Patent ID: 7855061

Claim:
A process for producing butanol from common algae, ubiquitous bacteria, water, sunlight and carbon dioxide consisting essentially of the following steps: a. collecting aerial algae spores and soil bacteria; b. culturing said algae in water in clear tanks exposed to sunlight by pressurizing said tanks with carbon dioxide and placing said pressurized tanks in sunlight; c. agitating the tanks; d. harvesting said cultured algae by skimming the top 3 inches of the culture; e. transferring the skimmed portion to a tank for fermentation, wherein the tank comprises bacteria of the genus Clostridium and further wherein the end of fermentation is indicated by the decline in gas production; f. placing the fermented culture in an underground tank to cool the contents thereof to an earth temperature of 10° C. and then subjecting the cooled culture to chilling at 0° without freezing to effect separation of butanol from the chilled culture; and g. decanting the butanol that has risen to the top of the tank.