April 8, 2013

Microalgae produce more oil faster for energy, food or products




Scientists today described technology that accelerates microalgae’s ability to produce many different types of renewable oils for fuels, chemicals, foods and personal-care products within days using standard industrial fermentation. The presentation was part of the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society. The meeting, with 12,000 presentations on advances in science and other topics, continues here through Thursday.

Walter Rakitsky, Ph.D, explained that microalgae are the original oil producers on earth, and that all of the oil-producing machinery present in higher plants resides within these single-cell organisms.