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference, did not disclose the identity of the company’s strategic investors but confirmed that Flagship intends to remain the sole venture capital firm invested in the company and its technology.

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Joule’s Helioculture process mixes sunlight and CO2 (produced by a multitude of industrial processes_JW) with highly engineered photo synthetic organisms, which are designed to secrete ethanol, diesel or other products.

However, unlike algae and other current biomass-derived fuels, the Helioculture process does not produce biomass (in other words the plant doesn't need to be harvested to produce ethanol. It secretes ethanol as a part of it's metabolic processes!_JW), requires no agricultural feedstock and minimizes land and water use. It is also direct-to-product, so there is no lengthy extraction and/or refinement process.
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Because its organisms are being engineered to directly secrete hydrocarbon molecules, Joule will avoid costly steps such as large-scale biomass collection, energy-intensive degradation, or other downstream refinement. In addition, Joule’s process requires just marginal, non-arable land, no crops and no fresh water.

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Cost targets are $30 bble for diesel and $50 for ethanol. Productivity targets are 15,000 gal/acre/year for diesel and 25,000 gal/acre/year for ethanol. (emphases are my own.__JW)

[JohnWxy]

1. update: Joule Unlimited named to the Red Herring North America 100

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x252442