Algae Finds a Home at the University of Texas

When most people think of green energy and growing, they probably do most of their thinking on dry land. This is no surprise. In fact, it's quite easy to forget about our autotrophic friend algae, peeking out from the water to say hello. Especially when in extreme cases, algal floods and their abundant decomposition ponds and lakes kill so many fish, tadpoles and worms within (but don't blame the algae, phosphorus and nitrogen runoff invited them to the party).

AlgEternal, located just outside of Austin in Weimar, hopes to reconnect people with algae in a big way. They will soon open a facility in the J.J. Pickles Research Campus at UT, where they plan to grow a large amount of algae in a small space, using a vertical method that involves glass tubes, a process reminiscent of restructured mushroom farms with just a handful more of the precise technology needed with carbon fixing phototrophs (temperamental photosynthesizers).

This partnership between UT's Electromechanical department, UTEX Culture Collection of Algae and the commercial company represents the vested interests of all three. The University has always been interested in the commercial production of bioefficient energy (they have their own green electric company, after all), while AlgEternal has received invaluable help and practical application from the Scientists at the University (especially the vast resources of the UTEX Culture Collection of Algae ).

The production of algae will be used for biofuels(because of their similar structure to petroleum) as well as for cosmetics and pharmaceutical use (algae produces up to 50% of their weight in vitamin rich oils), as well as having quite a bit of Omega 3 in it(which you might know if you've ever had the green kombucha). AlgEternal hopes to work with a neighboring company at the J.J. Pickles Campus OpenAlgae, who extracts oils, to create a thriving algae community, and hopefully inspire similar production methods around the country. They are not the first to harvest in this way, but have the potential to succeed on an entirely new scale).