Remember when I was talking about turning sewage algae into biodiesel?  Well it seems others thought this was a good investment and the Girvan Institute of Technology has invited that New Zealand company, Aquaflow Bionomic Corp.,  to join them.   The Girvan Institute of Technology is a Silcon Valley based non-profit, public benefit corporation that helps speed up development of cutting edge technology.

A little refresher is the AB Corp. began testing and using regular algae to produce biodiesel.  Whereas in the past only a lab grown specific type of algae was able to be used to create fuel.  This was in late 2005.  Now fast forward to May 2006 and Aquaflow has accomplished creating it’s first sample of useable biodiesel that it is currently testing in assorted diesel engines.

They believe they can produce 264,172 gallons(1 million liters) of biodiesel a year with it’s first production facility in NZ.  Now Aquaflow has setup a U.S. subsidiary and with help from the Girvan Institute they will be bringing this technology to the states.

While 264 thousand gallons of biodiesel won’t even put a small scratch in the consumption of the U.S. it’s a start and every little bit counts, plus with more facilities in time it can start to make a difference.  Not to mention helping with sewage.

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Well here’s another sweet diesel we can’t get in the U.S. This collaboration between BMW and Alpina has given our friends across the sea a 200HP 302ft.lbs. of torque 4 cylinder brute that still gets a combined 40mpg.

Alpina gives it a tuned suspension, a larger Garrett turbocharger and intercooler, larger injectors, and reprogrammed ecu. It still has one of the lowest CO2 ratings for BMW, and only a 3.5% decrease in mileage compared to the regular 320d Sport. It has a top speed of 145mph and a 0-62mph time of only 7.4 seconds with the six speed tranny.

The D3 will be for sale around $51,000, and with it’s particulate filter will be Euro-4 compliant (Which means there’s pretty much no chance we’ll see it in the U.S.)