Guest Thinkers — February 22, 2011

Cool People Doing Cool Things: Craig Venter’s new biofuels project

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Sequence the human genome. Been there, done that. Genomics pioneer Craig Venter is now moving on to a colossal new project to develop and produce new second-generation biofuels from algae. Thanks to a $600 million investment from ExxonMobil, Venter and his company, Synthetic Genomics, is now at the forefront of the green fuels revolution. According to ExxonMobil, the project to develop biofuels produced by algae could result in an economically

viable, low net-carbon emission transportation fuel sometime in the near future.

In other words, get ready for a future in which your choice at the local gas pump is between “Regular, Unleaded, and Super-Algae.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

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