Nanofarming technology harvest biofuel oils without harming algae

Ames Laboratory and Catilin seek to commercialize new algal oil extraction process

		IMAGE: Researchers at the Ames Laboratory are growing several strains of algae to test nanofarming technology that uses sponge-like mesoporous nanoparticles to extract biofuel oils from the organisms. Click here for more information.

AMES, Iowa – Algae is widely touted as the next best source for fueling the world's energy needs. But one of the greatest challenges in creating biofuels from algae is that when you extract the oil from the algae, it kills the organisms, dramatically raising production costs. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University have developed groundbreaking "nanofarming" technology that safely harvests oil from the algae so the pond-based "crop" can keep on producing.