Blatant Reality

Solazyme, an algal oil company that is using fermentation methods to grow its algae (ie feeding it sugar), has opened up today on the stockmarket with a strong outlook. Already, its looking like they will set a record for the industry with Solazyme worth around $227 million. Why has this algae company down so well where otheres haven’t? Biofuels Digest points to this:

Solazyme also defied the conventional wisdom that algae is a phantom feedstock by delivering more than 450,000 gallons under a series of government fuel contracts, and commencing delivery to a wide array of bio-based product partners for fragrances, skincare, food products, fuels and bio-based chemicals. Among their diverse set of offtake partners – the US Navy, Dow Chemical and L’Oreal.

As Digest contributor Peter Brown remarked, “The key of course is that Solazyme produced, not much, but enough for a proof of concept. A number of companies have come to the table with no actual production figures, and that puts them squarely in the DotCom scenario. This can only be good for the industry and other biofuels companies should take heed.”

In the aftermarket, the company can be expected to reap the benefits of a relatively strong commitment to communications and outreach – dating back to, say, the Soladiesel-powered car seen at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2008 for the debut of the documentary “Fields of Fuel,” and continuing today, with the company having 9,000 followers on Twitter, by far the largest company following we are aware of.

I think they hit the nail on the head. Solazyme has had a strong history of producing products in a wide variety of sectors (from biofuels to cosmetics). The only other thing I would add is that OriginOil, an algae biofuel technology company, has had some recent commercial successes (as well as having over 14,000 followers on Twitter, username: OriginOil).

Check out Solazyme at http://www.Solazyme.com And OriginOil at http://www.OriginOil.com

Read the rest of the Biofuels Digest article here: http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/05/27/solazyme-ipo-nets-up-to-227m/

Biofuels Digest covers two major announcements this week in the algae field, a promising story and a cautionary tale. Essentially, Martek is being acquired by DSM for over $1 billion, one of the largest infusions of cash into a company working with algae. OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry posted on his blog that this was the ‘first billion dollar algae transaction.’

Conversely, BioCentric Energy’s many financial problems, including not being able to pay almost $500,000 in debt, led to its demise.

Here is Biofuel Digest’s take on what these two events:

The Wild, Wild Wet period in the development of the algal bio-based products industry is coming to a close, and winners and losers are beginning to emerge. Could there be any more stark contrast of the Tale of Two Cities type (“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”) than the announcements regarding DSM, Martek and BioCentric?

One extraordinary winner: Martek, which has parlayed its development of a vital nutraceutical made from algal biomass into a billion-dollar business.

One extraordinary loser: BioCentric Energy, which had raised hopes with a promising series of announcements in the development of a closed-loop photobioreactor system, but appears to have all-but-collapsed in a series of major financial misjudgments for which the consequences may create some difficult personal consequences for individuals, and clearly wrought havoc on suppliers and employees for a good portion of 2010.

This should provide a cautionary tale to everyone who is looking into investing into an algae company. You can either strike it big or you can lose big. The algae industry is very young and the companies are even younger. That means that before the company has fully matured, you can (sadly) expect more algae ventures to fold.

The good news is that those employees in the case of BioCentric Energy should be able to find employment elsewhere. The algae research field as a whole is growing and the market isn’t flooded with those with backgrounds in algae biofuel production.

Additionally, as in any industry where most of the companies are considered startups, it is expected that some companies with succeed and others with fail. The hope is that in this process, the industry will continue to mature. With major success by companies like OriginOil and Solazyme, the overall trend is moving the algae industry towards maturity.

For more in this story, visit http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2010/12/23/a-tale-of-two-algaes-dsm-to-acquire-martek-biocentric-energy-collapses-amidst-irs-bad-check-labor-crises/

Researchers from Cornell University have joined several other respected organizations to develop a facility that could produce algae based fuels at commercial scales and costs.

Cornell University researchers have joined Kailua Kona, Hawaii-based algal biofuel research company Cellana, along with Duke University, San Francisco State University, the University of Hawaii and the University of Southern Mississippi on a $9 million DOE-backed mission to develop a commercial-scale algae-to-fuel facility by 2015.

The goal for the consortium is to develop a 100-acre commercial-scale facility to produce fuels and animal feeds from microalgae. Charles Greene, a Cornell professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, who is a principal investigator on the project, is working with Jeff Tester, a professor of sustainable energy systems in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate director of the Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, to analyze the economics, energy costs and carbon footprint of the project. “In the ideal sense, all biofuels should approach carbon neutrality,” says Greene.

The rest of the article can be found here: http://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/cellana-algae-consortium-adds-another-partner/

The National Algae Association is teaming up with Lone Star College – Montgomery to conduct research with algae. They are conducting research using a PBR system which basically is an enclosed tube system in which algae is grown.

The cool thing about this partnership, in addition to the standard research that will be taking place, is the fact that they will also be offering a class on algae.

Next spring, Kainer plans to have a greenhouse installed with a second PBR so the college can test whether the weather affects the process. The program also will use a computer system to measure growth rates and pH levels remotely.

The college also added a new general microbiology course (biology 2421) available in the spring that includes in-depth coverage of algae, including an examination of industrial applications and algae oil research.

“I think it brings us a lot of attention,” Coleman said. “Once we really get the PBRs going and producing … it’ll really put us in the public eye.”

The PBR features six 12-inch tubes, each 5 feet tall, that cumulatively hold 400 gallons.

You can check out the rest of the article here: http://www.hcnonline.com/courier/news/article_40113143-969a-5ea2-a519-19f60532a4bc.html

In the dry climate of Arizona, many researchers at Arizona State University are looking at ways to successfully commercialize algae biofuels, an achievement they believe is just five years away. Two researchers in particular are working hard in two different and important aspects of the industry.

Milton Sommerfeld is one algae scientist at ASU and has been working in the field for 30 years. He has been looking to find the optimum strain of algae for oil production and has received DOE grants to do such

“Graduate and undergraduate students sampled about 250 sites. They went to ponds, streams, lakes, particularly looking for water that was brackish or saline, and they found some very oil-rich algae like we hadn’t tested before.”

In fact, the algae they found changed everything.

“The DOE’s target was 40 percent lipid,” Sommerfeld said. “We met that goal and have kept finding even better algae. Now, we have organisms that will grow algae with a biomass that’s 55 percent oil . . . (so) now, we have algae that can produce an abundance of oil.”

In addition to Sommerfield, Qiang Hu is a bioreactor specialist at ASU. Bioreactors are going to play an important role in the algae industry’s future, be it as stand alone growth chambers or used in conjunction with open ponds.

ASU and other research centers have experimented with artificial ponds to grow algae, but Sommerfeld said the answer likely lies in using large, vertical panels or tubes that require less space.

Hu said creating larger and better bioreactors is just a matter of time, money and design. “We will make better and better bioreactors, and we’ll keep cutting the cost of producing fuel,” he said.

It should be noted that many believe that the future in algae actually lies with open ponds, with those holding this belief pointing to the large and possibly prohibiting costs of bioreactors.

Nevertheless, these two researchers are conducting important research that will advance the overall algae industry.

For the rest of the story, visit here: http://www.savannahnow.com/latest-news/2010-09-05/ariz-researchers-working-algae-based-fuel

A report by Global Information Inc. titled “Algae Biofuels Production Technologies Worldwide” stated that the algae market, currently worth a little over 250 million, will grow over the next several years.

What is the outlook for the algae biofuels production technologies market?

Cultivation technology sales are expected to make up the majority of the total algae biofuels production technologies market. A combination of harvesting, extraction and fuels production facilities will account for the remaining market segments, which will bring the total forecasted market value to be over $1.6 billion in 2015. According to the study, “Starting at an estimated $271 million market size for 2010, this increase is significant and underscores that this is a quickly changing and evolving industry, expected to show and annual growth rate of nearly 43 percent.”

It will be interesting to see if the predictions in this report holds true over the next couple years. Be sure to read the rest of the press release and check out the report as well. The release can can be found here: http://www.mmdnewswire.com/press-release-distribution-9774.html

Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, had a letter to the editor published in the New York Times today basically stating that the government needs to create a consistent policy towards biofuels.

… Meanwhile, cellulosic and algae biofuels have been unable to attract badly needed private-sector investment, in part because federal support programs have been carried out haphazardly.

Parity in tax policies would send a signal to investors that the federal government is committed to developing advanced biofuels as the most viable replacement for petroleum in the transportation sector. Legislation has been introduced in the House Ways and Means Committee and should be supported by the Senate.

Inconsistency is a killer of investments and market growth. Even bad policy, if applied in a consistent way, can lead to growth since uncertainty is greatly reduced and the market can know what to expect.

Check out the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/opinion/l08biofuels.html?_r=1

In a recent Cambridge study, researchers have found that algae holds some promise in UK, espcially when grown in raceway ponds.

Elena Kazamia, a PhD researcher at Cambridge University is the co-author of a study that assessed the potential for algal biodiesel to be grown in the UK, using flue gas from a gas-fired power station as a source of the carbon needed for the plant’s growth. Two methods of growing were considered — one in a closed “bioreactor” where there was no interaction with the outside world, and one using more traditional methods — in a shallow pool of water, known as a “raceway pond” due to its distinctive shape, out in the open air.

“Algae is very understudied compared to other plants for use in biofuels,” Kazamia told me. “We don’t have thousands of years of agricultural history to draw knowledge from.” However, that hasn’t stopped her team from determining that traditional raceway cultivation is significantly more environmentally sustainable than cultivation within the more modern tubular bioreactors.

In fact, it turns out that while growing algae in tubes for biodiesel might seem like a sustainable way of extracting energy, if grown in Britain then it actually has a significantly greater impact on the earth’s climate than an equivalent amount of traditional diesel pumped out of the ground, thanks to the need to build specialist facilities to grow the algae.

In contrast, the team found that it’d be possible to generate 40 tons of Chlorella Vulgaris algae per hectare of ground every year by building raceways and only use up about 80 percent of the energy that it’d take to extract an equivalent amount of normal diesel from the earth.

Read more: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-06/30/algae-biodiesel

The DOE just released the finalized version of the algae biofuel roadmap yesterday that outlines some of the barriers that need to be overcome before algae fuels can be successfully commercialized.

The paper offers little guidance on what strategies hold the most promise to replace petroleum-derived fuels in the long term. But it paints a picture of the extensive research that will be needed to do so. “The Roadmap Workshop effort suggests that many years of both basic and applied science and engineering will likely be needed to achieve affordable, scalable, and sustainable algal-based fuels,” DOE wrote.

Al Darzins, a contributor to the report and group manager with the National Bioenergy Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, stressed in an interview that algae is far less developed, technologically, than biodiesel fuel or corn ethanol.

“We need to understand the biology much better before we have, in the future, systems that work consistently,” Darzins said.

He pointed to the need for work on robust strains of algae and genetically enhanced strains to optimize qualities useful in fuel production, as well as in devising growth systems like open ponds or closed containers that will allow for inexpensive algae “farming.”

“One thing that comes across loud and clear [in the report] … is that the path to algal biofuels commercialization will not be totally dependent on any one unit operation or technology but rather on the industry’s ability to string together or ‘integrate’ robust and scalable technology solutions into an entire process (i.e., soup to nuts) that makes sense from a sustainability, policy and cost perspective,” he said.

Read some more of this story here: nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/29/29greenwire-doe-sees-long-road-ahead-for-algae-fuels-37036.html

UPDATE: Click Here to download the entire “National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap”

OriginOil announced today that they have appointed Brian Goodall as their Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Goodall has a long list of accomplishments and has served on many different algae ventures. Take a look at OriginOil’s press release announcing their newest addition below:

Distinguished Scientist and Global Technologist to Lead the Company’s Efforts to Commercialize its Breakthrough Algae-to-Oil Technology  

Los Angeles, CA June 29, 2010 – OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, announced today that it has appointed Brian Goodall, Ph.D. as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.   

Previously, Goodall served as Vice President of Downstream Technology at Sapphire Energy, Inc., where he worked with Continental Airlines in helping to achieve the first U.S. commercial demo flight using an algae-oil blend.  While Vice President of Technology Development for Imperium Renewables Inc., he also led a team of engineers responsible for powering the world’s first commercial demo flight from London to Amsterdam using bio-jet fuel.   “

We are extremely pleased with the appointment of Brian Goodall as OriginOil’s new CTO,” stated Timothy Kemper, President and CEO of seed oil industry leader Desmet Ballestra North America, Inc., an OriginOil strategic partner.  “He worked closely with us while at Sapphire Energy, and he has my personal confidence and support. This is an outstanding move by OriginOil that will do much to advance the standing of the company in the fast-growing algae biofuels industry.”  

Barry Cohen, Executive Director of the National Algae Association, added: “Dr. Goodall is one of the most highly-respected and knowledgeable people in the algae industry and OriginOil will gain not only a great scientist but also a wide network of connections to drive the company’s commercial success.”  

A strategic leader with international experience in the renewable fuels, petrochemicals and polymers, specialty and fine chemicals, catalysis and oil sectors, Dr. Goodall has been integrally involved in all aspects of the algae-to-fuel value chain, from algae harvesting and drying, to extraction, pre-refining and conversion to fuels and chemicals.  

“Dr. Goodall brings to OriginOil his unwavering professionalism and ability to create strong and valuable relationships with individuals and companies around the world,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil’s CEO. “He is the right man to help us strengthen our technology, our intellectual property and our commercial activities.”  

With an impressive career spanning more than 30 years in both the U.S. and Europe, Dr. Goodall has held senior positions in multinational companies such as the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, B.F. Goodrich and Rohm & Haas.  

A scientist credited with over 80 patents and 60 published papers in the scientific journals, Dr. Goodall invented the Super High Activity Catalyst (SHAC) while working as a Senior Staff Scientist at Royal Dutch/Shell Group. The SHAC is used to make more than one-third of the world’s polypropylene today.  

Goodall holds a Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, U.K. He was also granted a NATO Postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Chicago.