The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday the formation of two new biofuels consortia -- National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), and National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) -- that will receive a total of nearly $80 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for advanced biofuels research.NAABB, led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center based in St. Louis, MO, will get $44m to develop and demonstrate algae-based biofuels and bioproducts technology and its commercial viability. If the government and big oil/chemical companies (such as Exxon and Dow Chemical) are willing to invest in algae development, algae doubters might have to rethink their strategies this year after all...
