Paul Woods

Co-Founder and CEO,  Algenol LLC

University of Western Ontario, Genetics

Paul Woods is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Algenol Biofuels.  Algenol’s DIRECT TO ETHANOL® technology targets producing ethanol with operating costs of less than $1 per gallon, and with production of 6,000 gallons per acre per year (compared to corn at 400 gallons per acre per year and sugar cane at 800 gallons per acre per year).  Algenol’s process does not use farmland, nor fresh water, and the process has the added benefits of consuming CO2 and providing 2 gallons of fresh water for every gallon of ethanol.

Paul invented the DIRECT TO ETHANOL® technology in 1984 while attending the University of Western Ontario near Toronto, Canada. Patents for the original technology were granted in 2001 (US), 2004 (US), 2005 (Australia) and 2007 (Europe).  Woods and Algenol currently hold 9 patents and have 28 patents pending.

Algenol currently employs 115 employees in Lee County Florida and 40 employees in Germany.  Algenol’s Florida Integrated Biorefinery, will include 3,100 photobioreactors on 17 acres that consume 2 tonnes of CO2 per day and have the capacity to produce more than 100,000 gallons of fuel grade ethanol per year when finished in 2013.