Headmaster Makes Algae Gasoline for $1.90 a Gallon

David James, the principal of a private school in Opelika, Alabama, is not content to merely administer the school.  No, he wants to make the schools energy as well. He uses biodiesel from algae to run the school's buses and machinery. Pictured above is James at his algae growing operation at Eastwood Christian School.  According to a report at RedOrbit, James claims to efficiently make gasoline from algae using a gasifier.

It takes about 13 pounds of algae, which James is growing in a greenhouse, to make a gallon of gas, which they can make for an estimated $1.50 to $1.90 a gallon, he said. He also said an acre of algae, in the low estimates, could yield five to six thousand gallons of fuel.

According to James, a gasifier is the best way to make fuel from algae,

"The answer is gasification. ... I believe the gasifier is the way of the future," he said.

Gasification is a process of converting biomass into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by exposing it to high temperatures with a certain amount of oxygen or steam. 
...
He said his friend at Unified Fuels, Inc. was the engineer who had built the gasifier they were converting the algae in and the specific catalysts they were using in the system were patented.

Some tantalizing quotes about the potential of algae fuels but I wouldn't bank on those numbers just yet. For more see the report at RedOrbit.