City Wastewater Treatment Facility Hosts Algae Biofuel Research

September 2010

Dr. Joel Kostka, Director of the Center for a Systems Approach to Bioenergy Research (SABER) has made significant advances in biofuel research since the City of Tallahassee provided space for the algae ponds at the Storm Water Treatment Facility on Tram Road.

	Graduate students, Claire Smith, Zoe Bider and Kristina Welch (not pictured) are working to develop a clean and renewable biofuel that has 10 times the energy yield of land crops.
Claire Smith and Zoe Bider, graduate students in SABER

Jon Delgardio, SABER Lab Manager, says the goal of the research is to determine specific conditions that maximize the efficiency of algal growth and production of lipids, which can be harvested as biofuel. The project uses reclaimed storm water to provide nutrients that are necessary for algal growth while the algae cleans the wastewater.
	Raceway algae ponds under construction

	For more information about the algae ponds or for a tour, contact Jon Delgardio at jdelgardio@fsu.edu.
Jon Delgardio, SABER Lab Manager