The facility will use Algenol’s direct to ethanol technology, which produces ethanol directly from carbon dioxide, sunlight and salt water using blue-green algae in patented photobioreactors.
The plant will have a target capacity of about 100,000 gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year.
The bio-refinery will be built on 36 acres adjacent to the firm’s existing advanced biofuels research and development complex in Lee County.
Algenol’s research and development complex contains 40,000sq ft of molecular biology, culture collection, physiology, aquaculture and engineering laboratories.
The complex will also contain Algenol’s Process Development Unit, which consists of a 9,500sq ft aquaculture laboratory, two large inoculation greenhouses and three acres of outdoor research area.
