Algenol Biofuels scouts Florida land

FORT MYERS — Algenol Biofuels says it can now produce more ethanol per acre with algae than corn, and it is scouting sites around Florida to build its first commercial facility.

Algenol says it can produce 9,000 gallons of ethanol per acre from algae compared with 400 gallons with corn. The company has been developing the technology to extract ethanol from algae at a testing refinery in Fort Myers.

“This is a very important time for our company” says Paul Woods, Algenol's CEO, in a statement. “Algenol's progress has positioned us to now acquire, plan and permit land for our first commercial facility.”