Massachusetts Company Uses Bacteria to Create Sustainable Fuel

Proof in the Pudding

But none of these downsides are preventing Joule from developing its processes. And fortunately for them the energy they’ve been producing is rock solid.

Aside from providing funds and a wholesome image, Audi is also helping this ambitious company evaluate their products. Novak said, “We are doing the verification of the fuel in the engine.” Based on the data they’ve gathered so far, “It looks really good, it’s really promising,” she said.

They’ve been rigorously testing Joule’s goods and according to Novak, they’ve had no issues with them, but she said they’re still evaluating. “The main focus right now is ethanol, but Joule is also working on diesel.”

Growing Fuel, One Drop at a Time

By now you’re probably wondering how Joule is able to make so much fuel. Well, the secret is bacteria, the most abundant creatures on earth. These extremely adaptable microorganisms are found thousands of feet below the planet’s surface, in hot springs, desert regions and even the frigid Antarctic.

Aside from causing sinus infections or helping make yogurt these critters are absolutely vital to life on earth, performing more biological functions than can be listed. They’re also the engine that enables Joule to literally grow fuel.

“Nature has for billions of years … developed photosynthetic processes,” Jensen said. Simplifying things, certain organisms use carbon, water and energy from the sun to produce oxygen and biomass. What Joule has done is tailor this process to make fuel.

In essence they’ve built a custom form of cyanobacteria, which Novak described as a “basic organism you can find anywhere,” like in a lake.

But pond scum can’t produce bio-fuel on its own, which is where Joule’s engineers stepped in to create special versions of this microorganism. “It is a bacteria that we have significantly strengthened, let’s call it a super bacteria,” said Jensen. “We turn them into [a] bio-catalyst; they are catalyzing the CO₂ into bio-fuel.”

Desert with an Ocean View

Joule’s custom cyanobacteria reside in special water-filled homes or closed bioreactor systems, “basically plastic tubes,” as described by Jensen. They’re parked outside where they receive a daily blast from the sun, and they get plenty of that at company’s pilot plant.

Located in Hobbs, New Mexico, which is roughly 110 miles south-west of Lubbock, Texas, this facility’s desert location is ideal for several reasons. First, it gets lots of sunshine but it also doesn’t take up any land that would be suitable for farming.

However, there is one issue. Water can be hard to come by in arid regions. Fortunately this shouldn’t be a problem for Joule. “We need water,” said Jensen “but not fresh water.” Their cyanobacteria thrive in brackish or saline conditions.

And that’s just the beginning. “Compared to crop-based bio-fuels we need 100 times less water,” Jensen said. They also don’t compete for arable land. These are two huge advantages, especially when compared to corn-based or even cellulosic ethanol.

Normally plants take in water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, but Joule’s engineers have modified this formula slightly and the results are profound. According to Jensen, “We have shut off the organism’s ability to reproduce.” Instead, all they do is secrete fuel, they’ve been “specifically designed to do as efficient a CO₂ conversion as naturally possible.”

Essentially Joule has figured out how to neuter the cyanobacteria by injecting a secret chemical into the water they live in. Instead of multiplying as they would normally with adequate resources, Joule’s cyanobacteria focus all of their energy on producing either ethanol or bio-diesel, fuels that are referred to by the company as Sunflow-E and Sunflow-D, respectively. Of course these critters release oxygen as well, which is good for everyone.

However, this isn’t the limit of what Joule’s cyanobacteria can do. Kerosene, plastics and other components could be also secreted but Jensen said, “For now we’re focused on fuel.”

When it comes to producing either ethanol or diesel the difference comes down to the bacteria used. “It’s the same chassis,” explained Jensen, it’s just a different catalyst. “The bug itself that we put into the system, it will be either an ethanol organism or an alkane organism.”

Fueling the Future

“You could call us the iPhone of the fuel industry,” said Jensen. Joule is “continuously improving the first commercial ethanol strain,” which he likened to the original Apple handset that was introduced back in 2007. He said they will continue to advance the productivity of their cyanobacteria strains in the years to come.

By the end of this decade there should be commercial quantities of Joule fuel available on the market. For the time being they’re focusing on ethanol but Jensen said “diesel will follow rapidly after that.”

To make this goal a reality they’re expanding their plant in New Mexico but going forward Jensen said, “We will most likely commission our first commercial-scale facility in the next couple years.”

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