Out of the Lab

Paul Woods has had two blessings every entrepreneur desires: time and money.

The Canadian-born entrepreneur has labored to commercialize the production of ethanol from algae for more than six years. At a demonstration plant in south Lee County, Woods says Algenol Biofuels can now produce more than 10,000 gallons of ethanol per acre annually at a price of $1.27 a gallon.

Woods says Algenol's team of 165 employees, including some of the top scientists in the field, figured out a way to reproduce the lab results on a commercial scale. “That's something no other company has figured out,” Woods says.