Glossary: The ABCs of Joule
| Biocrude or green crude: | A renewable, biomass-based replacement for petroleum that is refined to make fuels. Joule does not make biocrude. Our technology directly yields ethanol and diesel fuels without the need for cracking or refining. |
| Biodiesel vs. diesel: | Two chemically distinct forms of fuel. Biodiesel is composed of alkyl esters, whereas diesel is composed of hydrocarbons. Although Joule has the technical capability to produce both, we are developing diesel, not biodiesel. |
| Biofuel: | A form of renewable fuel that’s derived from biomass, which includes organic materials produced by plants, animals or microorganisms. By contrast, Joule's Helioculture technology directly converts waste CO2 into fuels, bypassing the use of biomass intermediates. |
| Genome engineering: | Engineering the genomes of organisms in order to carry out complex tasks in an optimal fashion. This includes introducing new genes and biochemical pathways, deleting existing ones, altering regulatory controls, and optimizing the system-level biology to maximize the efficient production of the target molecule. |
| Helioculture™ technology: | Joule’s proprietary process that incorporates genome-engineered, photosynthetic organisms to directly convert waste CO2 into fuels and chemicals, powered by solar energy. |
| Joule: | (Pronounced "jewl") A unit of measure named after James Prescott Joule, a 19th Century British scientist whose work on the equivalence between heat and mechanical work led to the Theory of Conservation of Energy. |
| Joule solar fuels: | A forthcoming product line of renewable fuels enabled by Joule's Helioculture technology platform. Pilot-scale development of ethanol will begin in 2010, with pilot-scale development of diesel to follow in early 2011. |
| Joule solar chemicals: | A forthcoming product line of petroleum-derived chemicals enabled by Joule's Helioculture technology platform. |
| Module: | The smallest increment of a commercial-scale SolarConverter™ system, comprising ten interconnected assemblies. Any number of modules is possible depending on availability of land, CO2 and desired output. |
| PAR: | Photosynthetically Active Radiation, or the spectral range of solar radiation that organisms are able to use for photosynthesis. PAR is one of several factors used to calculate the productivity of Joule's SolarConverter systems according to their geographic location. |
| Photosynthesis: | The natural process by which organisms convert CO2 into organic compounds using energy from the sun. |
| Photosynthetic organism: | An organism that uses solar energy and CO2 from the atmosphere or an industrial source to synthesize its nutrients. Joule has engineered a proprietary photosynthetic organism that captures sunlight and metabolizes waste carbon to produce useful products. |
| SolarConverter™ system: | Joule’s revolutionary, integrated system for the end-to-end production of renewable solar fuels and chemicals. The modular system is comprised of interconnected assemblies that can be multiplied as needed. |