Direct to Ethanol^® technology

ALGENOL’S CARBON Platform MODULAR Technology

The DIRECT TO ETHANOL^® process uses sunlight and algae to produce ethanol. Our patented technology employs enhanced blue-green algae or cyanobacteria to convert sugar (pyruvate) made from carbon dioxide and saltwater by photosynthesis into ethanol.

Cyanobacteria are among the most photosynthetically active organisms on Earth. They are therefore very good at fixing carbon. Algenol has approximately 2,300 algae strains that have been collected globally, characterized and screened. We are working actively to produce more enhanced strains for increased ethanol and green-chemical productivity.

A central component of the DIRECT TO ETHANOL^® process is a proprietary flexible plastic film photobioreactor. First the ethanol is produced by the algae sunlight and saltwater and secreted from the cell into the culture. Our photobioreactors also use sunlight to fuel the first two stages of product separation. Ethanol is an evaporative (or volatile) molecule so as the sun shines and the outdoor temperature rises during the day, the ethanol evaporates from the saltwater culture. In the second stage, as the sun and the outdoor temperature go down in the evening, the ethanol inside the photobioreactor’s headspace condenses along with water on the inside of the roof and trickles down and is collected in special troughs inside the photobioreactors. This novel means of product separation is the basis of Algenol’s no harvest, no kill strategy – a unique and valuable feature that distinguishes the DIRECT TO ETHANOL^® process from other algae-based processes.

Our DIRECT TO ETHANOL^® process incorporates a proprietary Vapor Compression Steam Stripping (VCSS) technology that allows for energy-efficient concentration of ethanol. Other downstream separation technologies such as distillation or membranes are employed to upgrade the ethanol for use as a transportation fuel. These technologies in combination with the solar-powered separation in our patented photobioreactors yield ethanol from the DIRECT TO ETHANOL^® process with a carbon footprint that is 80% less than that of gasoline.