Arizona gets US$3 million for algae-to-biofuel project

MESA, ARIZ.: Arizona State University's (ASU) researchers have secured US$3 million funding for an algae-to-biofuel project.

Two ASU scientists, Qiang Hu and Milton Sommerfeld are growing algae in solar tubes at the school campus to demonstrate the fuel can be produced on a larger scale, according to various news reports.

The project secured a licensing agreement with private investment group, Heliae Development and US$1.5 million in the technology. Heliae will return fees and a share of income from commercialising the technology to the university.

Heliae is led by Frank Mars, a member of the Mars family behind food conglomerate M&M's. Several members of the family are also investing in the technology because of their personal commitment to helping develop environmentally friendly energy sources, according to ASU.

Science Foundation Arizona, a non-profit group, will also award a US$1.5 million grant to the project.

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