Marblar: finding uses for old patents

A post at MIT Technology Review titled Can Crowdsourcing Bring Unused Patents Back from the Dead? discusses Marblar, a platform formed to help universities commercialize new inventions and find uses for old patents.

In a separate post on 11 September 2012 titled Demo Plant Targets Ultra-High Ethanol Production , Technology Review wrote of the Joule Unlimited facility in Hobbs, New Mexico:

Joule hopes to achieve 10,000 gallons per acre at the new demonstration plant. The plant will use simpler, cheaper solar converters than the ones used at the pilot plant. The original containers were large flat panels mounted on frames that angle them to catch the sun. The new ones are basically long plastic tubes and they lay flat on the ground, the company says.

Joule says the commissioning of the demonstration plant is an ongoing process. Eventually, the plant will cover four acres, and so be able to produce about 40,000 gallons per year. The plant will be divided into six parts, and so far the company has only installed one of those six sections, which it plans to have producing ethanol in the next few weeks.