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USTAR Researcher Testifies Before US Senate, Urging Congress to Fund Accelerated R&D for Algae Biofuels

May 6, 2009 /

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Comprehensive report released on using algae biofuels for carbon recycling

Testifying before Congress, Utah State University researcher Jeff Muhs urged greater federal research investment in development of mass-scale technology to create algae biofuels. At a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Muhs also released a new report by Utah State University’s Energy Lab, entitled “Algae Biofuels and Carbon Recycling.” The report is available at http://www.utah.gov/ustar/documents/63.pdf.

The report is the first comprehensive look into the opportunities and challenges of utilizing algae not only to create biofuel but also to recycle carbon dioxide. The major new push is the concept of utilizing algae for CO2 recycling. Created as a collaborative effort with nine industry partners and several academic colleagues at other universities, the report also summarizes challenges to other methods of carbon sequestration and reuse.

Muhs emphasized to the committee the very real promise that algae biofuels could provide America a reliable source of liquid transportation fuel, with many important benefits.

“Growing algae, the most productive of all photosynthetic life on earth, and converting it into fuels could help mitigate carbon emissions, reduce oil imports and price shocks, reclaim wastewater, and lower food prices,” said Muhs, an expert recruited to Utah as part of the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative (USTAR).

Muhs leads a team of scientists at Utah State University working on many of the key challenges to developing algae biofuels at commercialization scale. The team works to identify the most productive and useful strains of algae, and is also developing proprietary bioreactors in which algae can be grown efficiently and cost effectively.

The USU team is partnering with a Southwestern US utility company to develop a system to utilize algae and bioreactors for biological recycling of CO2 made by power plants. (Algae need CO2 to grow.)

In addition to USTAR funding, the Biofuels team at Utah State University also receives funding from the US Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, which has included the Energy Lab in a project to create bio-jetfuel.

About USTAR

The Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR) is a long-term, state-funded investment to strengthen Utah’s "knowledge economy” and generate high-paying jobs. For more information, go to http://www.innovationutah.com or follow http://twitter.com/Innovationutah.

Contact:

Michael O’Malley, Communications Director

Utah Science, Technology and Research Initiative

(801) 538-8879

[email protected]

http://www.innovationutah.com

Jeff Muhs, Utah State University

(435) 797-4687

[email protected]

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Michael O’Malley

Marketing and Communications Director