http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/19/gm-microbe-seaweed-biofuels
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/idUS141616+23-Jan-2012+HUG20120123
The article from “The Guardian” discusses the recent advent of using seaweed as a low carbon biofuel, through use of a genetically engineered microbe. It is mentioned that this would be a good source of biofuels partly because of the seaweed industry that already exists, which means that harvesting of seaweed is already done worldwide. It is just a matter of converting that seaweed into the biofuel.  The main drawback to using the seaweed is the cost of the biofuel, which is reported to be five times higher than a reasonable biofuel price.  The article from “Reuters” talks about a collaboration between Royal DSM and POET (which is one of the largest producers of Ethanol in the world), in order to produce ethanol from corn crops using enzymatic hydrolysis. This venture is expected to cost 250 million dollars, and aims to achieve production of at least 20 million gallons of biofuel within the first year. Overall, the efforts towards use of corn crop ethanol could potentially reduce gasoline use in America by almost one third.

BLOG/PREP Questions:

1) Would the focus on biofuel production affect third-world countries in any way? if so, how?

2) Does Canada have any biofuel production companies?