Could This be the Answer to the World’s Energy Crisis?

It’s a breakthrough indeed for the science world when claims of being able to create diesel fuel and ethanol just by using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide were made recently by Biotechnology Company known as Joule Unlimited, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company’s researchers call it ‘Energy Independence’ where the ability to produce this new type of fuel for running jet engines whether in facilities both large or small with a much cheaper costs than fossil fuels.

Is it the answer that we're looking for to save the world?

Joule Unlimited Chief Executive Bill Sims has this to say about the findings, ‘We make some lofty claims which we believe, validated and also we have shown it to investors. The findings will definitely revolutionize the world’s largest industry, which is the oil and gas industry. And there is no reason why this technology cannot change the world.’

The company also managed to eliminate the main reason why bio-fuels are costly which is due to the middleman known as the ‘biomass’, such as the untold tons of corn or algae grown to be harvested and destroyed in order to extract its fuel before treating and refined it for end-user usage. The company also claims that one of its organisms known as cyanobacterium (which is found everywhere and is less complex than algae) are able to create 15,000 gallons of diesel full per acre yearly which is four times more than most efficient algal process that makes fuel, along with an inexpensive cost of $30 (£18.45) per barrel.

This type of organisms make use of the sunlight and carbon dioxide before producing its desired end result and secrete ethanol or hydrocarbons which is the basis of various fuels like diesel as one of the byproduct of photosynthesis. According to Joule Unlimited, they will built its facilities especially near power plants surrounding to enable its product to consume their carbon dioxide waste thus their cyanobacteria would be able to reduce carbon emissions during its process.