Green Plains Renewable Energy just announced that it will break ground on the second phase of its Grower Harvester (TM) algae project within the next two weeks. During Phase II, Green Plains Renewable Energy, working in conjunction with BioProcess Algae LLC, its partner in the Grower Harvester project, will scale the technology to be 20 times greater than the first phase of the project.

In a press release, Todd Becker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Plains Renewable Energy, commented on the news:

“During Phase I, BioProcessAlgae has successfully demonstrated the scalability of the technology with a 40 times increase in growing volume from bench scale reactors to an industrial setting at our ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa. We have experienced 100% uptime since inoculation in October 2009 and continue to harvest algae on a daily basis. With the positive results we have achieved in Phase I, we will commit additional resources and expertise to rapidly build the next phase of this exciting project. Our vision remains the same of providing a solution to sequestering industrial carbon dioxide while producing a high quality feedstock for fuel and feed.”