Joule cites progress on its ethanol technology

By Kaivan Mangouri, Globe Correspondent

A Cambridge company developing technology to make ethanol more efficiently said today that it has been granted two key patents by the US Patent and Trademark office.

Joule has made significant progress toward its goal of finding a way to to produce 25,000 gallons of ethanol per acre, according to spokeswoman Felicia Spagnoli.

The alternative energy fuel is made from various sources, including corn. The company says it uses micro-organisms that capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources, such as factories, and manipulates them to create ethanol as a product of photosynthesis.

The new patents will allow Joule to increase the micro-organisms’ productivity, the company said.

“What’s exciting about this technology is that it’s leaps and bounds ahead of what can be produced from biomass -- including corn and cellulose,” Spagnoli said. “We really see this as the future of renewable ethanol.”

Joule was first granted patents in September for a similar process to produce diesel fuel. It now has six patents and another 70 pending.