Algae For Fuel

Scumming surface for fuel

CSU and a Boulder startup are joining a movement to help expand commercial production of the biofuel.

Researchers at CSU's Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory, above, and Solix Biofuels say experimental production at CSU shows that the process can make fuel at a cost close to current retail prices.

Inexpensive and abundant diesel fuel from an unlikely source - algae - is getting a Colorado boost toward commercial production.

Colorado State University and Solix Biofuels Inc., a Boulder start up company, unveiled a plan Thursday to develop a prototype bioreactor at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, possibly leading to wider commercial production within two years.

Researchers at CSU and Solix are billing the renewable technology as a way to help wean the United States from imported oil.

An additional benefit could be using carbon dioxide from power-plant emissions as a feedstock for the algae. Carbon dioxide is a suspected contributor to global warming.