The consortia consist of partners from academia, national laboratories and private industries that are based across the country.
Projects are expected to continue for a period of three years. Together, they represent a diversified portfolio that will help accelerate algal biofuels development with the objective of increasing production of affordable, high-quality algal biofuels, DOE said.
The Sustainable Algal Biofuels Consortium of Mesa, Arizona, led by Arizona State University, will receive up to $6m to focus on testing the acceptability of algal biofuels as replacements for petroleum-based fuels. The Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization of San Diego, led by the University of California, will receive up to $9m to concentrate on developing algae as a robust biofuels feedstock.
A Hawaii-based third consortium led by Cellana will receive up to $9m to examine large-scale production of fuels and feed from microalgae grown in seawater.
Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy at the DOE, said: “Partnerships such as these focus the creative powers of the public, private, and academic sectors on key challenges facing the development of renewable energy for transportation.
“The US must find effective ways to hasten the development of technologies for advanced biofuels made from algae and other renewable resources to reduce our need for foreign sources of oil.”
