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Developing Renewable Fuels From Algae Oil

Among future development plans are technologies that provide a higher degree of freedom for algae producers in algae strain selection and algae oil extraction for the production of biofuels.
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) Dec 07, 2009
Endicott Biofuels and TransAlgae have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of algae as a potential transportation fuel and renewable chemical feedstock source.

According to Endicott Chief Executive Officer David Robinson, TransAlgae's strategy is consistent with Endicott's goal to create economically sustainable new sources of energy through the development of renewable biofuels.

"We look forward to working with the TransAlgae team, who represent great expertise and experience, to rapidly advance the scale-up and commercialization of algae biofuels production as a high-quality, sustainable fuel source," he said.

TransAlgae's mission is to develop commercially viable algae strains for a variety of algae biomass growth platforms in order to deliver cost effective transportation fuels as well as other non-energy applications.

For the past year, Endicott has been involved in a fully flexible feedstock development program for the production of biodiesel, which includes algae oil-to-biodiesel commercialization. Among its future development plans are technologies that provide a higher degree of freedom for algae producers in algae strain selection and algae oil extraction for the production of biofuels.

Through its proprietary technology platform, Endicott has produced high-quality biodiesel at pilot scale using 100% lipids from any animal or vegetable-based feedstock source. The quality of Endicott's G2 Clear 99 product, which exceeds all ASTM 6751 biodiesel specifications, has been confirmed through independent testing.

Endicott believes this same technology can be used to yield high-quality, algae-based biodiesel with no modification to its technology platform.

"We believe that genetically modified algae provides the best, large-scale, sustainable solution to the multiple resource limitations the global economy is experiencing, providing high-quality alternatives to fossil fuels, petro-chemicals and protein sources without impacting arable land and water," said Dr. Noam Gressel, Co-Founder and Board Member of TransAlgae.

"Well designed algal crops can fix carbon dioxide emissions into biological molecules, such as carbohydrates, protein and oil, enabling waste carbon dioxide (CO2) producers to turn a cost into a revenue stream."

A recent draft of the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap developed by the U.S. Department of Energy states: "...In the longer term, biofuels derived from algae represent an opportunity to dramatically impact the U.S. energy supply for transportation fuels. The cultivation of algae at a commercial scale could provide sufficient fuel feedstock to meet the transportation fuels needs of the entire United States, while being completely compatible with the existing transportation fuel infrastructure (refining, distribution, and utilization)."

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