There are now three companies, with three different technologies, that are claiming they can eliminate fossil fuels and replace them with something green and much less expensive.

We have already talked about Joule Unlimited, which claims it can use modified E. coli bacteria to create diesel fuel at a $30/barrel equivalent price:

The impossible has happened: the solution to global warming and foreign oil dependence has arrived

Solazyme is using algae instead of bacteria:

Solazyme

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in South San Francisco, Solazyme’s unique technology allows algae to produce oil and biomaterials in standard fermentation facilities quickly, efficiently and at large scale.

These natural oils and biomaterials are tailored not only for fuel production, but also as replacements for fossil-derived petroleum and a variety of natural plant oils and compounds, making them useful in a wide range of products: from oleochemicals, to cosmetics, to foods. Solazyme’s oils and fuels provide compelling solutions to increasingly complex issues of fuel scarcity, energy security and environmental impact while fitting cleanly into the pre-existing multi-trillion dollar fuel infrastructure.

Cella Energy’s solution is completely unorthodox:

Breakthrough promises $1.50 per gallon synthetic gasoline with no carbon emissions

UK-based Cella Energy has developed a synthetic fuel that could lead to US$1.50 per gallon gasoline. Apart from promising a future transportation fuel with a stable price regardless of oil prices, the fuel is hydrogen based and produces no carbon emissions when burned. The technology is based on complex hydrides, and has been developed over a four year top secret program at the prestigious Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford. Early indications are that the fuel can be used in existing internal combustion engined vehicles without engine modification.

From the company’s website:

Cella Energy Technology

Cella Energy Ltd makes safe, low-cost hydrogen storage materials. Our materials use nano-structuring to safely encapsulate hydrogen at ambient temperatures and pressures. This sidesteps the requirement for an expensive hydrogen infrastructure….

It is possible to convert a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) to run on hydrogen, with minimal engine modifications. This H2-ICE route offers quick, low-cost and low-risk access to low-carbon motoring for a fraction of the cost of developing fuel cell or lithium-ion battery powered vehicles.

In addition hydrogen can be used for long term energy storage, where batteries alone would not be sufficient. For example, buffering the intermittency of renewable energy generation technologies such as wind, solar and wave.

See also: How Algae Biodiesel Works

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