BrevardBioDiesel Blog

Florida Today newspaper has a story covering Melbourne's XL Techgroup including it's PetroAlgae business.

Thirty miles south of Melbourne are XL Tech's PetroAlgae labs, where researchers are "farming" algae expected to become a viable and environmentally friendly fuel alternative that could replace petroleum and food oils.

Because algae matures in 24 hours, converting 50 percent of their weight into usable fuel and allowing for daily harvesting it produces up to 200 times more oil per acre per year than traditional biofuel crops.

Another benefit of these algae farms is that 99 percent of water used in cultivation is recycled.

PetroAlgae currently is on schedule to have an operational initial production facility this year. With an appetite for 1.3 million barrels of oil a day, company officials believe think the world is a ready market for this technology.