Technology
Review: Earlier this week Joule Unlimited, which plans to
begin production of ethanol at a demonstration plant in the
next few weeks, announced a partnership with Audi to develop
and test new fuels. The company uses genetically engineered
microorganisms that do not use any biomass to create ethanol
from just carbon dioxide, water, sunlight, and whatever
nutrients the microorganisms need to survive. The organisms and
nutrients are circulated in large plastic tubes that lay flat
on the ground in the Sun. As the organisms produce ethanol, it
vaporizes and rises to the top of the tubes where it is removed
for purification at another facility. In small-scale testing,
the technique produced ethanol at the rate of 8000 gallons per
acre (75 000 liters per hectare) per year. William Sims,
Joule's CEO, says that the company's calculations show that it
can reach 25â000 gallons of ethanol per acre
per year, which would result in a price of just $1.28 per
gallon of ethanol. However, he says that the technique would
still be cost-effective at half that rate.
