A clean, well-lighted place for hazardous materials

I have seen what could be the future of energy, and it looks like a generic building off of Willow Road and El Camino Real.

The Tarleton Properties Biotech Incubator, also knows as Building 15 of the Menlo Business Park in Menlo Park, Calif., has become a destination for budding biofuels and synthetic biology companies. Tenants include LiveFuels, which wants to turn algae into a feedstock for biodiesel and petroleum substitutes, and Fundamental Applied Biology, which specializes in reproducing biological functions of cellular animals in labs. The company derives from work conducted by Stanford professor James Swartz, who has found a microbe that uses sunlight to make hydrogen.

The building directory lists several other start-ups hoping to harness the power of microorganisms for industry.

One of the handy things about working in the building is that you get a glimpse of different ideas people are working on, according to LiveFuels' Lissa Morgenthaler Jones.

Plus, they can all share the costs of the hazmat disposal unit, she added.