Algae biofuels have been one of several beacons of hope for those looking to reduce or end our dependence on oil. In fact last year the DOE gave $24 million to a partnership between Shell Oil and HR Biopetroleum for reseach in algae biofuels.

Now it seems that Shell has dropped that direction of research stating that “In keeping with Shell’s portfolio approach to the research, development and commercialization of advanced biofuels, this decision will allow Shell to focus on other options that have shown a better fit with Shell’s biofuel portfolio and strategy.”

With a major player like Shell deeming algae-based biofuels a dead-end, does that mean that the algae biofuel dream is dead? Not necessarily. These does seem like the nail in the coffin of lipid-based algae biofuels that require the process of separating the algae from the fuel. The conversion of Algae to ethanol may still prove to be a viable alternative fuel production method for the foreseeable future.

The Department of Energy is licking its lips at the prospect of finding a way to turn algae into biofuel in a financially viable way so they have just invested $25 million to spur that research on.

Algue biofuels have represented a bit of a holy grail to the biofuel industry as it can yield 100 times more biofuel per acre than land-based sources like soy or corn. While this sounds nice, the cost of harvesting and using currently makes algae farming for biofuel cost-prohibitive.

Six of the DOE’s $25 million will go to an Arizona State University team who will be looking at the best ways to use algae biofuels. A University of California, San Diego will get $9 million to work on developing algae strains that are best for biofuel. The remaining money will go to Cellana, LLC and their work on developing large-scale production processes.

This list we link to below is based on the requirements set forth in the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 (commonly known as the “Cash for Clunkers Act”) that was enacted on June 24, 2009, as well as the published regulations issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) on July 24, 2009.

The list is comprised of models that have an average fuel economy of 18 mpg or less and for which at least one of the styles of that vehicle has a current average national trade-in True Market Value price (unadjusted for options or color and assuming “clean” vehicle condition and average mileage of 12,000 per year) of $4,500 or less.

Check out the full list here.

I don’t think there’s anyway for us to be objective when it comes to the new ParaJet SkyCar. It’s simply way too cool.

A couple things have changed since last time we reported on it. The design has evolved a great deal, Parajet International Ltd. is now offering prospective purchasers a chance to throw a £10,000 ($16,338 U.S.) deposit down and the ParaJet SkyCar now has it’s own website.

While we couldn’t find any recent stats on the production version of the SkyCar, we did dig up what we could on the prototype that first caught the media’s attention when it made the trip on biofuel from London, England to Timbuktu in Mali, Africa.

When flying, the ParaJet SkyCar speed tops out at 68 miles/hour and has a range of 186 miles off a full tank of biofuel. Its maximum altitude is 15,000 feet above sea level.

When on the ground, it runs on a four-wheel suspension, goes from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 112 miles/hour with a 250 mile range.

The Parajet SkyCar is slated to start flying into buyers lives late 2010.

The United States Postal Service has around 220,000 vehicles in its fleet, of which 43,000 are alternative fuel vehicles. The new set of energy efficient vehicles will be introduced as part of the Post Office’s plan to reduce petroleum use by 20% over the next five years.

They recently announced a major green step to replace 6,500 older model gas guzzlers with more fuel efficient vehicles. The plan includes 900 hybrids and 1,000 alternative fuel vehicles purchased by the U.S. General Services Administration as part of a $210 million dollar plan to green the government’s fleet.

Biodiesel has taken a bit of a hit from a study recently published in Environmental Science & Technology magazine. The study looks at the amount of water required to produce enough corn to create sufficient ethanol to propel a diesel vehicle one mile. The result was an average of 50 gallons of water per mile.

The study accounted for not only the water necessary for growing the corn but also the water resources that would be impacted by the agriculture or, as the study calls it, the water footprint.

The National Biodiesel Board responded to the study stating that biodiesel production methods differ and crops are not farmed solely for the use of biodiesel and that in 2008 the entire U.S. biodiesel industry used less water in processing biofuel than was used in the irrigation of two Sun Belt golf courses.

San Fransicans are saying a big “hells yeah” to the Ford Escape hybrid taxis roaming the city streets. San Francisco’s first 15 hybrid taxis, all Ford Escapes, all reached the taxi retirement age of 300,000 miles and are being taken off the road. Their staying power shows that hybrid technology is more durable than expected; and according to the LA Times, these eco-friendly vehicles have saved taxi drivers approximately $9,000 a year.

Today, 14% of San Francisco’s 1,438 taxis are hybrid vehicles. Yellow Cab has ordered ten new Ford Fusion sedans, which offer better gas mileage than the Escapes. They are currently testing Nissans.

“We’re still looking for the perfect cab,” Yellow cab company manager Hal Mellegard said. “There’s new technology all the time. They may make something next year that runs on dirt and has zero emissions. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Cars For Sale – LemonFree.com

The opening of a demonstration plant is planned for later this year by Virent Energy Systems. The plant will convert sugar water into gasoline, or something very similar to gasoline anyway – liquid hydrocarbons.

According to Virent Energy CEO Lee Edwards, this pilot facility is to be located in Madison, Wisconsin and expected to be running by the third quarter of 2009.

Each year the plant will be capable of producing up to 10,000 gallons of the liquid hydrocarbons in one of three forms: gasoline, jet fuel, or diesel. The sugar feedstock can come from several different crops including sugar beets and sugar cane.

This week at the Jefferies Clean Technology Conference Edwards spoke and emphasized the difference between his company’s biofuel and ethanol.

“Virent is one of few companies that convert biomass directly into hydrocarbons. The molecules we make are exactly the same as the ones that you use to drive vehicles today. It just so happens that ours are made from sugar water,” he said.

Minnesota school buses have apparently been stalling and the blame was falling on the biodiesel that was mixed in with the regular diesel. This wasn’t the cause though according to the National Biodiesel Board’s recent statement.

An independent study looked into the issue and found that it was just a diesel related issue in general. Diesel engines can have problems in extreme cold and apparently temperatures below minus 20 were the real culprit.

Minnesota currently has a goal that by 2015 all of it’s diesel vehicles will run on a mixture of 20% biodiesel.

It was recently reported in The Australian that the importing of biofuels by Australia is contributing to the destruction of rainforests in Malaysia Indonesia. The rainforests are being bulldozed in favor of palm oil plantations.

Palm oil imports for the purpose of creating biofuel is on the rise due to its low cost and the demand for the cheap biofuel is only expected to rise. New South Wales is expected to legislate its first biodiesel mandate at two percent for this year and five percent as soon as the demand can be supplied.

The import of the palm oil is essentially subsidized by the government since it is not subject to the same taxation as ethanol.

The irony is that the Australian government assisted deforestation is in stark contrast to its $200 million plan to reduce deforestation in the region.

Among the animals effected by the loss of the rainforest are orangutans and the rare clouded leopard.